Chapter 39: On The Verge Of Being Exposed, I'm In Desperate Need Of...... Sasaki's Scent?!


TL: Scaramochi


***


[Sasaki's POV]


Aihara's soft skin met my skin. 


I fell toward Aihara, and when I looked up, I felt a sense of discomfort at the clarity of my vision. 


Normally, my field of vision would be narrow because of my glasses. 


My glasses are gone! 


Aihara stares at my flustered face. Her large eyes widen even more in surprise. 


Could it be that she had found out about it? 


"Well, Sasaki, you look different when you take off your glasses, don't you?" 


"Yes, yes, I wonder if that's so?" 


I was glad to hear her reaction, she didn't seem to have noticed yet. 


I got up and groped around to find my glasses, which had almost sunk to the bottom of the bath, and immediately put them back on. 


"You look like her." 


"......Eh?" 


"Sasaki, have you ever been told that you look like Ayane Kiraboshi, a former idol?" 


The moment she said that, my hairs stood on end. 


It was a probing question. 


She knew it.......?!


"No." 


I replied in a light tone, trying to let the conversation slide. 


"But you look so much alike..." 


"Oh no, not again." 


Aihara stared single-mindedly into the eyes behind my desperate glasses. 


It's a look of obvious suspicion....... 


The only people who know that I and Ayane Kiraboshi are the same person are Makishima and the manager of the café. 


So I can't let her find out either, so here goes. 


"I'm kind of on fire. I'm feeling a little dizzy, so I'm going to go now." 


Let's step away for a moment. 


I stood up and Aihara stood up at the same time I did. 


"It's not safe for you to be alone, so I'm leaving too." 


Unable to refuse Aihara's good intentions, I nodded yes and left the hot spring together with Aihara. 


***


[Aihara's POV]


......Sasaki's, those eyes. 


I got out of the hot spring and dried my hair alongside Sasaki. 


I looked sideways at Sasaki who was carefully drying her short hair next to me. 


She usually squints, but when her glasses fell off, her eyes turned into big, beautiful eyes like jewels, and my gaze was drawn to them. 


The mask makes it hard to see clearly, but the eyes look a lot like Ayane Kiraboshi's, or perhaps they look too much like....... 


After getting dressed and packing my bags, I leave the hot spring. 


"Sasaki, how are you feeling?" 


"I'm fine now." 


Sasaki stopped after saying that. 


"I'm staying at this hotel, so I'm going back to my room now. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you, Aihara. I thought you wanted to relax a little more." 


"That's not true! I had the senior managers waiting for me too, so it was perfect. Don't worry about it." 


"......Yeah, well, good night." 


"Good night." 


Sasaki started walking toward the elevator. 


Seeing Sasaki in that panic...... I can't help but think there's something going on, but could it be that she was a relative of Ayane Kiraboshi? Or maybe they're sisters who were separated from each other? 


"No, no. If that's the case, Sasaki, she'll talk to me." 


Don't be suspicious, Sasaki is Sasaki. 


I headed toward the lobby where the seniors were waiting. 


***


After enjoying the hot spring for the first time in a while, I came out feeling chubby. 


"Phew...... that felt good." 


Azaki, with the help of Jang-senpai, tried to peek, but it seems that his purpose never came, and he left the hot spring first with a gaunt look on his face. "I wonder what he saw.''"


Jang-senpai said he was going to take a very long bath and even stopped by the sauna before leaving. 


"Ah, Makishima?" 


I was about to head back to my room alone when someone stopped me in front of the elevator. 


"Oh, Aihara. Where have you been?" 


"Actually--" 


I crouch down a little as she asks me to lend her my ear. 


"Gonyogo-yoo." 


"I see. The idiot from Azaki was peeping on you, so you went to another hot spring nearby." 


"Uh-huh." 


Aihara smiled bitterly. 


What a sad man to cause trouble for others just by being alive. 


"Here comes the elevator, Makishima." 


"Oh." 


When Aihara and I got on the elevator together, I noticed something. 



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