Her nape.
Shiraze Rina was a little flustered. Not because of the bath itself…
She really was dirty, hadn’t had a proper wash in a month…
But who would want to bathe with a strange woman she’d known for less than a day?!
And what did she mean by “it’s just a bath”?
Coming from a kidnapper’s mouth, the word “just” was a trap nobody in their right mind would fall for.
Who knew if she’d start getting handsy during the bath…
And Hisaki stood right in front of her, those dark red eyes quietly watching her. That look made goosebumps crawl from Rina’s arms all the way up to her neck.
Her voice exploded in the empty living room, sharper than any sound she’d made under the bridge underpass.
“Stay back! Don’t touch me! Disgusting! Get away!”
When those words tumbled out of her mouth, even she was caught off guard.
‘Was that too harsh?’
Hisaki didn’t seem to care. For a wild cat that bristled at the slightest touch, this level of reaction was just right—it got her a little excited…
She also didn’t plan on pushing further. She gave the cat a step down.
Her tone returned to that gentle, coaxing style, carrying a hint of indulgent helplessness.
“Alright, alright.”
She raised one finger, her dark red eyes fixed seriously on Rina.
“If you can’t get clean, I can come in and help, you know.”
The corner of Rina’s mouth twitched.
“After all, I promised to give Shiro a home, a warm and comfortable home. Forcing Shiro to do something like this…”
Hisaki tilted her head.
“Isn’t something I can do just yet.”
Rina’s eyelid twitched…
“So you’re saying you’ll force me later, is that it?”
She hurled the words out, her tone wrapped in ten parts sarcasm and zero parts weakness.
Hisaki didn’t answer.
She just stood there, maintaining that slightly tilted posture, wearing the same faint smile as always.
‘Not talking again.’
Whenever a question was hard to answer, she just wouldn’t speak.
People like that were the scariest.
Rina clicked her tongue and turned her face away.
‘Fine.’
‘No point in dragging this out with her.’
She looked down at herself…
‘Okay, I really do need a wash.’
That was objective fact, not surrendering to a kidnapper.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
She deliberately didn’t look at Hisaki when she asked…
Hisaki extended her hand, her slender index finger pointing toward the corridor on the right side of the living room.
“Keep walking, the door straight ahead is the bathroom. The master bedroom and second bedroom are on either side of the hallway.”
Rina turned and left without another word.
She walked fast, but her steps were small… not because she was scared, but because her legs were short.
With every step, she could feel the woman’s gaze pressed against her back.
Then she heard footsteps.
Soft, almost perfectly matching her own pace, following right behind her.
Less than a step away.
Rina didn’t look back…
She stopped at the end of the hallway, facing a frosted glass door. Through its surface, she could make out the blurry outline of the bathroom interior.
She took a deep breath, then spun around abruptly.
Hisaki was indeed standing right behind her.
Closer than she’d estimated.
“What are you still following me for?”
Rina’s tone was sharper than before, but she’d lowered her voice…
In a semi-enclosed space like a hallway, shouting would just make her look stupid.
Hisaki looked down at her, her gaze sliding from Rina’s puffed-up face down to her filthy collar…
“Your clothes.”
Hisaki extended her hand, her fingertips hovering just above Rina’s sleeve, not touching, only pointing vaguely at it.
“Take them off and give them to me. I’ll dry lean them for Shiro directly.”
She said it so naturally, as if it weren’t a kidnapper giving her victim instructions to undress.
“Wait.”
Rina squeezed those two words out through her teeth, then slipped into the bathroom at top speed, slamming the door shut behind her, twisting the lock twice.
She leaned against the door, catching her breath, then began surveying the bathroom.
It was big.
Then she started undressing.
A faint tearing sound came as she pulled the dress over her head—probably one of the seams finally giving out…
This dress had survived a month with her under the bridge underpass. It was a miracle it hadn’t fallen apart entirely.
She wadded up the dress, then the socks, then…
She hesitated.
‘Fine, I’ll wash it all together.’
‘The woman did say she’d dry lean everything anyway.’
She shoved all her clothes into the rattan basket by the door, including the white cotton underwear.
Then she crouched behind the door, unlocked it, opened it just wide enough for the basket to pass through, pushed it outside, and locked the door again as fast as she could.
The whole sequence was fluid, taking less than five seconds.
After that, Rina slid down against the door, letting out a long breath.
‘Alright, time to shower.’
She stood up, walked over to the shower area, and turned on the showerhead.
The moment hot water poured over her head, she nearly let out a sound.
It felt too good.
First hot shower in a month. Steam rose and enveloped her completely, her pores opening one by one in the warmth, the dust and fatigue accumulated over the past month washed away layer by layer.
She buried her face in the stream of water, her silver-white hair plastered wet against both sides of her cheeks.
Then a thought suddenly struck her.
She had no change of clothes.