“…Aah…”
About half an hour later, Shido was soaking in a large bathtub.
Miku and the others had led him to an enormous bathroom.
Apparently, the hot water was infused with Realizer-generated magic, and a simple soak was supposed to help him recover. It was an effective treatment for cuts, scrapes, fatigue, general physical complaints, et cetera, et cetera. The dungeons in role-playing games and the like often had springs where you could recover hit points by bathing—this was the same idea. It was clearly a much more pleasant experience than being put into a medical treatment pod.
He sank into the milky water up to his shoulders as he sighed once again. “This is great. I get why Kotori was acting all high and mighty about it.”
He laughed quietly, stretched again, and looked up at the ceiling through the clouds of steam rising up from the water.
“Tomorrow, huh…,” he muttered.
While he’d gone on several dates with Spirits by now, he still got nervous before them. It was mainly the anxiety of not knowing what kind of danger he’d be in, and the worry about how exactly he was going to get the Spirit to fall for him.
Mukuro had started acting absurdly friendly now that her heart was open, but that didn’t necessarily mean she would meekly let him seal her powers. If she really was a timid, sweet girl without any problems, she wouldn’t have locked her heart with her Angel in the first place.
“…Well, fretting about it’s not going to change anything,” he told himself, and scooped up hot water to splash on his face and ease his tense muscles.
While visualization did have its place as a preparatory tool, what he needed to do right now was get into peak condition for the following day, just as Kotori said. Sure, physically he was fully recovered, but he’d get nowhere if he was feeling off mentally because the stress and anxiety had rendered him unable to sleep.
He made up his mind to stop thinking and fully enjoy the thoroughly restorative bath. He sank down until his mouth was in the water, then burbled at the water’s surface to try and increase the efficacy of the treatment by even the smallest bit.
“…Mm?”
He furrowed his brow. Bubbles that he didn’t make were popping up. When he looked closely, he caught sight of a silhouette in the milky water, almost like an alligator locked onto its prey.
“…”
Shido stared suspiciously, until the silhouette broke the surface with a splash.
“Shido.”
“Gah?!” Stunned, he hit his head against the edge of the tub.
The silhouette held out a hand, expressionless. “Are you okay, Shido?”
“…Origami.” He immediately covered his eyes.
The reason was simple. Origami didn’t have a thing on except rivulets of water.
“All right, I’ll bite…,” he said slowly. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I would wash your back,” she replied.
“So you dived into the bathtub?”
“Yes.”
“Naked?”
“Public bath etiquette.”
“…It’s been a full ten minutes since I got into the tub, though…”
“Your soaking has generated Shidonium in the water.”
“Shidonium?!” he cried out at the name of the newly discovered element.
Origami moved toward him, the water parting around her. “It must be hard for you to wash in your injured state, Shido. Allow me.”
“N-no! No! I’m fine!” he protested. “Anyway, you’re supposed to wash before you get in the bath!”
“You’re still not clean enough,” she insisted. “The bath being suffused with your scent is proof enough of that.”
“The only people who could smell that are bloodhounds like you and Tohka!” he shrieked.
Origami paid this no mind. She grabbed the hands he had over his eyes and tugged.
“Ah!”
Instantly, he saw plenty of Origami’s pale skin, and he hurriedly squeezed his eyes shut.
He was a healthy teenage boy. It would have been a lie if he said he didn’t want to look at the naked body of a good-looking girl like Origami. He just wasn’t sure what he should do here—he couldn’t help but feel that he would end up in a lot of trouble if he gave in to his urges, like she was a minefield or a carnivorous plant.
Unaware of his misgivings, Origami tightened her grip on his hands. “Allow me,” she said. “I’ll lick—I’ll wash every nook and cranny.”
“Did you just say ‘lick’?!” he shrieked.
“Don’t worry about it. Allow me.”
“Aaah!”
Origami yanked his hands to either side and licked at his neck like a vampire. Shido screamed.
He heard a sudden clatter and whipped his head to the side to see the door to the bathroom flung open and Miku leaping into the tub naked.
“Daaarling!” she cooed. “I came to wash your baaack!”
“…!”
“Aaugpfft!” he cried. “M-Miku?!”
She lifted her glistening wet hair as if she were in a shampoo commercial and smiled as she unabashedly showed herself off.
“Yes! It’s me, yooour Miku! Sorry to keep you waiting! Aaah! Origami’s here, too?! The service here is iiincredible!” Miku squirmed and wriggled with glee as she came closer.
Wordlessly and with a hint of regret, Origami furrowed her brow.
On Miku’s heels, a cluster of new bathers bustled in—the other Spirits. They all had respective bath looks and walked happily (or shyly, depending on the girl) toward Shido, Origami, and Miku.
“Shido! How’s your body?! We came to help!”
“Kah-kah! Do you satisfy yourself with the healing waters? Perhaps I, too, shall take part and give myself to the spring.”
“Translation. Miku said she was coming to wash Shido’s back, so Kaguya endures embarrassment to intervene.”
“I did not say that! And we’ve bathed together before, okay?!”
Tohka, Kaguya, and Yuzuru were wrapped in nothing more than bath towels. The curves of their bodies, normally hidden under their clothes, were sharply highlighted, putting Shido at a loss for where to put his eyes.
He felt it was somehow easier than usual to tell Kaguya and Yuzuru apart, but he figured voicing the thought aloud would get him in trouble. Could this be the so-called power of words?
“Sheesh. It’s party central in here. Don’t forget—Shido’s recovery is the priority.”
“…Why did I get dragged into this? We clearly do not need this many people.”
“Ha-ha-ha! But. A bath all together. Will be fun.”
“That’s right. You and Yoshino can scrub each other, Natsumi!”
“Scrub?! I—I—I could never…”
Appearing next were Kotori, Natsumi, Yoshino, and the puppet Yoshinon, all in colorful swimsuits. Kotori was in a red bikini, Yoshino and Yoshinon were in matching blue one-piece suits, and Natsumi wore a striped suit like a convict.
“Ah, what a sight, so many hotties all together. Eh-heh-heh! I can hardly stand it.”
The last to appear was Nia, completely naked and utterly indifferent about it. Her words, bearing, and behavior were just slightly more reminiscent of an old man than a young woman.
“Whoops!” She slapped the cloth she held in her hand against her backside, and the needle swung all the way to old man.
“Wh-what are you all…?” Shido said, his eyes wide with bewilderment.
A hand stretched out from one side, and in the next instant, something large and soft was pressed against his back.
“Eeah?!” he shrieked.
“Hee-hee-hee! I tooold you, didn’t I?” Miku’s coquettish voice tickled his ear. “We all came to wash your back, daaarling.”
Sweat beaded on his forehead. “N-no, I can do that myself…”
“Oooh, honestly, daaarling! No. You. Can’t! I’ll get you niiice and clean with my sponges.”
“Ah! Uh. Hey!”
Grinning ear to ear, Miku closed in on him. The other Spirits raced over to stop her.
“C-come on, Miku! What are you doing?!”
“Shido! You okay?! Don’t worry, I’ll wash you right now!”
“Dah-da-da-daaah! Nia Honjou to the rescue!”
“Hey, whoa, now you— Aaah!”