When Did We Learn Bathing?

"I hate everything…"

"What's wrong, Noa? It's just a bit of mud."

Mira and I stand in the entryway covered from head to toe in dried mud. Her pure white dress got the worst treatment out of everything, most of its original colour basically nonexistent. She even has some mud in her hair, yet this rabbit girl doesn't seem all that bothered by any of it. My skin was mostly protected by my clothes and I still feel icky.

"Go take a shower first. I don't want you tracking mud everywhere."

"You're not going with me?"

"Of course not!"

It was one thing when Mira was a rabbit, but bathing with her now is completely out of the question. She might not have any shame, but my heart wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Why not?"

"Don't worry about it and just go! Here, leave your clothes in a pile by the toilet. Make sure to reuse your underwear at least."

I lead Mira into the bathroom and quickly shut the door before she can protest any more. Fortunately, she resigns to her fate of a solo shower and I hear the sound of fabric hitting the floor.

Still in the tiled entryway, I remove my own clothes except for my underwear before transitioning to the carpet. My hamper for dirty clothes is unfortunately inside of the bathroom, so I'll just have to leave mine by the shoes for now.

Before I can even reach the small dresser by the desk, the bathroom door opens.

"Noa, how do I turn on the shower?"

"What do you mean how?"

In my confusion, I make the mistake of turning around.

"ACK!"

Mira has half of her bare body peeking out from the bathroom. Her supple skin is fair all of the way down, no awkward tans or blemishes in sight. Her long blue hair hands down behind her in perfect contrast to the colour of her rather thin form. The only thing missing is the flushed cheeks that would appear if this girl could feel some kind of embarrassment.

I only take in the sights for a couple of seconds before my neck forces my head to look away. Those few seconds were more than enough to burn the image of the young girl into my brain.

"Wha—what are you doing, Mira!"

"I don't know how the water comes out."

"There is a literal knob on the wall!"

Mira dips back into the bathroom. I take a moment to look back, just to be flashed again as she returns.

"Is it the one with the red and blue colours?"

"Yes! That one! It'll get hotter the closer it goes to red, so don't set it too hot!"

"Got it!"

The door closes and I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm not sure how to deal with this girl sometimes. Even the most basic knowledge seems to be missing with her, things that every human older than the age of four would know. When do humans even learn to use the shower on their own? No matter how hard I try to recall, I can't remember the last time I had to be guided by my parents in the shower.

I hear the water turn on in the bathroom as well as the squeak of Mira in surprise. Taking that as my cue to continue with my business, I reach back to the dresser. Unfortunately, the universe had other things in mind.

The pitter patter of small feet is followed by the door opening again. This time, Mira is completely drenched and dripping all over the floor.

"Noa, what are these bottles for?"

"What do you mean 'what are they for'!? It's soap! The stuff you use to clean yourself!"

I don't get an immediate response. Once she begins visually shivering in the corner of my eye, I bite my tongue and look back at the naked girl.

"Hm? Soap?"

That final head tilt spelled the end of my futile resistance. This girl wasn't going to be able to clean herself properly just by verbal instructions. I may not remember when I was taught how to bathe, but I don't need a photo to know that I couldn't do it alone the first time. If I had any female friends, I would have called them the instant Mira asked her first question. Since I have exactly zero of those and calling my mom would only cause issues, I'm the only one who can do it.

"Alright, fine! Just go back in and I'll be right there."

"Really!? Yay!"

Mira trots back to the tub behind the curtains, not without flashing me with her bare back side in the process. I don't care how many times she calls herself a rabbit, she can't hide the curved human features.

I sit down on the floor with my legs crossed.

"Don't panic. I'm just going in and bathing a rabbit. Mira is a rabbit…a rabbit…a rabbit…"

I try to focus on the smaller version of Mira, the version before she grew to human size. She could fit in my arms, chewed grass on the side of the road, and had floppy ears. As long as I can maintain this image in my head, I can get through this.

"Alright, time to wash a rabbit…"

Standing up, I head into the small bathroom and close the door behind me. I step around her mud stained dress on the floor along with the random accessories that adorned her wrists and neck. After a brief hesitation, I pull open the curtains with the solid image of a rabbit in mind.

"Ah, there you are!"

Mira turns her head to look at me. She holds the shower head in her hands and has the water running into her chest.

"…"

Whatever image I had in my head has subsequently exploded. I can already feel my blood running rampant in my veins, some of it threatening to drip out of my nose.

I keep my gaze off to the side as much as possible as I step into the tub behind Mira.

"O-Okay, can you grab the washcloth down there?"

"This white one?"

"Yeah…you want to apply the body wash from the white bottle…"

I'm focusing on the wall with all my might, so much so that I fail to notice Mira trying to hand me the shower head. My body shivers as she pokes me in the chest.

"Ah…sorry, I'll hold that…"

"How much do I put on here?"

"Uhhh, probably just a little bit for you."

"Like this?"

Mira tries to turn around to fully face me, but I hold her shoulders in place. I instead peek over her shoulder to watch her apply the body wash. My eyes aren't picking up all of the details of her body. Maybe the steam from the hot water is obscuring my view, or maybe my brain is simply omitting details for my own sanity.

"T-That should be good. Now scrub your body with that."

"Okay!"

If I were to watch her delicately rub herself with the cloth, I might actually pass out.

Looking for some form of escape, I reach over Mira's head to grab the shampoo. If Mira sticks around, I'll probably have to get her proper women's amenities. But for now, I return the shower head to the wall and start massaging soap into Mira's hair. I'm not sure if I'm even doing this properly. I don't know anything about girls.

"That tickles, Noa!"

"Please don't say that…"

Her giggles threaten to land a KO before the first round of the match is even over. At least she seems to be enjoying it.

During the process, I'm interrupted several times by Mira bending down to reach for her legs. I even have to steady her sometimes when she tries to balance on one foot. All of these moments provide a brief intermission where I can focus my inner peace while staring at the wall.

After thoroughly rubbing into her scalp, Mira also seems to have finished what she could reach.

"Alright, close your eyes."

I pull out the shower head, which was pelting the taller of the two of us the whole time. After a final rinse, we exit the bath and begin the drying process. I quickly dry off first and leave the towel with Mira.

"It might take a while to dry your hair, so take your time!"

After a grueling session, I finally make my escape from the world of desires. For the second day in a row, I achieved barely any substantial bathing of my own.