Naruhito (68)
I ate so many dangos that I didn’t need dinner. But Ikumatsu and Hirosue both praised me for eating a lot. Since I ate too much, I couldn’t move and just rolled around lazily.
It was fun.
It was delicious.
I feel so happy.
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open roughly. Hiiro had returned.
"Welcome back."
"I'm home."
He picked me up and sat down on the sofa, hugging me tightly and not letting go. He smelled a little different than usual.
"Bath?"
"I will if you go in with me."
"Let's go."
He let out a relieved "I see," and nodded.
"I haven't sweated this much in a while."
"What were you doing?"
"Training with Hitachimaru."
Hmm. It seemed like the bath time had already been reserved, so he quickly got up and started preparing a change of clothes.
"We're going to take a bath, right?"
He asked again for confirmation. Yeah, we are. After seeing me nod, he headed to the bath.
Even when we got to the bath, he kept staring at me as I undressed.
What is it?
When I tilted my head, he said, "It's nothing," and went into the bath.
It was probably something, though.
He must have sweated a lot because he started washing himself right away. I put the towel on the floor and rubbed soap on it. It might be the first time I’ve used soap myself. Before I was taken in, I never used things like that, and since then, Hiiro has always washed me. It was fun to make the soap foam up. I played for a while before remembering what I was supposed to do.
I scrubbed Hiiro's back with the soapy towel. His back is so big.
"Put more strength into it."
"Okay."
I scrubbed harder.
"Does it hurt?"
"It feels good."
"Did something happen with me in the bath?"
"... No?"
"Did I forget because my head’s messed up?"
"Your head's not messed up. Don’t say it like that."
Hiiro turned to me, grabbed the hand I was scrubbing with, and pulled me forward into a hug.
"I'm covered in bubbles."
"People don’t break. Got it?"
"Okay."
"Give me the towel. I'll wash you."
I handed the bubbly towel to Hiiro.
"I want to know what happened yesterday."
"......"
"If I don't, I’ll stay like this."
"... Do you remember Rikimaru inviting you to take a bath?"
I didn't. I shook my head. Hiiro gently scrubbed my body and said, "I see."
"When Rikimaru invited you to the bath, you apparently had a panic attack."
Sometimes I fall out of bed, right? I don’t remember that well, either. I feel exhausted when I wake up, and my body aches. That’s why I couldn’t work today.
So that’s why you kept asking if I’d take a bath?
"Do you like baths now?"
"Yeah."
"Did you dislike them before?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Well... because when I washed my body, I had to... do it. It hurt, felt gross, and made it hard to move the next day."
"I see..."
Oh no, did he think I didn’t want to do it with him?
"I only like doing it with Hiiro."
"What?"
"Doing it with Hiiro feels good."
Hiiro looked up at the ceiling with an exasperated "Ah."
"I'm still hyped up from the full-on combat training. Don’t provoke me."
"I want to feel good."
Before I could say more, he kissed me deeply, almost like he was devouring me. After that, things felt so good that I don’t remember much.
I just remember how happy I felt and how much I slept afterward.
But the next day, Ikumatsu hooked me up to an IV I hated, and I had to take the day off from work.
What do you think about this chapter?
