The Hot Spring Episode [Hypnosis Mic Fanfiction]

Chapter 1

"Hey, Sasara. Mind if I come in? I've got something to show you."

"Rei! Come in, come in! There's always time for a chat with a teammate," Sasara replied, ushering Rei inside.

Rosho cleared his throat from the kitchen. "It's my home, Sasara. Could you not invite someone in on my behalf?" He came out from the kitchen to glare at Rei. Not that Rei ever took his glare seriously, but he made an effort. "And you—you wanted Sasara, so you came here? Really?"

"Educated guess." Rei sauntered in and made himself at home on the couch. Ugh. "A guess which turned out to be right. Anyway, Sasara." He reached into his pocket.

"Yeah! What've you got for me, mister mysterious?" Sasara joined him on the couch, much to Rosho's chagrin. He huffed. The nerve of these two!

"Don't ask where I got it, but..." He handed Sasara a piece of paper that Rosho couldn't make out from where he was standing.

"Suspicious and suspiciouser..." Sasara tutted. He unfolded the paper and looked at the contents for a good long while. He finally said, "Y'know, it's unfair to preempt me like that. I'm gonna be wondering all night how you got your hands on this."

"And you'll keep wondering. But I trust you know what to do with this information, right?"

Sasara hummed. "Hey, Rosho?"

What conspiracy was Rei dragging them into? Rosho didn't want to be involved in any more schemes, thank-you-very-much. "What is it?"

"You haven't made any plans for the long weekend, right?"

"...What on earth did he show you?" Rosho crossed the room and leaned over the couch. Sasara passed him the paper... "Chuoku expense report!? Where in the world did—"

Rei chuckled. "How many times are you two going to ask that?"

Rosho harrumphed and dropped the question. "Four rooms at an inn in the mountains for the weekend... Isn't this just some political family vacation? Why are you showing us this?"

"Four rooms, cars chartered from Tokyo and Yokohama, and a header that says 'Operation Division Mix.' You're smart enough to figure it out."

Ah. That was telling when Rei put it like that. "...So they're rewarding the division battle winners. Nice for them, but what does it have to do with us?"

"All our biggest rivals are gonna be in one place," Sasara said. "Doesn't that make you wanna go size 'em up?"

Rosho sighed. "We saw them at the last division battle. And you even had me go against Ichiro not too long ago... We should focus on practicing on our own."

"And we will!" Sasara assured him. "But it's kind of... Well, someone skilled like Rei could probably learn a ton just from watching those battles. But you and me? Not so much. This little outing is a chance to get to know our rivals and prepare. Besides—you were never that great at improv, right?"

Rosho looked at him skeptically.

"I'll treat you," Sasara offered. "It'll be a vacation for us, too."

Rosho sighed, and realized there was no getting out of this. Sasara was set on it. At least Rosho would get a weekend vacation out of it.

Rei started to get up. "I'm glad you two can make good use of this little secret. Let me know what you learn there, I'm sure it'll be good for you."

"Huh?" Sasara reached out to stop him. "Aren't you coming?"

"Like you said, I don't need to meet them to size them up."