“Why are you the one who came in!!!”
Shidou violently sank his body deeper into the tub until only his head remained above water.
Fortunately, he hadn’t panicked enough to dunk his head too; otherwise, all that would be audible right now would be glug-glug bubbling sounds.
“I was about to ask the same thing, but when I think about it, Kotori must have told you something like ‘the bath is ready,’ right?”
Kyoumi walked into the bathroom, casually sliding the frosted glass door shut behind her.
Arms folded beneath her chest, she gazed at the gradually reddening Shidou with great interest.
“That Kotori… W-Wait, why did you come in and then close the door?!”
He didn’t need an explanation to know his own little sister had sold him out, but compared to settling scores with his adorable sibling, Kyoumi’s natural movements made the boy panic even more.
“If I don’t take a good look, wouldn’t that waste all the effort little Kotori put in?”
“What effort, get out!!!”
Shidou was familiar with the cliché fanservice scenes that often appeared in anime and had once harbored similar fantasies, but when he himself became the one providing the fanservice… he was nowhere near mentally prepared for that.
“Uwah… so loud…”
Kyoumi instinctively covered her ears with both hands, tilted her head, and shifted her gaze away from the bathtub to prevent the boy from letting out an even more exaggerated scream.
“Okay, okay, I’m leaving~”
Using her heel, she nudged the not-fully-closed glass door open and leisurely retreated while still protecting her ears.
Just before closing it, she poked her head back in one last time.
“Mmm, thanks for the treat~”
“Hey!!!”
Bam—
The glass door was shut by the girl, but Shidou didn’t relax in the slightest.
Though the door wasn’t completely transparent and had spared him the absolute worst-case scenario, under the bathroom lights he could still see a blurry silhouette and the perfectly outlined figure.
In Shidou’s field of vision, the clear contour of the girl’s shoulders was imprinted on the door.
Kyoumi was leaning against it from the other side, separated from the steamy bathroom by only that single pane of glass.
She had absolutely no intention of leaving!!!
“…That Kotori…”
He sank a little deeper again, submerging his mouth and blowing speechless bubbles.
Taking a bath was supposed to be relaxing, a way to relieve fatigue, but right now the boy couldn’t relax at all.
Anyone soaking naked in a tub while a beautiful member of the opposite sex stood outside probably wouldn’t be in much better shape than Shidou was.
“Don’t blame her too much. From my perspective, she probably just wanted to give you more experience interacting with girls and dealing with unexpected situations.”
Surprisingly defending the girl, Kyoumi’s voice drifted in, causing Shidou to lift his chin slightly so he wouldn’t accidentally speak in bubble language.
“I can understand needing to get used to the rhythm of talking with spirits, but normal unexpected situations shouldn’t include this kind of thing!”
He could understand his sister’s good intentions, but communicating with spirits and his current predicament were completely different matters.
“…If your healing ability were still active, the one inside the bathroom right now might have been me instead.”
Twirling a lock of hair by her ear, Kyoumi added casually.
Her gaze wandered across the sink before finally landing on the laundry basket on the floor.
“…She’d really do something like that?!”
He suddenly felt his adorable little sister was gone forever.
Though it was just a question, considering the current situation, Kotori might actually be capable of what Kyoumi suggested.
“Shidou, are you taking the responsibility you bear too lightly?”
Leaning down, she hooked the laundry basket toward her with a fingertip and continued chatting with the boy while slowly rifling through it.
“Eh?”
“Sealing that requires the spirit to fall for you as a prerequisite will inevitably cause the spirits to become overly dependent on you. Since Kotori was able to reclaim her spiritual power from you because of emotional instability, the other spirits can naturally do the same.”
“…Yeah… So to keep the spirits emotionally stable, it’s pretty much confirmed you’ll have to live with them from now on. That will only deepen their reliance on you. Relationships will grow closer and closer, and taking a bath together isn’t impossible. If your momentary embarrassment causes a spiritual power leak, this house definitely won’t survive… Oh my…”
“…That kind of thing…”
Shidou hadn’t thought about the issue in those terms, but what Kyoumi said did sound like something that could happen in the future.
Still, expecting him to adapt under these circumstances was asking way too much…
“Shidou, are you a boxer-briefs kind of guy?”
“Yeah, I… Wait, what are you rummaging through!!!”
Momentarily distracted by the sudden heavy responsibility, he answered automatically.
Realizing what he’d done, Shidou immediately looked at the silhouette behind the frosted glass and shouted.
“…I’m bored, might as well get to know you a little better… Ah, doesn’t feel like the tight kind, so loose boxers?”
“From that angle?!”
…Honestly, the pressure just got worse.
Even though the absolute worst fanservice scenario hadn’t occurred, Shidou still felt thoroughly violated in every possible sense of the word, all through a door.
“Well, anyway, I did tell you earlier I was going to take a bath and asked you to prepare the bedding. So how exactly did Kotori trick you into coming in?”
“…Kotori said you suddenly wanted to play games for a bit, but the bathwater was already run, so I should go first.”
“I see. Then Miss Kyoumi’s affection level has dropped three points.”
She neatly folded the underwear she’d been examining, placed it back in the basket, and began tidying the rest of the clothes she’d pulled out while casually passing judgment.
“You even set the affection meter yourself…”
“Mhm. If I want you to understand a girl’s heart, and I don’t say it directly, you’d never catch on for a while, right?”
She’s probably scolding me… for not trusting her or something…
But that wasn’t it; Shidou had simply trusted his little sister’s words just as much, and Kyoumi really did seem like the whimsical, unpredictable type.
“…Sorry…”
In the end, any excuse would just be an excuse. Realizing this, the boy opened his mouth.
“How’s the waterproofing?”
“Huh?”
He didn’t react immediately, but soon understood what she meant.
Shidou raised his bandaged hand out of the water.
“It’s… really good?!”
It was true; he had been worried the bandage would get soaked, but nothing of the sort had happened.
“Current affection level +3 points.”
“…Huh?”
He hadn’t expected his favorability to mysteriously recover just like that.
Shidou was bewildered.
“Meaning, I’m not angry or holding a grudge.
I’m simply glad I got to know you a little better.”
“…”
“Shidou. Have you ever heard this saying?”
“…What saying?”
“From the moment people meet, the time they can spend together only keeps shrinking.”
Having returned the neatly organized laundry basket to its original spot, Kyoumi stood up, her voice lazy.
“Since we’ve met and come to know each other, and we’re walking the same path, don’t hesitate or worry too much about everything. After all, there are still so many people ready to catch you if you fall, right?”
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