Bathroom Confessions (2)
Ronari was at a loss for words for a moment. It wasn't anything particularly worth hiding. But facing Belica's sidelong glance without so much as a single layer of cloth between them, it felt like she'd peeked at something she shouldn't have... like getting caught red-handed in some naughty deed. Of course, Ronari herself knew best that wasn't the case. She'd just happened to spot them playing in the rain.
Ronari managed an awkward smile and asked, “How did you know?”
“Just a hunch, I guess. Back at the entrance, when you saw us, you didn't seem all that surprised.”
She'd thought she'd been pretty flustered then. Had Belica seen right through something even Ronari herself hadn't noticed? She knew Belica had sharp instincts, but...
“How did we look to you back then?”
Belica's gaze drifted to her own fingers trailing slowly across the water's surface. Each time her fingertips brushed the water, gentle ripples spread between the two of them.
“How we... looked?”
“Like proper friends?”
“Of course... you two have always been friends.”
“Good.”
Ronari couldn't fathom it. Why was that a relief? What had been the real intent behind that question?
“Well, yeah~ Like you said, we're always together. Bound to look like friends. Even today, we were just running around in the rain like kids.”
Ronari ventured cautiously, “I heard from Ilsea Alerzar the other day. About what your relationship was.”
“That we were engaged?”
“Yeah. Since before we were even born.”
“Isn't that totally stupid? Those old fogeys. Why do they go making promises to marry off babies that aren't even born yet, just because they're buddies? And of all people, to me and that dummy!”
“Ahaha... yeah.”
Belica scrunched up her face in disbelief, huffing through her nose. Watching her expressions shift so vividly, Ronari couldn't help thinking how cute she was.
“...Bel, you're so cute.”
Ronari giggled as she said it. Belica looked a bit startled for a second, then flashed a sly grin. Expressions really were her strong suit.
“Oho~? Are you flirting with me right now? Is that it?”
With that, she lunged at Ronari, rubbing up against her playfully.
“Then we'll just have to get married! Obviously!”
“Ahaha. I've never even been engaged, and now I've got a bride...”
“What are you talking about? I'm the groom, and you're my bride, Miss Ronari. Duh!”
The two dissolved into laughter, pressed close together. It felt like they'd grown so much closer than before.
Once the giggles subsided, Ronari asked, “...So, Bel, when you first found out Ilsea was your marriage partner, did you hate it?”
“Hell yeah! Obviously!!!”
Belica slapped the water emphatically, her agreement fierce.
“You have no idea how screwed I was that my grandpa's best friend's grandson turned out to be that snot-nosed kid!”
“Snot-nosed kid...”
“I was exactly seven! And they tell me I have to marry that idiot who was eating dirt from the flower bed like a worm!”
“Eating... dirt?”
That overly serious guy from outside, playing the heavy? Ronari barely stifled a laugh.
Belica was still fuming cutely over her childhood grudge.
“Yeah! I was bawling my eyes out that day, saying my life was ruined because I had to marry someone like Ilsea. And what does he do?”
“What'd he do?”
“Puts an earthworm he caught on my hand as a 'wedding gift'! All slimy and wriggling!”
“Eww! Gross!”
Just imagining the scene made Ronari kick her feet in the tub without thinking.
“Right! I'm dying from the creepiness, and he's grinning like it's great. Even now, thinking about it, I can still feel that texture on my palm... Ugh! Crazy snot-nosed dummy!”
Bel scowled fiercely toward the bathroom door, where Ilsea presumably waited. He couldn't see it, of course, but knowing Belica, she'd march out and whine about it to him anyway.
“He must've liked it, though. Giving you that... engagement gift.”
“Duh! He was marrying a super-ultra beauty like me, Lady Bel! That's why he kept coming over and bugging me all the time! I suffered so much, I even remember how many earthworms he gave me. Ugh, look at these goosebumps...”
She really seemed to hate that memory, shuddering genuinely. But to Ronari's eyes, the way she talked about her past with Ilsea looked oddly fond.
“You should go out there and settle it with that big lunkhead for real. Otherwise, that awful memory will never fade...”
“Bel! You need to wash your hair before you go.”
“Oh. Then let me do yours first! I've been dying to touch your hair, miss!”
And so they ended up washing each other's hair.
“Wow, miss's hair is so silky...”
Belica kept murmuring that as she massaged Ronari's scalp. But when it was Ronari's turn to lather up Belica's locks, she realized this girl's was no slouch either. Silky smooth, and even soaking wet, it carried a faint scent of soda and lemon. She must take really good care of it. Belica might act like a tomboy, but moments like this made her seem every bit the proper lady. Beauty was a woman's weapon, after all... Facing this side of her, Ronari couldn't help wondering.
Who are you dolling yourself up this much for?
“Ah... feels so good~”
Belica sighed contentedly as Ronari worked on her hair. Watching her back, Ronari thought,
You said you and Ilsea are nothing... but that's not how you really feel, is it?
