Arrive at the Site

Our trip took almost half a day. We moved from the center of the city to a mountainous area away from residential areas. Although there are still houses along the road, the distance between them is huge.

When the sun had turned red, we arrived at the villa we would be staying in.

"Ngggh~ It was quite a long trip."

One by one, we got out of the car. Even though the first few hours passed quickly with us having fun together, the trip began to feel long when our energy was drained and the atmosphere in the car became quiet. No wonder they feel refreshed as soon as they step out of the car.

"Welcome. I've been waiting for your arrival."

"Oh, Yuri-san! You look well."

"You too, Yamamoto-san."

While we were busy with ourselves, an old lady came to greet us. Upon recognizing her presence, sensei walked straight over to her. From the way they chatted, it looked like they had known each other for a long time.

"Is that person an acquaintance of your sensei?"

I whispered to my sister.

"You can say so. Every year, this club goes stargazing in different locations. But over the years he's been with the club, he's bound to visit the same places a few times. So it wasn't strange that he knew the owner or caretaker of the place we were staying."

The villa where we stayed was quite big. It had three floors with plenty of rooms. Even so, we still had to share a room considering the large number of people coming along.

"So you want to room with your sister or one of the male members? Oh! Staying in the same room with your girlfriend is out of the question."

I already knew without even saying it.

But when someone said that to me, it made me imagine what if I actually shared a room with Tsukinaga-san.

No, no! Stop thinking about weird things.

"Either way is fine with me."

Perhaps because I couldn't give a definite answer, the senior who asked me switched to asking my sister.

"What do you think, Tomoe? Would you like to room with your beloved brother?"

"Why did you ask me last, I wonder?"

"Because he's our guest. Of course we should prioritize him."

After they argued, it was decided that I would share a room with one of the male seniors.

Although I call him senior, he's not officially a club member. He's also not a student of my sister's college, or rather not anymore.

He is an alumnus who graduated last year. He previously served as the club president so it's not strange that he's here.

But that's not the only reason. He was dating one of the girls at the club. So when the girl heard that it was okay to invite outsiders, she immediately proposed to invite the former club president, who was none other than her boyfriend.

Of course, since that person is the senior of everyone here, no one rejected the proposal. So, the four additional people who went stargazing on this occasion were him, me, Tsukinaga-san, and sensei's daughter.

After putting our things in the room, we were called for dinner. While we were enjoying our meal, sensei made an announcement.

"We will leave at midnight tonight. In the meantime, you are free to do as you please."

"Sensei, why don't we go now?"

"The best time to see the stars is at midnight. Besides, I'm going to take a nap. Driving for hours makes me tired."

Sensei ended his explanation with a yawn.

For a moment I thought that sensei would be teased again. But no one said a word.

After dinner, everyone spread out. I, who wasn't close to anyone here, was at a loss as to what to do.

I was thinking of taking Tsukinaga-san out to play. But it's late, and visiting a girl's room at this hour is not appropriate.

Maybe I'll just go back to my room and think about what to do afterward.

But before I could reach for the doorknob of my room, I got a notification.

"A message from Nee-san?"

I read the pop-up notification on my lock screen that shows the sender of the message. For a moment, I wondered what business it was that she had sent me a message.

But there wasn't any clue about what she wanted to say. So I just opened it to find out.

"Come to my room," is what is written in the message.

"Huh?"

I looked at my phone screen for a while. She doesn't usually send messages like this. Normally she would come if she needed something.

"What? Do you need something?" is my reply.

I waited but no reply came.

I really don't understand her. She was the one who started the conversation but she was also the one who left it hanging.

Lazy to wait for an answer that I didn't know when it would come, I went straight to her room.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is the room, right?"

I remembered my sister's room number from the room assignment. But with so many doors lined up I was afraid of getting in the wrong room.

I brave myself and tried knocking on the door.

"Yes?"

I heard a reply from inside.

"Is this nee-san— Is this Tomoe's room?"

"Is that you, Kenjiro-kun? Come on in. The door is unlocked."

My sister never called me by honorific, it means it was her roommate who answered.

I don't know why it wasn't my sister who opened the door since she was asking me to come to her room. But there was no point in overthinking it. I'll get all the answers once I go inside.

Turning the doorknob, I walked into the room.