I thought I would experience a lucky encounter in the bathhouse like the protagonists in anime always do. A glimpse at the sexiest girl in class thinly clothed in a bathrobe or even a girl landing with her racks on my chest. 

But my luck had never been good.  

All I got was a c*nt talking shit. Give me a real p*ssy and not those cowards. 

There is always at least one filler episode at the beach or the bathhouse to give fanservice. But the only girls I met so far were women I couldn’t understand— outside my striking zone too. 

That encounter soured my mood and I lost interest in looking around any longer. It was time to get in the pool anyway. 

I threw my clothes into one of the empty baskets in the changing rooms and flushed away the dirt from my body at one of the washing stations at the walls. 

The immediate hot water was nice. I would often make do with just a cold shower as heating water took too much time. But now that there was a whole bathtub full of heated water…I just wanted to jump in and soak away my bad mood.  

I can’t even remember when the last time was that I could relax like this. Being under a lot of people was a lot harder than I remembered it to be. Thankfully, I was pretty much alone in the hall. 

There weren’t a lot of people at the reception to begin with, and the people inside the bathing hall finished their bath soon after I came in. 

The atmosphere was similar to Earth…F*ck, that hits hard.  

Someone come and prove me that I’m not alone! 

I dived my head underwater and counted till ten. It was just a stupid thing I made up with my brother; Closing my eyes for ten seconds and wishing for something. My wish would either be fulfilled, or my brother would have pulled a prank on me. Obviously, getting pranked happened more often than my wish being fulfilled. 

Splash~~ 

I came back to the surface and wiped away the water from my eyes and pushed my bangs out of my face. It was boring and I couldn’t stand the silence, but going out was a shit option. My legs didn’t want to move. 

I came to regret this decision the very next moment. 

Moshi came in, naturally only with a towel around the waist. It was better than being butt-naked, but f*ck I didn’t want to be exposed to this sight either! 

I turned my back to him. I should have gone out earlier, then I wouldn't need to look at him. Is it too late to go out now? Where do I go after going out? 

F*ck past me. He had explained it to you. 

It’s weird, I shouldn’t be this nervous. There wasn’t anything to be nervous about. Why are you beating so hard, heart!? 

I slid down my back on the pool frame and half of my face sunk into the water. It was hot and heavy, but the clear water gave me the fake security of being hidden. 

It didn’t take long until I felt someone getting into the pool not far from me. It was Moshi with his porcelain skin. I thought he was one of those girlish boys when I saw his face for the first time, but his body was trained and actually covered in small scars. They weren’t deep, but numerous now that I could get a look at close range. 

My eyes moved up and I met his eyes that were focused on me... 

F*ck, did he see me stealing glances at him? 

Out of all my wishes, this one had to become true. Why did I wish for the appearance of another person? It was better to be alone! 

“Harem, you don’t look good,” he said as he grabbed my wrists. 

I didn’t understand what he meant, but we were close. Too close. I felt my face burning up and my heart pounding against my chest. It couldn’t be that, right?! 

I stood up and pushed him away out of reflex, but I suddenly felt very dizzy. It didn’t help that inertia plus water let me lose my footing. 

My head hit something while I dropped backwards into the water. It didn’t hurt that much, however, it was still enough to do me in. As I lost my consciousness, I saw everything— From his wet hair sticking to his startled face to the droplets sliding down his chin as he called out to me. 

Don’t ask me why I remember so many details. I omit the other things I saw¹Referring to pp when he jumped up to rescue the drowning me.

*** 

Harem God was awfully quiet when he soaked in the hot water. 

Is he still depressed because of what the other guy said earlier? 

The question was valid since Jiushi could clearly see that something was bothering him. His inklings about Harem God's emotions up until this moment weren't that far off either. For him, Harem God was like an open book he could read without much effort. It bothered him a bit. Even Ace, who he was the closest to, was sometimes hard to make out.  

Harem God was extremely simple-minded and guileless. The fact that he attracted problems made it only worse. Even if you wanted to ignore him, he wasn’t far from being a child you had to look after or a disaster would happen.  

Jiushi shook away his shower thoughts as he finished rinsing off the sweat and dust from his skin.  

His skin tone was very pale and it blended well with his snow-white hair. It only validated his nickname as ‘Snow White’. In the past, he got the name due to his resemblance to the tale figure Snow White, back when he still had his black hair. After his awakening, people still associated the name with him because of his fair looks that stood out on the battlefield. 

But he absolutely hated that nickname so he came up with another one to hide his identity. 

Ssssshhh… 

The water flatted Jiushi’s wavy curls and his eyes darted through the curtain of white to the pool of hot water, but he facepalmed as soon as he did so. 

What is he up to now? 

The other had dived into the water half-assedly and Jiushi could still see a mop of brown hair. He wanted to strike up a simple conversation of trivial things, but he didn’t expect much after seeing Harem God like this. The latter seemed to be in his own world of thoughts and it was unlikely to get his attention back to reality.  

Unexpectedly, the target of focus was Jiushi himself and the person in question instantly reacted and eyed him up from toe to head when he sat down. The moment their eyes met though; he averted his eyes like a startled animal. 

Could it be? 

Not only was the water vapor obstructing Jiushi’s eyesight like a veil, but it also had the effect of a sauna pouring. The high humidity from the vapor got him all stuffy and sweaty, and he felt the need for a second shower.  

He actually only wanted to jump in because the water in the tub contained spiritual water that could alleviate sore muscles. Maybe it had something to do with the place he grew up, but cold showers were more to his liking ever since he could remember. Long soaking in hot water was something he couldn’t stand, that’s why it amazed him even more that Harem God could remain in it for so long.  

Or so he thought. 

Jiushi saw him blush hard through the uprising steam...It was either a maiden in love or someone who soaked too long in the hot water. To rule out the former, he grabbed Harem God’s wrists to check his internal force, but it only led to the latter getting knocked out. 

“Hey! Get a grip!” Jiushi called out, but Harem God was already out cold and caused a bunch of rising bubbles from exhaling underwater.  

tiaf

How have you been? I nearly went against the announcement I made last week due to a headache. You did well past me. Thanks for writing this chapter in advance.
In this chapter we unveiled a bit about Jiushi! And we are doing the character popularity poll again! The last one was won by Sin by a huge margin ;-;
Don't tell me chickens are superior to humans...

Characterartworks

Harem God

Ace
 

Jiushi

SinTommy

Jerry/Aaron

Alver

[collapse]