“That’s not true. Mr. Tatsumi definitely looked happy to me.”
“He did?”
“No one wants to have a meal with someone they don’t like. Mr. Tatsumi clearly looked like he was enjoying his dinner with you. I’ve seen many customers, and I can usually tell the relationships between people by the atmosphere in the room. The two of you are very comfortable with each other.”
“Comfortable…”
Masamichi was at a loss for words. Comfortable was the furthest thing from what Shino was to him.
Despite Masamichi’s thoughts, Henri deepened his smile, as if he was rather enjoying himself.
“Yes, comfortable. Mr. Adachi, I want you to enjoy your stay at our inn. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be serving rice cooked in a kamado—a traditional Japanese oven with firewood. I guarantee that the rice will be lustrous and sparkling. Oh, and it’s also lovely to watch the moon, the stars, and the break of day from the bath. Please do enjoy your stay with Mr. Tatsumi.” Offering Masamichi his heartfelt wishes for a lovely stay, Henri added, “Oh, and of course, you can enjoy the use of this room as well. Relax, and have fun.”
With that, he stood up and left the room.
It was suddenly silent, and Masamichi leaned back in his chair.
He wasn’t used to wearing yukata kimonos, but Henri had carefully chosen it with his foreign eye. It was innovative—a yukata made of soft jersey fabric with a snap button where a typical yukata came undone, which made it very comfortable.
First, Chieko shared stories with me about Shino today, and now, Henri. These were stories I hadn’t heard before, Masamichi thought as he lazily sipped his delicious plum soda.
He had only heard about Shino’s past from the specter himself.
But today, Masamichi had heard stories from others’ objective points of view, and he was surprised by how happy it made him.
Not that it meant he could understand Shino’s true nature. Chieko and Henri had only seen a small part of the specter that had lived for more than a thousand years.
Still, Masamichi smiled, feeling as if he had managed to put together just a few pieces of the giant jigsaw puzzle that was Shino.
“I hope I can get to know more about Shino, a little at a time, like this. I’d really like to hear about his master, Tokifuyu…but that just isn’t possible.”
Masamichi was amused at himself for wishing for something he couldn’t have. He finished his plum soda and got up to return to his room.
That was when a cool breeze kissed his cheek.
“Hmm?”
He looked around, figuring there was a fan somewhere nearby, but couldn’t spot one.
Was it the air conditioner? But they shouldn’t need it, since Arima is on top of a mountain, and it’s much cooler than the city.
He was curious, but that was the only time he felt a breeze.
“Maybe I imagined it. Oh well. I’m going to go back to my room. Shino’s probably finished bathing by now.”
Shino had told him to spend his time as he pleased, but as a servant, he felt guilty about leaving his master alone indefinitely.
If Shino looks like he wants to be alone, then I’ll come back here and read a book.
Perhaps Henri had told him about this room as a place to escape, thinking the same thing.
Grateful for his thoughtfulness, Masamichi took his glass back to the front desk with words of appreciation and headed back to his villa.
“I’m back. I’m sorry it took me a while… Oh? Isn’t he here?”
Masamichi crept into the room, expecting Shino to be annoyed with him for wandering around who knew where, but his master wasn’t in the large area that served as the living room.
He checked the bedroom which was separated from the living room by a sliding paper door, but Shino wasn’t there, either, and there was no sign of the bed being used.
“I wonder if he went for a walk.”
As a specter, Shino wouldn’t be afraid of the dense darkness that enveloped the inn. Or…, Masamichi thought, when he heard the faint sound of water splashing.
“Oh! Is he still soaking in the tub…?”
He returned to the living room, opened the sliding door that led to the porch, and gasped.
Because through the window, he saw Shino…Shino’s naked back.
Henri must have arranged it when he rebuilt the inn. Beyond the blurred privacy glass, which was seldom seen these days, there was a cypress bathtub. It was much smaller than the one in the main bathhouse but was still magnificent, allowing guests to enjoy the hot spring water in a semi-open-air bath.
Like the bathhouse, it was surrounded by beautifully maintained plants, and although it didn’t come with a panoramic view, you could enjoy the sense of being in the forest.
The only lights were the thin crescent moon in the night sky and soft lights coming from the lanterns placed around the water, which made Shino’s pale body stand out in the darkness as he sat on the edge of the tub.
“Wow…”
Masamichi exhaled. His voice could be described as neither surprised nor admiring.
It was a scene out of a painting.
