"Oh, wow!" Junko gasped.
"It's really nice!" Sakura agreed.
Practice had just wrapped up and all of the girls had raced for the bath house, save Lily and Yugiri. While the others stripped in the open changing room, Yugiri had pointed Lily toward the stalls available for privacy. Now, they all stood in their towels, gazing around at their new bathing area.
Most of the room was taken up by the bath, as expected. On one wall was a line of showerheads, seven in total for each of them. Everything was fairly standard. Brown tiling on the floor, red on the walls and bath, and soft lighting overhead. On the opposite side of the showers was another door with a small window.
"What are we waitin' for?" Saki demanded. "Let's shower so we can test out the water! I've been dyin' for a proper bath since Oreshino!"
"Even if you're already dead," Junko sighed, also making her way toward the showers.
Lily hung back, wringing her hands nervously. Yugiri looked from her to the showers, wondering if there was a way to ease her anxiety. Perhaps…
"Lady Lily?" she said softly. "If you'd like, I can hold off on taking my shower so that you can have the nozzle at the end."
"But I don't wanna burden you with that…" Yugiri shook her head with a laugh.
"Nonsense. I offered. Now go on. I'll wait and take one of the others' once they're done."
Lily eyed her for a moment before nodding and making her way to the furthest nozzle. Yugiri took the moment to further examine the room. The bath did look luxurious. She was afraid they would all be showering one at a time. She wasn't too fond of the idea, especially considering how important communal baths were in her time. Her shoulders slumped. Even if she hadn't felt particularly communal using them.
Still, this way, all of them could still bathe together without a problem. Something on the other side of the bath caught her attention and the courtesan moved closer. On the wall opposite the door, it appeared to be a smaller bathtub, likely only capable of holding two people, three at most. She wondered what it could possibly be for. Stealing a glance to Lady Lily, an idea came to mind.
Lily sighed as she finished her shower. She didn't want to have to leave right away, not with the others having fun in the bath already. But she just… didn't want to get in right now.
"Lady Lily?"
The poor girl jumped, whirling around and quickly covering herself. Yugiri kept her gaze carefully away from her friend. "I think I may have a solution to your unease about the bath."
"You do?" Lily didn't want to admit it, but she was pretty relieved. She didn't want to miss the bonding.
"If you're finished with your shower, follow me?"
Yugiri led Lily over to the small bath she'd found and Lily's eyes lit up. "It's a small one just for me!" she cheered.
"I assume Sir Tatsumi was thinking of you when he had it installed," Yugiri told her. "Why don't you get in while I go shower?"
Lily beamed at her. While Yugiri went to shower, Lily made sure none of the others were looking before slipping into the water. It was nice and warm, and she had plenty of leg room. Leaning over the side, she watched the others. Saki and Tae were wrestling in the water while Junko, Sakura, and Ai spoke off to the side. The conversation carried over to her, but she could only make out a little over Saki and Tae's shouting.
Splashing the water about in her own tub, Lily felt a little lonely. She couldn't tell if it would've been better for her to just leave right away. Here, she was with everyone, but still away from them.
"Why so blue?"
Lily started again and instinctively covered herself. Yugiri laughed, wading closer through the large bath. She must have finished her shower quickly to keep Lily company. As she sank into the bath, the older woman leaned against the edge of the bath so she could better talk to Lady Lily.
"I dunno if I should've stayed," Lily sighed. "Everyone is in the big bath and I'm all the way over here…"
"Would you rather return to the house?" Yugiri inquired with a tilt of her head.
"I mean… I'm not lonely anymore, now that I'm actually talking to somebody." Lily gave her usual bright smile.
"Then we can talk whenever we're finished showering," Yugiri suggested. "So long as you can stand waiting an extra minute or two for me."
"It's a deal!" Lily giggled.
My friend mentioned that, when they were living in Japan, there was a smaller bathtub, too. I'm using that here. Just to clear any confusion.
Remember, sneak peeks and updates are available on my tumblr, gothalbinoangel-fanfiction. Where you can also ask questions. I just opened up commissions, too!