Hotel

“This place is no good either.”

At the station where Hayashi and I got off, we were hopping from one business hotel to another. We’d walk into the entrance, ask the receptionist if they had any rooms for a simple overnight stay, but we never got a promising response.

Honestly, I was at my wit’s end.

Should we just take a taxi home?

But no, Hayashi said she’s exhausted.

“Hey, Yamamoto.”

“Hm?”

“We haven’t checked that one yet.”

Hayashi was pointing at a single hotel.

The neon sign glowed suspiciously, and this hotel felt a little different from the ones we’d been checking out so far.

I let out an exasperated sigh, deliberately loud enough for Hayashi to hear. But my blatant attitude didn’t seem to faze her one bit.

“…You know that place is a no-go, right?”

“It’s just a love hotel, isn’t it?”

“…Exactly, that’s the problem.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s a shady place, that’s why.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Why are you suddenly acting like my guardian or something?”

Hayashi started rattling off her words with rapid-fire eloquence.

Lately, she’s been falling silent out of nowhere a lot more often. So when she suddenly hits me with this kind of high-school-level chatter, I can’t quite keep up.

If I had to use a baseball analogy… it’s like a pitcher mixing up their pace. You know, like when a fastball’s followed by a changeup—you just can’t hit it. You get me, right?

“…It’s not like we’re going in there to do anything shady.”

“Sure, but still…”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

“That we’re family, right?”

…Well, yeah.

Sure, if we’re family, there’s no way we’d do anything inappropriate… but that was just a figure of speech, you know.

“You probably don’t get it, but we’re not actually family.”

“What? Yamamoto, you lied to me?”

“You’ve been acting weird this whole time, you know that?”

“…Let’s go.”

Hayashi grabbed my hand and practically dragged me into the hotel.

Luckily, there seemed to be a room available. With practiced ease, Hayashi booked it.

…It’s a bit late to think about it now, but she’s probably been to a place like this with her ex before.

Of course, I’m not about to make a fuss over it. I’m not even going to bring it up.

It’s just… I was a little shocked to realize there’s a side of Hayashi I’ve never seen before, even though I’ve been around her so much lately.

When you think about it, that’s only natural.

We first met in high school, hated each other’s guts, had a fateful reunion, and now here we are.

It’s only natural.

That there’d be parts of Hayashi I don’t know.

“Haaah.”

The moment we stepped into the room, Hayashi dove onto the bed.

The bed at home is a single. This hotel’s bed… it looked huge, and it probably was.

“Yamamoto.”

Lying on her back, Hayashi called out to me.

“Come over here.”

I didn’t say anything.

I just started walking.

…I couldn’t figure out what Hayashi was really after.

She said she was tired.

We came here… to rest.

But.

…But.

Even if every other hotel was full, did we really have to stay at a place like this?

There had to be other options.

Even if taking a taxi home wasn’t doable, we could’ve gone to an internet café, a karaoke place…

There had to be other ways.

I lay down on my back next to Hayashi.

“I’ve never had a day where I understood you less than today.”

“…You don’t get it?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s just ’cause you don’t know enough about me.”

“…You might be right. Back in high school, we were like cats and dogs, weren’t we?”

“Yup.”

Hayashi stood up.

I didn’t have the energy to get up.

“Where you going?”

I asked.

“To take a bath.”

As Hayashi’s footsteps echoed, I closed my eyes.

A little while later, the sound of the shower started resonating from the bathroom.

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