Suimei smiled bitterly at showing a side of himself he didn’t want others to see. Naturally, Reiji burst into laughter at this, and Suimei awkwardly turned his back to them.
And just like that, after enjoying the warmth of the bath for a while longer, they heard faint... well, not that faint, but high-pitched voices. For some reason, the dressing room leading to the bath was suddenly noisy. The voices were very familiar too.
“What the...?”
“Did something happen?”
“The only sudden event I can think of would be the demons making a move.”
Guessing it was an emergency, the three boys exchanged looks and got ready to get out of the bath. They then heard even louder voices. It was Graziella and Titania.
“What’s there to care about?”
“I care! We’re... you know?!”
“It’s not a big deal.”
It seemed the two were arguing in the dressing room. However, they didn’t sound particularly serious, so this wasn’t about the demons. And just as the boys let out a sigh of relief, they heard Titania’s voice once more.
“It’s a huge deal! Besides... Suimei and Elliot-sama are present too!”
“Of course they are.”
“Aaaaaaah! I’m not getting through!”
“Stop! You can’t! Graziella-san! Aaaah!”
That last voice was Mizuki’s. She was panicking too. They then heard the sound of things being knocked about.
“What’re they doing out there...?” Suimei muttered. “I’m pretty sure we all decided the guys were going in first.”
“I have a bad feeling about this...” Reiji said.
“Depending on your perspective, it could be a good feeling too,” Elliot said.
Suimei and Reiji were at their wits’ end, whereas Elliot looked like he was enjoying himself. The sliding door then clattered open as Graziella strode in.
“Pardon the intrusion,” Graziella said.
“Pffffft?!”
“Why?!”
Suimei and Reiji were dismayed by the impossible development. Graziella was wearing nothing but a towel as she boldly marched into the bathhouse. Her curves were perfectly visible.
Was this because she was never one to really care about this stuff? Or did she believe it was fine since she was wearing a towel? She looked awfully calm.
“What?” Graziella asked with a dubious gaze.
“What?! You hafta ask?!” Suimei yelled. “Why’re you coming in?! We decided the guys were going in first, didn’t we?!”
“It’s no big deal,” she said. “Also, don’t look at me. I’ll crush your eyes.”
“How can you be so unreasonable?! And it’s okay for Reiji to look?!”
“R-Reiji is fine...” Graziella said bashfully, averting her eyes.
Naturally, Suimei had to yell about this too. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen this crap, dammit!”
“Aah, I get you,” Elliot joined in. “I can see this happening all the time.”
Reiji looked bewildered as Elliot nodded to himself. They then heard another voice from the dressing room.
“It can’t be helped! Now that it’s come to this, we must charge in!”
“Hey! Tia! You can’t!”
“There are fights I refuse to lose!”
“Wait! Calm down already! Aaaaah!”
“I-If Her Highness is going in, then so am I!”
“Lady Felmenia?! Don’t be so hasty!”
“Yeah! You’ll just make things worse!”
Following Mizuki’s and Titania’s voices were Felmenia, Lefille, and Hatsumi.
“Ugh, whatever! Let’s all go in!”
“Huh?! Why?!”
“I mean, there’s no telling what’ll happen if we don’t! We’re the only sane ones here! We might be able to avert the worst!”
“Ugh... Women need to have courage, you mean...”
“That’s right! If we don’t do it now, then when?!”
Why did women need courage? What did they have to do now or never? They’d long lost their sanity. Shortly after, the door to the bathhouse was thrown open, and the girls all came in, dressed only in towels.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“Hey! Wait! What’s going on?! The hell is going on?!”
“Hahahahahahahahaha!”
Reiji and Suimei were utterly confused, their cries echoing around them. Elliot, on the other hand, leaned back against the edge of the bath and laughed while holding down his sides.
“We went with the flow and just came in, but what do we do now?!” Felmenia yelled.
“I don’t know how to answer that...”
“I-I guess I’ll go wash off...”
Lefille and Hatsumi both muttered as they went in and got started.
“L-Lefille? Hatsumi-dono?” Felmenia said, sensing something afoot. “You’re both acting so calm! Why?!”
“Huh? No, I’m not really...” Hatsumi muttered.
“I’m not calm or anything,” Lefille said. “I’m at my limit too, just so you know.”
