Budget Hotel

**Budget Hotel** (ビジネスホテル, *Bijinesu Hoteru*?) is the forty-ninth chapter in the Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san manga series.

## Summary

Somewhere in the Yamanashi Prefecture, crowds of people have gathered to watch the summer fireworks. Yuu, Ayane, and Koizumi-san are together among the crowd, watching the show in their yukata. Amazed at the the circumstances that brought her and Koizumi-san together in such a sentimental place, Yuu wonders if she was dreaming or seeing an illusion. As Yuu gazes at Koizumi-san, Ayane, who is treating the two of them to a one-night stay at a nearby hotel, suggests that they should go to the hot springs afterwards. Yuu tries to keep a straight face, but is hiding her excitement at the thought of staying at a hotel with Koizumi-san, in addition to being with her at its hot springs. Koizumi-san interrupts Ayane and Yuu, saying that they should immediately head back to the hotel to avoid rush hour traffic. Yuu is puzzled as to why Koizumi-san would want to skip the fireworks and head immediately back to what seems to be a run-of-the-mill economy hotel.

All three of them make it back to the hotel wearing their normal clothes, and are walking towards the dining hall. They suddenly see crowds of people eating nothing but ramen, making Koizumi-san suddenly anxious to join in. Ayane tells them that the hotel serves free ramen between 9:30PM and 11M, to which Koizumi-san is thankful that they had made it just in time. They then eat their Yonaki Soba at the table, with Ayane being impressed with the services provided by the hotel. Since her company had used the same hotel elsewhere, Ayane knew the hotel provided free ramen, and that she had previously called Koizumi-san the other day to to entice her into joining them. According to Yuu, this was a cunning move on her cousin's part, and she is especially grateful that it worked.

After enjoying their free ramen, they walk towards their rooms. Yuu and Ayane both share the same room, while Koizumi-san has her own. As they arrive, Yuu asks Koizumi-san if she could go into her room and hang out with her, but she refuses. Yuu then suggests that they should head to the hot spring together, but Koizumi-san responds that she would like to bathe by herself first, and then she would join Yuu.

Yuu heads to the hot spring by herself, and is determined to wait for Koizumi-san to join her. She relaxes in the warm water surrounded by the night sky over the hotel, but at the same time is anticipating the moment when Koizumi-san shows up. She suddenly sees a girl enter the spring and is excited at first, but then realizes that it was not Koizumi-san. Then, another figure enters the spring and Yuu is sure that it is Koizumi-san, but is then mistaken.

Two hours later, Yuu is still in the hot spring and can barely take the hot temperature, but still clings to hope that Koizumi-san will soon show up. Suddenly, Ayane walks in and joins her, having been worried that Yuu was not in their room. She tells Yuu that just she saw Koizumi-san by the elevator, having gone somewhere to eat Dandan noodles, and that she will visit the hot spring when she returns. Yuu perks up upon hearing this, and tells Ayane that she will stay a little longer. Ayane finishes bathing, leaving Yuu alone in the hot spring, and feeling even more drowsy. She sees a chair nearby and decides to rest, after an entire night of eating ramen and staying in the hot water for hours. Yuu tries hard not to sleep, knowing that in just a short time, her longing to bathe with Koizumi-san will finally come true. But Yuu falls asleep, and during her slumber, Koizumi-san is bathing alone in the same hot spring. She then sees Yuu sleeping in the chair, but does not say anything.

The next morning, Ayane declares that it is check-out time. Yuu is slouched in her bed, disappointed that despite her best efforts, she had failed to stay awake. Koizumi-san had already left to eat Tsukemen, but had left a present for Yuu and Ayane in the form of cup ramen, which was free at the front desk around midnight. Yuu is seemingly thankful for the gift, and as they drive home, she says that spending time watching fireworks and eating ramen together brought them even closer to Koizumi-san. Ayane replies that, in a way, Koizumi-san has now become a part of their family.