Steam swirled thickly around the bathroom, droplets of condensation rolling slowly down walls and windowsills, trickling lazily from top to bottom, from left to right. A faint yet intoxicating fragrance drifted from Kojima Kana's body, quietly saturating the entire space.
The beautiful older girl sat just behind Shirase, her delicate hand tightly clutching a washcloth as she reached around his chest.
Her gaze was gentle, indulgent, yet also stirred by a restlessness only she understood.
"This angle isn't really convenient..." she murmured softly.
Shirase couldn't help but speak up. "Actually, we can just stop here."
"You're looking down on me again?" Kana huffed indignantly, puffing out her chest.
Shirase nearly laughed at this. "Then what, you expect me to turn around? If I really did, you'd definitely explode."
"Nonsense. You're the one who'd explode, idiot." Kana retorted shyly, cheeks flushed.
Knowing he couldn't argue further, Shirase said, "Well, if you still insist, then let's keep it like this. I'll just stay still."
"You little brat sure know how to enjoy yourself," Kana grumbled softly, almost complaining.
You clearly have the temper of a child, yet you always call yourself an adult.
Shirase quietly laughed inside.
But soon, he couldn't laugh anymore.
Since he wasn't turning around, Kana needed to lean forward to take care of him. Because of their closeness and Kana's habitually careless personality, she didn't even notice that she'd already pressed up against him.
Shirase stayed silent for a few seconds before coughing awkwardly. "Maybe I should turn around after all."
Kana froze mid-movement, her cheeks reddening even further. "W-what are you planning?"
"I'll keep my eyes closed," Shirase wisely avoided answering directly.
"You absolutely can't peek!"
Kana anxiously and shyly warned him.
Immediately afterward, she began scolding herself internally. Why did I act tough just now? If I hadn't said something stupid like 'I wouldn't be scared even if we bathed together,' I wouldn't have come in here wearing only a towel...
Wait a second…where's my towel?
Only now, after diligently washing Shirase's back for so long, did Kana realize her towel had already fallen into the bath. Having soaked up water, it had sunk completely out of sight.
As Shirase obediently turned around, eyes tightly shut, Kana's wrists trembled from embarrassment.
Thankfully, she was certain Shirase wouldn't peek. Only after slowly regaining her composure did she once again adopt her older-sister demeanor and carefully attend to him.
Shirase knew she was incredibly nervous, so he remained perfectly still and kept his eyes firmly shut, determined not to create any unnecessary trouble.
Gradually, Kana's nerves settled. Her movements lost their earlier stiffness, and everything began to flow smoothly.
After some time, Kana let out a relieved sigh and feigned calmness. "All right, you can turn back around now. I'm going to rinse off."
"Okay." Shirase obediently turned away again.
Kana picked up the towel and exited, her heart still pounding furiously.
Bathing just a few steps away from Shirase, if she claimed she wasn't nervous, she'd obviously be lying.
But matters had come this far, and whether it was her stubborn pride as an "adult" or simply stubbornness itself, she had to grit her teeth and go through with it.
Actually, even if he really did see me, it wouldn't be a big deal, would it…?
Kana's face reddened at the thought.
Completely lost in her daydreaming, her habitual clumsiness finally returned with a vengeance in the bathroom.
When she squeezed out some shower gel, she accidentally used too much, and a large blob dropped onto the floor near her foot.
Still absorbed in her swirling thoughts, Kana moved her foot slightly and immediately lost her balance, letting out a startled cry.
"What's wrong—wait, what?"
Shirase instinctively turned around, and then—
Then there was no more "then."
What has blinded my eyes?
...
Moments later, Shirase was chased out of the bathroom by a mortified, red-faced Kana.
Looking down at himself, wearing nothing but underwear, he sighed deeply. "What the hell just happened? All I wanted was a relaxing bath before studying."
Back in his bedroom, Shirase refused to let his mind wander further. He immediately activated [Fixed Hosting] and immersed himself in studying.
With exams at the end of April, he didn't have much time left.
The test covered six subjects: Japanese, Geography-History, Civics, Mathematics, Science, and Foreign Languages. For the Foreign Language exam, students could choose which language to take.
Shirase originally planned to exploit his natural advantage by choosing Chinese. But after thinking it over, he realized English was important too, and this subject was precisely where the Hosting System could excel.
Besides, he didn't want to end up speaking the oddly comedic, heavily accented English that most of his classmates used.
For instance, he vividly remembered overhearing some riajuu classmates chatting with Hayama Hayato one day. Those boys had good grades, yet when talking about rap singers, they'd all pronounced "rap" as "ra-pu."
If one didn't listen closely, it almost sounded like they were discussing something else entirely.
...
At 10:30 PM, Kana's voice sounded from outside his door. "Don't stay up too late studying. It's the weekend tomorrow anyway; you can study during the day."
Afterward, she quickly walked away.
Clearly, she still hadn't recovered from the awkward bathroom incident.
At least, that's what Shirase thought.
But what he didn't know was that after returning to her room, Kana had thrown herself onto the bed, cheeks still burning, reliving every scene from earlier.
Thinking and thinking, she unconsciously broke into a girlish, bashful smile. Giggling softly, she squirmed happily on the bed until finally, blushing fiercely, she buried her head beneath the covers.
...
Early next morning at 5:30, Shirase got up and went out for his usual run—a habit he maintained even on weekends and holidays.
If he intended to build a strong body, there could be no slacking off.
On his jog, he passed several stylishly dressed girls who looked exhausted from a long night out.
Since Shirase was currently under Hosting mode, he ignored their attempts at flirting completely, even though he was fully aware that, given his appearance, if he'd responded even slightly, these openly playful girls would gladly invite him to some very "vigorous exercise."
After returning home and taking a quick shower, Shirase resumed studying through Hosting mode.
Though the progress bar was still far from unlocking the new feature, he was deeply curious about just what exactly this [Immersive Hosting] would turn out to be.
Even though the wheel-of-fortune lottery was a huge scam, at least its rewards were truly impressive. Shirase was fully aware of just how rapidly his body had improved.
So, wouldn't the new [Immersive Hosting] feature bring him similarly valuable benefits?