Brothers (Part 3)

Chapter 16 - Anything for the Baths

The next morning, Hitoshi brought me back to building 13.

Hitoshi: "She's all yours again, big brother! Musashi really enjoyed spending time with her."

Hajime: "Thanks... for taking care of her, Hitoshi. I'll thank the bird and the dog in the break room later."

Hitoshi gave me a gentle nudge.

Jinx: "Right, thanks for letting me visit everyone, Hajime!"

Hajime: "...Your brothers are in the cafeteria for breakfast. Run along."

Jinx: "Kaay!"

I gave Hitoshi a quick hug and made my way to the cafeteria.

Hitoshi: "She really is the sweetest, big brother. I think you're lucky to have her."

Hajime: "......Really?"

Nico noticed me walk in.

Nico: "Hey, Jinx's back!"

They turned to me and smiled. I ran to sat with them.

Rock: "Hey, welcome back, kiddo."

Jyugo: "Did you have fun at buildings 3 and 4?"

Jinx: "Yeah, I did!"

Uno: "Wait, I thought you said she went to 5 and 4."

Jyugo: "Uh-! I mean... yeah, she did."

Rock: "Idiot."

I giggled.

Nico: "Anyway, listen to this! I was waiting for Jinx to get back to tell you. They said I could take a bath here today!"

Rock: "Ohh, good for you."

Jyugo: "By 'today', does that mean you can't take one next time?"

Nico: "Yeah, I guess they're just seeing how things go for now. But they said if there were no problems, I could go again."

Jinx: "That's really good, Nico. You'll love it."

Nico: "Yeah, I'm really excited! I heard that the bath here is really big and comfortable. I've always wanted to take a genuine Japanese bath."

Uno: "Oh, so that's why you've been in such a good mood this morning, huh?"

Nico: "Yeah! Oh, and also, Dr Otogi got special permission for us to use the first bath slot!!"

The mood of the table was killed immediately, well except for Nico.

Jinx: "Th-that's cool, Nico... you'll have fun..."

He smiled. Whereas Uno, Rock and Jyugo were terrified, and rightfully so.

Uno: "H-hey, he just said the first bath slot, didn't he?"

Rock: "Does Nico know the bath rules?"

Uno: "As if he would!"

Nico was happily oblivious.

Nico: "I wanna hurry and get in!"

Jyugo: "Y-yeah..."

Rock: "Hey, ain't this really bad? Those two are gonna be in the first bath slot, aren't they?"

Uno: "I know that! But can you really say 'let's not use the first bath slot' to Nico when he's got that look on his face?"

Jinx: "He's so happy and excited about it."