Kurotsuchi stood there alone, a bit dazed as she watched the scene in front of her.
She wasn't as naive as she had been at the start anymore, and she understood Aoba's nature fairly well.
But something like this… it was still her first time seeing it.
It felt like the first time hiding under the covers, secretly watching a video a close friend sent.
She raised her hands again to cover her eyes, but the gaps between her fingers completely exposed her wide eyes.
There was nervousness, mixed with a kind of expectation she herself couldn't quite explain.
She didn't know whether it was because the amount of information she was taking in was too much, or because the temperature of the hot spring was too high, but her whole face was now flushed in an unnatural way.
As if it might start dripping blood at any moment.
"Mm…"
As she kept watching, Kurotsuchi's hands that had been covering her eyes slowly lowered, and she leaned back lazily against the edge of the hot spring.
Without realizing it… she noticed that the scene in front of her had started to become a bit blurry.
'Is it because the steam in the hot spring is too thick?'
Kurotsuchi thought hazily.
Her mind, without her noticing, was becoming heavy and sluggish. She didn't know if it was because the hot spring was too hot, or for some other reason.
Even her body began to sway slightly.
"Hm?"
'What's going on?'
Kurotsuchi noticed something was off with her body. She suddenly felt a swelling sensation at the tip of her nose, and then she could feel a warm liquid flowing out through her nostrils.
At first, she thought it was just a runny nose, but when she lowered her head, she saw a drop of red liquid fall from the tip of her nose and spread across the surface of the hot spring water.
'I… have a nosebleed?'
She immediately stood up, wanting to go deal with it, but the moment she stood, everything went black.
Glug! Glug!
"Ah, looks like Kurotsuchi passed out from soaking too long?"
Aoba, whose attention kept drifting back to Kurotsuchi from time to time, noticed her tipping her head back and falling over.
It looked like she got dizzy and flushed from soaking too long, and then her brain just shut down.
———
"Mm… my head feels so heavy."
Almost becoming the first Tsuchikage in history to drown in a hot spring, Kurotsuchi was quickly carried to a guest room by Aoba, then treated with medical ninjutsu and brought back to consciousness. She woke up groggily.
But even after waking, her mind was still a bit laggy, and her memory of what had just happened was somewhat fuzzy.
"You're awake?", Aoba, who was sitting nearby, naturally heard her groggy voice.
"Hm?"
Kurotsuchi blinked, then followed the sound and saw Aoba.
For a moment, the memories from before she lost consciousness flooded back, and her pretty face flushed red again as she couldn't help shrinking back a little.
"Y-you… weren't you with Terumi Mei and the others… why are you here? And… where is this?"
As she spoke, it was like she suddenly thought of something. Her body, which had been shrinking back, quickly sat upright as she looked around.
It was a completely unfamiliar environment.
"Wasn't I just soaking in the hot spring?"
Clearly, she still hadn't realized that she had passed out in the hot spring just now.
Seeing her like this, Aoba looked at her with a somewhat strange expression, then got up and poured her a cup of warm water.
"This is a guest room in the hot spring inn. As for why you and I are here, it's because you passed out while soaking just now. I'm taking care of you."
"I passed out?"
Kurotsuchi took the cup and drank a sip, but her face was still full of disbelief.
'How can I possibly pass out just from soaking in a hot spring?'
But thinking about it, she did seem to have gotten a nosebleed, and then she wanted to run out to deal with it. After that, she had no memory.
Looking at it that way, she really did pass out, and while having a nosebleed at that.
'If I remember correctly, at that time I was just…'
'So embarrassing!'
Seeing her dazed look, Aoba couldn't help but feel like laughing. "Come to think of it, Shizune-nee and the others were all curious how you fainted. You know, you collapsed straight into the hot spring."
"If I hadn't noticed you, you might have become the first Tsuchikage to drown while soaking in a hot spring."
"I… how would I know!"
Hearing his teasing, Kurotsuchi felt her face heat up again, then she shrank back under the covers once more.
"And you, just like I thought, you're a pervert. You were doing that while… and still watching me. So perverted!"
"…"
Aoba was a bit speechless at her turning the blame around like that.
But considering that for a strong-willed girl like Kurotsuchi, this kind of thing really was embarrassing enough, he didn't make a fuss about it.
After all, from his examination, the reason she fainted just now was actually quite complicated.
"There's nothing serious, but you should rest for a bit. I'll head out first."
Seeing that aside from being a bit too embarrassed to face anyone, Kurotsuchi didn't have any physical problems, Aoba planned to let her stay alone for a while to calm down.
"You're leaving?"
But unexpectedly, Kurotsuchi immediately poked her head back out from under the covers.
"You should be fine physically now, right?"
"So now you're going to find Terumi Mei and the others?"
Kurotsuchi ignored his question, her eyes fixed tightly on him.
"Well…"
Aoba couldn't help coughing lightly, "The atmosphere was just about to get livlier earlier, and then it was suddenly interrupted by you. I'm feeling pretty frustrated too, you know."
"I don't care!"
Kurotsuchi felt a bit annoyed, 'I am the one who felt worse watching from the side, okay?'
Then, as if her boldness had fully stacked up, she leaned out from under the covers, hooked Aoba's neck with a forceful move, and pressed him down onto the bed.
"You're not allowed to go!"
"You saw me at my most embarrassing, so I'm going to see you at yours too!"
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