Chapter 201 Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Evil

Shimizu Reina didn't expect that there was someone who could be as good as Amamiya Iori.

Because the opponent was so strong, some people could not believe their eyes.

What did they grow up eating?

As a girl herself, Reina Shimizu couldn't help but be very curious about this question.

To be honest, this was the first time she felt such a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

Although she knew before that there was a big gap between herself and Amamiya Iori, that was only Amamiya Iori, and maybe he was just gifted. But now the Ayase Kotone in front of her was just as good as Amamiya Iori, which made Shimizu Rena start to doubt herself.

In fact, as Amamiya Iori said not long ago, Shimizu Rena has indeed grown a little bit recently.

So she was originally somewhat complacent about this, but now seeing the two people in front of her, she began to feel a little ashamed, and simply dived herself underwater, quietly listening to the conversation between Amemiya Iori and Ayase Kotone.

"Although it's not something to be proud of, at least I have a friend with similar interests."

Ayase Kotone untied the towel wrapped around her body, gently dipped one toe into the water, tested the water temperature, and after confirming that it was just right, she completely immersed her entire body in the hot spring, enjoying the pleasure of the spring water caressing her skin.

"From what President Ayase said, isn't that person from our school?"

Hearing this, Ayase Kotone paused for a moment before slowly saying, "If you put it that way, it's actually not wrong."

Ayase Kotone's words were a little unclear, so Amamiya Iori didn't ask any further questions on this topic.

Out of courtesy, if the other party has something inconvenient to say, you should pretend not to hear it or stop asking.

"I actually have something I want to ask President Ayase. Is that okay?"

"Hmm? What's that? Just ask."

"Is President Ayase dating anyone?"

"Uh-huh?"

Ayase Kotone was a little surprised by the sudden question.

However, she had said the same thing by chance when she was with Amamiya Iori in the mall before, so Ayase Kotone immediately shook her head to deny it as she did before.

"of course not."

"I see, so is there someone you like?"

"No...no..."

Ayase Kotone hesitated for a long time before lowering her head and saying this.

"Eh? It's been so long, could it be that the president is still in love with that person?"

Sitting on the rock, Amamiya Iori crossed her left leg over her right leg, and the scenery below was vaguely visible in the mist.

"…Impure interactions with the opposite sex are against school rules."

Ayase Kotone's expression was a little confused, and after a moment of silence, her lips moved.

Upon hearing this, Amamiya Iori tilted his head in confusion.

Is it important to have someone you like according to school rules?

Amemiya Iori couldn't understand this. If she asked her, no matter how many school rules there were, they were not as important as a finger of Shimizu Mizuki. No, not even a hair of hers.

"But, it seems that President Ayase has never dated that person."

"..."

Amemiya Iori's words were just casual and unintentional, but they made Ayase Kotone speechless.

Amamiya Iori also immediately realized that he had said something wrong and tried to make amends:

"By the way, President Ayase, you still haven't found that person yet?"

Hearing this, Ayase Kotone couldn't help but clench her hands and shook her head gently twice.

"Eh? President Ayase, you are not..."

Amamiya Iori jumped into the open-air bath again.

There was a large splash of water, and the hot water also splashed onto Ayase Kotone and Shimizu Reina.

"Amamiya-san?"

Ayase Kotone looked at Amamiya Iori who was approaching in confusion.

"President Ayase, let me take a look."

Amemiya Iori suddenly grabbed Ayase Kotone's shoulders.

"Look, take a look...what are you looking at?"

"Oh, never mind. Let me take a look first."

Amamiya Iori took a deep breath and held it, then dived into the water and submerged.

As mentioned before, the walls of the bathing areas on both sides are not very soundproof, so if there is too loud a noise, it will inevitably be transmitted.

So in the next few minutes, the boys who heard all kinds of strange noises coming from the girls' bathing area but couldn't see the pictures would probably write and direct a fascinating movie in their minds.

"Got it!"

Amemiya Iori suddenly poked his head out of the water, his cheeks slightly red from holding his breath for a long time, and he shook his head like a wet dog.

"Amamiya-san, what are you doing?"

Ayase Kotone herself, who was suddenly attacked, looked at Amamiya Iori who was holding her wrist in confusion.

"I didn't expect President Ayase to come to a place like this and bring something like this with him."

