Kali stood in front of the mirror for a few seconds, as if waiting for something to happen or listening to the sounds outside. However, she couldn't detect any anomalies at all.
"... Well, I should trust her words, at least."
Thinking so, Kali started to remove her clothes. Her thick jacket was ragged and full of dirt and dust, followed by her hot pants. As her main focus was agility, wearing long pants like Aster did was difficult, as it would limit her knee's movements.
As she took off her clothes one after another, she tossed them into the washer, ready to give them a spin. As she didn't have any other clothes to wear, she had no choice but to wash her current clothes to use later.
She removed her black tank top and the pair of black underwear she was wearing underneath before tossing them both into the washer. After touching a few buttons, the machine started releasing a few beeps before the motor could be heard running.
Seeing her clothes tumble inside it as the washer began its magic, she walked over to the shower area and adjusted the knobs. She always takes extra hot showers, probably due to how her body temperature is hotter than a human's, roughly at 39 °C on average.
After the panel showed the "ready" label, she flipped the shower's knob, letting the water fall on top of her head.
"Phew..."
Steam quickly filled the bath area, as the water temperature was approaching 45 °C. For other races, it might be a little uncomfortable to shower at that temperature.
As she was letting the shower wash off the dirt from her hair and body, she realized the sound of the door opening. Kali's ears twitched immediately as she used one arm to cover her lower spot before swiping the curtain out of the way.
"You bastard! How dare you peek on me, As—!"
But just as she was about to call someone's name, she realized that it wasn't who she thought it was. The one who entered the bathroom's door, using the master key, was none other than the orange rabbit, Cassy!
"E-Ehehe~! Now, you can't run away! Let's take a bath together~!"
'Wait, no! This will just make it harder for me to survive tonight!' He quickly shook his head, as if to chase away all his pink thoughts. 'I need to concentrate. Zen! I will reach the Zen State of Mind!'
As someone who had to suffer due to his disease in the past, Aster had tried his hand at a lot of things. One of them is controlling his breathing and emotions through Zen meditation. Of course, he's no master, so his meditation wasn't foolproof, but it should at least be able to let him focus on his current task rather than on the voices echoing from the bath.
Time passed by quickly, and at the 30-minute mark, one figure jumped out of the bath. It was Kali, who was wearing nothing but her tank top and hot pants. She seemed tired, her face red while panting hard, with steam coming from her body.
Aster sent a glance her way before returning to what he was doing and announcing. "The meal's almost done. Kali, can you help me set up the table?"
"... Alright."
As she walked away from the bath, another one came out. This time, it was Cassy who borrowed another shirt from Aster's wardrobe to wear. Right, she was wearing nothing underneath, only a single, baggy shirt.
"I'll help too~!" She raised her hand before running after Kali.
"..."
Aster watched the two working from the corner of his eyes and, of course, couldn't focus on what he was doing. Their attire was poison to the eyes!
Kali's tank top was short, basically leaving everything below her chest and above her waist exposed. She didn't wear her bra back on, as it would be restrictive to sleep on. Even her hot pants were left half-open, revealing a glimpse of her black underwear.
In Cassy's case, the plain white shirt followed every curve of her body. When she was leaning forward, it was fine, but when she was standing straight, the twin peaks could be seen asserting their presence from below the shirt. It was practically visible already.
"Ugh..."
Aster closed his eyes, praying that he survive the night without falling to temptation, and laying a hand on either of the girls.