If your bond is truly nothing, then to both of you, everyone else – like me – would be less than nothing.
You said you hated him as a kid. So... how do you feel now?
Do you... like Ilsea now?
Questions she could never voice aloud.
“All done.”
Ronari turned off the shower.
Whoosh—
“Eeeh, but it feels like it's not enough... I want more...”
“No way. Any more and your pretty hair will get damaged.”
After rinsing off the last of the suds, they stepped out of the tub. Drying off felt refreshing. As they toweled down, Belica sniffed Ronari's hair and asked where she'd gotten the hair powder soap she'd used.
Who knew she'd ever have such a girly chat with Belica? It felt strangely novel.
“Alright, time to get dressed and...”
As they glanced around, ready to head out... for some reason, all they saw were the wet clothes they'd stripped off earlier.
...Why was that?
Why, indeed! Because we didn't bring any changes of clothes in!
Ronari felt an urge to bang her head against the wall.
“Huh? What's wrong, miss?”
Belica asked innocently. Ronari forced down her despair and replied.
“Ahaha... we forgot to bring a change of clothes in...”
“Oh. Well, nothing for it then. Hey! Dummy outside!”
Ronari barely grabbed Belica as she moved to dash out in nothing but a towel.
“Eep!”
“What are you doing...! You're just in a towel! Ilsea's out there...!”
“Eh... doesn't really matter. Feels like he's seen me naked a hundred times already anyway.”
“A hundred times?!”
A torrent of wild imaginings flashed through Ronari's mind. It lasted only an instant, but it carved permanent grooves like wind eroding rock.
“A hundred times...”
But Belica's follow-up saved Ronari's flushed ears.
“Last time was over ten years ago, though.”
“...Oh.”
“So I'll just go out and—”
“No, don't! We were kids then, but we're adults now...!”
“Then what? Ilsea's still out there either way.”
“Umm...”
Ronari's sharp mind held a marathon council under seven seconds and hit on a brilliant idea.
“Ah...! Right. We ask Ilsea to step out for a bit! Then we dash to my room and grab clothes.”
“Ooh.”
Belica was impressed. Ronari felt proud of herself. For about two seconds.
“But wouldn't that be too mean to Ilsea? He hasn't showered and he's been waiting out there. It'll be cold in the hall.”
“...”
Ronari mentally kicked her self-congratulatory alter ego off a cliff.
...What now? What to do? Was there really no other way?
Have Ilsea bring us clothes?!
The clothes were in her room, which meant letting him in to fetch them. And since he didn't know where they were, she'd have to tell him.
Ronari racked her brain.
Would he inevitably spot something in the process that absolutely must stay hidden from his eyes?
...Oh yeah. Plenty.
The clothes themselves are the problem...
Ronari despaired. She was facing the fact that "clothes" included underwear. She could just put her own damp stuff back on, but what about Belica? Hers were soaked too – she needed a change. But letting a guy rummage through her underwear drawer? Unthinkable.
It was a life-or-death crisis.
Then—
“Hey.”
Ilsea's voice came from outside.
“...?”
“No idea what you're doing in there, but I'll be in my room. Call me when you're done.”
Followed by the thud of a door closing.
Perfect... That works. The walls are thin, but separate rooms...
That day, Ronari Sharino's self-evaluation dropped several notches.
I raised my voice toward the bathroom.
“No idea what you're doing in there, but I'll be in my room. Call me when you're done.”
Then I settled into my room, flipping through a book I wasn't all that interested in.
Soon enough, a clatter erupted from the living room, and Belica's voice carried through the sliding door to the next room.
“Hey! All done! You can come wash up now, earthworm!”
“...Earthworm?”
What nonsense had just been added to my nicknames? And in what context?
I tilted my head, opened the door, and stepped into the living room.
I wasn't really in the mood to shower anyway. I'd already changed clothes, and my hair was dry. Still, my body felt chilly – maybe I needed something warm inside. Tea, perhaps.
I set the kettle on the flame and prepped the teaware.
As I waited for the water to boil, Ronari's door burst open.
“Super-ultra beauty Belica Simoni! Fully revived!”
Strutting around declaring herself a beauty – clearly, not everything inside had revived. Like humility, say. Or maybe Belica Simoni never had any to begin with.
She sauntered over and started showing off the clothes she'd borrowed.
“Check this out. My bride, Miss Ronari, dressed me. Whaddya think?”
The size seemed about right, but... the image? She looked like summer wearing spring clothes – an odd mismatch.
I squinted and muttered, “Doesn't suit you.”
Belica's face darkened instantly.
“Tch... Should've killed you that day twelve years ago.”
What happened twelve years ago? As I pondered, her attention shifted elsewhere.
“Whoa! What's this?”
Her gaze landed on the dining table – the teaware I'd just set out.
“Yours? Didn't know you had a hobby like this. Where'd you get it?”
For a split second, a sharp glint flashed in Belica's eyes as she toyed with a teacup. Her voice had lost all its earlier cheer.
“Did a girl give it to you as a gift, by any chance?”