Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 5 - Chapter 4.2

Bonus chapter: "Yashiro: The Visitor - Part 9" 

"Wait!" 
"Eek!" 
That was the sound Yachii made as I lunged towards her. She'd been running away from me for a while now, almost like a cat, but finally, I was able to catch her. 
Well, if you wanted to be completely accurate, she was actually a lion, not a cat. Hmm... She really liked that costume, didn't she? 
"Give it up already, Yachii." 
"Hehe. You are too naive, Shou." 
With those words, Yachii jumped out through the lion's mouth. Huh? How on earth did she do that? 
She slipped away from my grasp, leaving me to hold only her pelt. 
"Hyeeh!" 
Were her shoulders somehow more flexible than those of a normal person? 
Also, as I now discovered, she'd been completely naked underneath. 
"Seriously!? You don't wear any underwear with this!?" 
"And why would I do that? It's already so warm." 
A puzzled look formed on her face as she tilted her head lightly to the side. It didn't seem like she was one bit embarrassed. 
"Now then, farewell." 
Fully naked, she began turning around to escape, only for me to once again catch her before she could get anywhere. 
This time I made sure to grab the nape of her neck, just like what you'd do with a real cat. 
"Let's see you shed this skin." 
"Eek!" 
It'd be seriously bad if she did that. 
I had to wonder, why was Yachii so against this? All I was trying to do was make her take a bath. 
"Yachii, do you not like warm things?" 
"It isn't a matter of preference. They make me feel like I am about to melt." 
She gripped her cheeks and squished them as if to emphasize her point. They seemed so fluffy, so soft. They were soft. 
"Now you're just exaggerating." 
"What are you two doing?" 
The speaker this time was Sis, having just walked out from the kitchen. A frown immediately appeared on her face as she gave the naked Yachii a glance. 
"Yachii jumped out!" I explained while holding up the discarded lion pelt. 
"You seem like you are sweating too, Shimamura." 
"Well, yeah. It's super warm." 
"Would you like to take your clothes off?" 
"No, I wouldn't. And you're not going to stay like that either. Go take a bath, or if not, then put your clothes back on." 
Why does she even take baths in our house anyway... I could hear Sis mumble to herself as she walked off. 
"There you have it. Off to the bath we go." 
Grabbing her hand, I began pulling Yachii with me. 
"Hmm, I suppose I don't have a choice", she stated back. This counted as her resignation, and just like that, we made our way to the bath. 
"Sit over there, Yachii. I'll wash your hair", I beckoned to her, acting like a big sister would. Replying with something to the effect of "that's not necessary", she nevertheless moved to the designated position. I leaned over her from behind and aimed the shower head towards her. 
Though usually tied with a butterfly knot, when released, her hair reached well below her hips. 
"Blub blub blub." 
"Whoa..." 
No matter how many times I saw it, this sight never ceased to amaze me: The water coming from the shower grew tainted blue as it passed through Yachii's hair. 
Not only that, every time I stroked her hair with my fingers, the same blue particles which often floated around her would shoot up in the air. Combined with all the steam, it really did feel like the entire bathroom had been painted in a blueish colour. I stayed like that for a moment, staring at the scenery around me with the shower head still in hand. 
"Wow..." 
"Blub blub blub blub." 
"Just close your mouth." 
With Yachii's hair now wet, I went ahead and added in shampoo. I had to say, she'd been completely correct in her earlier assessment; not the slightest stain could be seen anywhere across the entirety of her glimmering hair. Likewise, neither her shoulders nor neck were at all tanned, instead appearing whiter than even the floor tiles. And yet, I washed them anyway. 
Immediately, Yachii began rocking her head from side to side. Was she bored? I couldn't say. Whatever the case, that was something she did every time. 
"Hey, stop moving." 
I squeezed her head between my hands to keep her still. 
"You're so selfish, Shou." 
"What are you even talking about?" 
Moving my hands with intense speed, I made the shampoo foam. Just like the water before them, the bubbles too grew tinged blue. 
What about me? Was my skin also changing colour? I went ahead and checked, only to discover that no such thing had happened; I was the same way as always. 
"Your hair really is a mystery, Yachii." 

It was also prettier than anything I'd seen elsewhere. 
"Really? All I did was reproduce the hair of the earthling I used to model myself after." 
"Y-You did?" 
"Correct. There are pretty weird earthlings out there." 
"Not as weird as you, I think." 
For what it was worth, I'd personally never met a girl anywhere near as strange as Yachii. Not just that, I kinda had a feeling I never would. She'd be the only person of her type I'd ever come across in my entire life. That was what I thought. 
Finished washing her body, we entered the bathtub together. The tub itself was quite narrow, and while that was a slight problem when taking a bath with Sis or that friend of hers, with Yachii, there was more than enough room for me to straighten out my legs. 
Softly, the droplets dripping down from her hair hit the surface of the water. 
I shifted my attention towards Yachii, her long hair which continued to glimmer. 
The light coming from it was so bright that, combined with the ceiling lamps, it really felt like she might soon disappear. 
"Say, Yachii. You came here to find those, what were they again, your brethren or something, right?" 
"I did, yes." 
"And once you find them, you'll go somewhere?" 
There was something transient about her, fleeting. I couldn't help but get the impression that any one of these days, I might wake up to her no longer being here with me. 
No matter how close I got to her, no matter how good of friends we became, this feeling just wouldn't go away. 
I felt it even now as I floated in the water. 
"Correct. I will have to return to space", Yachii stated, sounding both soft and firm at the same time. 
"I see..." 
What she meant by space, I didn't really know. Regardless, I did get the feeling that, once she was gone, we were never going to see each other again. 
"That will likely happen in around three thousand years from now." 
"Huh?" 
Yachii responded to my obvious confusion by nodding her head deeply. 
Three thousand years? How long was that? Let's see... My grandmother was about seventy years old, so... 
...... 
Yeah. 
"Well, that's good then." 
I didn't always believe everything Yachii said. 
And yet, hearing that number, there was something about it which helped me relax. 
I soon noticed that Yachii had begun staring at me. "What", I asked her, only for her to... 
"Smooch." 
...press her lips against the tip of my nose. 
The world before me became tinged in her colour. 
My hands pressed against the tub's bottom grew stiff, my fingers trembled. 
It was when she began licking my nose that I could no longer hold still. 
"What are you doing!?" 
As if exposing my feelings, I leapt out from the water. 
A grin formed on Yachii's face as she stated the following: 
"Doing this is a sign of friendship, I heard." 
"R-Really?" 
I had never heard anything of the sort myself. Assuming she was from the city, maybe it was some city thing? No, that didn't seem right. 
My eyes proceeded to spin as a type of warmth different from that of the bath's rushed through me. 
"Are we not friends, Shou?" Yachii asked while tilting her head. It appeared that she had interpreted my shock the wrong way. 
I could see the glimmer inside her downcast eyes move around, rotate like a globe. 
Each one of those shiny dots was its own star. 
"We... We are. We're friends." 
Different compared to my friends in school, yes, but regardless. 
Though I didn't know how to put it into words, there was something about her that attracted me, something I wasn't able to let go of. 
Even now that we were both naked, that sense still remained. 
"I just wonder... Why on the nose?" 
"Hmm? Did I get it wrong?" 
"Well, normally, I think you're... you're supposed to do it on the cheek." 
"Really? Alright then. One more time. Smooch." 
"Smooch..." 
Holding my knees tight against my body, I sat there as Yachii's lips pressed against my cheek. 
Once more, the shade of blue in all of its glimmer filled the world before me.