Editing Leviathan:Volume 2 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 3===

Roughly an hour after the sun had set completely, Orihime woke up.

"Nee-sama, you're already able to get up!?"

"Yes. It somehow feels so incredible. I was clearly so exhausted earlier, yet now I've fully recovered my energy."

Getting off the car, Orihime replied to Hazumi nonchalantly.

Then she immediately started stretching exercises. Her movements were quite lively. Hal looked around. There was still a portion of magical power remaining from what Hinokagutsuchi had gathered for the ritual.

The night sky was also very clear. The beautiful waning moon was gradually climbing the sky.

"Is this why I recovered...?"

A land with a high concentration of magical power. Moonrise. Night. These were all crucial factors conferring power upon witches.

The moon and the night were particularly important. The magical power consumed by a leviathan's invocation of pseudo-divinity was fully replenished with every arrival of night, thus resetting the usage limit.

"So your body wasn't low in energy due to injury or illness but just overuse of your 'serpent.'"

Hal nodded then called to the girls in his company.

"Since Juujouji seems fine, let's find a more suitable campsite and prepare to spend the night."

"Campsite? I've never stayed overnight in a wasteland before."

"Are you sure we shouldn't return to New Town? That way, we could get some proper rest, right?"

Confronted with the bold plan for the night, Hazumi brightened up whereas Orihime offered a sensible opinion.

However, Hal had reasons for not wanting to return to New Town.

"We could, but I think explaining things to Hiiragi-san and the others will waste a lot of time if we go back after finding Juujouji so easily despite the slim prospects of her survival. They're already starting to get very suspicious."

"F-Fair enough."

"And we have to be back before dawn, so I'd like to put the troublesome stuff aside for now."

"Understood. I was hoping to go back to New Town for a refreshing bath with hot water&mdash;But I guess I should give up on the notion. It is an emergency after all..."

Hal only realized upon seeing Orihime's shoulder slump in dejection. So she wanted to take a bath?

Deciding it was probably quite a pressing need for girls, Hal offered in a gesture of goodwill:

"Although a fully automatic hot water supply is out of the question, I guess it's still possible to prepare a bath."

Instantly, the two girls' eyes lit up.


Then roughly two hours passed&mdash;

The trio began to "camp" on the sports ground of a middle school in the former Chiyoda ward.

The girls were in charge of cooking dinner. They used a portable gas burner to boil water, heat up bread and thick slices of ham, fry eggs and even prepare instant coffee.

Simple camping-style food was prepared in succession.

"Fufufu. It feels like such a long time since I last cooked together with Nee-sama."

"Because you've been busy with your work as a witch, Hazumi."

Hazumi and Orihime both seemed unaccustomed to cooking outdoors, but they worked very happily.

Meanwhile, Hal was proceeding smoothly with preparations for a "bath."

Picking up a number of concrete blocks from rubble in the ruins, he arranged them into two rows with stuff like twigs and scraps paper for kindling in between, thus creating a hearth.

Then on top of the hearth, he placed a large steel drum. After using a plastic bucket to pour roughly a hundred liters of water into the steel drum, preparations were complete for the most part.

Hal lit the hearth to begin boiling the water in the steel drum.

"But Haruga-kun, I can't believe you had all this stuff stored here?"

"There's been recurring trouble in the Concession wasteland lately after all, so I thought I'd make various preparations in case of emergencies. I came over here whenever I had time, transporting water and equipment while I was at it."

That was Hal's reply to Orihime when she came over to check thing out.

These were the "sundry chores" that Hal had been handling in Old Tokyo lately. After selecting ten-odd sites easily accessible by car, he had hidden supplies there.

The supplies included water, food, medication, wireless transceivers, all sorts of equipment, daily necessities, etc.

Patrolling these ten-odd sites, he had gathered the necessary supplies.

"I can understand about keeping water and equipment, but the steel drum truly surprises me..."

"It's very handy. You can even light a fire inside and use it as a stove."

