Chapter 81: The King of the Shower Room
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 81: The King of the Shower Room
The next day.
We learned Kumamon’s true identity from the firefighters who arrived early in the morning.
It turned out Kumamon was an Asiatic black bear that had escaped from the Chiba Zoo two days prior. Apparently, it had slipped out of its enclosure while the zookeeper was briefly away and had been missing ever since.
Thinking back, I now understood why it had been so on edge when we first met.
It must have been starving for two days, not in its right mind, and then Satoru, mistaking it for me, had suddenly startled it with a loud shout. Of course it would be angry.
Bears are often described as incredibly patient animals, but I guess even they are no match for hunger.
In any case, thanks to Sasha’s impromptu taming, Kumamon was returned to the zoo without any casualties, bidding a tearful farewell to the students.
"Goodbye, Kumamon."
Groooowl!
"Don't cry. A man doesn't cry over things like this."
Though they had only spent one night together, it seemed Sasha and the bear had grown quite fond of each other.
The bear, on the other hand, would whimper and try to avoid me whenever it saw me, so I couldn't even give it a proper send-off. Well, I suppose I can always visit the Chiba Zoo later if I want to see it.
And so, the second day of the Forest School began.
Yesterday, the test of courage had ended abruptly and anticlimactically thanks to the appearance of an Asiatic black bear, but a campfire was scheduled for this evening.
Because of this, the boys in my class were somewhat on edge.
No, to be precise, it was probably all the second-year boys at the Forest School.
As I mentioned this while eating Budae-jjigae flavored cup noodles I’d bought from a Korean mart for breakfast, Satoru gripped his wooden chopsticks tightly in fury.
"You wouldn't get it, surrounded by girls all the time! The sorrow of us guys who've been single our entire lives!"
"Hey, I'm single too."
"Don't make me laugh, you deceiver!"
Satoru pointed an accusing finger at me, but I felt a little wronged.
Honestly, how many girls our age would actually like this face and this body?
If there were any, they’d have to have very peculiar tastes.
Rika and Karen are just normal friends, and as for Sasha… I honestly have no idea what she’s thinking.
She confessed to me out of the blue on my first day of school, but she hasn't shown any particular favor toward me since.
So, I interpreted it as her just messing around.
A way to celebrate our safe reunion after the fight with Ivan.
Anyway, as the two of us were bickering, Sakamoto, who had just returned to the tent with a towel on his head, asked, "Aren't you two going to shower? The showers are empty right now."
"Ah, I'll go right after I finish this."
I replied and slurped down the rest of the broth from my Budae-jjigae cup noodles.
Most cup noodles in Japan have a soy sauce or salt-based broth.
So, whenever I craved something spicy, I’d go to a nearby Korean mart and buy some Korean cup noodles.
I might not be sure about other things, but my love for spicy kimchi and cup noodles proves I'm a Korean through and through.
After quickly finishing the noodles, I put the used chopsticks and empty container into a disposable bag and headed to the showers with Satoru.
*
The campsite had a simple shower facility that could accommodate about twenty people at a time.
Students had to take turns showering, but Satoru and I disliked the crowds, so we had deliberately waited for it to empty out.
Carrying a change of underwear and a t-shirt, I entered the shower room. A simple facility, reminiscent of a military shower, came into view.
We placed our clothes in the baskets in the changing room and entered the shower area with our toiletries.
"...It's big."
"Huh? Yeah, it is."
"No, not that."
"????"
I was about to ask what he meant, but Satoru had already disappeared into a stall.
I found a vacant spot and turned on the water.
Swoooosh!
The water pressure was quite strong, and a cool stream poured down over my head.
I was just spacing out under the water when I heard voices.
"Whoa! It's totally empty!"
"It's huge!"
"Hey! Wait up!"
The Bald Trio stormed into the shower room.
Like kids going through puberty, they dashed inside with just a single towel slung over their shoulders.
They could easily slip and get seriously hurt, but I was well past the age of pointing such things out, and it felt weird to warn them about something that hadn't happened yet, so I decided to let it be.
My hair, thoroughly soaked from the water, was in perfect condition for shampooing. I squeezed out a coin-sized amount of shampoo and lathered it up.
