Chapter 212: Japan (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 212: Japan (5)
What do five women do when they get together?
Ha Sion, Kang A-rin, Yu Hana, Cheon Yeo-wool, and Yoon Chae-ha.
There wasn’t much the five of them could do together.
Everyone’s tastes were different.
The activities each of them enjoyed were also drastically different.
It was a case of some liking to do the hitting, and others liking to be hit.
For example, Ha Sion preferred to take advantage of the trip by diligently exploring here and there, experiencing new things, even if it was a little tiring.
In stark contrast, Yoon Chae-ha preferred lazing around comfortably on a soft hotel bed over the noisy, complicated world outside. Of course, it would be even better if Hae-in was right there beside her, patting her bottom.
As for the others, Kang A-rin preferred shopping at high-end department stores, Yu Hana preferred quiet art museums, and Cheon Yeo-wool… well, she might spontaneously suggest something unpredictable that would put everyone in a difficult position.
In any case, what were they doing right now?
Zzzzz….
They had been sleeping continuously ever since Hae-in left.
The previous night, after Hae-in had fallen asleep, they had secretly stayed up until dawn, chattering away as they shared their secrets and desires. It had been a major misstep.
Every single one of them had turned into Yoon Chae-ha.
It was only when the sun was high in the sky and it was time for lunch that they began to stir, one by one, looking disheveled.
Today’s lunch was a simple affair of sandwiches and salad ordered from room service.
“…Are you sure it’s okay?”
Ha Sion, who had been taking a bite of her sandwich, suddenly spoke, a hint of anxiety in her voice.
Her gaze was fixed out the window, toward some unknown part of Tokyo where Jung Hae-in must have gone.
“Don’t worry. It’s someone Hae-in is involved with for work.”
The first to answer, her voice full of conviction, was Cheon Yeo-wool.
She spoke as if it were nothing, picking at her salad with a fork.
In her memory, the meeting with Kisaragi Rin in the previous timeline had gone off without a hitch.
It was just a bland event where he simply received the bow after a brief negotiation.
“You really think so?”
At Cheon Yeo-wool’s confident demeanor, Ha Sion finally seemed to relax, nodding with a smile.
She picked up her sandwich again.
“But… was what you said yesterday true?”
Just then, Yu Hana, who had been lost in thought, suddenly turned to Yoon Chae-ha.
“That at night… when Hae-in… he…?”
As Yu Hana deliberately emphasized certain words, the other three heads whipped around to face Yoon Chae-ha in unison.
Though they hadn’t said it, they all clearly remembered the TMI Yoon Chae-ha had let slip in her drunken state last night, and they were dying to know if it was true.
“Yeah, it’s true.”
Yoon Chae-ha, however, was unbothered, calmly starting her story again.
The girls’ talk had resumed.
All while being completely oblivious to what was unfolding at the shrine.
*
I sat beside Rin and waited in silence until she calmed down a little.
The violent convulsions had subsided, but she still seemed to be struggling to breathe evenly, her entire body damp with a cold sweat.
For now, it seemed better to give her time to recover rather than force the conversation.
She looked to be in a pretty bad state.
After some time had passed and her breathing had stabilized, I asked again.
“Is there anything you need?”
“…No. I’m… quite alrigh—ngh?”
Rin tried to answer as if nothing was wrong, but even speaking seemed to be too much for her, and she couldn’t finish her sentence.
She looked like she needed some water.
“I’ll get you something to drink.”
“Wait, just a moment… I’ll get it.”
Rin scrambled to get up as I made a move, flailing about.
But she only managed to flounder on top of the covers.
I gently laid her back down and spoke reassuringly.
“It’s okay.”
Leaving the struggling Rin behind, I headed toward what looked like the kitchen.
While the annex’s exterior was traditional, the kitchen was a surprisingly charming space filled with the latest modern appliances.
An array of high-end-looking cooking utensils was perfectly organized by type, and the refrigerator was stocked with organic ingredients. It seemed Kisaragi Rin, contrary to her appearance, was the type to care about her cooking.
