Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 8 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2.1 – Hino and Nagafuji

"You ever get bored of it, Hino?" 
Behind me, I could hear the sound of liquid running. It was not the shower, but something else. 
I finished washing my hair before turning around to have a look behind me. 
The sides of bathtub at our house made of umbrella pine were perfectly straight and together formed a rectangle. According to Nagafuji, the thing was larger than their entire bathroom put together. Speaking of Nagafuji, she was currently floating in said bathtub, with her hands pressed against its rim. Her feet flopped up and down, and occasionally, her butt would peek through the surface. 
"Of what?" 
"I just figured since you do this every day." 
Hmm, she mumbled to herself while staring up at the ceiling. It almost seemed as if she was having trouble finding the right words. Her face was quite red at this point, likely because we'd spent so much time in the bath already. We were really quick when it came to washing ourselves, and yet, for some reason, the bathing part always ended up taking a while. I wonder why that was. 
Anyhow, it wasn't only Nagafuji's expression which appeared softened by the hot water; her remark did as well. 
I took a moment to think about it, but even then, I couldn't really make any sense of it. 
"I'm seriously not a fan of this thing where you think everything through in your head and then only state the conclusion", I lectured her, having poured some water over my head. "That said, I also don't want to hear the whole thing. Just give me the abbreviated version." 
"Hmph. Aren't you selfish, Hino." 
For a moment, I seriously considered tossing the bucket at her. 
"Well, anyway. What were we talking about again?" 
Once more mumbling to herself, Nagafuji went ahead and pressed her cheek against the tub. She seemed like she was thinking hard about something, although at the same time, I kinda doubted that there was actually much going on in her head. This was Nagafuji we were talking about, after all. A few moments later, she pulled herself up and began washing herself, starting from her arms and moving on from there. 
I'd never really thought about it all that much, but watching her do so, I realised that I personally always washed my body in the same exact order. I wonder, what about Nagafuji? Did she have her own ritual associated with it? I went ahead and attempted to recall the previous time we'd bathed together. 
"The bath. It's so big that I wonder if you find it boring when by yourself", Nagafuji at last stated, this time doing it in a way that I could actually follow. 
Just as I'd thought; it wasn't really that complicated. 
"That's all?" 
"Yep." 
How had she spent that much time thinking about something this simple? Also, "boring"? I went ahead and tilted my head to the side. 
Doing so caused my wet hair to stick against my cheek and my neck. 
"'Boring' is not really what I think about when I'm taking a bath." 
"What do you think about then?" 
"Nothing. I just kinda space out. Sometimes, I wonder how the last manga I read is going to continue." 
"I feel like you'd be better off putting your head to use." 
"Stole the words from my mouth." 
And yet, she always managed to get good grades at school. I had no idea what to make of that. 
Was I to believe that she was actually smarter than I was? 
"What about now? What are you think about?" 
"That I wish you'd stop making so much damn noise." 
Nagafuji was currently splashing water all around using both of her feet. 
"Oh, this?" she asked, shifting her gaze towards her toes. It appeared that she was doing so on habit, and hadn't been aware of it herself before my comment. Like her skin, her toes too appeared slightly reddish. "My feet shall save you from boredom." 
"I'd rather you not. That sounds like a pain." 
Now done washing myself, I turned off the shower and walked over to the bath. 
There was still plenty of room left for me despite Nagafuji's size. It just went to show big the tub really was. I could get in wherever I wanted. And yet, for whatever reason, I always ended up cramming myself directly next to her. 
With my shoulders now beneath the water, I turned to face the wall and let out a laugh. 
"Not really using my head, am I?" 
A gap soon appeared by Nagafuji's side. 
As if it was the natural thing for me to do, I swiftly moved to fill it. 
This was what always happened when I didn't think. 
"I really like your bathtub, Hino." 
"You do?" 
"Yep. I also like you." 
"Huh?" 
Albeit a bit crude, what I'd just received was a confession of love. I could see both Nagafuji's feet and butt move up and down. 
"Speaking of which." 
"What?" 
Staring directly in front of her, Nagafuji closed her mouth shut. 
Her feet once again began flapping. 
I waited a few seconds before repeating myself. 
"What?" 