“You don’t look that way!” Felmenia shouted. “I feel like you’ve stolen a march on me!”
Well, both Lefille and Hatsumi had already experienced naked accidents with Suimei before.
“A-Anyway, let’s wash off and get in the bath. Once we do, it’ll get a little more—”
With that, Hatsumi approached the bath, when suddenly, she pitched forward and tumbled in front of Suimei.
“Hyaaaaaah?!”
“Whoa! Oomph!”
Something incredibly soft enveloped and pressed down against Suimei’s face. Not only that, but in trying to avoid losing her balance, Hatsumi wrapped her arms around his head, increasing the pressure around Suimei even more.
“Ah! Suimei!” she yelled. “Don’t move! It’ll come off!”
“Mmgh! Mmmgh! Hgggh!”
“Ugh, dammit all. She stole the initiative,” Lefille grumbled.
“Hahaha, how bold, Hatsumi-dono,” Felmenia said, clenching her teeth. And then, with a sudden thought on her mind, she took a step forward. “Now that it’s come to this, I’ll also—”
“Lady Felmenia! What the heck are you thinking?!” Lefille shouted.
“What else can I do?!” Felmenia yelled back. “There’s no point caring about appearances at this point! We must take drastic measures before Suimei-dono drowns! In all sorts of ways!”
“Stop! Stop right there!”
“Let me go, Lefille!”
“You can’t!”
Felmenia and Lefille began squabbling without even trying to save Suimei. One was flailing about, while the other was desperately trying to hold her back.
There were two other girls who were completely exasperated with everything that was going on. Having entered without anyone noticing, Hydemary and Liliana were getting along well and washing their bodies.
“What... are they all doing?” Liliana said.
“Isn’t it that thing someone said earlier? It’s a fight they can’t afford to lose,” Hydemary replied. “I don’t really get it, though.”
“They’re so... uselessly noisy. Not that telling them... will do anything.”
“Right? How unbecoming of young ladies.”
Liliana and Hydemary continued chatting, astonished by the behavior of the girls who’d barged into the bath.
“Suimei-kun,” Hydemary said, turning his way. “We went out of our way to build this bathhouse, so don’t go spoiling it by turning it into some shady shop.”
“I have no intention to!” Suimei yelled back. “Hey! Hatsumi! Quit flailing already! I’m begging you! Hak! Gah! Water is going up my nose!”
The bathhouse was now a cacophony of noise.
“Haha. I never thought I’d get to witness something so amusing,” Elliot said.
“Still, they should be a little quieter,” Christa commented. “It’s only proper manners in the bath.”
The two of them seemed to have no objections to bathing together and were getting along just fine.
“Princess Graziella! You’re being shameless!”
“How so? Why don’t you just come here too, Princess Titania?”
“Grrr... I can’t let things go on like this. There’s no choice but to charge into the bath...”
“Wait! Tia! You too?!” Reiji shouted. “Mizuki, do some— Mizuki?”
“Wa wa wa wa wa wa...”
Mizuki was also at her breaking point. She was stumbling about in a daze. Meanwhile, Titania slid in by Reiji’s side.
“R-Reiji-sama! P-Pardon me!”
“T-Tia?!”
“Princess Titania! You’re too close!” Graziella shouted. “Don’t you have any shame as a princess?!”
“Who’re you to talk?!” Titania retaliated. “None of this would’ve happened if not for you!”
“B-Both of you! Stop arguing over my head!” Reiji protested.
“And you! Reiji-sama! Grow some awareness already!”
Titania and Graziella continued arguing noisily around Reiji. As for Suimei...
“Lefille! Let’s start by tearing Hatsumi-dono away!” Felmenia yelled.
“Right! Many things are at risk! Mainly Suimei-kun’s life!”
The two jogged over and immediately started their rescue effort.
“Hatsumi-dono! You can swim, can’t you?” Felmenia said.
“I can, but— Hrk?!”
“Come on, this way. Grab my arm!” Lefille said, pulling her away.
“Th-Thank you...”
Meanwhile, Felmenia helped Suimei.
“Gah! Hak! Dammit, why do I have to almost die when I’m not even fighting demons...” he grumbled as he reached out for support, unintentionally grabbing Felmenia’s breast.