I came to Karuizawa to stay at Rushian's villa, but...

Spread out before Karuizawa Station is the sprawling KID Prince Hotel.

That entire property... belongs to Rushan as her villa.

"Of course I'm joking! No way! Saburo!"

"Faif... fao fofanf..." Rushan said, sounding panicked.

On the other hand, Mr. Saburo's face was turning purple like a grape. "Is, are you okay?"

When I spoke, Mr. Saburo shook his head rapidly. Just that motion returned him to his normal complexion. "What the hell is happening with you?!" Akari stared in disbelief, screaming. "I... train myself," he managed to say.

"Well, anyone could see that..." Mr. Saburo led us into the hotel.

Deep inside the overwhelmingly huge entrance hall was the reception counter.

Mr. Saburo whispered something to the receptionist.

"...Ehh!? Wh-why say something like that so suddenly? You're renting it out exclusively starting today."

"...Just call the staff immediately." "...Hmph. Fine, I'll do it."

Guided by Mr. Saburo, we headed toward the reception desk.

The beautiful attendant gave us a small smile and greeted us.

She briefly explained the layout of the hotel.

This hotel doesn't stretch vertically; rather, it spreads out horizontally.

After all, its grounds cover the entire foothills of KID Prince Ski Area, a family-friendly ski resort.

"We also offer cottage rentals for camping, so please feel free to make use of them."

"No way! Just rooms in this massive hotel isn't enough; they even have cottages?! It's seriously... like an ultra-high-end hotel or something"

"...L-chan is amazing!"

The high school girls gazed at Rashiya with eyes full of admiration.

"N-Not that... what happened earlier was just Saburo's joke. Grandpa only reserved a room in this hotel for today."

"But still, it's super expensive, the cost for one night here."

"...Wha, whaaah, there are so many zeroes..."

Akari's smartphone was being peeked at by Nana, who looked shocked.

Rushia let out a wry chuckle and covered the screen of her phone with her hand.

"There's no need to worry so much about money. We all came here today to enjoy our summer vacation, after all."

The two of them exchanged glances, agreeing that she made a fair point.

"Likewise, don't you worry about the cost either. This is a hotel with deep ties to my grandfather, so it's actually quite affordable to stay here." "Oh, I see... Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me. But... if you absolutely insist, then um... ♡"

Rushia closed her eyes, stretched out her back, and looked up at me. Ah, I see... so that's what you wanted.

I placed a hand on Rushia's head and patted it gently to soothe her.

"「「「「No, that's not it!」」」」"

Akari and the other three girls shook their heads in disbelief. "It's not that?" "Definitely not!"

Rushia pouted stubbornly, her lips pursed. "I apologize for the confusion."

Shoo... I pulled my hand away.

"I didn't say stop! Keep going... keep stroking me."

Seeing her act so clingy, I realized Lucia was still just a kid at heart.

Given that her guardian is her grandfather, something must have happened to her parents, leaving her unable to rely on them or be affectionate when she needed to be.

I wanted to support her as much as possible after all. She was my important partner, you know.

"Ugh...! It's obvious that Okayama-san is treating me with a parental mindset, but I can't reject it..."

"That's the thing. But if you just settle for calmness there, you'll slip right into his route."

Akari said so, pointing at Yutsumi. "Huh? Me...?"

"Exactly. The friendship route. That pitiful one where they never end up together." "N-no way...!"

Yutsumi slumped to the floor with a thud.

"I-Ichika! Cheer up! There's still time to fix it!"

"Miss, even at twenty-eight, is there really no hope? For fixing things?" "Of course there is!"

Seeing Ichika stumble for a moment, Yutsumi deflated completely.

"Well, let's stop with the rambling and head to our rooms. That receptionist over there is starting to worry."

The young woman at the front desk gave us a faint, tight smile. "Right then, this way please."

The receptionist stepped away from the desk, trying to lead us out of the lobby.

"Bye-bye, Narai. Gonna go give the Kōgen family a report on our stay."

Mr. Saburō waved at the receptionist... or rather, Ms. Narai.

"Mm, take care, San-chan." Ms. Narai gave a small wave in return. Did she know him?

"...Sa, Saburō... ah, you... there's no way..." Niwagawa's voice trembled for some reason.

Mr. Saburō scratched his head looking sheepish. "Eh? Ah, crap, I guess."

Niwagawa marched up to Mr. Saburō and whispered furiously.

"...You've... you've done this while ignoring your older sister, haven't you!"

"...No, look, at my age, it's only natural that I'd have a girlfriend or two, right?"

