Chapter 156 – Starting With A Refusal

I wanted to go on a vacation with Umi.

There was a bit of an ulterior motive for this, but she readily agreed to it.

If things went well, it would be the first time in a while that I'd be going somewhere far away with someone. The last time I did this was back when I used to visit my grandparents, so I was unusually excited.

"The problem is, where should we go?"

While lying on the bed, I fiddled around on my smartphone to look for a good place.

For couples like us, the recommended locations were either theme parks or big cities like Tokyo or Osaka. Looking at the images, I tried to imagine myself walking through those places with Umi.

We wouldn't be out of place at theme parks since we were a couple. And we could go to Kansai or Hokkaido to taste their specialties since we were pretty big foodies.

I was anxious about going somewhere unknown by ourselves, but at the same  time, I felt excited because Umi would be with me.

As for our travel funds, I had enough saved from all the New Year's money that I had been saving for years. It would be worth it to use all that money for Umi. I only needed to start saving again if we spent everything.

"Still, there's the transportation cost, lodging, meals… If we're sticking to our original plan of staying for two nights, we couldn't go too far with this budget… I should look somewhere nearby…"

I looked for more places nearby and found a few hot spring resorts that fit our criteria. They were smaller in scale than the more famous ones, but since it was only a short trip anyway, it should be enough.

We could get there by bus. Yes, we could fly or take the train, but buses were cheaper and we could allocate the remaining budget for other things.

Some of the spots were well known, but personally I still felt conflicted. 

"Hot spring… Hot spring, huh?"

Going to a hot spring resort with Umi would be nice. It might seem like a modest trip, but it would give us plenty of time alone. There wouldn't be too many people around and it would be easier for us to relax as well.

I started to imagine what would happen on our trip.

Umi would probably wear a yukata or something. She was already a pretty girl, if she were to wear a yukata, she would definitely look even prettier.

Anyway, I should give her a call.

I grabbed my phone and called her. Almost immediately, Umi answered my call.

{Yo, what's up? Have you decided where to go?}

"Ah, mhm. I found something. There's no problem with the budget either."

{Oho, great~ So, where is it?}

"Uh…"

I hesitated a little before continuing.

"A hot spring resort…"

{Ah~}

There was silence after that. Then, in a teasing voice, Umi said.

{Pervert~}

"Ugh…"

When it came to staying in places like that together, it was inevitable that the talk would stray in that direction.

Like I said, I had ulterior motives, so the location ultimately didn't matter, but it did make it obvious. Which was why I hesitated earlier.

I could make excuses like how the place was a good tourism spot, but it would be uncool if I were to do that.

{Say, Maki…}

"Hm?"

{Do you want to do it with me?}

"…Mm…"

Who knew what would happen in the future, but if both of us shared the same feelings, it would be okay for us to do it.

I wanted to know more about her and I wanted her to know more about me.

She might reject me, but that didn't matter much. If we wanted to stay together in the future, we would have to deepen our understanding of each other.

Of course I wasn't only talking about sex…

{Got it, I'll ask my mom about it.}

"Um… Are you sure?"

{I mean, we're lovers, we'll do it eventually, so doing it sooner won't hurt. Besides, you are the one asking, Maki. If I, your lover, refuse your earnest plea, I don't think you can live with it for the rest of your life, no?}

"I mean, I can just look up other places we could stay in…"

{Don't lie~ I know you've been eyeing me with lecherous eyes lately~}

"Look, it happens, okay?"

So she found out, huh? I tried to hide it, but as expected, she was sharp. In my defense, it was inevitable that I would touch some questionable places and since I was a healthy boy in my teens, I would naturally feel that way toward her.

{Hehe… Well, I've been letting you get away with it, so I guess I should also take some responsibility for it~}

"Thank you for the consideration, but anyway, are we really going with my plan?"

{Yeah, sure. We have to discuss everything thoroughly though. Like, where and how long we should stay… There's also the matter of telling everyone about this. I mean, I don't think we can keep anything hidden from Yuu.}

Since our break would be three days long, Amami-san would want to hang out with Umi for sure. I wanted to monopolize Umi for myself this time, so it would be better to tell her everything rather than doing things behind her back again.

She might ask to tag along, so I had to plan out how to dissuade her from that as well.

Thus we started planning the details of our travel plans

But we still had to face the greatest obstacle in our way.

[Q: We want to go on a trip together… (Inquirer: Maehara Maki and Asanagi Umi)]

[A: Huh? Of course you can't. (Respondent: Maehara Masaki)]

[A: My my… No. (Respondent: Asanagi Sora)]

Now, how should we solve this?