Hal was four the first time he used this simple bathing device. His first attempt to create one himself was when he was seven. Having grown completely accustomed to it, Hal was able to enjoy a Japanese bath anywhere in the world, no matter how remote or undeveloped, so long as he could locate water.

However, boiling the water would require a hour. Hence, this waiting time was used for dinner.

The trio moved school desks into the sports ground to serve as a dining table, sitting around it to have dinner. The vicinity was illuminated by LED lighting placed in the center of the dining table formed from an arrangement of four desks.

Hal instantly tried the fried egg appreciatively. Delicious.

While enjoying the outdoor dinner, Hal was jolted by a sudden realization. He became aware that there was something more important, slightly later tonight.

"Hey Haruga-kun, don't tell me that you are really enjoying yourself right now? It feels like you're in quite a good mood."

"Does it seem that way? I think you're imagining it."

"Fufufufu. I love this. I'm so happy."

"Oh my, I'm glad to hear that from you, Shirasaka."

"...?"

Just as Hazumi smiled like an angel, Hal responded calmly and Orihime cocked her head in puzzlement, dinner finally came to a conclusion.

"I'll clean up."

Taking up Hazumi's offer, Hal gratefully made his way to the makeshift bath.

Sufficiently heated up, the water temperature in the steel drum was perfect. Hal nodded with an expression of mission accomplished. If he looked in the mirror this moment, he would surely be greeted by a steady smile in the reflection. However&mdash;

"Excuse me, Haruga-kun. I'm sorry for interrupting you while you're busy preparing the bath water, but may I ask why are you looking so happy?" Orihime asked, arriving next to him.

Hal immediately answered.

"Not at all. It's not like I'm happy or anything like that. Yeah."

"But right now, you're grinning from ear to ear, you know?"

"...If anything, I suppose it's due to my virtues of fraternity and benevolence. I am very happy to help someone out."

Was Hal reusing a line from the self-styled devil because he had a guilty conscience?

"But wait, I remember now. Haruga-kun, I think you once described yourself as being a ''closeted'' something or other."

"......"

"So, when is the friendly Haruga-kun planning to depart from his position in front of the bath?"

"What are you talking about, Juujouji? If I don't stay, who's going to tend to the fire?"

"Are you simply tending to the fire? Do you dare swear that you won't engage in any perverted antics like peeking?"

"How could I possibly commit crimes like those?"

Seeing that the game was up, Hal decided to come clean with his thoughts.

"About tending to the fire, I was simply hoping it'd be nice if I ended up catching a good view. In other words, testing my luck. I'm wondering if that friendly old man in the sky might grant good luck or something..."

"Well then, Haruga-kun, you may tend to the fire on the side, but you must be blindfolded."

"Ehhh!?"

Instantly, the smiling Orihime looked almost like a goddess of misfortune.


Splash, splish, splosh. The sound of water could be heard.

Then there was the cracking of the wood fire under the steel drum. Hal found himself more sensitive to sound due to the blindfold blocking his vision. Right now, he was sitting next to the fire.

Next, he heard Juujouji exclaiming in pleasure&mdash;

"Hoo... This hot water is excellent..."

A much desired bath seemed to help Orihime relax her body and mind.

"I'd love to continue soaking here forever... It's almost like paradise~"

"Fufufu, you seem very comfortable, Nee-sama."

"Of course, this is truly the cleansing of life itself."

Hazumi commented while watching from the side and Orihime answered in a very relaxed voice. Right now, she was probably enjoying this Japanese-style bliss.

One should not find this surprising. After all, she was having a bath after experiencing a state of utter exhaustion of that sort.

Surely she must be showing a countenance of extreme bliss. Hal really wanted to have a look, even if it was just her face. Although he tried to forget his desire for the view below the neck, Hal still could not help but imagine Orihime's entire body.

To eliminate his evil thoughts, Hal asked:

"Umm... Juujouji, how's the fire?"

"No problem~ The temperature is perfect. Very comfortable. It's all thanks to you, Haruga-kun."

