Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 24: Sloth

“How long do you think a sloth’s average sleep time is?”

On the morning of the third day of our aimless journey. After checking out.

Suddenly, Nanase posed a quiz question in the hotel lobby.

“…About 12 hours?”

I thought seriously and answered, to which Nanase said with a face like she was delivering a guilty verdict.

“Incorrect. The correct answer is 15 to 18 hours.”

“Sloths really sleep a lot, huh?”

“Next question: How many hours did Takahashi-kun sleep yesterday?”

“…15 hours.”

“You should change your name to Sloth.”

Nanase’s mouth made an even sharper “へ” shape.

It seemed she was quite annoyed.

“Well, we did a lot of moving around yesterday. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep as soon as I got back to the room.”

“And you woke up 10 minutes before check-out?”

“Yeah, I was so surprised. When I woke up and looked at my phone, there were a ton of missed calls from you, and someone was knocking on the door like a debt collector.”

“I was surprised too. I was supposed to be leisurely preparing to leave an hour before check-out, but because someone turned into a sloth, I had to knock on the door.”

“I thought the police were coming to take us away.”

“I was worried we wouldn’t make it in time for check-out.”

“But don’t you think you were too worried? Even if we were a little late for check-out, we wouldn’t have to pay extra fees.”

Nanase is the type to be strict about plans and schedules.

So, if check-out time was set at 10 o’clock, she absolutely wanted to return the key to the front desk by that time.

Maybe she had a strong belief in that.

“…I got worried.”

“Huh?”

“I got worried, okay? I called dozens of times and you didn’t answer, and there was no response when I knocked on the door… I was worried something had happened, just a little!”

Nanase said that, looking like she was more than just a little worried. For a while, I was dumbfounded and couldn’t digest her words. After understanding the meaning a little later, an indescribable embarrassment arrived.

“…I’m sorry.”

When I apologized, Nanase looked away this time.

She looked like she didn’t mean to say that.

“But thank you for worrying about me.”

“I told you, it was just a little, just a little.”

“For now, I’m in good health, so you can rest assured.”

“Of course. It would be absurd for you to die before me.”

“That’s true.”

“At least live until I die.”

“Then, I can’t die for another 70 years.”

“Maybe I’ll die sooner than expected?”

“Please live at least until this trip is over.”

“That is…depending on how I feel.”

Nanase’s words were vague.

It seemed that her suicidal thoughts hadn’t disappeared yet.

But well, considering Nanase’s personality, she probably wouldn’t do something like leaving on a journey without saying anything.

I have no choice but to believe that she won’t.

All I can do is keep an eye on her within my reach and make sure she doesn’t have any strange thoughts.

“By the way, if you think about it calmly, you and I hardly know anything about each other.”

“What’s the point of saying something so obvious?”

“No, I mean, since we’re acting together, I thought it would be better to share our sleep characteristics to avoid situations like this.”

“You’re surprisingly making a valid point.”

“Surprisingly is unnecessary. So, I have a body that needs deep and long sleep compared to others, so when there’s no response, it’s most likely that I’m asleep.”

“You don’t seem to use your head that much during the day, but you sure need a lot of hibernation.”

“Saying that is unnecessary.”

“I understand that you’re a long sleeper. From now on, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“That helps. By the way, how about you, Nanase?”

“…”

“Why am I getting a look like you’re staring at garbage?”

“Asking someone about their sleep characteristics makes me think you’re plotting something indecent while they’re asleep.”

“I’m not! Even if I were planning something, it would be too roundabout!”

“I’m joking. My sleep depth is random, but I usually try to get 6 hours of sleep, and 7.5 hours when I’m tired.”

“I didn’t expect you to have your sleep schedule managed as well.”

“Since I found out that my best sleep time is more than 6 hours and in multiples of 1.5 hours, my study efficiency and activity efficiency have improved dramatically. The first thing people should do is investigate their body’s specs.”

Nanase spoke with a lively expression. When the topic turned to efficiency and rationalization, it was easy to see Nanase’s mood lift. My understanding of her had deepened in that aspect.