"Sorry. I forgot what I was going to say." 
"Figures..." 
A few moments passed, after which I too began feeling the effects of the heat. 
I got up, having reached my limit. 
"I'm done." 
"Did you make sure to count to ten thousand?" 
"Yes, yes", I nodded while climbing out from the tub. For one reason or another, Nagafuji quickly followed suit. 
It was the night before the school trip, and here she was, at our house. 
What part of the trip had made her want to spend the night over? I honestly couldn't tell you. 
"Hino has landed." 
This nonsense comment of hers was followed up by her grabbing both of my arms. 
"Hey, stop that. Don't grab me. Dry your hair or something." 
The reason why I'd decided to go with this response in particular over something else was quite simple; I could feel droplets of water raining down on my head. Anyway, as if prompted to do so, Nagafuji quickly turned her head around, causing those same droplets to take on the form of a blade and slash both my forehead and my cheeks. 
What was up with her, seriously? Why did she always act this way? Doing my best to hide my astonishment, I circled around her and started wiping my body dry. As roomy as the bath itself was, I had to say, the changing room definitely felt a bit cramped with two people around. 
"Say, why did you want to take a bath with me in the first place?" 
She'd simply gotten in after me as if that was a perfectly normal thing to do. 
"Hmm? Because it's fun." 
"...You've not changed one bit over the years, have you?" 
The size of her breasts notwithstanding. 
"Plus, I figured that this bath was too big for a single person." 
"I'm pretty sure people usually find that to be a good thing..." 
Like usual, Nagafuji managed to go against common sense at the weirdest of places. 
We'd just finished putting our clothes back on when she stated the following: 
"It's pretty flavourless." 
"Hmm?" 
"The food here." 
I remember you pointing that out earlier, she added. 
"Oh, yeah. I'm not sure why, but my folks seem to like it that way." 
The variety of the menu—or the lack of thereof—was honestly the worst part. Every day, we always ate the same sort of stuff. It was so plain that it hurt. Like the state of our house, the traditions too were quite delicate that way. Both my parents and my brothers tried their absolute hardest to never deviate from the norm. 
It wasn't all that difficult to find these sorts of old, antiquated systems with no connection to the rest of the world if you just knew where to look. 
Leaving the arguments about right and wrong for another day, what I could say for sure now was that ours was definitely one of those. 
"Is your mom the one who cooks?" 
"Nope. The maid does." 
The only time the woman ever went to the kitchen was when she wanted to brew tea. That was, if she was even home to begin with, which she wasn't a surprising number of days. 

The simple act of Nagafuji drying her hair caused her chest to sway back and forth. Truly, what was becoming of mankind? I went ahead and gave the massive sacks a push from below, only for them to smack my head on the way back. 
"Flavourless food leaves me appetite-less." 
"You can say that again." 
The conversation continued much in the same manner for the next few moments. 
"And there you have it. I want souvenirs." 
"Aren't you a shameless one." 
In spite of my response, I did end up making a quick detour by the kitchen as we left the dressing room. We should have some biscuits there, if nothing else. 
I wonder, why did it smell like radish in here? Was it because that's what we were going to be eating tomorrow? I had to assume so. 
It took the maid standing before the stewpot little time to notice me. 
"Is something the matter?" 
"No, nothing." 
Glossing over her question, I walked over to the shelf and had a look. I quickly found just the thing I'd been looking for, and after picking up a handful, I turned around and walked away. As for tea, I was pretty sure I still had some left in my room. We could drink that, right? Yeah, we could. 
Back in the hallway, I shared my findings with Nagafuji who'd been waiting for me there. 
"I found some candy." 
"Nice." 
I'd picked these up the other day while at the teashop collecting a delivery. 
Completely unrelated, but the lady there had pretty large breasts as well. Again, what was becoming of mankind? 
The two of us returned to my room. Though our house did have a separate room for guests, this was where her futon had been laid. Why was that? Well, I simply felt like the title of "guest" didn't fit her very well. This was Nagafuji we were talking about here. No reason to use the guestroom. Perhaps it was due to the bath leaving me all dizzy, but as I thought about that, I could feel myself growing just a bit emotional. 
"Which flavour do you like the best?" 
