Chapter 15: Rain Stops, Samsara Ends – Part 9
“What?”
The washcloth left my back, and I could guess Yu Hui’s expression without looking.
She must be angry, or perhaps find it absurd.
After all, this was a matter of being tricked and deceived.
“I’ve been talking to myself all along. I’m sorry. Just think of it as being fooled by a senpai with a screw loose and delusions who talked about past lives. Isn’t it suspicious and ridiculous?”
Just treat it as a joke.
Even Chuunibyo these days doesn’t use outdated settings like past lives.
“This is what you call talking to yourself.
“Huh?”
“I need an explanation. I can’t let it end like this, so vaguely.”
“You’re the first girl who’s actively offered to listen to my explanation.
Normally, shouldn’t ‘let me explain’ be something a guy says? Though, even after saying it, the other party (half of whom is his girlfriend) usually doesn’t listen to the explanation.
Fine, if you want to hear it, I’ll tell you. But you can think of it as unrealistic delusions, or a story I’ve just made up. You don’t need to listen too seriously.
“Are you deliberately trying to pique my interest with that kind of talk?”
I shrugged noncommittally and then pointed to the hot spring pool in front of me.
“Let’s go in first, then.
“Go in?”
“Yeah, talking in the hot spring. We can’t keep talking out here like this. Didn’t you say you’d catch a cold? Besides, it’s raining.
SF Light Novel
The rain wasn’t heavy, just a drizzling rain. If it hadn’t landed on my face, I wouldn’t have even felt it raining.
Yu Hui didn’t directly refuse, but continued to wipe my back with the washcloth, saying,
“I’ll finish wiping your back first, then you can use body wash on yourself.
“Uh, okay. Sorry.
Mmm, even though I washed up before coming to the hot spring, the smell still lingered.
And from this close, Yu Hui could already smell what kind of scent it was.
Although it was a mixture of several scents from several people, its essence was still that strong scent that could make one’s mind wander.
So I squeezed some body wash from the washstand, added a little water, and lathered it in my palms.
Yu Hui reached out from behind me, scraped off some of the foam I had created, and spread it evenly on my back.
Her movements were skilled and natural, as if she had done it many times before, giving me the feeling that Yu Hui behind me was the original Yu Hui.
It felt strange. Usually, in the summer on the beach, a guy would apply sunscreen to a girl. Now, it was a girl applying body wash to a guy by the hot spring in winter. The roles were reversed.
Yu Hui didn’t intentionally avoid physical contact with me. She quickly finished applying the body wash and walked to the edge of the hot spring first.
She first put both her feet into the hot spring, then turned her back to me, spread the bath towel, and used it to cover her waist and beautiful figure.
Then, Yu Hui’s body slowly entered the hot spring pool, and the bath towel was left outside.
Before I could ask, Yu Hui explained herself.
“It’s proper etiquette not to bring towels into the hot spring.
Book.SFA
There was no one else watching, so it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t follow it, right?
“I’m afraid I’m afraid I’m afraid SF Light Novel
Can I consider this as her intentionally giving me a benefit?
Then I won’t be polite and will admire her beautiful bare back.
However, when I focused my gaze on Yu Hui’s back, I froze on the spot, and my hands stopped moving.
Perhaps seeing that I wasn’t moving, the suspicious Yu Hui turned her head slightly and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
I was still staring dumbly at her back, swallowed the saliva that had built up in my mouth, and pointed to the front, asking,
“That scar of yours…”
Although it was partially covered by her long black hair, a part of it was still visible.
And my eyes could see through it directly. It wasn’t something dirty on it. Undoubtedly, there was a conspicuous, large, diagonal wound on Yu Hui’s back.
That scar was left when she blocked a knife for me. But it should have already healed.
Yu Hui understood why I was stunned and turned around, sweeping the hair covering her back over her shoulder, and showed me the entire scar without any reservation.
“I don’t know when this huge scar appeared on my back. I don’t remember being this badly injured.”
Why is this wound still here?
It should have already healed.
Moreover, Yu Hui, who had never met me, couldn’t possibly have such a scar. The convergence of fate? Yes.
“You must be disappointed by the big scar on me.”
“Uh? Not at all. Rather, it’s beautiful.”
It was a heartfelt truth.
SF Light Novel
I couldn’t help but stare at her back, lost in thought.
Naturally captivated by her.
“Senpai, you really are a player. You only say things that make girls happy.
“I only speak the truth.
“Hmph. That’s why you can trick other women.”
Perhaps.
After rinsing off the foam with the showerhead, I also entered the hot spring.
I didn’t shamelessly sit next to Yu Hui. Sitting opposite her might lead to me seeing something I shouldn’t, as there was no suitable holy light, mist, or opaque hot spring water. So I sat two body lengths away from Yu Hui, facing forward, not daring to move.
“Senpai, are you pretending to be honest? Is this a tactic of playing hard to get?”
“Actually, I’m the most honest person, and very passive. The scent and marks on my body are all left from being pushed around.”
“I’ll believe that if pigs fly. Come closer, it’s hard to talk when you’re so far away.
“After sleeping with so many women, you have such a strong scent on you, and now you’re pretending to be a nice guy?”
“It’s not like that. Just the fact that I’m in the same pool as you makes me think of a purifying lovers’ bath. If you’re close, I’ll get excited.
“Pervert.”
Yes, I’m a pervert.
“It doesn’t matter. If you really wanted to do something to me, you wouldn’t have said those words to distance yourself from me earlier, would you?”
I sat down beside Yu Hui, but not too close, leaving a comfortable space so we wouldn’t feel awkward.
But Yu Hui moved closer, pressing her shoulder against mine. No, even her soft side and waist pressed against me.
“My back usually doesn’t feel anything even when it touches water. It doesn’t hurt in damp, rainy weather, like it’s fake.”
“But every time I see you, this wound hurts so much, so much that I can’t sleep. Being able to ‘not sleep’ is a good thing for me.”
“Tell me the story you made up. I’m a bit bored.
She chose to believe me because of the reality brought on by the pain.
Perhaps because the curse that had been returned to Yu Hui had restored some of her “body memory.”
For this reason, Yu Hui wasn’t so wary of me.
Otherwise, if a normal guy barged in, she would have run away long ago. She certainly wouldn’t have wiped my back, let alone shared a lovers’ bath with me.
If she wants to hear it, I’ll tell her.
After all, it’s just a “story.”
“Someone has already accepted your curse for you. You may not remember that person, but besides me, only she could bear that curse for you.”
“Are you talking about Lou Ling?”
“…What?”
I turned my head in shock to look at Yu Hui and asked incredulously.
“You still remember Ling!?”
