CH 15

Name:Takane no Hana (WN) Author:Sage
Hot-Spring Bathing Incident (Attempted)

Translated by Hikaru

Edited by VampireKnight

“Kuhaー …”

Hinako, who is soaking in the bathtub, let out a distracted voice. Her figure is wrapped in a white bikini-type swimsuit.

“… Swimsuit?”

“Did you say somethingー…?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

I was surprised when she asked me to take a bath together with her, but apparently, the suggestion was based on the fact that we were wearing a bathing suit. It seems Hinako had planned to invite me to take a bath from the beginning, and my swimsuit was already prepared in the dressing room.

“Well……, with a bath this big, I can understand why you’d want to share it with someone.”

The bath in Hinako’s room is about the size of a small public bath. If she took a bath alone, she would feel lonely.

“Hmmー… paradise, paradise.”

Hinako stretched her body lightly. The movement looked strangely sexy. Hinako’s upturned face is tinged with a light red, and water dripped from her silky amber hair.

Noticing my gaze, Hinako smiled mischievously and pinched the shoulder strap of her swimsuit with her fingers.

“Do you want to see it…… maybe?”

“… Don’t talk in your sleep.”

It was a moment when reason barely prevailed. Calm down. ―Calm down, calm down, calm down. I try my best not to be conscious of it, but Hinako is still a good-looking girl of the opposite sex. If I’m not careful at all, my desires as a healthy male will overpower my mission as a caretaker.

In order to change my mood, I picked up a document that I had left at my side. I silently read through the document, which is placed in transparent plastic to prevent it from getting wet.

“What’s that ……?”

“It’s my classmate’s profile. Shizune-san told me to remember it.”

The document contained detailed profiles of the students of Class 2A. I already know about Taisho and Asahi-san, but the rest of the students seem to be heirs to major corporations or blood relatives of famous politicians.

“Speaking of which, are you close to any of your classmates?”

“No,” Hinako said in her usual matter-of-fact voice.

“No? But you’re surrounded by a lot of people in the classroom.”

“Hmmー… they aren’t friends.”

“Really……”

More like acquaintances, less like friends. I’ve only been at the academy for a day, but I think I have some understanding of Hinako’s circumstances. For better or worse, Hinako is a bit of an outsider at the academy. In the classroom, Hinako is spoken to by many people, but from the outside, she sometimes seems more like a figure than a friend.

“Don’t you ever wish you had a friend, Hinako?”

“Hmmー…………”

Hinako thought a little longer than usual, which was unusual.

“‘With Itsuki…it’s fine.'”

I’ll take that as a strong sign of trust. As I am feeling slightly happy, Hinako slowly stood up. Hinako came straight to the front of me and sat down with her back to me.

“Wash my hair.”

“……yes?”

I tilted my head at Hinako, who sat with the back of her head towards me.

“Jeez, you should wash it yourself.”

“… I usually have Shizune do it for me.”

So you’re not going to wash it yourself? I let out a small sigh. After all, Hinako is a young lady. Having her hair washed by a servant is very typical of a young lady.

“You have to get out of the tub to wash up your hair.”

“Why……? I always get washed here……”

Is that so? No, if I think about it, this is Hinako’s private bathroom. That means that after Hinako uses it, all this large amount of hot water will be thrown away. If that’s the case, it might not be a problem to wash her hair while soaking in the bathtub. It would be a waste of money….. for the water bill, though.

“Is it itchy?”

“Naーah…”

I lathered up the shampoo and washed Hinako’s hair. I think I’m washing her carefully, but this is the first time I’ve ever washed a woman’s hair. I wonder if it’s okay like this……?

“Mm….”

As I was carefully washing her hair, Hinako let out a small sound.

“It’s hot………… this, needs to be out of the way.”

With that said, Hinako reached behind her back and took off her bikini.

“What!?”

I couldn’t help but stop my hand. I was flustered, but Hinako only turned her face towards me.

“After all, do you want to see……?”

“Hey, don’t talk in your sleep―”

“Isn’t it ok? Really.” Hinako says, smiling.

A gasp escapes from my mouth, I am so surprised.

“I’m only wearing a bathing suit because Shizune insisted that I wear one.”

Hinako fingered the swimsuit she wore underneath, looking annoyed. This defenseless action disturbed my thoughts again.

“……wait a minute.”

It’s like hearing a word that I should never miss.

“… Shizune-san, does she know that we are taking a bath together?”

“Hmm.”

Hinako gave a small nod. Then I realized. I wonder why I didn’t notice it before. The door to the bathroom was open about five millimeters. Through the gap, a murderous gaze was fixed on me.

“Oh, huh…!?”

My body trembles with fear. It’s Shizune-san. I’m not sure how long she’s been watching us.

As I am dripping with cold sweat from feeling the strong killing power, the door of the bathroom opened a little more, exposing Shizune-san’s face. Shizune-san silently urged me to wash Hinako’s hair.

“Mm-hmm. …… tickles.”

“This is bad….”

Somehow I managed to push down my agitation and continued washing Hinako’s hair. I let out a sigh of relief as I reached for the shower and rinsed off the shampoo.

“Ah, we’re done washing……”

I didn’t feel like living the second half of the day. Even though I was taking a bath, my whole body was drenched in a cold sweat.

“Thank you… I’ll make this part of my daily routine.”

“Eh.”

“You have to wash it every night.”

With that said, Hinako got up and headed for the dressing room. Wait a minute…… am I going to have to feel this fear every night from now on?

As if to replace Hinako, Shizune-san comes over. Her eyes were terribly cold.

“Thank you for your hard work, Itsuki-san.”

“Oh, thank you. Um……, how long have you been watching us?”

“From the beginning.”

“From the beginning…..”

This means that she must have seen me being played by Hinako. I felt embarrassed and scared at the same time.

“I’ve prepared a change of clothes in the dressing room, so please use that when you come up.”

“Oh yes. Thank you very much.”

“And―”

Shizune-san placed the medicine bottle beside me.

“If you are going to have any bad feelings for the young Lady in the future, please take this in advance.”

“This is……?”

“It’s a drug that intentionally causes drug-induced ED by using the side effects of antidepressants and anticonvulsants. Well, to put it plainly, it’s a drug that…… makes you unable to get a hard-on.”

“Huh!?”

If I drink that stuff, I’ll become a maid. I shiver as I watch Shizune-san’s back as she leaves the medicine and walks away.