I took out a bottle of what looked like chilled tea from the fridge and poured it into a glass.
Then I headed back to the bedroom where Rin was.
Hoo… haa….
Through the closed sliding door, I could hear her consciously trying to even out her breathing.
Was she feeling a bit better now?
Instead of knocking, I quietly slid the door open.
“?!”
The moment the door opened, Rin started and pulled the blanket up.
“I brought some tea from the refrigerator. It’s okay to drink this, right?”
I asked with a casual smile.
“Ah, yes. You can drink it….”
I approached Rin and handed her the tea.
She sat up on the bedding and accepted the glass.
Seeing that she could sit up, it seemed she was doing better now.
Sip….
Just as she was moistening her dry lips with the tea.
My eyes caught something strange.
As Rin sat up, she had also pulled her legs up, sitting with her knees bent.
Thanks to that, the blanket covering her was pulled up as well, fully revealing the white futon she had been lying on just moments before.
“……?”
But her bedding…
To be precise, the exact spot where her lower body had been resting.
It was completely, utterly soaked, as if a bucket of water had been poured on it.
The large, spreading stain was still wet, its color dark.
“……”
Why is this… wet?
It couldn’t be sweat; she hadn’t perspired that much.
Just as I was pondering this, my gaze fixed on the spot.
“Ah!”
Splaaash!
With a sudden cry, Rin spilled the teacup she was holding directly onto the wet part of the futon.
The already damp bedding became thoroughly drenched.
“Ah… I’m sorry…. My hands, they still feel a little weak….”
Rin stammered an excuse with a flustered expression, scrambling to clean up the spilled tea.
Pat, pat, pat, pat.
I wasn’t sure if she was actually trying to clean it up.
It looked more like she was patting it to help the liquid soak in better.
“……”
I had a pretty good idea of what had happened.
I couldn’t even remember how hard I had pressed on her lower abdomen.
Besides, she might have drunk a lot of water beforehand… so it was possible.
It was a natural bodily function.
I understood.
The best thing to do would be to pretend I hadn’t seen anything.
Without a word, I gently pulled at the disheveled covers on her bedding, naturally covering the wet spot.
Then, as if nothing had happened, I spoke to her once more.
“In any case, congratulations again.”
At my words, Rin’s eyes widened, as if she was only now registering her situation once more.
The wet futon was no longer on her mind.
She hurriedly lifted her clothes again to check her stomach.
“Ah…”
The black tattoo was gone.
All that remained was her clean, white lower stomach—the kind you just want to bury your face in.
For a long while, Rin stared blankly at her abdomen, speechless.
Her fingers gently, cautiously, caressed the spot where there was now nothing.
Rin stayed like that for a moment, and then…
“Hic….”
Her dark eyes began to well up with moisture.
Fat teardrops streamed down her cheeks, gathering at the tip of her chin.
“Hic… sob… Waaah….”
The fear of death she had shouldered for hundreds of years as the head of the Three-legged Crow. The duty to produce the next heir.
The emotions that had tormented Rin must have dulled over time.
She must have resigned herself to her fate.
But just because they had dulled, just because she had resigned herself, didn’t mean those feelings had disappeared.
She was a young woman in the prime of her life.
No matter how hard she tried to hide it.
No matter how hard she tried to forget. How could she not be afraid in the face of a predetermined death?
The Rin before me now seemed less like the head of the Three-legged Crow and more like a young girl who had found hope.
“Hic… Thank… thank you so much….”
Suddenly, Rin began to crawl toward me, whimpering and crying.
I wondered how I should receive the crawling Rin, and then…
When she finally reached my knees, I opened my arms and pulled her slender body into a deep embrace.
“Master Hae-in… Master Hae-in….”
As if she had been waiting for it, she buried her face in my chest and began to weep bitterly, like a child.
“My whole life……”
I gently patted her on the back.
“I will serve you for the rest of my life….”
Rin’s muffled voice vibrated through my body.
You don’t have to do that, I thought to myself.
But I didn’t let it show. I just kept patting her back.