Chapter 20

“Come to think of it, I forgot about the bath…”

After his younger sister had retreated, some time passed before Satoru noticed the issue.

Originally, he had thought that he would return home to have dinner, he’d intended to take care of everything, including that.

But, since his sister, who walks at her own pace, unexpectedly complied to his request, it completely slipped his mind.

“You could just use our bath, couldn’t you?”

“Hmm, I could, but…”

“What’s there to hesitate over at this point? You’ve used our bathroom a few times already, haven’t you?”

Reika stated the facts plainly.

Hearing that made Satoru feel like she was digging up his earlier “mistakes,” and he felt a bit uneasy.

It was true—he’d used the shower in Reika’s bathroom a few times already.

There wasn’t really any need to explain why.

“But this time, Auntie is here, you know… I mean, there’s all that to consider…”

“That’s old news. It’s not like my mother minds or anything.”

“E-even so, it’s about how I feel personally.”

“Yes, yes. You’re always unnecessarily particular and such a coward about these things…”

Reika retorted, sounding unusually annoyed.

“Satoru-kun? The bath’s ready, so feel free to go in if you’d like.”

As they were talking, Reika’s mother called out through the door, inviting him to take a bath.

“See? My mom was planning to let you use it from the start. Just go ahead and get in.”

“Ehh… Going in before your mom doesn’t seem right. I mean, I am a guy.”

A current male high school student, wondering if it was really okay to take a bath before his girlfriend’s mother at her house.

He was almost tempted to search it up on his phone, but there probably wasn’t anyone else in such a bizarre situation—not even on the vast internet.

And even if there were any answers he found, they would likely be off the mark. While he was looking them up, Reika would probably say, “Just go already.”

“My mom thinks you came here for my sake, after all. So she wants you to take the bath first. If you keep hesitating like this… you get it right?”

“I-I see…”

Once she put it like that, there was no reason left to refuse.

It was true—being offered something out of kindness and then turning it down could actually create awkwardness or distance.

“Well then, I’ll go ahead and use it.”

“Good. You should do that.”

Saying only that, Reika pulled the blanket over herself and went back to sleep, so he decided to accept the kindness offered.

※※※

“Phew, that was a good bath.”

“That was a pretty long soak.”

Reika went in after Satoru finished his bath, but she stayed in there for over an hour.

“I sweated a ton from the fever, and of course I want to look nice in front of my beloved boyfriend.”

“Can’t say that kind of thoughtfulness is a bad thing.”

She said something hard to respond to, so he played it off by pretending to speak from an objective standpoint.

“Oh my, what a vague response.”

“If I were to give a personal opinion here, what exactly would I be supposed to say?”

“You just say what you think.”

“But if I said something like, ‘I don’t really care about that,’ that’d be bad, right?”

“Of course it would.”

“This is such a pain…”

In the end, it seemed like he had no choice but to give the template answer like, “That’s one of the cute things about you.”

That one muttered word—“pain”—might have been the most honest thing he’d said all night.

“That’s the one thing you’re absolutely not allowed to say. If I were a clingy emotional wreck, that one word would’ve ended it all.”

“Well, I have this sense of security because it’s you, so I figured it’d be fine.”

“You never know? I’m mentally fragile right now. I could burst into tears any second.”

Given that she said that herself, it was hard to believe she actually would.

“Well, if that happens, I’ll make sure to take care of you.”

“What would you do?”

“Uh, let’s see…”

Pressed for specifics, he realized he had no clue what he should actually do.

“What would I do, hmm……I’ve got nothing.”

“You’d better think about it before I really do become a clingy mess.”

“Then maybe I shouldn’t think about it?”

“If you start treating me carelessly from now on, I am certain I will turn into a monster.”

“Please don’t. I won’t do that.”

“You said it, okay? But that one word earlier could have been the trigger, so be careful.”

“…Got it.”

He received a mild lecture on how to treat girls.

If Reika actually turned into a clingy monster, it really might be the end of the world as he knew it—so he took her words seriously enough.

“Well then, since you lightly hurt my feelings, and to erase the trigger that could make me turn into a monster—dry my hair properly, okay?”

Saying that, she shoved the hair dryer into Satoru’s hands and turned her back to him.

“I read somewhere online that even if they’re boyfriends, girls don’t like having guys dry their hair.”

“That depends on the person. Of course, it’s based on the assumption the guy is being gentle.”

“Got it. Then I’ll do my best to be gentle. If anything’s off, let me know right away.”

“100 points. Now, go ahead.”

He checked the dryer settings and began drying her hair from the roots.

“Is it a bit too close?”

“No, it’s fine. Drying from the roots—you really know your stuff.”

“Like I said, I saw it written online before. I know the general flow of this template situation.”

“Oh? And why were you looking that up?”

“Um…”

“Could it be you were prepping for something like this if it happens in the future?”

“…”

Satoru couldn’t bring himself to say it.

That he hadn’t prepared for this situation—but rather, he had fantasized about it as a cute little scenario.

But the reality was that most people online didn’t recommend it, and so he had resigned himself to it remaining a fantasy.

“I see. Judging by how comfortable you are, it’s not that you expected it—but that you wanted to try it, huh?”

“W-what are you saying!?”

“I’m right on the mark. I was just fishing, but you bit.”

“Ugh…”

“Fufu, you’re cute. Even after all we’ve done physically, you still dream about something this basic.”

“Sh-shut up! You’re the one who skipped all the steps in the first place!”

“Oh my. I’ll ask about that next time something happens again. If you can talk back without turning into a whimpering puppy, I’ll give you points.”

“…Fine, I give up.”

“Fufu.”

Even as they went through their usual banter, he moved the dryer carefully, paying attention to how well her hair was drying.

Once it was mostly dry, he switched to a cooler temperature to finish up.

“There. How’s that?”

“Very nice. Honestly, I think it was even more thorough than when I do it myself.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“So, how was your dream scenario?”

“I was too focused to enjoy it. This kind of stuff is best left to manga and anime.”

“Oh really? But since you’re so good at it, I’ll have you do it whenever we’re together from now on.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“Well then, let’s go to bed. Prepare yourself to be used as a body pillow.”

“Assuming we’re both taking the day off tomorrow, so do whatever you want.”

And like that, the two of them headed to bed together.