Chapter 336: Fate, Truly Unpredictable

“Yes.”

After responding, Nanami quickly released her hands cupping Himekoji’s cheeks and took a step back.

“Thank you for practicing with me today. Looking forward to your guidance tomorrow as well.”

“Uh, yeah, sure…”

Feeling dazed and muddle-headed, Himekoji couldn’t even remember how he left Nanami’s bedroom.

…

The next two days passed with him modeling for Mashiro and practicing with Nanami.

In the blink of an eye, Saturday arrived.

Himekoji welcomed his first-ever hot spring trip, with Kasumigaoka.

Was it right to say he got her to put out?

…

However, when the two reached the designated Hot Spring Inn, the innkeeper gave them some terrible news—

“I’m so sorry! A mistake occurred during the lottery draw. Several grand prizes were issued when there was only supposed to be one…”

“In other words?”

Kasumigaoka, standing beside Himekoji, frowned. Hugging her arms with slight displeasure, she stepped forward to deal with the owner.

She had coaxed Himekoji here using threats, coaxing, promises—whatever it took! How could it all come to nothing because of some mistake?

“Well… We only prepared one room for the grand prize winner, and someone else has already arrived.”

The owner offered an apologetic smile, looking very embarrassed.

“Oh, is that it? Fine. Just book us another room. Money isn’t an issue.”

Kasumi Utako, the famous light novel author with huge royalty income, waved a hand dismissively. Financial matters were no problem at all for her.

“No, two rooms! Thank you!”

Himekoji, who had been quietly standing aside without interrupting until now, couldn’t help but add his piece.

“…Yes, still… apologies.”

The owner looked troubled.

“What now?”

“It’s fully booked.”

Seeing the girl’s clearly unhappy face the moment the words left his mouth, the astute owner quickly scrambled to reassure her.

“Don’t worry, the voucher is still valid! We will absolutely provide compensation. However, you might need to reschedule using it for another day.”

“So you’re saying our long trip here today is for nothing?”

Kasumigaoka tapped her foot impatiently. Nobody would be in a good mood facing something like this.

“Sorry! But you can still enjoy the hot springs today. Staying overnight just… isn’t possible.”

Since the fault lay with the inn, the owner maintained a humble attitude despite the guest’s displeasure.

“Yeah, right! This is fine! Completely fine!”

Himekoji spoke quickly before Kasumigaoka could reply.

He had been worrying earlier—spending the night anywhere with Kasumigaoka was always a dangerous gamble. This suited him perfectly.

“Oh! Really? Thank you for understanding, sir!”

The owner, pleasantly surprised that the young man was so easygoing, directed a relieved smile at Himekoji.

“You ‘okay’ my foot!”

Kasumigaoka was extremely unhappy with Himekoji’s answer. She kicked him, then turned back to the owner to ask,

“May I ask which room the prize-winning guests are staying in?”

“Flying Waterfall Descends Three Thousand Feet.”

The owner answered without thinking about why she asked.

“Eh?”

Himekoji was slightly startled when he heard it.

The owner thought Himekoji was just puzzled by the room name and casually explained.

“It’s from an old Chinese poem.”

“Hmm.”

Himekoji nodded. Of course he knew that—he knew this famous phrase taught to elementary schoolers.

He was just surprised to encounter such a distinctly hometown-themed room name so far from home.

“Good. Then we’ll go take a look.”

Kasumigaoka decided.

“Eh? Miss?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll just go and talk to them, see if we can work something out. No trouble.”

As for how they’d ‘talk’?

With money, of course.

…

Rewinding the clock thirty minutes earlier.

Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Hikigaya, and Komachi—traveling together—unexpectedly bumped into Sensei, Hiratsuka Shizuka, at the inn entrance.

“Sensei, you… you won the grand prize too?”

Seeing the familiar lottery ticket in the Female Teacher’s hand, Yukinoshita opened her mouth slightly in surprise.

“Of course!”

