At the end of March, right as winter was about to give way to spring, the big temperature swings between day and night made it the perfect season for sudden rain.
Because it had been too long since they'd met alone, Kushida had asked Yukio to meet her in the small grove outside the first-year dorms. But they'd barely been together a moment before the sky suddenly opened up, forcing them to sprint back to the dorms.
Specifically—to Kushida's room.
The place was decorated with pure girlish flair: one wall was completely papered in pink, another side stacked with plush dolls from top to bottom. One look and you'd know it was so Kushida.
"Talk about bad luck." Yukio glanced around her room, then complained at the sky's mood swing.
"Here~"
Kushida went to the closet, took out a brand-new towel, carefully washed it, wrung it out, and then handed it over.
Taking the fresh towel from her, Yukio casually ran it over his rain-damp hair.
"Take a hot shower first, Kushida. Otherwise you'll catch a cold."
"Eh? Why don't you go first, Yukio-kun?" Kushida had wrapped her own big bath towel around her hair and was lifting her arms, rubbing at the water in her long locks.
"You go first." On this point, Yukio wouldn't budge. "At least I work out every day. My body's in decent shape, I'm not that easy to get sick. You first. Be good, listen."
Kushida's eyes rolled in their sockets, a little shy.
She almost blurted out "Then we can shower together," but right away remembered the bath set she'd bought right after vacation started.
It was an extremely high-end shampoo-and-body-wash set. Even before she'd opened the box, she could already smell that calm, gentle, cozy fragrance, and even the sales assistant had sworn up and down that this set was amazing—"Your husband will say it smells fantastic! He'll be so enchanted he'll lose his mind over you!"
If-if Yukio-kun smelled it and said it was nice too? If he even got completely lost in it?
Just imagining it sent Kushida's heartbeat racing, a suspicious blush rising on her cheeks.
Should she try it? She'd already bought it, after all. She gave a tiny nod. "Okay, then I'll go shower first."
Grabbing a bath towel, Kushida stepped into the bathroom. There on the shelf was the still-unopened bath set.
She didn't hesitate at all—using the advantage of a girl's slightly longer nails, she ripped the packaging open with her bare hands, no tools needed.
A wonderful scent rushed out to meet her, making Kushida extremely satisfied.
Looked like she'd picked the right one this time!
Since Yukio had also gotten soaked in the rain, and even if he said it was fine because he exercised every day and wouldn't catch a cold that easily—there was always the "what if." Kushida still hoped he would take a hot shower too.
So unlike usual, she didn't soak in the bath for her standard half hour. Instead, she washed up, then came out with her face flushed and steam still clinging to her skin.
"Yukio-kun, it's your turn~"
"Mm."
Yukio didn't bother with polite declines. They knew each other too well by now, and being damp all over from the rain was uncomfortable.
He immediately agreed, brushed past her shoulder, and headed for the bathroom, but as they passed each other, a wave of rich fragrance brushed over him.
It was a sweet, fresh scent—like a little squirrel dashing out of the forest, using its big fluffy tail to sweep lightly under your chin, sending a strange little shiver up your spine.
The smell made Yukio instinctively pause.
"You changed body wash? It doesn't smell like your usual one."
It wasn't like this was the first or second time. He knew Kushida's normal bath scent well enough that he wouldn't be mistaken, so his tone was very sure.
"…Mm~" Kushida's lips curved up happily, her eyes squinting into crescent moons. "Yukio-kun, what do you think… how is it?"
"It smells great. Really relaxing."
Yukio gave her that one line of praise, then stepped into the bathroom and shut the door.
Only after the bathroom door closed did Kushida fling herself forward, face-first into the sofa, grinning from ear to ear at the back cushions.
So he thought it smelled really nice, huh? She hadn't expected it to work so well—enough to make Yukio-kun this happy~
Thinking that, Kushida couldn't help rolling back and forth on the sofa twice, like a dish being flipped repeatedly in a hot pan.
Then she raised her arm and shoved her own forearm up to her nose, sniffing hard.
"Eh? I can't really smell it on myself… Am I just used to it already?"
While Kushida was happily sniffing away outside, Yukio had also spotted the bath set in the bathroom.
He thought it over—maybe the scent would help the mood a little—so he used it too and made a mental note of the brand.
He had to admit, it really was good. And of course, guys always shower faster than girls.
Kushida was still clutching her own arm and obsessively sniffing when the bathroom door opened and Yukio stepped out.
Hearing the door, Kushida immediately sat up straight, twisting both arms behind her back as if terrified he'd seen that goofy sniffing scene.
Yukio didn't notice at all. He went straight over and sat down beside her.
"How is it?"
"Eh?" Kushida was a bit lost. How was what?
"The smell." Yukio pointed to himself. "You used that bath set, so I tried it too."
That one simple sentence made Kushida feel like thunder had exploded through her head, frying her to a crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside.
"Y-you… Yukio-kun, you used it too?"
There was even a hint of grievance in her voice, her cheeks puffing out.
"???"
Yukio stared, baffled.
It wasn't that serious, was it? The Kushida he knew wouldn't get upset over something as small as a bath set.
Luckily, even with that bit of grievance, Kushida would still explain herself to him.
"If you used it too, doesn't that make it pointless?"
"I was thinking—if I smelled really nice, Yukio-kun would be really happy, right? But now that you used it yourself, it doesn't matter whether I smell like it or not, does it?"
What she really wanted to say was: "I was planning to use this scent to make you so enchanted you'd lose yourself, but now that you're using it too, it won't work anymore."
But there was no way she could say something like that out loud. So she could only circle around it with a more indirect explanation.
"That's it?" Yukio's doubts vanished.
He suddenly felt that Kushida was ridiculously cute. He just reached his arm around behind her head and gently pressed down, pulling her into his chest.
"That's just relative, isn't it? What's there to be upset about?"
"If you smelling good makes me happy—"
"Then by the same logic, me smelling good should make you happy too, right? So what's there to be sad about?"
Nestled in his arms, Kushida caught another whiff of that wonderful scent on him. She took a deep breath, then reluctantly let it out. And realized—it really was just like Yukio said. She felt… really happy.
Thinking that, she wrapped her arms around him in return, hugging him tightly.
In her heart, she couldn't help but think—maybe she'd long since been enchanted by Yukio to the point of losing herself.
....
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