As I was vigorously washing my foam-covered hair, I suddenly heard something crash into the partition behind me.
"Ah! Sorry… huh?"
I couldn't open my eyes because of the shampoo, so I spoke with my back still turned.
"I don't know who that is, but the floor is slippery, so walk."
"Yes, sir!"
The voice was strangely disciplined, as if at attention.
Still, it seemed he realized his mistake, so I didn't say anything more.
After rinsing the foam from my hair with cold water and giving myself a quick soaping, I stepped out and saw the Bald Trio showering quietly in the stalls across from me.
Satisfied with the sight, I nodded and headed to the changing room to get dressed.
*
"Phew…"
Murasaki Kou, one of the three sidekicks Kim Yoo-Sung called the Bald Trio, let out a sigh of relief as the presence behind him vanished, the tension finally leaving his body.
He felt like he’d just aged ten years.
He had almost met his maker just from messing around with his two friends.
It all started like this.
It was great that they had entered the shower room when it was almost completely empty, but it seemed there was still some soap foam left on the floor.
Murasaki, who had been running excitedly, stepped on it and slipped. Fortunately, he managed to grab the partition in front of him, avoiding a cracked skull, but as luck would have it, the person inside that stall was the strongest man in the academy, Kim Yoo-Sung.
After spending nearly three months in the same class, he had realized that Kim Yoo-Sung was a much gentler character than the ominous rumors suggested. But last night, during the test of courage, when he had jumped out wearing a red oni mask, Murasaki had genuinely almost wet his pants.
The destructive power of his uniquely deep, low voice was beyond imagination.
Coupled with his large frame, the sense of intimidation he exuded was even greater.
Up to this point, it was fine.
All he had to do was apologize directly to Kim Yoo-Sung inside.
"Ah! Sorry… huh?"
So Murasaki lifted his head to offer an apology, and in that moment—
His eyes met with a Yaksha's.
'Hk!'
No, it was a trick of the eye.
His incredibly developed back muscles created the illusion of a Yaksha's face.
But as the image of the red demon mask from last night overlapped with the Yaksha's face etched into his back (his muscles), the forgotten terror resurfaced.
Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble—
His hands and feet began to shake uncontrollably.
In that state, what reached Murasaki's ears was Kim Yoo-Sung's heavy warning from the shower.
"I don't know who that is, but the floor is slippery, so walk."
"Yes, sir!"
Murasaki answered loudly, then clutched his trembling body and hastily entered a shower stall on the opposite side.
His two friends, who had watched from the side, asked if he was okay, but Murasaki didn't answer, quickly turning on the water instead.
Steaming hot water poured over his head, but the chills he felt didn't fade for a long time.
Murasaki had come to a stark realization.
Only a strong male like Kim Yoo-Sung could stand at the top of the academy.
*
I felt refreshed after my shower, but when I came out, I noticed strange looks from those around me.
I wondered why, then realized it was because, unlike usual, I was only wearing a thin short-sleeved t-shirt, which accentuated the contours of my body.
As I shrank back with a strange sense of embarrassment, Mr. Matsuda, who was also walking around in a t-shirt, saw my body, let out a sharp "Kuh!" and ran toward the lodgings.
It seemed he did that to avoid being compared.
He has a perfectly good physique for a normal person, though.
After drying my hair a bit with a towel in the tent, I stepped outside just as the teachers were shouting for everyone to assemble in front of the campsite.
The girls from the next tent seemed to have already left, so Sakamoto, Satoru, and I ambled over to the front of the stage.
"Alright, today's schedule is a trip to the Chiba Marine Ecological Park. We'll have lunch at a restaurant nearby, and in the afternoon, we'll come back for a treasure hunt and the campfire."
It was the same schedule we had been told beforehand.
Still, it was a relief that today's activities were a bit more substantial than yesterday's.
If we had to do another environmental cleanup today, there would have definitely been complaints among the students.
"Okay, we're leaving now, so everyone get on the bus!"
Following the teacher's instructions, the second-year students began to board the tour bus one by one.
Somehow, it was only now that it finally felt like a real school trip.