Amemiya Iori smiled and gently pulled up Ayase Kotone's hand that was immersed in the water.

"Amamiya-san, what are you doing..."

"It's a little weird that President Ayase would carry it with him even at a time like this."

Amemiya Iori gently opened Ayase Kotone's tightly clenched hands.

As her fingers slowly spread out, what lay in the palm of Ayase Kotone's hand was an ordinary-looking eraser.

"No, can't I..."

Ayase Kotone's voice was as thin as a mosquito.

"Well, there's no rule against it, but generally no one would bring something like this into a bathhouse."

“…I’m just afraid of losing it.”

After denying it, Ayase Kotone also lowered her face into the bathtub.

The steam from the hot spring swirled gently between the girls, adding a sense of haziness.

"President Ayase always carries it with him. Doesn't that just prove that you treasure it?"

"Baby...it's just a rubber."

Because of the water surface, the sound of Ayase Kotone coming from under the water seemed a little vague.

Although Ayase Kotone said so, Amemiya Iori knew that Ayase Kotone had always carried that eraser with her since she met her by chance in junior high school.

"By the way, if President Ayase finds that person one day, will he confess his feelings to him?"

"...Confession?!"

"Yeah, don't you like him?"

"No, I can't say I like you..."

"Could it be that President Ayase simply wanted to thank him?"

Amemiya Iori didn't know the story behind the eraser, she only knew that Ayase Kotone had been looking for someone since junior high school.

"grateful……"

Yes, how can I thank you...

Ayase Kotone whispered softly.

"By the way, Amamiya-san, why do you always ask questions like this?"

"President Ayase, you don't have to add "classmate" when you call me by my name. After all, we have known each other for a long time. But the president still likes to use honorifics when speaking most of the time."

"Sorry, I'm used to it..."

As the student council president, she often uses honorifics, so it's not hard for Amamiya Iori to understand. "Well, if you want to know why I'm asking this question, President Ayase should know."

"I am certain?"

Contrary to what was clear, Ayase Kotone was completely confused and looked puzzled.

"President Ayase, have you forgotten? When we went to Kiyomizu Temple before, I think you sneaked out with your dear for a while."

Although the words "secretly" and "slip" made it sound like she was doing something bad, Ayase Kotone did ask Shimizumi to do it, so she nodded and admitted it.

"Because at that time I saw a friend from junior high school."

"A friend from junior high school?"

"Yeah, but she and I were admitted to different schools, so we never met again."

"So have you found that person?"

Ayase Kotone shook her head.

"...I must have been dazzled and recognized the wrong person. After all, I haven't seen her for so long, I don't even know what she looks like now."

"Is she a beauty like President Ayase?"

"Me... If we really have to compare, I think she is much prettier than me."

"President Ayase is too modest."

Amemiya Iori smiled and joked that after all, Ayase Kotone was the school belle of their third-year class.

Come to think of it, the three people in the bathhouse now seem to be the school beauties of their respective classes.

Amamiya Iori realized this and found that coincidences were truly terrifying.

"By the way, President Ayase, does your friend have a boyfriend?"

Amemiya Iori asked questions about love again, and Ayase Kotone looked somewhat helpless with an expression that said "here we go again".

"I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding."

"But, President Ayase, do you really not plan to have a boyfriend?"

"Well, because I heard that students' love affairs almost never have any result, probably only about 10 to 30 percent? When I think about the probability of success being less than half, it's hard to make up my mind, so I remind myself not to fall in love now."

These remarks sounded very much like something the student council president would say, so Amamiya Iori was not too surprised.

"But if you don't try dating during your student years, won't you feel like your youth is being wasted?"

"Waste? Is that so? I don't really understand the concept of love..."

"In that case, let me tell you."

After that, Amamiya Iori and Ayase Kotone briefly talked about love, and then talked about some irrelevant topics, and the conversation was very lively. Shimizu Reina was just a listener from beginning to end, enjoying the warmth brought by the hot spring.

……

"Toilet toilet..."

After separating from Kondo Yuichi, Shimizu, who had drunk too much water, left the lobby of the boys' hostel and looked around for a toilet.

The restroom in the boys' hotel was under repair because several boys were too excited about their first day of school trip last night and overused it, so Shimizu had to go out of the lobby to find a restroom.

But is there a toilet nearby?

