Under the Shower

"So Marine Headquarters had no choice but to send me to the West Blue for one last attempt."

Momousagi idly hooked a lock of hair around her finger, twisting and playing with it.

"As for why, it was probably because Rear Admiral Shizi was a close friend of my older sister's, and she watched me grow up. Maybe if I went, the chances of persuading her would be a little higher."

Hearing this, Noah finally understood what Momousagi had meant earlier when she said this mission did not depend on strength, but solely on "her face."

"But I've never even met Rear Admiral Shizi. Won't I give myself away..." Noah looked troubled. "And I'm not good at persuading people with words at all."

"Relax. I haven't seen Rear Admiral Shizi in years either, and before you leave, I'll naturally explain everything you need to know."

Momousagi said dismissively, "Besides, this mission never had a high chance of success to begin with. If you pull it off, it'll be a major achievement. If you don't, there won't be any punishment. What are you afraid of?"

"...All right, then. Since you've put it that way."

After thinking for a moment, Noah nodded and accepted.

In fact, he felt that his current situation did not really allow him to refuse. "When do I leave?"

"About three days from now."

Aokiji spoke up from the side. "If the voyage goes smoothly, the warship will dock at Gulu Island for supplies at dawn three days from now. The 329th Branch base in the West Blue is located there. Once you land on the island, you can use that branch's information channels to find Rear Admiral Shizi's exact address."

"After that, whether the mission succeeds or fails, just stay at the branch base. In about three or four days, our warship will return and pick you up so we can head back to Marine Headquarters together."

"Got it."

The process was simple enough for anyone to understand.

Once Noah had sorted it out, seeing that Aokiji and Momousagi had nothing else to explain, he saluted them and prepared to leave.

"Get back here!"

Before he could even push the door open, an angry voice stopped him. When he instinctively turned around, he saw Momousagi glaring at him irritably.

"Where do you think you're going? Don't tell me you're planning to go back to your own room?"

"N-No, where else would I go?"

Noah looked at her blankly and pointed at the darkness beyond the window. "It's already late at night, Brigadier General Gion. If I don't rest now, I won't be able to get up early tomorrow."

"Get up, my ass!"

A rare flash of embarrassment and anger appeared on Momousagi's face. "Don't forget, you're in my body right now! Going back to stay with a bunch of male soldiers, what kind of sense does that make?"

"..." Noah suddenly came to his senses, and his head began to ache. "Then what should I do?"

"Sleep here!"

Momousagi spoke in a firm tone that allowed no refusal.

"Not just tonight. For the next three days, right up until you leave for the mission, you have to stay in my room!"

"All right..." Noah was startled by her sudden forcefulness. After a long moment, he remembered something important. "Then, Brigadier General Gion, how should we explain this to my friends? Quite a few people saw us pass out on the deck. Do they know we switched bodies now?"

"Not yet."

Momousagi shook her head. After hesitating for a moment, she sighed. "But I'll tell them about it soon. There's no need to hide something like this, and since you can't take part in the combat assessment this time, they need to know why."

That was the sensible way to handle it, and Noah immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been afraid that Momousagi would be too embarrassed to make something like this public, leaving him to carefully play the role of Momousagi in front of a group of people he knew for the next three days.

Just thinking about that was exhausting.

"All right, since you've settled everything, Gion, it's about time for me to take my leave too."

Aokiji stood up at that point, still holding the little raccoon. He lifted one of its tiny paws and waved it at them with a smile. "Come on, little fellow. Say goodnight and goodbye to these two unlucky people you screwed over."

"Go to hell!"

The next moment, an enraged Momousagi pelted him with several books, sending him fleeing with his head covered as he hurriedly twisted open the door and escaped.

Only after Aokiji's figure disappeared beyond the door did the room become quiet again.

"..."

Watching Momousagi leisurely sit back down at the desk, Noah finally realized that she had no intention of leaving the room at all. After struggling with himself for a while, he cautiously asked, "Brigadier General Gion, are you sleeping here tonight too?"

