Chapter 421 Scrubbing Backs.



"You need more oomph; that's it! That's it! Now tighten your core a little bit more and plant your feet before swinging."

Huaap~!

Haap~!

Beads of sweat splashed as Satoshi continued honing his fighting techniques under his dad's guidance. Today was no superpowers day, which meant that they'd be physically training their bodies to the limits. Tatsuki called it the 'de-load' of training since today focused solely on the main part of a superhero— that is, their physical bodies.

"Nice. Every swing, every attack, focus on every fiber of your muscles. Don't just blindly swing when you're cornered. If you keep up with the training, you'll see that a maximum strike will come instinctually when you're in a fight."

Nodding his head, Satoshi proceeded to heed his father's relevant advice while he swung his fists a couple more times. Today, he could focus more on his training without distraction since Emma was busy preparing for her first day of school.

eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ After working up a sweat, Satoshi headed out of his parents' superhero lair and hopped into the bath. He could tell that he really overextended on that training. His muscles spasmed and screamed despite his ample amount of rest before jumping into the warm bathtub.

A satisfied exhale left Satoshi's mouth as he sunk into the bath. Unbeknownst to him, he was too out of it that he didn't even turn on the lights to the restroom, much less lock the door as soon as he got in.

The warmth of the tub was just at a comfortable level, and it lulled Satoshi to sleep. Before he could drift into unconsciousness, however, the lights in the bathroom snapped on, and he flinched, flailing his appendages in the bathtub, disoriented.

When he turned around, however, he saw that Emma was right there, holding a blanket on her front. She wasn't wearing anything. It took Satoshi a split second to turn his head away before he could see anything. "W-w-what are you doing?!" Satoshi hissed, his face reddened in embarrassment. In hindsight, he shouldn't be the one feeling awkward since his entire body was practically submerged in water. Unless Emma had good vision, she'd have seen Satoshi's body, but such was not the case.

"What are you doing sleeping in the bathtub? You do know that we're going to be late if you don't rush, right?" Emma called out, casually striking up a conversation with Satoshi as if that was the most normal thing to do in a bath.

"Ah, right, I'll get out. Can you pass me the towel?" Since Emma wasn't making a big deal out of stepping into the bathroom, he opted to match his energy while keeping his head turned away from Emma. He didn't want to accidentally swivel his head and see Emma in the middle of covering herself with an undersized towel.

Reluctantly, Emma wrapped her entire body with the towel she was holding before handing Satoshi a towel. Since it was clear that Satoshi had fallen asleep while in the tub, she was fairly certain that he hadn't taken a bath. After all, she was well aware that Satoshi had a habit of jumping into the tub when he was exhausted.

"I'm getting out. Don't fall asleep in the tub." Satoshi reminded her. However, before he could completely step out of there, Emma pulled her inside a second time and prompted him to sit on the shower chair. Confused, Satoshi didn't struggle and just let Emma do her bidding.

"You haven't taken a shower, haven't you?" Emma asked, sort of imitating Ayumu's voice while placing her hand on her hips.

Satoshi was even more befuddled. "What? Why?" He asked, looking up and seeing Emma's body tightly wrapped with a towel. As for him, his lower body was wrapped with a towel as well.

"I knew it." Emma heaved a sigh. "Let me wash your back for you."

"And why would I..." Satoshi trailed off. Before he could finish his sentence, Emma deliberately started scrubbing his back.

"Just stay still," Emma muttered. She was just as embarrassed as Satoshi, but she kept her composure pretty well, even wearing an impenetrable poke face while scrubbing Satoshi's back.

For once, Emma noticed that Satoshi actually had plenty of scars on his back. Not only that, underneath his clothes were pure hard-beaten muscles, with lots of bruises and discoloration here and there. Somehow, Emma felt like she had just uncovered a secret that Satoshi had never told anyone.

"Where did you get all this? Were you a punching bag back in the day?" Emma asked, thinking that her words were ridiculous, that there was no way what she just said could be true. If anything, Satoshi's superficial were his battle wounds.

"It's hard to say I wasn't..." Satoshi let out a chuckle. "I told you before, didn't I? It took me until half a year ago to manifest my superpowers. Previously, I was used to being beaten up by children my age. It's not like I don't put up a good fight, though. Then again, there's only so much a powerless kid can do when facing uncontrollable power. We had this conversation before, you know."

Emma nodded her head. Of course, they already had this conversation in the same setting, no less. But she couldn't help but bring it up again now that she got an even better look at his battle scars.

"Well, I guess this is late... but congratulations on winning the Official Beast Tournament. I couldn't find the right time to say it. I guess now's a good time." Emma let out, deflecting the subject so Satoshi wouldn't feel as awkward with her examining him so closely like that.

"I should be congratulating you. You did well in that exhibition match and all. Granted, it was your first official competition of sorts, and you didn't get the jitters." Satoshi commented. "Do you want me to wash your back for you in return?" Satoshi jokingly asked, fully knowing that Emma would flat-out reject his offer with a violent reaction in the mix.

To his surprise, though, Emma just smiled as she rinsed his back. "I thought you wouldn't ask. I need to look my best on my first day of school, so do a good job at scrubbing my back, 'kay?" She responded with a hint of bashfulness in her voice.

"What's that got to do with your first day of school? It's not like you'd show everyone your back on the first day of school, Emma." Satoshi commented, but he decided to scrub her back in return anyways.

While they were swapping seats, a soft pitter-patter could be heard from the outside. And before they could react, the door to the bathroom slammed open as an unsuspecting Aira walked in, holding her skirt.

"I need to pee."

Emma and Satoshi looked at each other as if they were just caught red-handed.