Shocked, I immediately turned to look away.
I had to be able to react if something happened, though. Amano was holding up the towel to cover Kamiji…so little by little, I pivoted toward them again. Kamiji reentered my field of vision, and I noticed that her body was covered with suds. It seemed she’d taken off her towel to wash herself before going in the bath.
The towel Amano was holding out didn’t hide much, though, since I could see parts of Kamiji’s naked figure every time the wind blew. Still, I didn’t have the nerve to point that out, and my role was to always watch over her…
Kamiji eventually finished soaping up her body and started washing her hair before removing the lather. If her arms stopped moving, would that mean she’d started to turn into a zombie?
Just then, Haruka came and stood in front of me.
“How much can you see from where you’re standing?”
“…I don’t know. I’m trying not to look as much as possible.”
I figured I should be in the clear since, taking a glance, all I could see was Kamiji’s head, shoulders, and back… But Haruka came right up beside me and began checking the view from where I was.
“…You’re right. You can’t see anything important. But be careful; you might be able to get a glimpse of her breasts from the side.”
Side boob…?
Kamiji seemed to have finally finished washing her hair, and she rinsed off the bubbles.
“Kousaka, look away for another ten seconds.”
“R-roger.”
It looked like she’d quickly wrapped her towel around her body, and she stepped toward the drum bath. Wearing nothing but a single towel, Kamiji climbed the three-step aluminum ladder. The moment she stepped over the edge of the drum, she lifted the towel along with her legs, exposing her inner thigh in a very revealing manner.
I couldn’t help but stare, although I managed to avert my eyes after sensing a deadly fury emanating from Haruka, who was standing in front of me.
“Ahh… This is heaven… Pure bliss…” Kamiji smiled in satisfaction as she sat in hot water up to her shoulders.
Meanwhile, I stood there shaken, my mind racing with all sorts of naughty thoughts. For the time being, I didn’t have to worry about accidentally seeing her naked. I felt relieved and also disappointed…
“I really feel alive again… This is wonderful,” Kamiji said to no one in particular as she rubbed her arms in the hot water. “I’m so glad to be alive after starving in that small space for such a long time. I thought we were dead so many times…”
It made me happy to see her so happy.
Haruka’s eyes met mine, and we smiled at each other. Setting up the drum bath was tough, and there was a chance zombies would show up while our new members were bathing, but I was really glad we’d done this.
“……”
Kamiji suddenly closed her eyes and went silent.
I thought nothing of it at first, but one minute went by, and then another, and she still didn’t open her eyes.
“…Kamiji?” I called out, walking over to the drum bath. But she didn’t respond. “Kamiji? Are you okay?”
“……”
Still no response. Not so much as a twitch.
Don’t tell me she’s started turning into a zombie…!
Haruka and the others also seemed to have sensed something was wrong, so I asked everyone to leave, then climbed up the stepladder. If Kamiya really was on the verge of becoming a zombie, then there was no time to lose. I had to tell her about my situation and give her my saliva before it was too late.
As far as I could see, her skin hadn’t turned gray. That said, when it happened to me, my skin had started to change color from where I was bitten. I needed to check and see if the same had happened to Kamiji. I couldn’t see her right hand, though, which was underwater, so I started by shaking her by the shoulders.
“Kamiji? Are you okay?”
Suddenly, Kamiji’s whole body jerked, and she opened her eyes wide.
“—Damn! I fell asleep!”
“…Please don’t do that. We thought you’d turned into a zombie…”
“Sorry. I must have had too much to drink.”
“It’s your own fault.”
I glared at her, and Kamiji laughed and scratched her head.
But then—
Her white towel came undone in the bath, revealing her plump breasts.
I was completely flustered and quickly looked away.
“—Eek!!”
Kamiji shrieked and hastily covered her chest with her hands before mumbling embarrassedly, “…I guess it was a mistake to drink…”
By the time Amano and Kamiji finished bathing and we’d driven back to the dorm, it was after two PM. Haruka and Tsukishiro agreed to prepare lunch for everyone.
Meanwhile, I brought in the supplies we’d brought back from the home improvement center, and about twenty minutes later, Haruka called out, saying lunch was ready.
“We’re having an extravagant lunch of crab shabu-shabu! The snow crabs we left in the fridge thawed after the power went out, so we might as well eat them up!”
The seven of us gathered in the dining room, tempted by the mention of this delicacy. I sat at the same table as Haruka and Tsukishiro, and we began taking crab legs from a huge pile on a platter and putting them into a big pot of boiling water. It was the most expensive crab they’d had at the supermarket, and the legs were thicker than my thumb.
The translucent crabmeat turned a light pink after being submerged in the boiling water, and I dipped a piece in ponzu sauce. I was surprised by how light and tender it was. I didn’t know that expensive crabmeat could be both firm and soft.
If zombies hadn’t invaded our world, I might have been limited to eating imitation crab my whole life and never tried snow crabs…
Everyone devoured the crab. They cracked the shells and dug out the tender meat. It was interesting how my dorm mates really did get quiet when they ate crabmeat, as people often say…
Sometime later, when the trash can was full of shells, I asked Tsukishiro something I’d been wondering.
“Don’t you have to write down all the things we brought back from the home improvement center? Weren’t you making a list each time we went out?”
“I stopped doing that a while ago,” she replied awkwardly. “At first, I thought our lives might eventually go back to normal, but that seems impossible now…”
“I see… Sorry, I didn’t mean to remind you of that.”
“No, it’s okay…”
“Hey, something’s been bugging me,” Kamiji suddenly said, seated at the next table. “Kousaka, you and Tsukishiro seem awfully distant considering you’re in a relationship.”
The atmosphere in the cafeteria froze.
I could sense an incredible bloodlust coming from my right. I didn’t dare turn toward Haruka to see what sort of face she was making.
I had been going to explain it to Haruka and the others later, but I hadn’t expected Kamiji to just drop it in the middle of everyone like a bomb…
I had no idea how to answer and glanced at Tsukishiro, who wore a determined expression.
“That’s because we haven’t been together very long,” she said.
“Really? But you were making out so passionately. It makes me wonder whether something’s a little off.”
“Saya…,” Amano cut in.
“What’s wrong with talking about it? Everyone knows about them,” Kamiji blurted out as she sipped her whiskey and soda. She really was such a troublesome drunk…
“…We both just love kissing,” Tsukishiro replied shyly.
It was a dumb answer. Because it was so simple, though, it left no room for doubt, and Kamiji seemed convinced.
This time, it was Amano who asked a question.
“How long have you two known each other?”
“Five days, ever since Kousaka first came to this dorm,” Tsukishiro responded.
“That’s not long at all. You’re saying you started a relationship only days after you met?”
“That’s right. It began on the evening of his third day here.”
“Who started it?”
“I did,” insisted Tsukishiro.