Bathe with Me

Looking at Sachiko clinging tightly to him, Baicang really wanted to tell her that he wasn't at all the sort of person she thought he was.

But he felt that saying so now might cause something bad to happen.

Feeling Sachiko trembling uncontrollably in his arms, he hesitated for a moment... then gently hugged her back.

What a mess! I'll explain things properly when I get another chance.

Sachiko gradually calmed down, and the two held each other in silence.

After a little while, Sachiko slowly released Baicang and gave him a faint smile. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"This is the bathroom. I'll go get you a change of clothes and a towel."

Sachiko pointed to the room beside them, then hurried away, ignoring the look on Baicang's face as he struggled to say something.

Baicang scratched his head without a word and went into the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Sachiko stopped halfway, touching her burning, flushed cheeks. Who knew what she was thinking?

The bathroom in Sachiko's house was small, only about five or six square meters. The vanity stood straight ahead, with an ordinary little bathtub behind it. There wasn't even a glass partition between them.

Baicang locked the door and eagerly stripped off his tattered clothes. The damn things were sticking to him so badly that he could barely stand it. The stuck parts wouldn't come off easily, so he had no choice but to yank them.

"Ah!"

Having experienced the exquisite agony of waxing, Baicang hurt so much that tears welled up in his eyes.

Looking at his clothes, now reduced to strips of fabric, Baicang was grateful his underwear hadn't been ruined. Otherwise, his losses really would have been devastating.

Still, he really needed to make himself a set of clothes for combat. Having to replace an outfit after every fight was more than he could afford.

"Where am I supposed to hang these?"

Looking around at the smooth tiles, Baicang was stumped. Leaving them directly on the sink counter didn't seem right either. After searching around, he finally found a basket in a cabinet beside him.

The moment he tossed his clothes in, he noticed something else in the basket: a pale purple lace bra and matching panties.

Baicang's hand trembled. He quickly pulled his clothes back out, tossed them on the floor, and shoved the basket back into the cabinet.

I didn't touch them! He immediately turned on the shower to cool his rising desire.

Why is there a lavender scent... ahem.

Once his desire had subsided, Baicang was surprised to discover that the injuries he'd suffered when the tentacle sent him flying had healed. Even the cuts from the rubble and exposed rebar had vanished without a trace.

I could still see the scars on the way back. Did I awaken a regeneration ability too? But why isn't it showing up?

After thinking it over without reaching any conclusions, Baicang chalked it up to his stronger body having better natural healing and stopped dwelling on it.

Instead, he focused on "hair removal"!

Some of the fluid had hardened into clumps stuck directly to his legs, and there were quite a few on his upper body too. They wouldn't rinse off, so he could only pick at them and yank them off by hand.

There weren't any scissors in the bathroom either, so he could only start by removing some of the larger clumps that were bothering him most.

Sachiko took out a brand-new towel and some clean clothes that had belonged to her late husband, placing them all in a laundry basket.

But the sight of the basket suddenly reminded Sachiko of something.

The underwear she'd changed out of last night was still in the bathroom cabinet. She hadn't taken it out to wash yet!

M-Mr. Baicang wouldn't see it, would he?

Sachiko's cheeks flushed. No, I have to trust Mr. Baicang!

After hurriedly gathering everything, Sachiko carried the basket to the bathroom. Just as she was about to knock and let Baicang know, she faintly heard him making strange noises inside.

"Mmh... ah... ah!"

Sachiko couldn't help imagining some strange scenes, along with her unwashed underwear...

Mr. Baicang isn't in there... no, he wouldn't. How could he?

Despite repeating that to herself, Sachiko's hands trembled slightly. She took a deep breath and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Mr. Baicang, I've left the clothes outside the door. You can open it and get them once you're done."

"Oh, okay!"

Baicang answered, then returned his attention to his battle with "hair removal," completely unaware that his image in Sachiko's mind had undergone certain changes.

"Mizuki, why did Baicang fight the monster alone?" Tanktop Girl looked at Mizuki, who was playing with Harano beside her.

She didn't understand why Baicang had said he couldn't handle the monster and sent them to evacuate the residents, only to go solve the problem by himself. When she'd returned and seen him covered in blood, she'd been scared out of her wits.

"I'm not sure either. Maybe he was worried we'd get hurt?"

Mizuki took the medal off her neck and gave it to Harano, letting him go play by himself nearby.

"He already scolded me last time, telling me to put my own safety first when dealing with monsters. Yesterday, he wouldn't let us go with him to find the giant either. That was probably because he was worried about us, right?"

Then she added, "Baicang would rather get hurt himself than let us get hurt. He's the best, most dependable senior we could ask for! Don't you think?"

"Is that so..."

Tanktop Girl didn't know what to think either.

How long had she even known Baicang? Less than two days. Mizuki had only known him for three or four days herself. She didn't know why Mizuki trusted him so much.

When she'd first told Mizuki she wanted to meet Baicang, it had only been because she was worried her close friend had been deceived. But she remembered how he'd still joked around with her even while drenched in blood.

Tanktop Girl smiled faintly. He really was someone she could trust.

Sachiko's complexion had returned to normal. She came into the living room and asked Mizuki, "Miss Mizuki, do you need a change of clothes?"

"Thank you, but there's no need. My combat outfit is waterproof."

Then Mizuki ran off to play with Harano again, explaining all kinds of running techniques to him. Harano, who didn't understand any of it, obligingly kept nodding and applauding.

"Miss Sachiko, how did you meet Baicang and Mizuki?" Tanktop Girl looked at Sachiko curiously.

She'd noticed the memorial portrait in the corner as soon as she entered. After everything that had happened that day, she really wanted to hear Sachiko's story and learn how she'd met Baicang and Mizuki.

"Oh, well..." Sachiko came over to the little table and knelt down in front of Tanktop Girl.

Perhaps because it had been so long since she'd had anyone to confide in, Sachiko didn't stop at telling Tanktop Girl how she'd met Baicang and the others.

When Harano pulled Mizuki out into the yard to find the kitten and play, Sachiko went on to tell Tanktop Girl about how her husband had started gambling, fallen into debt with loan sharks, and then died in an accident, as well as all the hardships and suffering she'd faced caring for Harano and keeping their home together alone.

"Miss Sachiko! Waaah..."

Mizuki, the most emotional of them, hugged Sachiko and burst into tears after hearing her story. Beside them, Tanktop Girl was secretly wiping away tears too.

When Baicang came out after his shower, he saw all three women with tears streaming down their faces. (Ling Ling had come over to ask Harano to come out and play.)

What's going on? Are they addicted to crying now?

"Miss Mizuki, you should go take a bath. Mr. Baicang is finished."

"Then bathe with me." Mizuki took the bewildered Sachiko by the hand and headed toward the bathroom.

When did these two become best friends?

Watching them leave, Baicang turned to Tanktop Girl with a puzzled look. "Did something happen just now?"

"It's girl stuff. None of your business!"