Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 8 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 2===
The first place that Basara and Hasegawa went to after going through the station’s ticketing gates was the tourist information centre which was located on the station premises. They didn’t go there to ask for directions — it was so that they could drop off their luggage. As soon as they paid a thousand yen together to make it easier to walk around, Hasegawa immediately entwined her arms around his.

“After coming this far, you don’t have to worry about what everyone else thinks now…you don’t mind, right?”

She sweetly leaned her body against Basara’s arms. Almost immediately, Hasegawa’s sweet fragrance tickled his nostrils.

“N-No…of course not.”

Because there were many slopes in this area, Hasegawa wasn’t wearing her usual high-heels today, and instead wore low-heeled boots. Therefore, her eyes naturally gazed up at Basara from a slightly lower angle when she stood next to him and they looked at each other’s eyes. This instantly doubled Hasegawa’s allure. Basara nodded as he blushed, while Hasegawa seemed elated about the fact that they were acting like lovers. After they intertwined their fingers, they left the building — and headed out towards the front of the station.

“So, what are we going to do now, sensei?”

The region which flourished as a hot-spring town was approximately thirty minutes northeast by train from their current location. Of course, there were also some hot-spring accommodations within the vicinity of the station, but this particular neighbourhood was more famous for its sightseeing spots such as historic shrines, world heritage-listed temples, and its lookouts which provided majestic views of natural scenery. It was the first time that Basara had been here, but he knew about the kind of place this was. Since they had purposely dropped their luggage off, there was probably a certain place that Hasegawa wanted to go see. Basara had asked her that question as they stood in front of a roundabout.

“That’s right…there are several places that I want to visit with you, but before that…”

After saying that, Hasegawa tugged Basara’s arm as she lead him towards the right — into a souvenir store that was next to the station.

“First off, let’s tried the fried manju<ref>Manju: A type of Japanese sweet which consists of an outer bun made from a mixture of flour, while the inner filling is usually some form of bean paste.</ref> here. They seem to be rather famous and delicious.”

Hasegawa said with a smile. When he looked at it, he recalled that it had been introduced on a famous television program before, and one of its features was its easy-to-find location. Hasegawa handed over some small change to the female clerk who was selling them to buy one. And then

“Here, Toujou.”

The fried manju which was still piping hot in its white wrapping paper was brought towards Basara.

“Well, I’ll have a bite then.”

As Basara said that, he reached over to the fried manju with his hand. However, Hasegawa was a bit sulky as she said

“Idiot…open your mouth.”

She said as she peered up at him. He unconsciously gulped.

“—Or, would you rather I use my mouth?”

After being asked that, Basara decided to open his mouth, and Hasegawa’s hand brought the fried manju towards him. As he took a bite, the soft and fragrant scent came first, followed by the sweetness of the dough which had a bean-paste filling, while the outer layer which was made with soy milk and bean curd skin had a crispy texture.

“It’s delicious…!”

While Basara was impressed by the flavour which had been featured on television and in magazines…

“Fufu, you got some of it on you…”

Hasegawa said as she picked up the small piece which had gotten stuck to the edge of Basara’s lips with her fingers. She then brought it to her own lips instead and lightly kissed it before putting it into her mouth. Perhaps it was because they were away from the public eye and didn’t have to worry about being seen that she wanted to try acting like lovey-dovey couple today to see what it felt like. Then…Basara asked

“—Would you like me to feed you?”

As soon as those words were uttered from his mouth, Hasegawa’s expression filled with delight.

“Well then, please do…”

As she said that, she handed the fried manju over to Basara, and then drew her mouth close while holding the right side of her hair back. She bit into the same place that Basara had. After chewing for a bit and then swallowing, Hasegawa seductively licked her glossy lips and revealed a charming smile upon her face.

“Mmm…it certainly is delicious.”

Even though she simply took a bite of the manju, why did it seem so erotic? The faint colour of Hasegawa’s lipstick was left behind on the manju’s wrapping. Basara was slightly hesitant, as he was ashamed to feel shy about it, so he maintained a calm expression as he ate the rest of the fried manju. And then — Hasegawa suddenly kissed him.

“—?”

It wasn’t his cheek. It was a lip to lip kiss. Although Basara froze up in surprise, Hasegawa continued to kiss him passionately without any regard for the store staff and other customers. And then, Hasegawa gradually released his lips.

“W-What are you doing all of a sudden…?”

“Because your face seemed to say that an indirect kiss was nothing, I wanted to test if you’d be fine even if it was a direct kiss.”

