Chapter 75
Gym Storage Room ①
It was almost December, and the mornings and evenings had started to get really cold.
Even during club activities, if you weren’t moving, wearing summer uniforms was becoming pretty rough…
“So there’s a place like this, huh.”
“Apparently it’s an old gym storage room. Nowadays, it’s just used for storing things.”
The spare supplies for club activities, like quicklime and other items, were kept in this old gym storage room. Usually, we’d take what we needed for practice and return it to the storage if we ran out.
Tsukiyo and I had come to the old gym storage room to organize the supplies and transport equipment.
“Be careful, the fittings are pretty bad.”
“Okay~”
The old gym storage was packed full of stuff, making it a bit of a hassle to get things out. I had to close the door, reach in through the opening, and grab the quicklime from the back.
“The light works properly.”
“Still, it’s dark. Let’s finish quickly.”
Tsukiyo and I split up to organize the storage. The place was dusty. Since it was heavy work, both Tsukiyo and I took off our winter jackets and left them outside.
“You know, with places like these gym storage rooms…”
Tsukiyo hopped onto an old, unused vaulting box.
“There are often stories where two people get trapped inside, right?”
“That’s just in manga, right? That kind of thing doesn’t happen in real life.”
At that moment, a blackboard we had stacked slipped off its sheet and fell. Luckily, neither of us was in the way, but it hit the door with a loud crash.
“Oh, it bent.”
We put the bent blackboard on the floor for a moment, and I grabbed the door to take it outside.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“The door won’t open.”
Tsukiyo and I tried to open the door together, but it wouldn’t budge. Technically, with a tool, it might be possible, but right now it was stuck.
The bad fittings of the door and the impact had made it completely immovable.
“So we’ve been locked in.”
“Just after I mentioned it too…”
“My phone… oh, it’s in the changing room since club practice is going on.”
Same with me. Being locked in an old gym storage room with almost no passersby seemed pretty bad…
“Taiyo-san…”
Tsukiyo looked a little anxious. Even though the light worked, it would still get dark after sunset…
“It’s before 5 PM now. Seiya has the day off from his part-time job, and we planned to go home together after practice. He’ll probably notice soon.”
Tsukiyo’s face brightened.
“So my brother will come looking for us?”
“He knows about the old gym storage and the equipment in front, so he should get here in about an hour.”
“Thank goodness~”
Indeed, that was a relief. Being stuck here until morning would have been bad. Being in a small room with just Tsukiyo wasn’t easy either.
Tsukiyo moved the quicklime on the mat and lay down on it.
Seeing her in the thin, white short-sleeved uniform, my eyes inevitably wandered to her ideally grown chest. Wait, has it grown a bit? No, that’s harassment!
I shouldn’t think such impure thoughts. I sat down next to her.
We killed time with casual conversation… until a tiny sneeze caught my attention.
“Ah-choo.”
It was a cute sneeze. That’s when I realized: both Tsukiyo and I were still in our summer uniforms. Moving supplies had been fine, but just sitting here in late November cold wrapped around us.
“It’s really cold, huh.”
“Do you think we’ll be okay for another hour?”
I thought Seiya would handle it, but… freezing to death here would not be funny.
Even if we wanted to exercise, there was no space to do anything in this tiny gym storage room. What should we do…?
“If only we could warm up somehow…”
“Well then!”
Tsukiyo said with a gentle smile:
“How about we hug to keep warm?”
“What are you saying?”
Sitting cross-legged and looking straight at me, she made the suggestion. Ah, yes… I do want to hold her with all my strength.
But if Seiya saw this, my life would probably be over.
Tsukiyo took my hand.
“See, it’s already a little warmer.”
Indeed. Touching her soft hand, I felt my body warm a little. But this alone wouldn’t last.
Tsukiyo stood up and went behind me. She seemed hesitant… about what?
“Here!”
Her hands appeared in my vision and grabbed me, pulling me into a hug from behind.
“W-wait, Tsukiyo!?”
“Th-this is how you get warm!!”
It was certainly warming, but not good for my mental health. The soft contact on my back distracted me.
I tried to push her away, but she held me tightly.
Her small face was right next to mine, her breath brushing my ear. My body was heated, and the cold receded. But as a guy, this was… bad.
“Th-this is bad. What if someone sees us here?”
“No one will come. The door is bad enough that anyone approaching would notice immediately.”
“Still, hugging a guy…”
“But I do this with my brother when it’s cold too.”
She does it with Seiya? Then maybe it’s acceptable between siblings. I’ve never done this with my own little sister…
“When I was in elementary school.”
“Hey, what did you just say?”
Seizing the moment when her strength weakened, I broke free from the hug.
Tsukiyo tried to leap at me on the mat again; I raised both hands and shook my head. This is weird… isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?
“Fufu, you can’t escape now.”
“Tsukiyo…”
Facing her like this, I realized:
“Your face is bright red. Aren’t you embarrassed? You must be.”
“I-I’m not embarrassed! This is normal!”
Tsukiyo’s ears were red, and she even seemed to be sweating a little. With her already this heated, there was no need to hug her.
Besides, I had already enjoyed enough, and I was scared of losing control if it went further.
Tsukiyo slowly approached and jumped at me. I raised my hands to hold her leap.
“Hyah!”
“Huh…”
My hands had grabbed… something incredible.
