Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (32 page)

—Besides their group, no other group appeared to have applied for permission.

Female bathing robes were literally "mini-coats that reached mid-thigh without any pants".
Though maybe describing them as "bathing robes the length of mini-skirts without the belt" sounded sexier?
The lack of a belt certainly made it easier to relax in the onsen, but provided even less sense of security than a swimsuit.

"Wow.
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"W.
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What is it?"

Anyone wearing this would undoubtedly be too ashamed to appear before anyone of the opposite gender, but everyone here was a girl and trustworthy teammates on top of that.
However, at Eimi's explosive breath, Honoka was overcome by a sense of shame and alertness as if a man had seen her.

She couldn't help but wrap her arms tightly around the front of her robe.

Eimi's eyes were glued in that direction — Honoka's bosom.

"How surprising, Honoka cuts a great figure!"

Eimi gradually advanced.

Honoka kept retreating.

Her back quickly encountered the wall of the bathing area.

"Honoka."

"What is it?"

The predatory aura that swirled around Eimi was almost enough to make Honoka scream.

"Can I take a look?"

"Of course not!"

Eimi's eyes were laughing, so she was obviously messing around.
The question was how far she would take the joke.

Honoka quickly glanced around the bathing area for help.
Her teammates were either relaxing in the onsen or sitting on the edge soaking their feet.
Everyone around her had the same smiling eyes Eimi did, with one exception.

"What's the matter, after all, Honoka's bust is huge."

"Is that the problem here!"

Eimi's eyes remained smiling, but Honoka could see something lurking in her eyes that told her this wouldn't end in a joking manner.

"Shizuku, save me!"

Honoka couldn't help but appeal for help from Shizuku, "the one exception".

Shizuku slowly rose.

"So what?"

After saying this, she left the bathing area.

"What!"

At her best friend's betrayal, Honoka screamed in pain.

Instantly, Shizuku lowered a sorrowful gaze towards her own chest.

"After all, Honoka's bust is huge."

After leaving these incriminating words, she turned and headed into the sauna.

The bathing area was filled with Honoka's shrieks.

(What are they fighting over now?
)

Miyuki could not comprehend what was causing the sounds of water splashing everywhere in the bathing area as she continued to shower.
She had already washed off the sweat and dust of the day, but still went through the motions and activated the "Personal Washer" in the shower to thoroughly rinse herself off (from the collar down) before putting on her bathing robe.
She wrapped a towel around her silky hair to hold it in place and finally padded into the bathing area that finally quieted down.
At this moment, every teammate in the area locked their gaze on Miyuki's figure.

"W.
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What's wrong?"

Miyuki shrank back as she came to a halt, but no one replied.

The number of looks never changed.

"Everyone, stop, Miyuki is straight!"

For some reason, Honoka said this in a solemn and stirring voice, which shattered the unnatural silence.

"Honoka?"

Honoka's words were too vague for Miyuki to comprehend its meaning.

"Ah~ Sorry, sorry, accidentally lost track of myself."

Sitting in the innermost corner by the edge of bath was a young lady from Class D named Satomi Subaru who spoke in a gentlemanly tone that would not seem out of place on a young man.
This allowed Miyuki to finally make the connection regarding what Honoka was talking about and also understand exactly what the looks directed her way signified.

"Hold on.
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We're all girls here, what are you talking about?"

Miyuki frantically said and tugged her robe towards the inside of her thighs.
This movement actually once more ignited the tense atmosphere within the bathhouse.

The moisture left over from the shower interacted with the steam let off by the onsen, causing the thin fabric to cling tightly to the body, revealing Miyuki's feminine curves as well as the vibrant twin orbs on her chest.

The front collar revealed flesh that was dyed to a faint pink.

Extending beneath the short hem of the robes was a pair of impeccable, dazzling, and beautiful legs.

Especially in Miyuki's condition, even compared to being completely unclothed, even in a bathing robe that was far less revealing than her swimsuit, this brewed an irresistibly lovable charisma.

".
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Are all girls, yeah, I understand, but.
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"I don't know how to say this.
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But if it's Miyuki that's OK."

Everyone whispered in profound agreement.

"That's enough!
Now you're just going too far."

Even at this disadvantage, Miyuki bravely strode into the bath.

She gracefully sank into bath and stretched out her legs under everyone's unblinking gaze.

As she lowered herself to a sitting position, the water reached neck height.
The front collar swayed to the movement of the water and, for an instant, Miyuki's nape was revealed.

