The Night of the Festival (3)

It seemed unusually late for her to come out today.

The moment I thought that, the bathroom door opened, and Lumia walked out.

Even when she took a warm shower as usual, she normally came out with a flushed face, but today she was especially red. Besides, perhaps because she'd hurried into the bathroom earlier without bringing her long underwear, she had come out still wearing the dress she'd been wearing.

Her exposed arms and legs were flushed red as well.

Since she'd taken so unusually long, I wondered if she'd stayed in the tub for a long time. She also seemed to be having trouble moving, so I got up and approached Lumia, thinking I should support her.

However,

“...!”

The moment she saw me, her eyes went wide. Her already-flushed face seemed to grow even redder, and she walked past me, picked up the long underwear she'd meant to put on, then went back into the bathroom and shut the door.

I lowered the hand I'd held out, looking awkward.

What was going on..?

It was the first time I'd seen Lumia react so excessively, so I was flustered.

I felt sorry saying this about Lumia, who must have been troubled, but how should I put it..? Since Lumia normally never showed any expression and her reactions were always faint, even when she looked cute, most of the cuteness I felt was the sort one felt when looking at a doll. But she wasn't like that now.

She looked full of life.

To be blunt, I could even say she looked cuter than ever before.

I sat back down on the bed and waited. Lumia eventually opened the door and came out wearing her long underwear, with an expression that said she didn't know what to do. I wondered if I'd imagined it and looked again, but her expression was still full of life.

Had something happened in the bathroom?

Just as I was thinking that and about to approach Lumia again, she avoided my gaze once more the moment she saw me.

By this point, I was extremely curious about what had been making her react this way since earlier.

“Did I.. do something wrong?”

In response to my question, Lumia shook her head.

She was saying that she wasn't reacting this way because of something I'd done wrong.

Even so, given her reaction, I couldn't help feeling wronged.

Had she become embarrassed only after thinking back on what had happened on the hill, or on the things we'd talked about while walking around together today?

In the end, I wasn't Lumia myself, so thinking about it was pointless; unless she told me, I'd never know for certain.

At this point, I felt I at least needed to know the reason.

However, I couldn't bring myself to ask Lumia. Despite resolving to find out the reason, I couldn't say anything and could only watch her reactions.

Still, the one fortunate thing was that although her expression made it look as though she might dash out of the room at any moment, she didn't leave. She merely sat on the bed. Even then, she wasn't sitting still; she fidgeted restlessly, clearly unsure what to do.

Ah..

I wanted to tell Lumia to calm down. Seeing a new side of someone I liked was incredibly difficult for me. I couldn't exactly ask her what on earth was wrong..

She had been perfectly fine until entering the bathroom, so I could only assume that something had happened in there and caused her to suddenly change like this.

It would be rather inappropriate to ask outright whether something had happened in the bathroom, wouldn't it?

If it had been something serious—if she were clearly in pain or looked truly grave—I could have asked. But asking what had happened when she was acting that embarrassed would have made me the very model of an insensitive man.

I turned toward Lumia, just in case. Her gaze, which had been darting restlessly from side to side, suddenly stopped on me. She immediately looked flustered and turned her head away.

See? With her acting like that, asking whether something had happened in the bathroom would be absurd.

Feeling frustrated that I couldn't do anything, I let out a deep sigh.

Right.. For Lumia, this was probably a sensitive subject, so I thought it would be much better to ask the others instead of asking her.

Since they were in the room right next door, they might overhear us, so it would be better to call them over and step outside.

“I'll step out for a moment.”

I said that and got up to head outside, but then I felt something catch hold of my sleeve.

Wondering what it was, I turned my head and looked down.

What I saw was a small, delicate hand gripping my sleeve.

Since Lumia and I were the only ones in the room, the owner of that hand could only be Lumia.

I looked at Lumia with a flustered expression.

She still had her head turned away, as though she couldn't bear to meet my eyes, but she continued gripping my sleeve without letting go.

She seemed to be telling me not to leave.

“Lumia..?”

“...”

Instead of answering when I called her, Lumia pulled my sleeve even more firmly.

She moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, but since she couldn't speak, I gave her a frustrated look.

Come to think of it, the paper we'd been using to converse was with Cecilia, so we didn't have it here.

She had said that telepathy was magic that expressed one's will by converting it into mana and sending it out, so it used a great deal of mana.

Because of that, it was difficult to use in a situation like this.

I thought for a moment about what to do, then decided I could simply fetch the paper from the room next door. I told Lumia I would go get it and tried to leave, but she gripped my sleeve even more tightly.

We needed the paper to have a proper conversation, so I wondered what she intended by pulling me back. But she caught hold of the sleeve covering one of my wrists and pulled me toward her as if she had another way.

No way.

I had already guessed as much when she'd written letters on my back earlier.

Lumia began tracing letters across my palm, then looked up at me.

She still looked embarrassed, but unlike earlier, when she couldn't even meet my eyes, she seemed a little better. Wondering what she was going to write, I recognized the letters Lumia was tracing across my hand with a faint sense of anticipation.

- Nothing really happened, so let's just go to sleep.

But what she'd written was merely a denial that anything had happened.

“Ah.. Th-then? I suppose that's a relief, but..”

If nothing had happened, then it was a relief, but judging by her expression and what she'd done earlier, there was no way nothing had happened. I was a little confused, but since she insisted that was the case, there was nothing more I could say, so I reluctantly nodded.

“But I haven't washed yet..”

Lumia's face brightened, and she began pushing me toward the bathroom.

In the end, Lumia forcibly shoved me into the bathroom, and I stared at the door that slammed shut with a bewildered expression.

I really couldn't understand what Lumia was thinking..

Just as I came up with an excuse about needing to bring in my long underwear and underwear and reached for the door, it opened first. My long underwear and underwear were thrown onto the floor, and then the door shut again. She had completely blocked even my excuse before I could make it.

“... Should I wash up?”

Right.. I should wash first and think afterward.

Wouldn't things be different after I washed up and came out?

Thinking that, I stepped into the bathroom.

“...”

Again.. Had she left without draining the water?

Whether she'd come out in a hurry or simply hadn't thought about it, the water had been cold for quite some time.

I sighed as the troubled thoughts filling my head surfaced once more.

“Huh?”

The mirror was wet.

As far as I remembered, Lumia usually filled the tub and bathed in it, so water didn't tend to splash around much when she washed. I felt a little self-conscious about remembering something like that, but it was an unavoidable habit I'd developed after returning to the past.

“Did she wash especially vigorously today?”

Or maybe something really had happened, but she'd dealt with it on her own and simply hadn't told me.

But what should I call the state of the bathroom now..? To put it bluntly, it was a complete mess. Normally, she filled the tub and soaked in it to warm herself, so there was no reason for water to get on the walls or mirror.

No matter how I thought about it, I could only explain it by assuming something had happened in the bathroom. Just in case, I checked the small window up above, but there was nothing wrong with it. An ordinary person couldn't have entered through it, and if someone had used magic to get in, it would have been strange for me not to notice.

So it couldn't have been an intruder.

“What on earth is going on..?”

The question wouldn't leave me, but washing up had to come first.

I scratched my head, looked around the bathroom, and took off my clothes.

I felt grimy, so I should wash first and worry about it afterward.