Qingshuijian was not familiar with the hotel, and wanted to find someone to ask after leaving the lobby. As a result, when passing a corner, he unexpectedly caught a glimpse of two suspicious figures.

"That is……"

Qing Shuijian was confused, but as it was already late, he could only rely on the faint moonlight above his head to barely recognize that one of them was Shinichi Ishikawa who had slipped out of the bathing place earlier.

The person next to him was much shorter in stature and looked like a girl.

Qingshui could vaguely hear what they were talking about here.

I originally just wanted to ask for directions, and it was really embarrassing to encounter this situation.

If I turn around and go back to the hotel now, I will probably suffocate to death tonight.

But if I go forward rashly now, I will only put myself in unnecessary embarrassment.

At this time, Shinichi Ishikawa took something out of his shirt pocket. When he spread out his palm, Shimizu found that it was the fortune that Shinichi Ishikawa had asked for from the love fortune-telling stone yesterday.

Ishikawa Shinichi opened the fortune stick in his hand and let out an exclamation that even Shimizu could hear.

"Yes! That's great!"

Shinichi Ishikawa happily made a victory fist gesture, looking very manly.

The girl standing opposite him also exclaimed when she saw the signature.

"Wow! Ishikawa-senpai is amazing! He got a lucky number."

The girls clapped their hands to congratulate Ishikawa Shinichi.

Shinichi Ishikawa scratched his crew cut shyly.

"No, what can I say? It's just a signature, don't take it too seriously."

Shinichi Ishikawa spoke calmly on the surface, but he still happily folded the lottery ticket carefully and put it into his wallet. He looked like a boy in love.

It was then that Shimizu discovered that the girl sitting opposite Ishikawa Shinichi was actually Onodera Rin.

"Ah~~ I'm fierce..."

Onodera Rin said sadly.

"It doesn't matter. Daji is indeed hard to draw."

"I was hoping to at least draw a small lucky one."

Onodera Rin sighed slightly with some regret.

"I see... But think about it, if you draw a bad luck, doesn't it mean that your luck will only get better from now on?"

Shinichi Ishikawa's words seemed familiar. Shimizu Mi remembered that these were the words he had said to Iori Amamiya at Kiyomizu Temple two days ago when he was comforting Iori Amamiya who had drawn the most unlucky draw.

Come to think of it, I seemed to have comforted Sakurai Haruka in this way before when I went to the shrine with her.

It seems that the number of times you draw a bad omen is much higher than the number of times you draw a good omen.

Forget it, I'd better not try the lottery again in the future.

Although Shinichi Ishikawa borrowed from Shimizu Mi's words, he thought quickly and immediately turned around to comfort Onodera Rin.

It seems that although Shinichi Ishikawa is not very smart at ordinary times, he will work hard at critical moments even without special help from Shimizu.

Seeing how hard he was working, Qingshui decided to wake him up.

"I suggest you tie the bad lot to a higher place. I heard that the gods can see it more easily that way."

This is obviously just superstition, and folk beliefs would not be so exaggerated, but Qingshuijian has indeed heard of such a saying.

As Shimizu spoke unexpectedly, Ishikawa Shinichi and Onodera Rin looked around for the source of the voice.

At first, they seemed to think it was God's will, but Ishikawa Shinichi finally noticed Shimizumi's presence, so Shimizumi repeated to him:
"I heard it's better to tie it up somewhere higher. Please help her."

"See……"

Ishikawa Shinichi immediately saw through Shimizumi's intention and reached out to Onodera Rin.

The hotel chosen by the school is antique. On the day of arrival, Qingshuijian also saw an ancient tree in the backyard that was specially provided for guests to pray for blessings.

As for what kind of blessing you pray for, it depends on the individual.

But as the saying goes, it is better to seek good fortune and avoid evil, this can at least help Onodera Rin avoid danger.

Shimizu Mi told this to Ishikawa Shinichi.

"Oh, ah, so that's it. Well, give it to me then."

"Ah, thank you, Ishikawa-senpai."

While expressing her gratitude, Onodera Rin handed the lottery ticket to Ishikawa Shinichi.

Shinichi Ishikawa said that he would tie the sticks to the highest place, and then he and Rin Onodera walked towards the backyard.

Qingshuijian looked at the two of them again, then left with the feeling of completing a job.

(End of this chapter)