“…It’s good you got an answer then.”

He was a student, and Hasegawa was a teacher. That was something which wouldn’t change. Even so, when it was just the two of them, sometimes it felt as though he had the initiative.

''…No.''

Most certainly, he was in the centre of Hasegawa’s palm and under her spell. In such a way, Basara was able to indulge in the temptation and appeal of an adult woman. It was something that Mio and the others lacked, and that was why when Basara was faced with Hasegawa, he had this uncontrollable urge to see how much he could get away with. This resulted in a sense of exhilaration and pleasure in testing how far he could go. However, no matter how reckless Basara became and no matter how unreasonable he acted, Hasegawa always forgave him with her usual sultry smile, and even responded to him with delight.

“—Well then, I suppose it’s time we go.”

Basara nodded in response to Hasegawa’s words — and they started to move. 

Their choice of transportation means were a bus, taxi, or even a rental car. When Basara asked what they would do, Hasegawa chose the taxi.

“Since modern cars have navigation systems, it’s rare for people to get lost nowadays, but it seems inevitable that the tourist spots will be crowded on weekends.”

Since they had limited time, there was nothing more valuable than a local driver well-versed in knowledge such as the nearest parking spot at a destination, or alternate routes to avoid traffic jams, or even dropping a customer off and waiting in another place. Such things couldn’t be found in guide books. Therefore

“If we can afford to do so, it’s best to reserve a taxi for a fixed period of time so that we can enjoy sightseeing without having to worry about various things.”

He had no objections to Hasegawa’s proposal. They rented a taxi which had stopped in front of the station until the evening, and thus Basara and Hasegawa began to travel around to various different tourist locations. They made use of the time in the morning to see natural scenery such as the lake to the west, and the large waterfall that was situated in the surrounding area. It was currently winter, and the lake surface stood at an altitude of over a thousand metres above sea level. The water surface rippled with the mountain wind that gusted down from the surrounding hills, and the tree branches beside the lake which became wet were completely frozen. The appearance of the area was like a fantasy scene resembling an ice chandelier. The taxi driver that they had hired was an old man, and when they told him where they wanted to visit during this season — he showed them how to arrive at a scenic spot perfect for today’s conditions.

“It’s so pretty…”

Hasegawa cuddled close to Basara as she murmured so, and as Basara followed the direction of her gaze, he forgot about the cold in the face of the beautiful scenery which spread out before his eyes.

“Would you like me to take a commemorative photo of you two?”

The driver said. He had probably helped to capture the memories of other lovers who had visited this area until now. Hasegawa glanced toward him as she said

“…Toujou, shall we indulge in the kind offer?”

“Of course, let’s take one.”

Basara had decided that to do whatever he could to indulge Hasegawa during this trip. When he agreed to it with a smile, Hasegawa gladly opened the camera app on her phone and handed it to the driver. She then walked over to Basara’s side.

“Thank you…Toujou.”

She whispered in a voice that only Basara could hear. So, in order to respond to those feelings of hers, Basara wrapped his arm around Hasegawa’s shoulder and pulled her closer to himself.

“——”

Hasegawa seemed momentarily surprised by his reaction, but she quickly became happy about it, and leaned in close towards his chest.

“—Alright, I’ll take it now.”

The two of them smiled in response to the driver’s call. And once the mobile phone was returned after the photo, Basara and Hasegawa couldn’t be seen as anything else but lovers in the photo.

“………”

“………”

The two of them gazed at the photo, and as they raised their faces from the screen, they realised how close they had gotten to each other. The picture was a reflection of reality. Therefore, when they looked at themselves objectively in the photo, they became even more conscious of each other than before. Moreover, the expression and atmosphere that the photograph captured of Basara and Hasegawa this time was wondrous — and so, the mood between Basara and Hasegawa changed after that point.

“Sensei…over here.”

“…Yes.”

Since they were away from their usual area, there was a low chance that they would be seen by any acquaintances, so Basara held Hasegawa’s waist in the back seat of the taxi, and they cuddled together. As a veteran of the profession who was able to read the mood, the driver refrained from interrupting them, and no longer talked about the scenery or different points of interest. He simply left those two alone in the back seat. And when they visited the large waterfall which was known as one of the three largest in Japan, the driver remained in the car to wait for them since there was an entry fee for the elevator to get up to the observatory. They walked over to the elevator hall after buying tickets from the reception counter, but there was a long queue in front of the two elevators since it was a weekend. As one elevator came down for a round trip, all of the people who had lined up just in front of them entered, filling it up to capacity…customers spilled out of the adjacent elevator as they had just returned from the observatory. Since there were no other customers behind them, it ended up being just the two of them in the elevator — Basara and Hasegawa. So — as soon as the elevator doors were closed by the staff

“Toujou…mmm, chuu.”

