Even so, we are living in the present

Chapter 42 – By Express Bus

Upon reaching the bus stop, Yuu sat down on a bench.

Putting their two Boston bags next to him, Kyosuke rotated his shoulders to ease his exhaustion. It would be less than five minutes before the designated bus arrived. It seemed that the two of them would be the only passengers on the bus since nobody else would show up.

As Kyosuke looked at the bus stop schedule with his hands in his pants pockets, he wondered if Yuu would really fall asleep. While spending some quiet time in this way, the bus eventually arrived.

“Yuu, the bus is here.”

“…”

Calling out gently, he woke the other up, grabbed his Boston bag, and boarded the bus as it came to a stop.

This bus was an express bus.

When looking around at the passengers, there were three people sitting in a wide space between each other. Even though it was a weekday, evidently the bus was fairly empty. The two of them chose a seat in the middle, put their Boston bags on the overhead rack, beckoned Yuu to sit by the window, as they sat down side by side. After the sound of the doors closing reverberated through the quiet interior, the bus slowly departed.

Yuu immediately drifted off to sleep. Looking out the window over his partner, Kyosuke casually gazed at the scenery.

He wondered how long had it been since he had ridden on a bus. Reminiscing back to junior high school, he recalled the last time he had ridden on a bus was on a school excursion.

At that time, it was the same person riding next to him. They were still friends, and it was a time when it was unthinkable for them to be sweet to each other. Since Kyosuke didn’t speak to him much compared to now, they hardly conversed at all. However, the bus was packed with classmates, making it extremely noisy.

“…”

Once Yuu fell asleep, he had nothing to do, so he silently shifted his gaze in the direction of travel. Eventually, they arrived at the next stop for boarding. There, too, a pair of people climbed on board.

Although they were a male-female pair, their familiarity with one another suggested they might be a couple, as Kyosuke could discern from his stealthy glances. Yet, the man was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and denim, which would be considered common attire in day-to-day life. The woman, on the other hand, was much younger than the man and appeared to be of a different age.

Age is irrelevant in love, so that is not an issue.

The clothes were so revealing that it seemed out of character to the men, as if she sought to arouse the men’s lust, causing Kyosuke’s expression to twitch and he directed his gaze at his lover, albeit it was a stranger’s matter. After all, he found his lover to be more beautiful and lovely than any other person. While he was engrossed in his lover’s sleeping face, a whispering voice came from diagonally ahead of him.

“… Ma’am, is this really fine?”

“Yeah.”

The words that he didn’t want to hear… rather he shouldn’t have heard them, Kyosuke lowered his eyelids and feigned obliviousness.

“… Hey, tonight’s… good, right?”

“… Yeah…”

He can hear them whispering something to each other. The woman sounded like a cat. And the man responded softly. When Kyosuke imagined that this situation would last all the way to the hotel, he really wanted to go to sleep.

Nevertheless, the sense of danger that something might happen to the sleeping Yuu kept him intolerably on edge, allowing him to stay conscious. All the while, he frequently heard the vivid words of the man and the woman. Until the train drew to a stop near the hotel, there was no other passenger besides the ones who were currently on board.

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Tsukinomiya Grace Hotel.

This was the building in which the two of them would be staying this time. Its stylish design, reminiscent of a white palace, has gained popularity among men and women of all ages. The hotel’s location, a 15-minute walk from Neko Neko Wonderland, reportedly attracts visitors to the theme park, who frequently spend the night here.

By the time Kyosuke and Yuu arrived at the bus stop, roughly an hour had passed since they had boarded the bus.

“Let’s get off, Yuu.”

“… Yeah…”

At some point, he had fallen asleep with his head leaning on Kyosuke’s shoulder, but when he called out to him, he answered in a sleepy reply. Rubbing his right eye briefly, he stretched his arms upwards and stretched his body. With relief at his appearance, Kyosuke stood up.

“You slept well.”

“Yeah, I’m up now.”

Accompanying him, Yuu slowly rose to his feet. Taking down two Boston bags from the top shelf, they stepped out through the open door together. The unfamiliar view around them made him realize that they were on a travel date.

“Kyosuke, is that the hotel?”

He looked up at the white building rising beyond where Yuu was indicating.

“Yeah, on the eighth floor of that building.”

The eighth floor of a ten-story hotel.

He was proud that he was able to reserve a rather decent room. “Now, let’s check in to the hotel,” he thought as he and Yuu started walking hand in hand. From behind, that voice can be heard again.

“This hotel? It’s wonderful… you’ve never been here with your wife?”

“Of course, Yumi is my first.”

The couple who had been flirting incessantly on the bus were apparently also spending the night at the same hotel.

“…”

“I don’t like it,” he honestly pondered.

Having been asleep and clueless about the situation, Yuu peeked at the other’s face in wonder.

“Kyosuke, what’s wrong?”

“Hmm? No, everything’s fine.”

His feet, which had halted at some point, directed once again towards the hotel. After checking in, they immediately went on a date at a theme park for their enjoyment. To his delight, Yuu seemed to be having a great time. Needless to say, Kyosuke was looking forward to it as well.

Though, who would have ever expected to encounter such an incident──