"Red?" 
"Red isn't a flavour." 
I went ahead and pinched her cheek, still glistening after the long bath. 
"Aren't all these sugar-flavoured?" 
"No, definitely not." 
I picked up the four different types of containers the candies had come with and showed those to Nagafuji. She was left tilting her head to the side. 
Did she really find it that shocking? Well, I guess I couldn't blame her; this was pretty different from what you'd usually think of when you heard the word "candy". 
"Black tea, coffee, green tea, and... roasted tea?" 
While you did have to check the labels attached to the containers to be able to tell the candies apart due to them all lacking colour and as a result looking the same, they were indeed different. 
"I feel like I sense a connection here. A tea-flavoured connection." 
"Yep. Welcome to our family." 
Going through all the containers, Nagafuji ended up eventually settling on the one labelled "green tea". She pulled the lid open with a satisfying pop, to which she commented as much. She then closed the lid. I'd barely managed to ask her why when she opened the container again, only to close it immediately afterwards. The sound. She was enjoying the sound. 
"Hey, stop messing around and eat." 
"Hmm..." 
A dejected mumble left her mouth as she put the lid down. She was always like this, loitering at every opportunity. 
As if trying it out, Nagafuji took a single piece of candy and slowly placed it in her mouth. 
I stared from the side as her fingertips—still red after the bath—squeezed the green ball of delight. 
No sooner had she finished chewing than her eyes shot wide. 
"Hmm?" 
She grabbed two more, then three, and just kept going from there. A smile of satisfaction appeared on her face as she finished chewing, after which she stated the following in a very high-pitched tone of voice: 
"These are good. Really good." 
"They better be considering how much they cost." 
"Yes, yes." 
Having said that, she continued eating. There was something about watching her do so that made me feel quite relaxed. 
As for me, I picked up the plastic bottle filled with tea I'd mentioned earlier. It was pretty warm at this point having spent such a long time outside of the fridge. 
"Want some?" 
"Sure." 
I handed the bottle to Nagafuji. After taking a sip, she shifted her gaze to me. 
"You're not in the mood for candy, Hino?" 
"I'm fine. I can't be bothered to brush my teeth again." 
"How about I brush them for you then?" 
"......" 
I went ahead and imagined what that would be like. 
"Idiot..." 
"Well, anyway. I guess I'll just eat these myself." 
Nagafuji went ahead and grabbed more candy. No signs of apology could be seen in her eyes. 
In order to save some for myself—and also to avoid getting in trouble later on—I quickly moved the remaining containers away from her reach before she could get her hands on them. 
"Looking forward to the school trip?" 
"Not especially." 
"Ever been to Kyushu before?" 
"Nope. We don't really travel within the country. Apparently, it's not interesting enough." 
"I see, I see." 
What a weak reaction. 
Despite having been the one to initiate the conversation, it seemed that she found munching candy to be far more enticing. 
"Where was it that you went not all that long ago?" 
"Hawaii. I got you a souvenir." 
"And before that?" 
"Italy. Also got you a souvenir from there." 
"And what about before that?" 
"Err..." 
It felt like she was asking just for the sake of it. Between her fingers, she held a piece of candy shaped like a star. 
I went ahead and stated the following: 
"Why don't you try remembering for yourself? You should know me well enough to tell." 
And to think that just moments earlier, she'd told me to use my head. 
Nagafuji froze in place. To me, what I'd said felt like a completely ordinary statement, and yet, she was acting as if it went far beyond that. After a few moments of silence, she at last spoke: 
"Right. That's how it is." 
These words of hers were followed by a short giggle. 
"Hmm?" 
"Yep", she nodded, sounding genuinely gleeful. 
It almost felt to me that she enjoyed this more than she did the candy. If I had to guess, I'd say that wasn't just my imagination. 
Her fingers moved through the air, and so did the piece of candy pinched between them. 
"You really are cute, Hino." 
"Stop it. Don't just say stuff like that." 
"You're always touching my boobs. Maybe one day, I'll do the same for you." 
"Is your brain seriously that smooth?" 
We'd had dinner, taken a bath together, and now indulged in pointless conversation till it came time for us to go to bed. 
It felt as if the school trip had already gotten started.