Arc Epilogue: Warship Indoor Bath
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
–One day prior to meeting up with Jenny and the others–
The Cimon-class mobile assault base was a really large ship.
In the 21st century, personnel was provided with bunk beds on aircraft carriers. In the Cimon-class, officers had private rooms instead.
The NCOs were provided with something resembling a capsule hotel room, but it at least ensured personal privacy.
Kou was technically the owner of the ship, so he could freely choose any room he liked.
In the end, he didn’t choose a luxurious room, but one that was a short distance from the ship’s power reactor instead.
The room was L-shaped and made use of the space between the corners of the power reactor. It was particularly small and cramped.
However, one would be able to immediately reach the command room via a nearby escalator, and above all, it was close to the hangar where Unit 5 was stationed.
But these were not what was special about it. The room actually had one uncharacteristically luxurious furnishing.
It had a bath. The shower room was refurbished while Kou was out visiting A Class Development Engineers.
Of course, common shower areas were present even on ships back in the 21st century. A country such as Japan that had a cultural habit of taking baths was rare, but onboard a good number of 21st-century seagoing ships, it was at least possible to take seawater baths. Freshwater baths were limited to only once per week.
However, the freshwater-making function of high-performance ships in the Interplanetary War was several times better than what was used on 21st century Earth. Hence, it was possible to take freshwater baths often. The Cimon-class in particular was said to be able to generate up to two million liters of fresh water per day.
The large shower room was converted into a Japanese-style bath.
Although it was a shared bath, there wasn’t any problem because Nyanta, Aki, Aimer, and Voy were already sharing the room itself with Kou anyway. Males and females had different schedules for bathing.
「Phew.」
The ladies actually wanted to take mixed baths with him, but Kou firmly refused them.
It was too embarrassing for a guy like Kou after all. He was sure he’d feel really awkward around them after experiencing such a thing.
He wasn’t opposed to taking a bath together with Voy occasionally, but the bear was strangely docile during those times. He sometimes even brought something to drink in the bath but kept insisting it wasn’t alcohol despite acting drunk.
And in order to ensure awkward incidents between men and women wouldn’t happen, the bath also had a lock feature installed that would prevent someone from accidentally walking in on someone else. In the unlikely event that it does happen anyway, Dike will swiftly come to the rescue.
However, no matter how Kou insisted, the ladies refused to use the lock function. He had no clue why.
「–A guy definitely needs some time alone occasionally. Man, I sure experienced a lot of different stuff these past few days.」
Naturally, the moment he returned from his scheduled visits to the A-Class Development Engineers, Kou faced trouble one after another.
Nyanta and Aimer were acting all jealous of Aki because she was able to accompany and monopolize Kou. Cats were said to be jealous creatures, but it seemed that bit didn’t change even if the cat had the ability to transform into a humanoid form, Kou thought.
And he was especially affected by Aimer’s silent upturned gaze.
Apparently, the two of them had asked Voy to monitor Aki and keep her in check. Kou really wanted to give the bear a piece of his mind after seeing him just grin and laugh in his face like a typical uncle teasing a younger guy.
Even so, Voy normally spent a lot of time with Kou as well. So Kou got surprised when Voy claimed that the ladies were jealous of him too.
「The problem’s gonna be after this.」
Kou strengthened his resolve as he went out of the bath.
He clothed himself and entered the room. He found Voy already fast asleep in the small room.
Nyanta and Aki were waiting for him on top of the bed.
They weren’t able to do it for quite some time, so they decided that they were going to sleep together with Kou at night again after he came back. Hence, Kou asked Voy to join them in the room. The bear accepted while sporting an expression that seemed to say「How troublesome.」
And then, an unexpected problem occurred. It was Aimer.
「You can’t sleep here, Aimer.」
The moment Kou said that to her, Aimer silently protested with teary eyes.
「Kou, don’t you find poor little Aimer pitiful?」
「I believe you’re not the kind of guy who lays his claws on little girls, so it’s fine nyaa.」
Kou received complaints from the two ladies.
「But still……」
「Ain’t it fine? If something does happen, it’s gonna be with Nyanta or Aki, right? You can just find another room with the two of them if ya feel the urge.」
Voy opened one eye and gave his two cents, then closed it again afterward, still acting like he found things too troublesome. After having such a thing directly pointed out to him, Kou froze up.
「Roger nyaa!」
「Understood!」
「Don’t just act like it’s a given, guys!」
Then, Aimer’s teary-eyed expression changed to a calm one.
「Kou, I’m thankful that you’re giving your all to take care of Aimer, but I do believe you as well. When the time comes, please do it after getting Aimer’s consent. Doing such things would be fine about 7 or 8 years later, as she would be able to make an informed decision as an adult by that time.」
「You too, Master!?」
After Aimer’s unexpected surprise attack, Kou lost all strength to care.
「Sorry, Aimer. Fine. Let’s all sleep together.」
Aimer instantly held back her tears and jumped on the bed with a smirk.
Nyanta gently caught her.
Aki moved under the bed and transformed into a golden retriever. She apparently didn’t want to be seen during the transforming process. Kou asked what she’d do if it was an emergency, and she answered that she’d use nanomachines to generate a glowing hologram.
Aki then moved to her usual spot above the bedside pillow.
Kou laid down on the center of the bed, with Aimer on his right and Nyanta on his left. Even though Nyanta remained in her humanoid form, she still purred and acted as if she wanted to be spoiled. She really seems like a proper cat when she acts this way, Kou inwardly thought.
Surrounded by three people giving off sweet scents, Kou was unable to calm down.
He wondered if he would actually be able to sleep.
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