Chapter 43

When the door to the shower room was closed, the two of them entered a small space. It was made for one person, so it felt cramped when two people came in.

“O-oh, this must be because a Z-class subject entered.”

“What?”

“This is fire.”

The color of the light above the shower was different. When I entered the showers with the A-class, it was almost dark. However, I had heard that it emits a different light depending on the grade.

“Will there be hot water too?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Embarrassed by his words, I pressed my arm tighter across my cleavage that I had been trying to cover, and said,

“Turn on the water.”

“Why are you covering up? Isn’t it a hallucination anyway?”

“But I’m embarrassed.”

He nodded slightly at my remark. He conversed with me casually, but his ears were burning red as if he had a fever.

“Did you usually wash with cold water?”

“Yes.”

As soon as Kalisten turned on the water, the light above the shower shone almost white. And then the water began to flow.

-Shaaaaaa

“Wow… . it’s so warm.”

“You… .”

“Yes?”

“Your voice is higher. Like someone else’s voice.”

“Ah— it must be an auditory hallucination!”

“… I suppose so.”

He made a face that tried to understand even though he did not comprehend, then looked down. Then he came behind me and said,

“Help me wash, Aselia.”

“Ah, yes.”

My hair was so long that it covered my bust. As a man, my hair was trimmed periodically. There, I never had it long enough to cover my ears. On the other hand, when I was a woman, it was very long because it had never been cut.

Long enough to cover my ass.

He had that image of me in his eyes. The warm water dripping down near my shoulders felt good, and it felt comfortable running down my back.

Besides, it was hot. Not because of the water but because of Kalisten.

However, if I showed any strange signs here, the quick-witted Kalisten would find out who I was. Now that he was on a hallucinogen, I thought about blaming it on the hallucinogen if that happened.

“Aselia.”

“Yes?”

“You look smaller.”

“No, you are too big.”

It felt like he was trying to take a closer look at me again, and my heart pounded. So I put my hand on his face.

“Ugh… .”

“Blood— the blood isn’t coming off easily. Do you have any soap?”

“You don’t know how to use the soap?”

“Can you use it?”

“Yes.”

He grabbed my hand that was covering his eyes, lowered it, and reached behind my back. Then he touched something and handed me a small bottle with a clatter.

“How?”

“Look behind you.”

When I turned around, a nook that was the same color as the wall I had not seen when I was washing, opened. Apparently, it was opened because the Z-class was washing.

“This is how it works… . how fascinating.”

“You’ve never used it?”

“Yeah.”

As he asked that question, his voice sounded a little different, so I looked at him again to check his face. He looked sad.

“Let’s wash together from now on.”

“Huh? Oh, no! I wash well with cold water too! Even if I don’t have any of this! It’s okay because I have soap!”

Then he frowned as if he was offended.

“… alright.”

I quickly squeezed the soap into my hand and applied it to his neck, thinking it would be an awkward conversation no matter what was said. Then he flinched for a moment and said:

“I’ll wash your face too.”

“Okay.”

He closed his eyes, and I gently rubbed his face as if washing him. Then I changed the height of the shower and cleaned all the foam off his face. The blood clinging to his hair melted together and fell to the floor, pale in color and reminiscent of strong iron.

“Would you like me to wash your hair?”

“Yes.”

He answered straight away when I asked a question because of the odor of blood on his hair. His expression was blank, but his face was red.

“Would you like to lower your head? Unfortunately, I am not tall enough.”

Then he bent down.

“Ah!”

“Isn’t this comfortable?”

I thought he would just bow down, but he leaned forward, grabbed my legs, and lifted me up. Suddenly my calves touched his stomach, and he held me. It was good that my arms were free, but the height was considerable

“You—why are you so tall?”

“Scared?”

“No, just surprised… . But you’re really tall. From this height, the floor is very far… .”

I knew he was over 190 cm tall. But when he held me in his arms, I was afraid because the floor looked so far away. Still, the fear seemed to abate as his face approached.

“Wash my hair.”

“Alright.”

Fortunately, I was still holding on to the soap I had almost dropped. So I squeezed it in my hand and gave it to him. Then he held me with one hand and made eye contact.

I was embarrassed to make eye contact, so I purposely focused on his hair. Finally, I foamed it by hand and rubbed his hair; it was so foamy that his black hair looked white.

“Kalisten.”

“Huh.”

“You’re so handsome.”

I declared so without realizing it. But when I saw him up close, he was so overwhelmingly handsome enough that I was dazed and admiring him: a tall, straight nose, big red eyes, and bright red lips.

He also seemed seductive, like a very coveted fruit.

“You…”

“Um?”

“You are much prettier. Aselia.”

After saying so, he lowered his gaze shyly. When he looked down, his nose touched my hand, which was still covering my breasts.