“S-Sure Yuuka-san!” Taniko snapped out of her daydreams and looked to her friend. The two continued their bath and chatted. Yuuka spoke the most; Taniko usually just listened, smiled, and answered a question or two. It was the most fun she’d ever had during a bath. For the first time in her life Taniko felt like a real fourteen year old girl. She laughed and gossiped and didn’t care about anything else but that moment. It felt good. It felt right.

The bath would eventually have to end. The girls, wrinkled by the water’s pull, would have to exit the tub and return to the rest of the home where dinner was waiting. Taniko waited for Yuuka to get out first, though she wasn’t entirely sure on the etiquette of bathing together, she figured that must have been a rule. When she was ready she pulled her towel close to her, allowing no chance for anyone to sneak a peek of her nude body. Taniko was still very shy, despite being in the presence of someone she could call her first and very best friend.

Yuuka got out first and made her way to the towel racks. They didn't have any change of clothes in here, so wrapping towels around themselves would just have to do! Yuuka wrapped a towel around herself and made sure it was tight enough to not fall or anything. There was really only one person in the house that she'd be embarrassed to be nude around, and Yuuka didn't want to take that chance.

"Hmmmm . . . I really don't think dinner is done yet-- how about we go up to my room?" Yuuka asked as she slid the door to the bath open and held it there for Taniko to go first.

She could always drain the water later. Really, Yuuka just felt like relaxing a little more, maybe laying down or something. She didn't know if Taniko felt the same way.

Once out in the hall, though . . .

Taniko and Yuuka would cross paths with someone intent to go to the bath himself, just seconds after they got out into the hall. Daisuke only had a towel wrapped around his waist, and he was already cleaned out a bit. He didn't have any blood on him anymore, at least. Seeing him shirtless allowed one to see that, although he was fairly thin, he did have a good deal of defined muscles in his body--not too much larger than average, but defined. Sometimes, that was the most important thing. Of course, he had stitches wear bandages once were, but the wounds were all adequately cleaned, and didn't look nearly as unsightly as yesterday. If it weren't for Yuuka, Daisuke wouldn't have noticed them, and just continued on towards the bath, but . . .

"Hey, onii-san!" Yuuka called out to him, waving enthusiastically, even though they weren't that far away.

This prompted Daisuke to stop and stare at the two of them, a slight expression of confusion upon his face.

Taniko began to gather her clothes, but soon realized that they with caked with the filth of the outside world. She looked up to Yuuka with a pout, but felt better once it was implied that she would be provided with a new pair of clothes. She still gathered them into her arms and held the cloth close to her body. Taniko smiled at her friend’s suggestion.

“That sounds nice Yuuka-san.: she giggled. “I would love to get into some new clothes.”

She tiptoed out of the room gleefully, shoulder to shoulder with Yuuka, not a care in the world until…

She saw him.

Taniko froze, yet felt a fire in her feet that urged her to run and hide. Instead she wobbled a bit, wanting to vomit as the room started to spin. She made sure her towel was held tight against her body as she ducked behind Yuuka.

“Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yuuuuuuka-saaaan” she whispered in a timid, shaky voice, begging for the girl to save her from the worst embarrassment of her life.

Taniko's outburst got her noticed. Daisuke wouldn't have otherwise recognized that she was there, really; he just wanted to get by his little sister and get a nice relaxing bath before dinner. Once he realized that Taniko was there and hiding behind Yuuka, who was a bit shorter than Taniko, he furrowed his brow, this time actually confused, rather than just feigning bewilderment. He couldn't understand what she was hiding from--not that he was really giving it any thought.

"Is that . . . Tan--" Daisuke started to ask, but was cut off once Yuuka realized what was wrong with Taniko.

"Oh! I-- uh, we should be going then! See you at dinner, onii-san!" Yuuka declared as she reached back to take Taniko's hand, and rushed past Daisuke with her new friend.

". . . . . --iko?" Daisuke finished what he was saying in spite of the fact that they were long gone. He watched them go for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and sighing. Women. They were unnervingly hard to understand sometimes.

Once far enough, close to the stairs up to her room, in fact, Yuuka glance back down the hall to make sure Daisuke wasn't following them.

"Whew! Sorry about that, Taniko-san . . ."

“Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yu-yu-yuuka-saaaaan~” she whined once far enough away. Taniko’s face was scrunched up and blood red, showing off her embarrassment. Though Daisuke had hardly noticed the girl, she still felt as if some horrible atrocity had just happened. She wasn’t dressed proper at all! In fact she was hardly even dressed to begin with! It was a very unflattering way to see someone, especially poor Taniko who had reservations about her appearance anyway.

She flailed, hopping up and down while her fingers clutched her clothes like a security blanket. Taniko wanted to disappear into a corner and die so that everyone would forget her and that whole horrible ordeal. Instead she was here, alive, and perfectly healthy much to her dismay.

“He-he he he saw me Yuuka-san~ He saw me~”

Which was exactly what Yuuka was worried about, once she had heard Taniko practically squealing behind her when they were in Daisuke's presence!

"Y-yeah, h-he did, but--" Yuuka started.

But Taniko was really flipping out! Yuuka glanced awkwardly from one side to the other, hoping no one else was around to see them. That might well have made Taniko have an aneurysm if she were to be discovered by someone like, say, Abari Rizuka, the other guest in the house, who was also decidedly male! Yuuka, too, would have felt a little self conscious in that situation. Perhaps they should be going upstairs, where they wouldn't be running that risk.

Though, that would require Taniko to be calm!

"But-- but it's okay! I'm sure onii-san wasn't thinking anything but good thoughts when he saw you!" Yuuka exclaimed, hoping to present Taniko a thought that might make her feel a little better--and one Yuuka hoped was true, at that, "And-- and-- and you're really covered up well like this! He couldn't have seen that much, just-- just your shoulders, I think!"