“I wonder, if two people go in, will the water come up to our shoulders? Okay, scooch a bit.”
“—Huh?!”
Lisa lowered herself into the drum without waiting for me to reply. She was in her bikini, and we were so close to each other that I was almost touching her…
“Hmm. Even with both of us, the water only comes up to our stomachs. It should come up higher if we squat down.”
As soon as the words left her lips, she kneeled in the drum, her knees sliding between my open legs. And any time she moved, two ample mounds rubbed my thighs.
“Hey!! What do you think you’re doing?!”
A high-pitched yell reached us from the top of the embankment; Haruka had finished changing and gotten out of the car to see me and Lisa in the bath together. She came running toward us with incredible intensity.
“Yuuma, you’re taking a bath with me, aren’t you?!”
“Oh, sorry,” Lisa apologized. “I wanted to test it out first. I can pair up with Yuuma instead, if you want.”
“It’s okay! I’ll swap with you right now if you’ll kindly get out!”
“Sure. Oh, but would you mind waiting until I warm up a bit?”
“Fine! You don’t have to get out right away, but please move away from Yuuma!”
“There’s not much water in here, though. I can’t soak up to my shoulders unless I kneel.”
“Then I’ll join you, so the water rises!”
Haruka kicked off her shoes, got up on the stepladder, and forced her way into the small space behind me. Lisa stood up to make sure she had enough room for herself, but it was still way too cramped for the three of us to bathe together.
Lisa’s breasts were pushed up against my body from the front, while Haruka’s pressed into my back…!!
I couldn’t believe what was happening. The water temperature wasn’t supposed to be above forty degrees Celsius, but my body felt like it was on fire.
“Aren’t you warmer now, Hoshimiya?”
“Mm, maybe if I wait a bit longer.”
“Shouldn’t you step out and sit by the fire if you’re that cold?”
“Well, now that we have this bath, I’d like to warm up in the hot water.”
The two girls continued arguing back and forth, with me in the middle. Every time they moved I could feel a sublime softness through the thin material of their swimsuits.
What’s going on? Is this heaven? Did I die? Well, I guess I pretty much did, since I turned into a zombie…
“A drum bath is no place to play around!” Tsukishiro yelled, seeing the two girls bicker. “What if you burn yourselves while you’re messing around?! There are no longer any hospitals or clinics in this world!”
“S-sorry…” She was so angry I ended up apologizing along with Lisa and Haruka.
“Hyuuga, Hoshimiya, the two of you are causing problems, so neither of you are allowed to bathe with Kousaka. Come out of there right this minute.”
“But then the water won’t come up to Yuuma’s shoulders…”
“You don’t need to worry about that; I’ll bathe with Kousaka.”
—What?!
Tsukishiro seemed serious about it, though, because she kicked the other two out of the bath and quickly went to the car to get changed.
When she came back, she wasn’t wearing the bathing suit she’d tried on at the store, but a sophisticated white bikini. It didn’t show off as much skin as Haruka’s and Lisa’s swimsuits and, combined with her hesitant expression, gave off a pure, clean-cut vibe.
Tsukishiro sank into the water and turned to face me.
“…This is embarrassing,” she said awkwardly and covered her chest with her hands. I didn’t know where to look…
“I’m sorry you had to do this…”
“Kousaka, please don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. And besides…I don’t particularly mind…”
“Th-that’s good.”
Tsukishiro smiled shyly. “…It seems like Hyuuga and Hoshimiya are competing over you. You can pair up with me the next time we do something like this.”
Does that mean I’ll be taking a bath with her every day…?
“…Uh, my body’s plenty warm now, so the next person can take a bath.”
By the time I got out, I hadn’t even been in the bath with Tsukishiro for three minutes. The awkwardness of standing there face-to-face in our swimsuits was just too much—as were the heated gazes we attracted from the others.
Ichinose also changed into her bathing suit after that, and the girls took turns soaking in the drum bath. I was watching them offhandedly when Haruka, who’d already finished bathing, pulled my ear and dragged me a short distance away.
“Yuuma, you’re staring.” It was a warning… “Also, I think you’re getting too close to Hoshimiya. The next time she asks you to take a bath with her, you have to refuse her more firmly.”
“But we’re dorm mates who live under the same roof.”
“That only gets you so far. As your girlfriend, I worry when you do something like go in the drum bath with her.”
“—Huh?!”
Haruka’s words were so unexpected my brain stopped working for a few seconds.
She raised her eyebrows. “Did I say something funny?”
“Uh, no, it’s just…”
She had said she’d be my girlfriend when we thought I’d turn into a zombie and die, but…
“What you said about going out with me… That’s still happening?”
Haruka’s eyes widened, and she let out a noise close to a scream.
“—What?! Of course it is!!”
“Sorry. I thought it was all just a joke.”
“…Seeing as you’re a zombie, you don’t mind if I strangle you for about ten hours, right?”
“I do mind, actually.”
I wish she’d stop saying scary things like that so matter- of-factly.
“I—I mean, that was when we thought I was about to die, right? So I guess I just assumed it was null and void when I managed to survive…”
“If it was, then I wouldn’t be sleeping in the same room as you, and I wouldn’t have laughed it off and forgiven you when you looked up my skirt.”
“I guess I just thought you were cool with stuff like that.”
“Since you’re a zombie, you don’t mind if I shave off all your hair, do you?”
“Please stop suggesting things that have nothing to do with zombies.”
“If you don’t want to be bald, you can make it up to me by telling everyone we’re going out.”
“Why do I have to do that?”
“To make sure no one else gets any funny ideas about seducing you. Now, let’s go see the others and tell them you’re head over heels for me.”
“Don’t you think that’d be weird, suddenly announcing something like that? And what do you mean seducing me?”
“Like when you and Hoshimiya were all alone in the bath, obviously.”
“She just wanted to see what it would be like for two people to go in at the same time.”
“Does becoming a zombie suddenly make you dumb?”
“That’s simple but mean.”