"That's wonderful. Just so you know, I won't be able to adjust the fire even if you made a request."

"Fufufu, your eyes are totally covered after all. But this isn't bad. Now you can easily prevail over your evil thoughts, right?"

"But I'm now left with nothing to do. Isn't it time for me to do something at your service?"

"Now that you've said that, I suppose it's fine for you to take off the blindfold. But please put it on again when I exit the bath, okay?"

Orihime finally smiled with generosity and open-mindedness as per her usual style.

Hal gratefully untied the knot behind his head and took off the blindfold. In front of him was the makeshift hearth and steel drum bath. Soaking in the hot water, Orihime was showing a blissful looking face.

Right now, she was sitting in the drum with her knees drawn up to her chest. The hot water reached up to her shoulders.

Hazumi was sitting next to the makeshift bath, watching her older cousin.

"Oh Haruga-kun, you'll have to keep crouching and not stand up. This is a promise, okay?"

"Got it. I will stoop low, keep my head down and focus on the fire."

This steel drum, used as a bath tub, was almost 90cm in height.

If he were to stand up, Hal would be able to see Orihime's naked body sitting in the hot water just by gazing downwards. Hal obediently submitted to the orders she had given to prevent such a situation from happening. Then Hazumi said with a slightly wry smile, "But Nee-sama, I feel that Haruga-san probably won't do things like peeking..."

"Did you hear that, Haruga-kun? Can you assert in front of Hazumi that she is right?"

"Fufufu, of course."

"..."

"H-Haruga-san?"

"Listen carefully, Shirasaka. In this world, all men can be divided into the two categories of 'perverts' and 'closet perverts.' By the way, I belong to the closeted type."

"Is that true!?"

"To think you could confess without hesitation in such a situation, I'm begging to feel that you are some kind of big shot, Haruga-kun..."

"So this is what's known as a man... I-I'm learning so much here..."

"H-Hazumi, stop feeling emotional over weird things!"

"Sorry, Nee-sama... But in that case, Haruga-san, was it the same during that time too...?"

"Uh... I'd be lying if I claimed that no evil thoughts crossed my mind."

"!? U-Umm, but I felt that... Haruga-san, you were quite gentlemanly?"

"Thank you for saying that..."

"Uh, excuse me. What time was 'that time'?"

Orihime's extremely relaxed voice changed back to her usual tone.

Hal secretly jumped in surprise. Speaking of which, he had yet to report to Orihime about Minadzuki's rebirth. This was because they had been busy preparing the camp ever since Orihime woke up.

And the honest Hazumi instantly answered.

"U-Umm, I haven't brought it up yet, Nee-sama, but actually, we conducted a ritual while you were sleeping. In other words, the ritual for bestowing a 'serpent' with new life, in the same manner as your Akuro-Ou's case."

"A ritual in the same manner as my case? You did that too&mdash;Ehhh!?"

Orihime seemed quite taken aback. She was so surprised that she stood up in the bath.

Hot water splashed out while her pale and naked body became exposed.

Indeed. Naked body. Just to repeat, the steel drum's height was roughly 90cm.

Furthermore, to avoid burns, a thick piece of wood had been placed at the bottom of the drum for insulation like in a Goemon bath where an iron cauldron was heated directly.

With a height little more than 160cm, if Orihime stood up in such a situation, naturally, her entire upper body would come into view&mdash;

Not wearing a blindfold, Hal looked up and saw at close range.

A supreme figure with a very tight waist and voluptuous in all the right places.

Shaped like small cantaloupes, two bulges visually estimated to be F-cups&mdash;Hal not only watched the two round shapes quiver and bounce, but caught a thorough glimpse of the pink parts in the front as well.

Furthermore, he also witnessed the instant when Orihime's entire body turned bright red due to shame rather than heat.

Fortunately, everything below the seductive navel was hidden inside the steel drum...

"KYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The one who had brought unexpected good fortune was not the unfriendly goddess.

Instead, it was the girl who had been careless to the point of airheadedness. Hal came to a clear realization of that.
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