Our Life That Begins with a Convenient Relationship - Chapter 18

After finishing dinner, I was about to clear the dishes from the table when Sakura suddenly stood up with a lot of energy.

“Ms. Sakurai, please take a bath first!”

Her voice was bouncy, and she sounded happy. However, I felt bad about going before the homeowner, so I waved my hand and let her go first.

“You’re the one who’s tired from work, right? Besides, you’re the owner, so you should go first.”

“Is that so? Well, then I’ll take you up on that!”

With that, she disappeared lightly through the door leading to the bathroom. The living room became quiet, and her lively voice felt like it had never been there at all.

Left alone, I carried the dishes to the sink. The lukewarm water wrapped around my fingers, and the sound of the dishes echoed softly.

Once I finished cleaning up, I let out a sigh without thinking. I sat deep into the massage chair and pressed the remote. Every time it pressed against my back and waist, I let out a voice without realizing it: “Ahhh… this is the life…”

If I listened closely, I could hear the rhythm of her shower, and the scent of a shampoo I didn’t know reached my nose. All of these things were proof that someone other than me was here.

…I suppose this is what it means to live with someone.

Compared to when I lived in a cheap apartment sitting in an old chair, the difference is like heaven and earth. Every time the chair pressed my back, the thing called “tiredness” slowly left my body.

A little later, I heard the click of the changing room door opening. I looked over casually and gasped.

“…Huh?”

“…Feh?”

Standing there was, of course, Sakura. The problem was the reality that she wasn’t wearing a towel, her wet hair was hanging over her shoulders… and she was completely exposing her glowing skin.

Steam softly wrapped around her body, and the white lights of the room shone on her skin.

We stared at each other for a few seconds, both frozen.

The next moment, her face turned bright red.

“Hyaaaaaaaah!”

Sakura screamed and pulled back into the changing room with unbelievable speed. The door went bang! and I was left there with my mouth wide open.

(…Wait, what was that just now?)

The massage chair continued to push my back, making reality slowly sink back in. But that wasn’t a hallucination. I definitely saw it.

Eventually, she peeked her head out through a tiny gap in the door. With teary eyes turned toward me, she asked in a trembling voice.

“…D-Did you see?”

“Did you think I couldn’t see you?”

When I answered honestly, her face turned bright red again and she pulled her head back in. I could hear groans of “Uuuugh! Waaaaah!” coming from the changing room.

…Well, that was completely her own fault for being careless. It’s not like I was peeking. I had no reason to lie, so I answered honestly, but maybe I should have been a bit more polite about it.

After a while, she ran to her room wrapped in a bath towel. A moment later, she came back wearing pajamas. They were a calm, light pink set, and the ribbon on the chest was strangely cute. It was the kind of thing that would be a bit embarrassing for me to wear.

Her cheeks were still red, and she was fidgeting with her fingertips.

“U-Um… I’ve lived like that until now… so I’ll be careful from now on.”

“…Well, you lived alone until now. I understand that you just did what you usually do.”

“No! Really please just forget it.”

We are both women, so I don’t think a naked body is such a big deal, but to her, it seemed like a huge event. …Still, seeing such a cute reaction makes me feel strangely self-conscious, so I hope she really is careful from now on.

“Ugh… this is so embarrassing!”

Saying that, she sat down on the sofa looking very dejected.

“Well, I’ll take my bath now.”

I said with a light laugh to clear the awkward air. Sakura gave a small nod and said, “Y-Yes.” I almost burst out laughing because her voice cracked a little. But I held it in, stood up, took my bath things from my room, and headed to the changing room.

As soon as I closed the changing room door, it became very quiet. While taking off my clothes, the scene from earlier suddenly came back to my mind.

—The glossy hair, the wet skin, and that panicked expression.

“…No, no, no.”

I talked to myself and shook my head hard.

Why am I remembering it over and over? She’s younger than me, and she’s a woman just like me. Telling myself that, I calmed my breathing and opened the bathroom door.

“Oh… it’s huge.”

I couldn’t help but say it out loud.

The bathroom looked like something in a hotel suite. …I’ve never stayed in one, but I’m sure it’s like this.

The floor and walls were sparkling, and the glossy tiles softly reflected the light. It was nothing like the tiny bathroom in my old, cheap apartment. Back then, the shower temperature was never stable, and in winter, I would wait shivering for minutes until the hot water came out.

“…As expected of someone who makes good money.”

Feeling a bit impressed, I looked at the bottles. I saw shampoo and body soap lined up neatly. They didn’t look like luxury items, but they probably cost several times more than the cheap stuff I usually use.

I’ll ask her later if I can use them. Thinking that, I finished washing my body with my own things today and walked toward the bathtub.

There, my eyes went wide again.

“Wait, is this a jet bath!?”

Surprised, I stepped closer and saw small nozzles lined up on the side of the tub. It was something I had only ever seen on the internet.

“It’s… okay to use it, right? I live here, so I have the right to use it, right?”

Feeling a bit excited, I sank into the tub. I tentatively pressed the button, and bubbles suddenly rose up. The next moment, my whole body was wrapped in a soft flow of water.

“Ahhh… what is this? This is amazing!”

The water circled around as if it were hugging my whole body, melting away my stiff muscles one by one.

My back, my waist, my calves. My legs, which were heavy from standing all day at work, felt lighter and lighter. When I closed my eyes, it felt like I was at a hot spring inn.

“I’m going to want to use this every day.”

I expected a loud machine noise, but it was surprisingly quiet. Only the sound of the moving water and the popping of small bubbles reached my ears.

“Maybe this is the secret to how Sakura keeps her shape.”

Of course, she is young, but it makes sense if she can take care of herself like this every day. The stomach and waist I saw for a moment earlier had very beautiful lines without any sagging.

…Still, she eats so much at the pub and then eats again when she gets home. It’s a mystery how she keeps that body. Maybe it’s just her nature, but I’m so jealous.

“Ahhh! It’s nice to be young…”

My words melted into the steam with a sigh. My face reflected in the bathroom glass seemed to have a slightly softer expression.

Maybe if I continue this life, I can change just a little bit, too.

“…No, no, I’m still in my mid-thirties. My life is just starting.”

I didn’t really know what was “starting.”

Even so, I felt like I could meet a new version of myself in this life, and a part of my heart felt suddenly lighter.