Somewhere, a collective gasp could be heard.

This awkward atmosphere was neither joking nor was it intended to cause a scene.

If this continues, Miyuki's chastity might be in danger.

"Miyuki, I'm with you!"

Fortunately, Honoka splashed down beside Miyuki, disrupting the spider's web that was closing around the butterfly.

"If you don't stop now, everyone here runs the risk of bathing in frigid water!"

Upon hearing this threat, all their teammates finally adopted serious expressions and turned away from watching Miyuki.

Even with their eyes elsewhere, they were still consciously drawn to Miyuki.

Plainly, there were many young girls present, but no one ventured to speak.

On the other hand, Miyuki wanted to protest to Honoka's words, but felt that rashly proclaiming that "she definitely wouldn't do anything like that" may be a dangerous move that would upset the delicate balance, so she refrained.

".
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What happened?"

Shizuku, who had hitherto been staying in the sauna by herself, asked innocently as she beheld the awkward atmosphere in the bathhouse.

Likely self-reflecting after someone finally asked, the young ladies returned to normal.

Once the young girls adopted their regular behavior, the bathhouse was once again filled with the sounds of talk and laughter.

The subjects that girls talk about are more than just fashion and romance.

Still, fashion and romance were truly two of the most popular subjects.

While soaking in the bath, the conversation naturally turned to the males they met during the previous night's banquet.
The primary target were "boys", but included some "men" and a small group of "older men".
This sounds like the breath of their admiration spanned a large spectrum, but honestly that was how it was:

"—So, the bartender behind the counter was quite an interesting old timer."

"Whoa.
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That guy's totally over 40.
To think that you're interested in middle-aged men, I think your life is over.
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"Correction, please say interesting gentleman.
In my eyes, high school students are all immature kids that are completely undependable."

"Really~?
I don't think all the boys our age are like that, maybe because you've been seeing the wrong people?"

"Yeah, Isori-senpai looks pretty tolerant, right?
More importantly, he looks like a decent guy."

"I feel kind of empty going after someone with a girlfriend already, you know?
Also in Isori-senpai's case, his girlfriend has already advanced to fiancée."

"Speaking of dependable, I guess that has to be Juumonji-senpai?"

"Nah, Juumonji-senpai is too dependable.
Not only that, he's also the Ten Master Clans' future successor."

"Speaking of successors of the Ten Master Clans, there's the successor for the Ichijou Family from Third High, right?"

"Ah, I saw him, he's pretty hot."

"Yeah, I know you shouldn't judge boys by outward appearances, but it certainly doesn't hurt if he is easy on the eyes."

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Just like that.

All of a sudden, Eimi suddenly thrust the conversation back to Miyuki, who was sitting in the corner of the bath letting the (mental) exhaustion soak out of her.

"Speaking of Ichijou from Third High, he was watching Miyuki with burning eyes."

Eimi was speaking to Miyuki, but Miyuki was unable to respond to these words.

"Eh, really?"

"Maybe it was love at first sight?"

"This is Miyuki we're talking about, it's highly possible."

"You should say that it would be strange for boys not to fall in love with Miyuki at first sight, right?"

"Maybe they knew each other from long ago."

Everyone listening let out delighted shrieks.

"Miyuki, is that true?"

Shizuku didn't join the shrieking and adopted a serious tone — Shizuku's tone lacked the normal voice inflection, so even if she personally didn't intend to, she still came across as being solemn — as she asked Miyuki.

Miyuki's response was:

".
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Allow me to be perfectly clear, I've only seen Ichijou-kun in pictures and didn't even know where he was located during the banquet."

This might qualify as being callous or sheer overkill, and if Third High had heard Miyuki's response, morale probably would have plummeted.
The young girls bursting with expectations were all taken aback upon hearing this answer.

Even so, there were always people who refused to surrender.

"If that's the case, what type of guy does Miyuki like?
Is it truly like your brother's type?"

The one who reacted to Subaru's words was not Miyuki, but Honoka instead.
Her body tensed momentarily, which was only detected by Shizuku who was sitting beside her.

Miyuki displayed an incredibly calm attitude and an almost wordless expression as she answered Subaru.

"I have no idea where you think this is going.
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But Onii-sama and I are siblings by blood, so I've never seen Onii-sama as a romantic partner.
Also, I don't believe there's anyone else in the entire world that could be the same as Onii-sama."