The drops of water dripping from his wet hair, the beauty of the chin that was turned up to watch the night sky, the slender nape, and the line from his back to his waist, still ramrod-straight, even while relaxing in this way.
The porcelain-smooth skin had not a single blemish, and there wasn’t a trace of unneeded flesh on the body.
Although Masamichi knew it was a temporary vessel created by a spiritual medium, the sheer beauty of Shino’s body instantly captured his eyes and his heart.
He’s…so beautiful. Too beautiful to be real. This is like a dream.
As Masamichi gazed at him with rapt attention, Shino quietly slipped into the tub and submerged himself in the hot water up to the top of his head.
“…!”
The movements were as smooth as a mermaid’s. Masamichi held his breath for a few seconds, maybe longer, without realizing it.
Unlike the quiet way he slid into the hot water, Shino surfaced loudly and shook his head vigorously.
The water that sprayed in all directions from the tips of his hair reminded Masamichi of a big dog playing in the water.
Smiling at the beautiful yet somewhat humorous movements, Masamichi gasped when he realized what he was doing.
Hold on a minute. I’m acting like a Peeping Tom. I don’t know if specters have a concept of sexual harassment like us humans, but watching him like this without him knowing is out of the question for me.
Masamichi panicked as he tried to close the door at the same time that Shino turned toward him.
The specter’s sharp gaze caught his eyes straight on. He couldn’t have just noticed he’d been watching him.
He knew what I was doing!
Shino lifted his chin slightly, beckoning for Masamichi to go over to him, and he did so with great trepidation.
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to peek! I came back from my bath, and I was looking for you, wondering where you were, and…I ended up standing here.”
Masamichi apologized as he approached the bathtub, and Shino brushed back his wet hair with his hands, wiped his face, and looked at him suspiciously.
“Peeping? Did you think you were spying on me? You fool. How could I not notice your presence?”
“Oh…y-yeah. Right.”
That meant Shino had allowed him to watch him…, Masamichi thought with relief and amazement as he sat near the tub on the porch, as Shino’s gaze commanded.
“The, um…bathhouse wasn’t too crowded. It was spacious and very nice.”
“Hmph.”
With a look of complete disinterest, Shino slipped into the hot water up to his chest and played with the water’s surface with his fingertips.
The hot spring water was crystal clear, and Masamichi felt nervous, having a close-up view of Shino’s naked body.
Or, to put it bluntly, his fake body.
But it moved at Shino’s will, supple and powerful, and didn’t look anything like a temporary vessel.
Still, his body was so perfect that it looked surreal, and Masamichi couldn’t help looking down and away toward the lower part of the specter’s body.
He said before…to let him take me to bed, so I imagined he’d have a penis…but does he really?
He didn’t have a clear view, because it was in the shimmering hot water, but it was definitely more magnificent than his own, and his thoughts went to Tokifuyu Tatsumi, Shino’s late master.
If the body he gave Shino was only a “temporary vessel” to contain the soul of a specter, then I don’t think he had to make every detail of his body this humanlike. I wonder if Tokifuyu had some other intention in mind.
As Masamichi considered such thoughts in a daze, Shino said in a rough tone, “Hey. Peeping on me wasn’t enough for you, and now you’re rudely ogling your master’s body?”
“Oh! Aaahh, I’m sorry! I couldn’t help it.”
“Help what?”
“I’m curious… Oh, I mean, of course, you look great when you’re wearing clothes, but I’m stunned by how beautiful you are without them.”
Masamichi apologized and made an excuse simultaneously, and with nothing else to do, he reached for the yukata that Shino had taken off.
He folded it more carefully than necessary and checked the look on Shino’s face, making an effort not to stare at his body.
Despite his disapproval, Shino didn’t seem particularly embarrassed or against having Masamichi see his naked body and continued to stretch out his arms and legs comfortably in the hot water.
“Uh… How long have you been sitting in that bath?” Masamichi asked, desperate to fill the awkward silence.
“Since right after you went to the big bath. I was bored.”
“And you’ve been soaking all this time? Oh, maybe a specter doesn’t get heatstroke.”
“I am not one to be outdone by a hot spring bath. Tokifuyu often said he got too greedy trying to soak in a bath for too long and would end up stretched out on the floor, but instead of correcting his ways, he kept doing the same thing.”
Masamichi’s jet-black eyes sparkled as he neatly folded Shino’s yukata and listened to his casual mention of days past.
“Oh, yeah, you said before that you’d been to Arima Hot Springs with Tokifuyu for his hot water therapy. What were hot springs like back then? I bet it was very different from what they’re like today.”