The Female Teacher declared proudly,

“I emptied the entire prize pool to win this single grand prize!”

“Eh, wait… you said ‘too’?”

Halfway through, the sensei caught the key word, a flash of surprise crossing her face.

“Yeah…”

Yukinoshita sighed, a mixture of resignation and awe in her voice, then pulled her own grand prize ticket from her pocket to show the teacher.

“And mine.”

Hikigaya said as he too pulled an identical ticket from his trousers pocket.

“Wasn’t the grand prize unique?!”

The Female Teacher’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I spent 80,000 yen just to win it!”

“80,000 yen?!”

“`

Beside them, Yuigahama covered her mouth and gasped in surprise,

“Sensei, you’re way too laid back! The Hot Spring Inn accommodation ticket is worth at most less than forty thousand yen! With that amount, you could directly buy several!”

“Are things won in a raffle the same as things you buy yourself?”

The Female Teacher just waved her hand carelessly without minding it.

“By the way, how many times did you draw?”

The Female Teacher thought of something and asked again.

“Once.”

Although telling the truth might hurt at times like this, Yukinoshita couldn’t lie.

“Me too.”

Hikigaya seemed quite good at rubbing it in.

“How come?”

The Female Teacher immediately drooped like a withered plant, looking all beaten down and listless.

After all, they were all human—why was the luck gap between them so huge!

…

After Hiratsuka-sensei finally got over the blow and bounced back, everyone filed into the inn one by one.

They soon heard about the raffle mistake leaving only one room.

But the Female Teacher in charge didn’t seem to care at all.

“Then, let’s all share one room together.”

She quickly made the decision for everyone present.

Anyway, since there were no guys there, there was nothing to worry about.

The only issue was whether the room would be big enough.

“Huh? Share one room?”

Only Hikigaya weakly objected, but nobody paid any attention to her words.

Even her own sister Komachi switched sides, feeling excited about the one-room idea.

So, it was settled just like that.

The room had a dazzling name: “The Waterfall Plunges Three Thousand Feet,” and everyone walked in one after another.

Standing on the tatami mat, they smelled a sweet orchid scent.

It must have been just replaced.

The room was set up with a ten-tsubo space and an eight-tsubo space side by side, divided by sliding doors.

“Wow, so spacious!”

Yuigahama exclaimed happily, saying it was more than big enough for five people.

The suite even had its own small garden, giving it an extra open feel.

A tiny waterfall trickled down a fake mountain at the garden’s end; that was probably why the room got its name.

Although the waterfall looked nothing like a plunge of three thousand feet…

Still, everyone felt amazed and happy about it.

They felt like winning the grand prize was totally worth it.

Even the Female Teacher thought she’d nearly got back the worth of her eighty thousand yen.

“Yukino-chan, Yukino-chan, when can we go to the onsen?”

As soon as everyone sat down in the room, before they’d even warmed their seats, Yuigahama eagerly started questioning.

“Well, I checked earlier. The onsen is open anytime—indoor or outdoor ones. Plus, you can rent it out just for us with a booking.”

“Wow, book it out? Awesome!”

Yuigahama was completely won over, her eyes sparkling.

“But if we book it out, it’s probably a mixed bath,” Hikigaya, who had also looked it up, chimed in to remind them.

“It doesn’t matter—there are no guys here anyway,” Yuigahama dismissed it lightly.

“Then, let’s book it out!”

As the only adult there, Hiratsuka-sensei made the final call.

But when they called to book it, the onsens for private rentals were all taken already, with no openings until evening.

It was just past noon then, at least a few hours away. Since the girls were free and bored, they decided to go walk around nearby.

In a blink, only Hiratsuka Shizuka was left in the room.

According to the Female Teacher, she didn’t want to ruin the kids’ fun by tagging along, and being older, she felt sleepy after lunch and was too lazy to move.

…

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The Female Teacher had barely laid down when she heard knocking outside the door.

“Back so soon?”

A bit puzzled, the Female Teacher got up to open the door.

…