With moist eyes, Hasegawa kissed him, and Basara assertively ensnared his tongue with hers. Although they could be seen in the control room via the surveillance camera, they didn’t care. It would take sixty seconds for them to reach the observatory — and there would be a lot of tourists waiting at the observatory. Nonetheless, Basara held Hasegawa’s waist with his right hand, and used his left hand to lower the zipper on the front of her coat. And then, while he continued to kiss her, he unreservedly slipped his hand into Hasegawa’s clothing and began to fondle her breasts while Hasegawa joyfully twisted her hips.

“Aah…Toujou, chuu…haah, Toujou…mmm ♥”

She sought an even more passionate kiss from Basara. So when Basara poured plenty of his saliva into her mouth, Hasegawa gulped it all down with a lewd noise. They wanted to progress even further than that if possible. However, the elevator was almost about to arrive at the observatory.

“—Sensei, it’s almost time.”

“Mmm…I know, we’ll continue later.”

They understood. So as they reluctantly parted lips from each other, they got out of the elevator as if nothing had happened. —A huge waterfall could be seen from the observation deck, and it certainly lived up to its reputation of being one of the three largest. They looked out from the observation deck at the majesty of the large waterfall and the rapidly falling water from a height of around a hundred metres. As with the previous lake, this waterfall greeted them with a special appearance that could only be seen in winter. A myriad of smaller waterfalls were supposed to run side-by-side like the planks in a blind around the large waterfall — but they had frozen under the low winter temperature and spread like a bird’s wing. Basara was fascinated by the artistic form that nature had created with the beautiful blue ice.

“Umm~…excuse me, could you please take a photo for us?”

The voice of a young woman resounded suddenly as she and her female companion gazed at the waterfall from beside them. Although they appeared to have a selfie-stick for their mobile phones, it seemed as though it was too crowded for them to make use of it.

“Alright, I’ll take it — now.”

As Basara conveyed the timing to them, he pressed the shutter button on the screen. Just in case, he took a few pictures and made sure that they checked so that there weren’t any problems.

“Wow~ you’re a good photographer!”

“So true…it’s like you’re a professional photographer.”

As he was praised by the two women, Basara simply said “Thank you…” as he bowed lightly.

''…They seem happy.''

In addition to the joy of being able to see someone happy as a result of his actions, he felt pleased that he had been praised more than anything else, since it was in the same vein as his father who was a talented photographer. —Suddenly, Basara could feel words being traced on his back. Although he was wearing a coat, he could understand that the words written were ‘cheater’ and ‘idiot’. She was teasing him again…Basara thought, but as he turned around

''…Huh….''

But, Hasegawa was not smiling. She was glaring at him with a disapproving expression in her eyes.

“…………”

Her eyes were the same as on that Christmas night — in the elevator of Hasegawa’s apartment, when she had told him an unforgettable truth. It was a feeling named jealousy.

“——”

Basara immediately tried to think about where he had gone wrong, but he had already failed. The way she didn’t say anything but instead just stared up at him was rather cute…without regard for the other tourists in their surroundings, he was tempted by an urge to embrace Hasegawa and kiss her. But….

“Ah, sorry…if it’s okay with you, would you like me to take a photo of you two?”

As the woman said so apologetically, Hasegawa entwined her arm around Basara’s as if to assert her presence. After a photo of the two of them was taken with the waterfall as the backdrop and they looked at the beautiful sight of the winter waterfall once more, they got on an elevator to head back down to the ground. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t able to be alone on the way back down, and the elevator that they entered was crowded.

“—Sensei, over here.”

To prevent other men from touching Hasegawa, Basara guarded her.

“………”

Hasegawa moved and tightly embraced him in silence. And then

“Toujou…during this trip, you are mine.”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

Basara embraced her in return as he apologised to the somewhat sulky Hasegawa. When they arrived at the ground level and returned to the taxi, it was already lunch time. When Basara asked the driver for a store recommendation, he also listened to their desired schedule for the remainder of the afternoon and then took them to a popular soba restaurant that was known to both tourists and locals. —And so, from afternoon onwards, they explored the art that was crafted by human hands, rather than the art of nature. They went to see a shrine that was registered as a world heritage site.