Chapter 182 - 167

Wow. The inside is way bigger than I remembered. The old one had four small medicinal pools, one cold bath and one large central spring. Now, the four medicinal pools are larger, big enough to fit two people, the central spring also increased in size. There is also a jacuzzi, an outdoor spring, a sauna, and an electric bath. They really went all out with the renovation. I want to explore each of them later if possible. Right now, I need to do what I came here to do.

Where is Zuihou? I will need to sneak up on... That is a bad idea. If I startle her, I feel she would drift even further away. Let's find her and then gently approach her. She should still be-

The sound of running water interrupted my train of thoughts. Or rather, it just told me where Zuihou is. She is somewhere on the right, at the washing stations.

I walked to the direction of the sound. The washing stations are still the same. Each station has a shower head, body soap, shampoo, conditioner, a small wooden pain, a tap to fill the pail with water, and a mirror. The person bathing will wash themselves at a washing station before soaking in the baths. If you're an injured shipgirl, then it's straight to the medicinal pool for you.

"Geez... What are they up to? Why do I have to take a bath at this timing?" (Zuihou)

I can hear faint mumbling. There she is, right in the corner most station. I took a deep breath. I need to ready myself. Okay, I can do this.

"I can't believe Gangut-san fired indoors. What if Admiral gets hurt?" (Zuihou)

I approached her from her right. She doesn't seem to notice me just yet. In fact, she isn't really doing anything, just letting the water rain down on her.

"What should I do? Geez... I don't know anymore... I spent the whole night thinking... A harem..." (Zuihou)

I'm forcing things to go too fast, am I? Come to think of it, I shouldn't be trying to get her to yes immediately. I should have given her time to think. This is our future. We both should think about it properly and have a say in it.

But she also almost did the same to me, wanting to break up for silly reasons. So a tic-for-tat.

But yeah, I should have given her some more time to think properly. I may have made up my mind, but that doesn't mean it's the same for her. She is obviously still uncertain. I don't mind putting the whole harem thing for next time. For now, we need to make up. Otherwise, Gangut won't let us out.

"Let me scrub your back."

"Eh? Oh. Thank you... Admiral?! Why are you here?!" (Zuihou)

Zuihou covered

"Same reason as you. Gangut trapped me here. Let's talk about the minor details later. For now, face the front and just relax. Let me service you."

"S-service?!" (Zuihou)

I took the shower head and wet her body. After that, I switched off the water and lather my hands with shampoo.

"O-oh. That's what you meant..." (Zuihou)

"What else did you think I meant?"

I feigned innocence as I washed her hair,

"Let me know if you feel itchy."

"What are you now, a hairdresser?" (Zuihou)

"Close you eyes. I'm washing the shampoo off now."

I turned on the water and washed her hair. Now for the next part, I lather a towel with soap and proceed to scrub her body with it.

"I can wash myself." (Zuihou)

"Shush. Let me do it."

As I pressed the towel against her bare back, I can feel her tensing up a little. It must be super awkward for her. I mean, it is awkward for me too. That's why I'm doing this, to distract myself and lighten up the mood, even for a bit. Usually in anime and manga, our roles should be reversed. As much as I want to experience that, being the 'washer' is also pretty decent.

"Just relax. It's not like this is the first time we bathed together."

"It is the first time you are washing me!" (Zuihou)

"It's fine. If you want, you can scrub mine later."

When I'm done with her back, I lifted her right arm up and scrubbed along her arm. She immediately tried to resist but I held on to it,

"A-admiral, I can handle-" (Zuihou)

"Shh~ Not a word. Leave your body to me."

"That sounds- Nh!" (Zuihou)

She flinched when I went to work on her armpits. She tried to resist but it was too late. My hands, and the towel, were already at work. That alone was able to make her weak. This is starting to become fun.

"Ad-Ahn! Admiral, yo-you don't... Nhah... have to...I can...! That tickles!" (Zuihou)

Ignoring her, I continued to scrub her body. I went to work on her left side. After that, her chest.

"Seriously, Admiral. I can wash the front myself! You don't have to- Ahn! Ahh!" (Zuihou)

I specifically targeted a certain part of her chest until I can feel it hardening as she tried to stifle her m.o.a.ns. Now that I'm done with her top, it's time for the bottom part.

"No... not there... Nh! Ahh!" (Zuihou)

Crap. Her m.o.a.ns and cute reactions are turning me on! I want to... No no. Not now. Control yourself. Bide your time.

"Ahn... Mh... Admi-admiral... E...nough... Don't... focus on that place. Why... are you doing this?" (Zuihou)

"Because you would run away again if I don't do this."