"Mm-hm."

Momousagi gave him a sidelong glance and let out a soft snort. "Don't worry. You can keep sleeping in your bed. I'll just make do with a spot on the floor."

"How can that be?" Noah hurriedly stood up. "This is your room. No matter what, I should be the one sleeping on the floor..."

"That's an order, kid. I'm not discussing it with you."

Momousagi seemed a little sleepy. She raised her right hand to cover her mouth as she yawned, muttering, "Making you stay here was already my selfish decision. How could I make you sleep on the floor too? I'm not that unreasonable..."

"What?" Noah did not catch that clearly.

"Nothing." Momousagi could not be bothered to repeat herself. She rose from the desk and paced back and forth for a while. After hesitating for a long time, she finally said, "Come with me."

"Okay."

This time, Noah did not ask any questions. He obediently followed Momousagi through a door in the wall to the right.

Only after passing through the door did he discover that Momousagi's quarters were actually a suite. Right beside the bedroom was a bathroom with separate wet and dry areas.

Momousagi led him to a stop in front of the shower.

As he watched Momousagi remove the showerhead and silently lower her head to adjust the water temperature, Noah suddenly realized something.

He became flustered, not knowing how to face this, when Momousagi suddenly turned around after adjusting the water. Somehow, she produced a strip of cloth and blindfolded Noah.

"I'm a bit of a clean freak. Unless it's an emergency during a war, I take a bath every day."

With darkness before his eyes, Noah could only hear his own voice speak softly beside his ear. "Even if we've switched bodies, I can't stand the thought of getting into bed without bathing first. Do you understand?"

"I... I understand..."

No response came. After a long silence, Momousagi spoke again. "For these three days, I'll help you wash. Once you reach Gulu Island, if possible, I hope you can endure it for a few days and temporarily... not bathe until you return to the warship."

Although his vision was blocked by the cloth and he could not see anything,

Noah somehow felt, perhaps only in his imagination, that Momousagi was a little downcast and uneasy. There was even an almost imperceptible hint of pleading in her voice.

She was practically a different person from the carefree, smiling woman she had been while Aokiji was there.

Noah remained silent.

"Hahaha, I thought it was something serious. That's all?"

The next second, he suddenly burst into laughter. "I'd actually love that, Brigadier General Gion. You don't know this, but I hate bathing the most. When training gets busy, it's normal for me to go one or two weeks without bathing. What's three or four days?"

"Teacher Zephyr even taught us—eh, how did that line go again? Oh, right! As long as you're in the Marine Headquarters Recruit Camp, any Marine soldier who still has enough energy before bed to think about bathing can't be considered a good soldier!"

"A real man should make his blankets and pillow smell completely like sweat too!"

"That's disgusting."

Momousagi curled her finger and flicked him hard on the forehead. "Why have I never heard Mr. Zephyr say anything like that? You're so young, yet you've already learned how to make things up. Not honest at all."

"Teacher really did say it. I swear to heaven."

"Then when we get back to Marineford, shall I ask Mr. Zephyr about it?"

"...I was wrong, Brigadier General."

"Hmph, I knew it... All right, enough nonsense! Raise your arms. I'm taking your clothes off."

"Okay."

Seeing that his words had worked, someone instantly returned to normal.

After removing his clothes, Momousagi turned on the shower and began rinsing his body.

The sensation of the flowing water sliding over his skin was completely different from before. And when Momousagi lathered him with shampoo and body wash, then began scrubbing him with her hands, Noah experienced firsthand what it truly meant for pain and pleasure to coexist.

No matter how grueling his hellish training had been before, the torment his heart endured had never amounted to even a fraction of what he felt now.

He really had been too inexperienced before. Noah stood silently beneath the shower; in the end, that bag of rice had failed to reach the rooftop.

For the reference in the last paragraph, see Chapter 4.