Shun went white as she heard Furusawa announce his presence in the changing room. Her mind was thrown into chaos, trying to decide how to handle the situation. There was no chance she could throw a bucket into Furusawa's face to knock him out. Although he had a glass chin, there was no bucket in easy reach.
Shun thought about transforming into the Valkyrie. Nobody seemed to notice any similarities (the longer hair and the obvious feminine aspects probably threw them off), but the Valkyrie appearing in Greenwood would definitely raise some suspicions. And being the onnagata around here, Shun would be the prime suspect.
Screaming at the top of her lungs was right out. It would bring the entire body of the dorm crashing onto here. She might as well play You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman on a boom-box.
That left waiting Furusawa out. Then she would kill Shinobu-sempai.
She scrunched down in the water, making sure it covered her breasts, and drew her legs up against her chest, hiding said knobs of flesh. She was as ready as she'd ever be.
The door slid open. "Oh. Hi, Shun-kun," said Furusawa, stepping into the bathing area proper.
Shun risked a glance back and regretted it: Furusawa had nothing but a little bucket protecting his modesty, and not very successfully at that. Shun spun away, a blush rising to her cheeks. (She tried to convince herself that it was just the hot water.) She struggled to get some words out. "Uhh... *cough* H-Hey, Furusawa-sempai," she answered in a wavering voice.
Shun heard the clatter of Furusawa sitting down on a plastic stool. There was a creak of metal, and the flow of water. Then another creak and the flow of water stopped. There was a few seconds of silence, and a splash and a grateful exhalation, "Ah, that's refreshing!" Shun tried not to think of the rivulets of water running down Furusawa's built abs, washboard abs, knotted cords of muscle on his bones...
She slapped her cheeks to take her mind off of the naughty images in her mind. What's happening to me?! she thought desperately. I didn't have these thoughts before! Is it because I'm a woman now? Has my brain's wiring changed along with my body? Oh, Kami! How am I going to survive this...
The minutes stretched into what seemed like days, as the sound of soap lathering up conjured images of sud-covered, slippery hands gliding over hot, sweaty skin. Shun tried to shake off visions of male beefiness revealed from underneath washed away soap suds as the sound of a splash of water came from behind her. Her blush intensified. Must. Banish. Evil. Thoughts!
"Why are you banging your head against the side of the tub, Shun-kun?" asked the puzzled Furusawa.
"Um... No reason..." came Shun's pained reply, the back of her head swelling up.
Finally, the sounds stopped, and Shun felt relieved. The ordeal was over; Furusawa had finished washing off and will now leave her in peace.
"May I join you, Shun-kun?" asked Furusawa, standing behind Shun.
The girl started, almost sending her hair out of the two buns she habitually twirled them into whenever she bathed (even while still a guy). She gathered her wits and, clutching her knees to her chest tightly, she slowly swiveled her head to face Furusawa. "Ha... Hai!" she squeaked. Her face swiveled back to facing the front.
Then came a realization: Crap! Furusawa takes long baths!
Furusawa blinked, then shrugged off Shun's obvious nervousness, assuming it to be the bet in which she was about to participate. He never noticed Shun's eyes going wide as he slipped into the water with a roaring sigh. "Ah, a nice, long hot soak does a body good!" he announced, eliciting a squeak from Shun. He opened an eye. "Hey, Shun-kun. You're looking a bit red. Maybe you should get out soon."
"I'M FINE!" announced Shun much too loudly.
Furusawa grunted and settled back without further comment. If Shun said she was fine, then she was fine. No need to make a big deal about it. Instead, Furusawa settled back again, intending to soak comfortably for a good long while. Shun, on the other hand, steeled herself for a good long nerve-fraying soak.
There was a clock in the bathroom, ticking away the seconds, minutes, and hours. For Furusawa, the ticks receded into the background noise. For Shun, every tick of the clock was painfully loud. Paradoxically, they seemed to come far too often, and yet the time between dragged out painfully.
All through this time, the heat of the bath and the heat of Shun's nervousness combined to conspired to raise Shun's temperature. This was not helped by the fact that Shun wasn't very large as a boy and continued to be not very large in stature as a girl. Before she knew it, Shun began to feel lightheaded.
"Are you sure you're all right, Shun-kun?" asked Furusawa, inching closer to her in concern.
How are ya gonna get outta this one, Batman? she almost heard the peanut gallery taunt from audience.
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(Posted Sun, 10 Oct 2004 04:10)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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