"I won't... run... kh... Ahn... away... No. I'm..." (Zuihou)

"Yeah yeah. Maybe a little more."

"Ahhhh!" (Zuihou)

Zuihou's body convulsed, before falling back towards me. Mission accomplished. I proceed to scrub her legs and her butt, then took the shower head and rinsed the soap off her.

"Stupid... Even though... I told you to stop..." (Zuihou)

She tilted her head towards me with glazed eyes, gasping for air. She looks so s.e.xy now,

"Hahaha. You are so cute, Zuihou."

Wait... What am I doing?! This wasn't part of my plan! I just wanted to lighten up the mood for us, not... do this.

"Sorry. I went a bit overboard. Forg-Ghoh?!"

I felt a hand tightly gripping onto my most sensitive part. She is so pissed. She is going to kill me!

"Erm... Zuihou. Calm down. Don't do anything rash! Your eyes are scary!"

"Let me pay you back, Admiral~" (Zuihou)

Ah. I'm dead...

...or maybe not...

Zuihou sat behind me, silently scrubbing my back the same way as I did earlier. The awkwardness is back...

"Seriously, first you ordered Gangut to fire indoors just to get me out, then I got dragged to the docks and then you had your way with me. Why must I go through all this in the morning?" (Zuihou)

"Ahaha... Sorry. And I did not order Gangut to fire in the corridor. She did it on her own."

I actually planned for Zuihou-chan to bomb the office windows open as a last resort though. Let's not tell her that part.

"Hmph. Whatever." (Zuihou)

Uwah. She is definitely pissed off. Maybe this is the time to apologize,

"Zuihou, I'm... Erm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have forced you to make a decision all of a sudden. I should have talked to you about it calmly."

We ended up shouting at each other after all. I got a little too heated up.

From the mirror, I can see Zuihou shaking her head,

"No. I'm also at fault. I shouldn't have insisted on breaking up, let alone even mentioned it. I didn't consider any other options." (Zuihou)

I can feel Zuihou pressing herself against my back,

"I... spent the whole night thing about what Admiral and Zuihou-chan said. About the harem thing." (Zuihou)

"It's okay. You don't have to give me answer now. When you are ready, I will hear it."

Although Zuihou-chan may become upset again... Ugh... This is hard. If Zuihoi doesn't agree to it, I will need to find a way to convince Zuihou-chan to give up on me. Until she has gotten over me, our relationship will definitely get awkward throughout that period.

"No. I think I know my answer. You know how we are always together, right? I have spent so many nights with you. Last night was the first in a long time since I was alone in a big bed. It got me thinking, I truly am blessed to be able to be with you. While I am happy, what about the others? Zuihou-chan might not be the only one, there could be others who love Admiral too. But because you have chosen me, they might have forced themselves to give up. Zuihou-chan is the only one still fighting. I have been keeping Admiral to myself all this time. Maybe now... it's time I share." (Zuihou)

My eyes widened at her words. I immediately turned around to face her,

"Does that mean-?"

"Y-yes. I don't mind... if you create a harem. As long as you keep your promise to treat all of us with the same amount of love." (Zuihou)

This is great! The others are going to be delighted about this. Plus, having a harem has it perks. It expands our nightly activities, but that's not the main point.

"But I have one condition." (Zuihou)

"What is it? As long as it's in my power, I will do anything."

"I want proof." (Zuihou)

"Proof?"

Eh? What does she mean by that?

"I want something that is unique to us. Something to tell me that you love me, that I'm your number one. Something only the two of us share. I know I said I want us to be equal but I want something special. It can be an item or an activity only the two of us can do. I want a stronger bond." (Zuihou)

Something as proof. stronger bond... I understand. I'm putting our relationship at risk here. If I create a harem, Zuihou may find herself getting de-ranked on the 'relationship board'. She is probably think about it like this. So she wants something to feel that she is at the top. That she is still my number one lover.

"I got it. I will think of something. Something that only we share."

"Uhm. I'm looking forward to it." (Zuihou)

There it is. The sweet smile which I love to see.

"Things are going to be hard from now on, but let's see it through together. I promise, I will always love you. I will never leave you."

"Ehe~ I will hold you to that." (Zuihou)

Zuihou suddenly glanced downwards, before giving a mischievous smile,

"Now, let's continue where we left off. I still have to pay you back for what you did just now." (Zuihou)

"Ohoh. How scary. Are you sure you can hold out long enough?"

"Just watch. This time, I will make you yield to me." (Zuihou)

I think I may have raised a lewd shipgirl. I don't mind, in fact, I like it. We spent the next few hours frolicking in the baths. Until Zuihou tuckered out. So much for making me yield.

I just realized something. How do I get girls into a harem?