Episode 10: A Childhood Friend Through Frosted Glass Is Just Too Convenient!
I stayed frozen on the sofa, one leg still lifted mid-motion, while my brain spun through every possible interpretation at top speed.
Hold on. What did she just say?
“Let’s just hop in together.”
Not “I’ll go first.”
Not “who’s going first?”
Hop in together??
…I guess I should double-check.
“M-Makina… s-so, who’s going first~?”
I ask, trying to play it casual.
“What are you talking about? Let’s just bathe together.”
Makina, looking like this is the most obvious thing in the world, grabs the hem of her camisole and pulls it straight up.
A flash of pale stomach peeks into view.
No — not just a flash.
I can see it.
The fabric keeps rising.
“Wh— whoa?! Don’t strip right here!!”
“What? It’s just you and me, Yotsuka…”
That’s true, but still!!
“Th-that’s not the point! Together, as in — bathing together?!”
“Hm? Is something weird about that?”
Is it weird? …Maybe not, technically.
We’ve been on hot spring trips as a group before.
But those memories only go up through middle school, at the latest.
Am I overthinking this? If it were Ia, sure, this wouldn’t be a big deal at all.
But this is Makina — that changes everything!!
I mean, being undressed, and—
In that situation, in a cramped bathroom, if we — pressed up against each other, even by accident—
“It’s too small! Our bathroom’s not built for two people! No distance at all is way too much stimulation!”
“Huh? Stimulation?”
“Because it’s close!”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
Makina stares at me, completely baffled.
“Anyway! Makina, you go first!”
“Are you sure? Don’t blame me if you catch a cold. Should you go first instead?”
“I’m fine! They say idiots don’t catch colds!”
“You just said you might catch one a second ago…!”
“Just — go, go! Hurry up and get in!”
Face on fire, I push Makina bodily toward the changing room with both hands and slam the sliding door shut behind her.
Phew. That was close.
I lean back against the wall and let out a slow breath.
…I want to have a word with myself from ten minutes ago, the one who thought she’d “gotten stronger.”
Nope. Not even close. I want to retract that statement immediately.
“Yotsuka.”
Makina’s voice through the door snaps me back.
“What?”
“Was bathing together really that awful to you?”
“…!”
That might be the first time I’ve ever heard Makina sound even a little unsure of herself like that.
I could almost hear a faint, troubled smile in her voice.
“Sorry, did I say something weird…?”
No.
No, no, no.
That’s not it.
That’s not the voice I wanted to hear from her.
“Th-that’s not it at all!”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I just—”
I can’t say it.
Because it’s you, Makina — like I could ever actually say that.
“I’m just the type who likes having room to stretch out when I’m washing up! …Oh, hey! Let’s go to one of those big public bathhouses sometime! They’re spacious!”
“…………”
D-did that not land…?!
“…Okay!”
Makina’s voice brightens instantly.
“Then let’s go to a bathhouse sometime!”
“Y-yeah!”
“So what temperature do you like, Yotsuka? Lukewarm? Hot?”
“…Hot, probably.”
“Same! Okay, we’re definitely going! I’ve always wanted to try that ‘totonou’ thing, the sauna reset feeling!”
“You’ve never done a sauna before?”
“I always worry about what happens if something goes wrong when I’m alone in there… But if it’s with you, I’d want to try it!”
“…Y-yeah! Let’s find somewhere to go!”
“I’ll look some places up after my bath! I can’t wait!”
Before long, the muffled sound of running water starts up from behind the door.
I slide down the wall and crumple into a heap on the floor.
Well. Managed to talk my way out of it, at least.
That’s fine.
…It’s fine, but.
Makina’s voice — “was it really that awful?” — won’t leave my head.
I don’t want to hurt her feelings.
Really. Not even a little.
If anything, it’s the exact opposite.
…But there’s no way I can actually say that.
◇◆◇◆◇
Back on the living room sofa, I let out a long, long breath.
Trying to calm my heart, which was pounding uncomfortably loud, I stared blankly at the TV — some show that was neither interesting nor boring.
“KYAAAAAAA?!”
A scream like the end of the world tears out from the bathroom and slices straight through the living room.
“Wha— what?! Makina, what happened?!”
My body moves before I can even think, driven by the sheer alarm in that scream.
I’m off the sofa and sprinting for the changing room before I register standing up.
Did she get hurt? Or is there some giant bug in there—?!
“Makina, are you oka—”
I throw the changing room door open.
—and.
The frosted-glass bathroom door was wide open too.
Steam billows out into the changing room in a thick wave.
And there, in the middle of that pale, misty haze, stood Makina — without a towel.
Her black hair, damp from the warm bathwater, clung softly to her skin.
Her pale, bare skin was flushed and tinged a faint peachy hue.
Water droplets trickled down her body, tracing glistening lines so alluring, they were impossible to look at directly, before falling to the floor.
Her defenselessly exposed collarbones, and just a bit below that, a pink gradient that would give me an instant criminal record if I looked directly at it.
…This is practically the gateway to an 18+ scene, isn’t it?
…
……..
“There’s no towel…”
Makina says, in a voice on the verge of disappearing entirely.
“T-towel…?”
That’s what the scream was about. The bath towel.
I’d taken it out of the dryer that morning and moved it to a different closet — and completely forgotten.
I understand. I understand, but—
My brain cells were fully, thoroughly fried.
Funny thing.
Apparently when a person gets hit with something that genuinely exceeds their capacity to process, they don’t even manage to panic — they just go strangely, blankly calm.
Every last drop of life force quietly evaporated out of my body.
“O-oh… hang on, I’ll go grab one.”
“O-okay…”
Face wiped completely clean of expression, I move mechanically.
Close the changing room door. Head to the closet.
Grab a towel. Open the door again.
“Should’ve left one out in the first place… here.”
“Thanks… I should’ve checked before getting in.”
“You screamed so loud I thought something was actually wrong.”
My own voice comes out strangely flat, all the usual ups and downs having apparently packed up and left.
I hand the towel to the beautiful girl standing in front of me.
“S-sorry, Yotsuka…”
Watching Makina wrap the towel around herself, looking apologetic, I shake my head mechanically.
“No. It’s on me too, for putting it away somewhere weird. And, well — glad it wasn’t anything serious.”
Genuinely. Glad it wasn’t anything serious.
Makina wasn’t hurt.
If the only casualty here was my brain going completely blank, that’s fine.
“Oh, hey, Makina, you’re done with your bath?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m getting out now…”
“Guess I’ll just go ahead and get in, then~…”
Still not thinking straight, I start undressing right there on the spot, moving like a robot as I switch places with Makina and step into the bathroom.
“Oh, um, yeah. Get nice and warmed up, Yotsuka.”
“Thanks~… ahh, cold, cold…”
Slide, click.
“Heh, well, it’s just me in here now, might as well soak right away~”
…………
………….
Phew.
Blub.
Blub, blub, blub…
Behind my closed eyelids, the image of Makina standing there in the steam keeps flickering back.
Guess today’s just going to be one of those days.
I let my body slide slowly down into the water.