I paid off the debt for the most beautiful sisters in the school, and then they barged into my house where I live alone. “Please go back home; you don’t need to repay the favor.” “No way.” “We don’t want to~☆”

At night, I stare blankly at the flickering flames of the campfire in the darkness.

“Things have happened, but this is probably where it ends.”

I think about the recent events in my life. An unexpected relationship with a classmate and her sister. But this is probably where it should stop.

“They often say they’re meddlesome and good-hearted, but that’s my line.”

I think about the sisters, likely sleeping in their hotel room. Despite wanting to be alone, they don’t leave my thoughts.

After taking a bath and talking to myself for a long time, my body had completely cooled down.

“My childhood was like that. And what I want to say is, we’ve become too close lately. It’ll probably become a regret someday.”

Karen and Erika listened quietly to my past.

“You guys have helped me a lot since you came. Feel free to make yourself at home, but that’s it. Being closer than this makes me uncomfortable.”

Their faces looked shocked. Erika seemed close to tears, and Karen was holding back as well.

I wonder why they’re so emotionally invested in someone else’s story. Could it be they really see me like family?

If they’re being so considerate toward someone like me, then they must be incredibly good-hearted and meddlesome.

“I’m sorry for the long talk. I’ll sleep in the tent, you guys sleep here. See you tomorrow.”

I couldn’t bear to be with them for the night and moved to my tent.

A cracking sound from the wood snaps me back to reality. I could keep thinking about them endlessly.

In my life, I’ve never been so involved with anyone else.

“I guess getting involved with people is really draining.”

Being with people has its joys, but I know the happiness won’t last.

Regular people manage it, finding their place in a balance of closeness and distance.

But I can’t do that. Probably because I’m fundamentally not suited for it.

And due to my flaws, I’ve made two kind-hearted girls cry.

“It’s been years since I’ve looked at the stars.”

The next morning, I got up early, finding the pre-dawn air bitterly cold. I hadn’t slept well due to unfamiliar equipment and the cold.

“Maybe I’ll take a morning bath.”

I return to the hotel room, and without turning on the lights, gather my bathing supplies and head to the family bath.

“Ah, morning baths are really something…”

I’ve never been so relaxed. Once I get home, everything will be fine. I just need to interact with the Kamishiro sisters at an appropriate distance.

That’s when the door of the family bath creaks open.

“!?”

I quickly realize it’s either Karen or Erika.

“Sorry, I woke up early and used the bath first. I’ll be out soon, so please wait in the room.”

There’s no reply, but footsteps move toward the washing area.

“…?”

I glance over and see Karen standing there, covered only by a towel.

“What are you doing!? I told you to get out!”

Ignoring me, Karen starts showering.

Is she sleepwalking? Is she not seeing or hearing me? No, that can’t be.

While I’m confused, Karen finishes showering and enters the bath.

Both of us are naked.

　Fully backed into a corner, I couldn’t even turn around to look.

“Wha— What’s going on? Why am I cornered like this in a hot spring early in the morning?”

“Um, excuse me, Karen-san?”

Confused, I somehow managed to keep my voice steady as I spoke to the young girl who was likely behind me in the nude.

“What is it? Seiichiro-kun.”

I shuddered when I heard her voice come from much closer than expected.

Wh-What is she thinking?

“What do you mean ‘what is it?’ Why the hell did you come in?”

“It’s a family bath. Is there a problem with us bathing together?”

A weight leaned against my back.

Wait, what?

Is Karen leaning back-to-back against me?

“Wha— What are you even thinking?”

“I thought we should try building a ‘naked’ relationship. You’ve told me about your past, but you haven’t been honest about how you really feel.”

Huh!? Honest about what?

I don’t understand.

These sisters are so incomprehensible!

“Why did you tell us not to get any closer to you? Why?”

“Like I said yesterday, I feel uncomfortable.”

“Is it because you’re not having fun when you’re with us?”

I was at a loss for words.

Because it was fun.

The life that started after they came into my home was fun.

But that’s why. That’s exactly why I also feel uncomfortable.

“I enjoy it. I loved my life when it was just about Erika, but having you also in our lives is really… very enjoyable. I want to know more about you, I want to spend more time with you.”

“That’s just because of the debt.”

“Because the debt has been lifted? And now that we’re freeloading at your place, our financial burdens are lessened? No. The debt and the money are all just a trigger.”

I felt a strong sense of determination in Karen’s words, cutting off my own.

It was as if her will wouldn’t allow for any excuses or deceptions.

“I said I like being with you. Nothing else matters.”

Her usually calm voice now felt like a blade.

“So tell me, what do you really feel?”

There’s no avoiding it, no defending against it.

If I did, I would surely hurt her deeply.

Because the fact that Karen is entrusting her naked back to me right now must be her last resort.

I couldn’t do it now.

I realized that I could no longer fully reject the existence that is Kamishiro Karen.

“…I had fun. Ever since you and Erika came to my home.”

In my still-short life, those times were so joyful that I doubt anything comparable will come along.

“I never found being alone at home painful. But you and Erika reminded me that being with someone can be fun. That’s the truth. But you see…”

That’s why it’s terrifying.

People change. I do, and everyone else does too.

“It’s not your fault. I’m just being a coward. There’s no complicated circumstance. I’m just scared that things will change—Wha!?”

Suddenly, the weight from Karen leaning against my back vanished.

I almost tipped backward.

But before I could fall, I was caught. What the heck!?

“Whoa, this is really bad, Karen-san!”

“If you move too much, something even worse might happen…!”

We’re both naked, you know!?

With her holding me from behind, various things are making contact—what’s this sensation!?

“I’m a girl of a certain age, too, you know. I’m incredibly embarrassed right now.”

“Then let go!?”

“No. Because if there’s even a slight distance, you will run away from me, both physically and emotionally, won’t you?”

But this is too close!

Who threatens someone with an anti-material rifle at point-blank range!?

“I’m baring it all in hopes that my feelings will get through to you. It doesn’t have to be as family, or, or even as lovers. I just want to be with you, Seiichiro-kun. That’s all.”

Karen’s soft embrace and her desperate words seem to be smashing something inside me to bits.

This is going too far.

Is it because my brain has been stimulated too much? My vision is getting—no, this is…

“Ka-Karen. Um, let go of me.”

“I won’t. I need to hear your answer.”

“No, that’s not it. I’m feeling dizzy because of the heat. Seriously, let go.”

“Eh? Ah!?”

As Karen heard the alarm in my voice, she quickly pulled away.

“I’m sorry! I got carried away… I’ll leave right away!”

Her voice was shaking, probably because she had calmed down all of a sudden.

No doubt she had prepared herself for this unusual, all-out approach.

Did I seem that hopeless to her? So hopeless that she felt “I can’t let him go now”?

…Yeah.

It’s no good. I can’t think straight. I’ve reached my limit.

“Ah—damn it.”

I took this opportunity to leave the bath, but my vision was flickering. I was completely boiled.

I somehow crawled into the changing room. Karen was already gone, but I didn’t even have the energy to dress myself.

“Haah~ …Ah.”

My body felt like it had been thrown into a swamp due to lack of sleep.

I collapsed onto a simple mat-like space meant for cooling down in the changing room.