"...I've been all alone for twenty-eight years! You better remember that!"

Ujigawa came back with teary eyes. "What's wrong, Ujigawa?"

"Nothing, Oka-kun... I just... feel like I've been betrayed badly."

Slumping her shoulders, Ujigawa spoke to us. "Right then, let me guide you."

Led by the receptionist, Narai-san, we headed toward the back of the Prince Hotel.

The hotel wasn't tall; it was vast and wide horizontally.

The corridors stretched out empty and boundless in every direction...

"Hey, big sis Narai? I've noticed something weird—we haven't run into a single other guest since we started walking."

Akari asked Narai-san while surveying their surroundings. "Uh, umm..."

Narai-san glanced sideways at me... or rather, at Ujigawa standing next to her.

Ujigawa shook her head vigorously, and Narai-san said with a smile.

"Everyone is out shopping in the mall right now."

"Oh, I see... it must be around lunchtime."

Right next to the hotel, attached to it like a sister structure, was a shopping mall boasting a vast, sprawling layout.

Apparently, quite a few people came from out of state.

"Phew," Nagai let out a sigh of relief.

After a while, they made their way to the room at the very end of the hall.

"We’ve got three rooms booked for you~" "Thank you very much."

I accepted the card keys from Mr. Nagai.

"So then, let's split up at 2-2-1," I said.
"Yes!"
The girls leaned in, their faces close together.

"I apologize for what I'm about to say, but it will be this Watashi who claims the victory banquet!"

I shouldn't be rude to Lusian, but I won't lose either. That's how it is."

"…I-I want to stay with sensei too!"

"And I'm not going to waste such a rare chance!"

A heavy pressure radiated from their bodies—a black, intense aura.

““““Initially……gwoooah!””””

“Then I’ll head inside first.”

““““Rock-paper-scissors!””””

“Just split the rooms 2-2 randomly.” ““““Hold on a sec””””

The moment I took the card key from Ms. Narai, they stopped their contest.

“Wait, Okarin…… is it true?” “What part?”

“O-Oka-gya… no way, are you actually taking a whole room to yourself?”

Akari and Tushia said with wide eyes.

“? But there’s one guy and four girls, so splitting the women 2-2 is logical, right?” ““““No way””””

All four of them shook their heads with serious expressions.

“…Sensei, this is a holy war! Who gets to win Sensei’s hand!”

“Okaya-kun. Just wait. I’m gonna beat these three and go to the same room as you.” Everyone turned a strange look in my direction.

But... no, that's just ridiculous.

"Rushia's parents prepared three rooms for us. That was because of the room assignment discussion we had earlier, right? Am I correct?" I looked at Mr. Nara.

Mr. Nara stammered, "Uh... well..."

"Oh! Ohh! I just remembered something urgent! Well then... I'm off!"

"Bye!" With that, Mr. Nara shoved the remaining two keycards at me and left.

"...Sanchan, I can't do this."

At the far end of the hallway, Mr. Saburo had run into Mr. Nara.

"...I'm not getting involved in that hellhole!"

"...I get it. But Kogen-sama assigned us a supportive role." "...Hiiiee, no way, absolutely not!"

Was Mr. Saburo staying here too?

"Kochi! What are you staring at! A crucial battle is about to begin!"

"Yeah, exactly, Kochi! Depending on the result, it'll decide the order in which we lose out!" Lose... in what order? Lose what? Is that youth slang...?

"Sorry, but we're not ceding first pick to you. We've been waiting for over a decade, so I'm keeping our spot."
"« « «Poor thing» » »

"Dammit...! Got bullied by the kids!"

The four of them began a game of rock-paper-scissors.

I watched them all with a daze in my eyes.

Did girls really care that much about picking their rooms?

When it was Misae... wait, didn't she always insist on having a separate room whenever we stayed at the hotel? Thinking back now...

"Yes! We won! Okani-kun!"

It seemed like Inugawa had won the rock-paper-scissors match. "Victory of love..." "Ichi, you're way too strong..."

"...I think that person changed the [hand] they were going to throw partway through."

"Could it be...? They can see our moves instantly and switch their [hand] at super high speed!" For some reason, the three of them were trembling with fear.

"S-so... let's go inside, Okani-kun."

Inugawa took my arm and we went into the room together. "Congrats, Ichi."

Rushia smiled and applauded Ganesawa.

"Victory through sheer willpower. Don't worry about it; just sleep next to me." "Yes, of course. I won't hold back."

And so, we finally arrived at our lodging for the trip.