Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 4 - Chapter 5.2

Bonus chapter: "Hino's House: The Visitor - Part 3" 

Nagafuji floated on the surface of the water with her arms and legs spread out. As we were taking a bath, she was—naturally—naked. 
Her body was perfectly horizontal, and the part of it that rose the highest were her breasts. 
Dammit. It was normally the tip of your nose that did that. Your nose. That was how it was supposed to be. 
"Must be nice having such a large bathtub." 
"That's what happens when you have a lot of money." 

Washing my head, I randomly replied to whatever it was she was saying. Right. The bathtub at Nagafuji's home wasn't exactly large from what I remembered. 
Their house in general was quite old, and naturally, the bath also matched the period it was built in. You couldn't even stretch your legs there. It'd been one thing when we were little, but these days, there simply wasn't enough room for the two of us. Mostly due to Nagafuji. 
"I'm happy. So happy", she elated while kicking the water up with her feet. Next, she hit her head against the edge of the tub and sank below the surface. 
It really did seem like she felt she'd come to a hotel. A part of me grew nervous as I watched her; she wasn't going to say that she wanted to come again soon, was she? 
After some time, I got up. Nagafuji did so too, and following me, the two of us sat down on the veranda to get some fresh air after the hot bath. 
If that was the goal, to cool off, then wasn't it pretty counter-intuitive for us to be sitting so close to each other? I did wonder about that, but at the same time, found it impossible to distance myself from her. 
"The sky is so pretty", she mumbled, her mouth only half-open. It was the first thing she'd said since coming here. "I love windy days. It means that the sky during the night is always clear." 
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I suppose." 
It was probably caused by the fast-moving clouds creating a sort of modulation in the sky. 
Then again, I could hardly imagine Nagafuji thinking about it to such an extent. No way. 
She was the kind of person who took everything at face-value. For better or worse, she never put much thought into things. 
"The scenery here is also really good thanks to the yard being so open and wide." 
First the bath, and now this. It really was one praise after another with her. As far as I was concerned, I couldn't agree less. 
"I'm more a fan of the size of your house, personally." 
Going between rooms was just so much fun. It was probably different for Nagafuji as she came here so infrequently and everything she saw was new and novel, but as someone who lived here, let me tell you, large houses were more trouble than they were worth. Especially when it came time to clean my room. 
"You're quite lavish, Hino." 
"It's more like the opposite, I think. I mean, I did say I'd prefer a smaller house." 
"I suppose", Nagafuji nodded softly, her feet dangling off the side of the veranda. "Should we change houses then?" 
"Oh, that would be nice." 
If changing them really was that simple, then I'd love to do so. 
I'd also want the maids and my brothers to move with me while at it. Just the thought of Goushirou trying to live in Nagafuji's house made me giggle. He'd probably spend hours if not days getting things in order, not stopping until even the slices of meat in the glass cases were laid out in the perfectly right way as measured with a ruler. Surprisingly enough, that might be something he was suited for. 
While I was busy thinking about such things, Nagafuji went and turned her body towards me. 
"Are you bored of staring at the sky?" 
She took my hand. Then, she placed it on her che... che... chest. 

Without a sound, my palm pressed softly against her. What was going on? I gave Nagafuji a panicked look, but she only laughed. 
"I can let you touch them every now and then. You like them, don't you, Hino?" 
"H-Huh? Oh, I... Umm..." 
"I'm a nice person like that. Still, try not to move your fingers too much." 
What the heck kind of warning was that? I could feel my entire face growing red. And yet, I remained exactly as I was, my hand on her chest. 
I'd lost most of my sensation. Pretty much the only thing I could feel at this point were Nagafuji's fingertips as they grasped my wrist. 
"Is it fun?" 
"It's warm." 
And that went not just for my hand, but for my head too. Seriously, what we were doing? There was something about the situation that made it impossible for me to look up. 
"Okay, that's enough. Thanks." 
No longer able to bear it, I began pulling my hand away. However, just as I was doing so... 
"Whoa!" 
Nagafuji wrapped her arms around my head and brought me to her embrace. This surprise attack caught me completely off guard, and ultimately, I was left snuggled up against her chest. Both her warmth and the warmth of the bath seeped into me, once again bringing out the sweat I'd just washed off. 
"What's gotten into you?" 
"Really, you're just so cute, Hino." 
Like cherishing a pet animal, she patted my head through the bath towel. 
How dare she praise someone so casually. It was that fact which really caused me to blush, more so than her calling me cute. 
As I remained there in her embrace, her playing with my hair, I slowly began feeling like I was touching the very essence of Nagafuji. 
Our teacher in elementary school had treated her like a dumb idiot, but really, when you got down to it, she was just very honest. 
She took everything at face value. That's the kind of person Nagafuji was. 
No doubt did she maintain a similar sort of stance when it came to her own emotions, how she felt about things. 
How were you supposed to go against someone like that? I had no idea. 
I wasn't nearly as honest as her. I couldn't be. 
When I finally chose to reply, I did so with sarcasm to hide my shame. 
"You really do like me, huh?" 
"Yep." 
...Act embarrassed about it. Even just a little bit. 

Today's Adachi 

The defenceless smile on Shimamura's face meant that this must have been a dream, and being a dream, that meant I could ask for anything I wanted. Yeah. "H-Hug me! Pat my head! Squeeze me tight!" I spread my arms wide open, only for her to grin at me wryly, clearly confused. No way. Was this not a dream after all? What was I going to do? In the midst of my panic, the ceiling of the dark room appeared before my eyes. My heart was pounding so fast it hurt, and before I knew it, I found my hands pressed against my chest. 
"..." 
I was so tired.