Sousuke handed him a white and fluffy towel. Then Satori went inside a small room that Sousuke had shown him. He was barely aware of the existence of a bathroom. It was a place where humans washed their bodies. Satori had never taken a bath before, but he usually washed himself with the river water. He took off the clothes he wore and entered the “bathroom” excitedly.
This hose-like thing is used to wash the body, right?
As he twisted the faucet, a large amount of what looked like small drops of rain suddenly fell from above his head, and Satori panicked.
“…!”
Satori let out an inaudible scream. As he fumbled to stop the water, he slipped his foot on the wet tiles.
“…!!!”
Sousuke rushed in with a panicked look toward Satori, who had just fallen down with a loud crashing sound.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
(What had just happened?!)
Satori was lying naked in the bathroom with the water from the shower falling on him.
“…Sousuke. My forehead …hurts. I hit my head…”
While holding his bruised head with both hands, Satori looked up at Sousuke with teary eyes. Then their eyes met. Satori didn’t even notice that his face, which was usually kept hidden behind long bangs, was now exposed because of his wet hair. Sousuke widened his eyes in surprise. He stared at Satori, speechless.
(His sparkling eyes are like jewels…)
Sousuke’s gaze ran from Satori’s head to toe without missing any details.
“Sousuke?”
Sousuke, who had been heating up with a red face, came back to his senses. For some reason, he looked away from Satori with an angry expression. He grabbed a bath towel that was in the bathroom and tried to turn the faucet off.
“Ow, ow, ow, it’s cold! It’s cold!”
(Damn, why cold water?)
Sousuke then gently covered Satori’s body with the bath towel. He was also soaked, drenched from the head down.
“Ah, damn.”
(I’m soaking wet.)
The feeling of frustration coming from Sousuke stabbed Satori in the chest.
I knew it, I brought bad omens. Nothing good ever happens to Sousuke.
As Satori was feeling down inside, Sousuke’s hand touched his head.
“Where did you hit your head? Let me see it.”
(Are you okay…?)
Sousuke gently lifted Satori’s wet bangs with his fingers. He carefully examined Satori’s forehead. The serious look in Sousuke’s eyes made Satori could only stare at him silently.
My chest feels tight for some reason. It’s like I got some kind of heart disease.
“Ah, it’s swollen now.”
(…What a relief. It doesn’t seem to be anything serious.)
Sousuke exhaled in relief. At the same time, it seemed like the tense air had dissipated.
Sousuke gasped in realization when he noticed Satori’s gaze. Then, for some reason, he frowned in an annoyed manner, and removed his hand from Satori’s head.
(Don’t stare at me with such eyes.)
Satori widened his eyes. He thought that it was all his fault that Sousuke was looking so grumpy.
“So-sorry.”
“…Huh?”
(What’s he apologizing for?)
Satori turned his gaze away from Sousuke, then let down his bangs to hide his face. At that moment, an inaudible and very faint thought came from Sousuke.
“I’m sorry for staring at you.”
(…?)
Sousuke furrowed his eyebrows.
Perhaps it was a bit too late for this now, but Satori didn’t want to be hated by Sousuke even in the slightest. If that could come true with Sousuke not looking at his face, then hiding his face was an easy thing to do.
When Satori casted his eyes downwards and refused to raise his head, Sousuke let out a sigh of resignation.
“…So, why did you use cold water? You’d catch a cold even if it’s summer now.”
Satori was puzzled. He had no idea what Sousuke was talking about. Seeing Satori’s blank expression, Sousuke’s face turned more and more suspicious towards him. The wrinkles between Sousuke’s eyebrows became much deeper.
“…You’re not going to tell me you’ve never taken a bath before, are you?”
Even Sousuke himself seemed to think that such a thing was unbelievable.
Satori shook his head in a hurry. Seeing this, Sousuke looked relieved.
As Sousuke had asked, it was my first time going inside a bathroom. But I always clean my body properly. That’s why I’m not dirty, please don’t hate me…
“I-I’m not dirty. I always clean my body in the river, so I’m clean.”
The more Satori desperately tried to answer, the more Sousuke’s face turned into a look of disbelief.
(…No way.)
Sousuke then covered his mouth with his hand and fell silent.
…Huh? Did I just say something wrong?
Worry started to spread slowly in Satori’s chest.
“So-sousuke…”
Satori grabbed Sousuke’s arm and tried to say something. But he couldn’t continue because he didn’t know what had just offended Sousuke.
“U-umm…”
Sousuke’s hand tried to peel off Satori’s finger. Satori shook his head in reluctance.
Please say something, anything is fine. If I‘ve done something to upset you, then please say something so I can fix it. Please don’t hate me, Sousuke…
While trembling and wanting to cry, Satori desperately clung to Sousuke. Water dripped from his wet hair.
“…It’s alright, just get your hands off me first.”
(…What’s with him all of a sudden?)
Sousuke gently let go of Satori who still didn’t listen to him. Satori’s hand had left a faint red mark on Sousuke’s arm. Sousuke looked at it and rubbed it lightly with his hand.
Seeing Satori who looked at him with tears in his eyes, Sousuke smiled wryly.
(For now, I need to warm up his body first.)