Towel Please!

“Wow, your room is so cool.” Nishimura blurted out when I opened the door to my room.

I honestly didn’t really find my room that cool. To be honest, I had thought it was pretty boring. On the wall by my desk, a few pictures of me and my friends were up. Other than that, there was a kotatsu which had a red blanket attached to it. That was all the personalization I had. The rest came with the dorm, like my bed, desk and mini fridge.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s very simple and modern looking.”

I guess.

I took a seat at the kotatsu and pulled out a book, quickly finding where I had left off.

“Are you joining any clubs?” Nishimura sat down across from me.

“Hmm,” good question, I still hadn’t decided. “I’m not sure yet.”

He didn’t reply, My gaze raised from my book. As if they were patiently and impatiently waiting for me, two brightly lit eyes greeted me, brimming with excitement.

“Will you join me if I form a sweets connoisseur club?” He made begging puppy eyes. It would be difficult to turn him down with that cute look and my only reason taken away.

“U-Uh, sure, I guess.”

He jumped up from his seat and danced around the room before heading to the doorway.

“I’ll get started on the paperwork! See you tomorrow Kazuki-kun!”

He dashed out the door. Kazuki-kun? I guess we’re already on first-name basis. Letting out a heavy sigh, I got back to my book.

Without noticing, the sun had completely set and I had reached the back cover of my book. Raising my arm, I looked at the watch on my wrist.

“Damn, it’s already ten. I guess I should get ready for bed now.”

I gathered my shower stuff and headed over to the community bath. My expectations were quickly nullified when the bath was found to be completely empty. I walked over to a stall and got undressed.

The water was warm. Unlike my house back home, this place had actual warm running water. Even though it was a shower and not a bath, I let myself soak in it for a while. The steamy water running down my back and face created a sense of euphoria. Completely relaxed, sleeping after this would be a breeze.

I opened the stall to let myself out but quickly bumped into something, rather, someone. We both froze and made eye contact. Realizing my situation, my eyes sat still in motion, locked with hers. We stared at each other for what felt like forever, until she slowly dropped her gaze. Does that mean I won? That’s the least of my worries right now.

“Eek! Pervert!”

Of course, the same rotten luck had come to bite me in the ass once again. It was the same girl from before. My body moved subconsciously, quickly grabbing her and pulling her into the stall. It was instinct, my body had a mind of its own today, not giving me time to think over the consequences.

Continuing my course of action, my arms reached for my towel and quickly threw it over her naked body. One hand covered her mouth so she couldn’t shout. If someone were to catch us like this, my social status would drop further than before. Hell, I’d probably get expelled.

“Hey, listen to me.” I whispered to her.

Her eyes were filled with fear. My appearance resembled more of a delinquent because of my black eye. I didn’t blame her, based on my actions, Inoue Kazuki was living up to how everyone pictured him. A delinquent that went in to perv on her and is now naked with her in a stall, holding her mouth shut so she couldn’t shout.

I skipped straight to the point.

“Please, please, hear me out. I’m not going to do anything to you. I thought this was the men’s bath and it was empty when I got here and…” I began to ramble in a panic.

Sensing this, her eyes calmed and she came to her senses.

She placed her hand over mine and pulled it down. Accepting whatever fate awaited me, my hand moved along with hers.

“You bumped into me today earlier too.”

“Y-Yeah, that was me. I’m really sorry about that.”

“I-I should be apologizing… I knew it was an accident, yet…” Her gaze lowered.

“Eek!” This time, it was both of us screaming.

A clean uppercut led to a fist in my other eye. Since she was wrapped in my towel, I was completely naked. She had looked down and… yeah.

Now, we were both standing on opposite sides of the stall, looking in opposite directions.

“A-As I was saying, I knew it was an accident… B-But that boy who came to my defense-“

“You have a crush on him?” I cut into her sentence.

She went silent for a few seconds. With pinpoint accuracy, I shot the doe clean in the head.

“When he came to my defense I-I got really happy… So I cheered him on…”

“…” My mouth stayed closed.

“Once again, I’m really, really sorry!”

“Uh, it’s okay I guess…”

“I’m also sorry about punching you just now, it was my fault for looking down!”

“I-It’s okay, really, haha.” I let out a dry chuckle. “I’m really just concerned about getting out of here. Is there anyone else out there right now?”

She poked her head out of the stall and quickly gave it a scan.

“Everyone’s on the other side, the coast should be clear. I’ll go out there and make sure. If it’s completely clear, I’ll toss your towel back over after grabbing mine. Then, you take it and make a break for the exit. After that, you should be in the clear since both the men’s and women’s are right next to each other.”

“O-Okay, thank you…”

“D-Don’t worry about it. It’s the least I can do for troubling you…”

The plan went without a hitch, I dipped right into the men’s side after making it out. Several showers were running but it was completely quiet. The girls are a lot more sociable in bathrooms than guys.

I stood in front of the mirror as I brushed my teeth to get ready for bed. A new circle had formed meaning I now had two black eyes. My new one wasn’t as bad but still, I couldn’t get over the fact that a raccoon was looking right back at me. Today was a huge pain.

“I just want to go to bed.”

a/n

hey everyone, thank you so much for reading. I'm open to any and all criticism so don't be afraid to leave a comment!