Just beyond a single wooden wall...
The women's bath.
Steam drifted lazily through the air, carrying the soothing fragrance of the hot spring.
Ayako was helping Haruko wash her back as the two chatted casually.
"Haruko, your skin is amazing."
"It's so fair and soft."
"N-No..."
Haruko blushed shyly.
"Yours is much prettier, Ayako-senpai..."
Suddenly...
A deafening roar erupted from the men's bath next door.
It sounded as though they had just witnessed a miracle.
"WHOOOOOOAAAAAA!!!"
"IT'S HUGE!!!!"
The shout was so loud that ripples spread across the water in the women's bath.
Haruko jumped in fright.
Like a startled rabbit, she shrank deeper into the water until only her wide eyes remained visible.
"W-What's going on?"
"What happened?"
Ayako stopped scrubbing.
A slight frown formed on her face as she looked toward the wooden partition between the baths.
Suspicion flashed across her eyes.
Those boys...
They were making a racket earlier.
Why are they screaming like that now?
Don't tell me...
"...'It's huge'?"
She muttered under her breath.
"They're not... peeking over here, are they?"
Almost instinctively, she covered her chest.
"P-Peeking?!"
Haruko's face instantly turned scarlet.
Steam practically rose from the top of her head.
She looked as though she might boil alive.
"N-No way..."
"And Sakuragi-kun is over there too..."
Ayako narrowed her eyes.
A dangerous smile slowly appeared on her lips.
Her queenly aura flared to life.
"Hmph."
"They'd better not be."
"Otherwise..."
She picked up a nearby wooden washbasin and casually weighed it in her hand.
The dull thunk it made was enough to send chills down anyone's spine.
"No matter who dares poke his head over that wall..."
"I'll teach him exactly why flowers bloom red."
Meanwhile...
Back in the men's bath.
Makino Juro quietly settled back into the water.
He basked in the mixture of admiration and fear filling everyone's eyes.
A true master hid his achievements without seeking praise.
"Enough."
Closing his eyes, he said calmly,
"Stop staring."
"You'll never learn this."
"Some gifts are simply inborn."
"So..."
"Who still wants to compete?"
Everyone exchanged awkward glances.
They all shrank into the water like frightened quails.
Compete?
Compete what?
Their morale had completely collapsed.
Their confidence had shattered.
The Great Hot Spring War...
Ended in Juro's absolute victory.
With overwhelming dominance...
He established an unshakable position as the unquestioned emperor of Shohoku's locker room.
A truly...
"Great" man.
Night fell like thick ink.
Dark enough to resemble aged soy sauce.
Beneath the corridors of Hot Spring Inn...
Paper lanterns swayed wildly in the mountain breeze.
They creaked...
Creak... creak...
Like an old woman grinding her teeth.
Inside the men's guest room...
Several "corpses" lay perfectly straight across the massive tatami floor.
No one spoke.
Yet the air was filled with the sour stench of bruised masculine pride.
It was even stronger than the smell of Sakuragi's feet.
"...Sigh."
Someone let out a long breath.
In the dead silence...
It sounded almost like a ghost's lament.
"I can't sleep."
Sakuragi suddenly shot upright like a resurrected corpse.
His blanket flew into the air.
He sat cross-legged in the darkness, eyes wide open.
His entire face screamed one message.
I refuse to accept this.
"...Me neither."
Miyagi slowly sat up.
Almost unconsciously, he reached down and touched his own abs.
The muscles he had always been proud of...
Now seemed pitifully insignificant beneath the overwhelming shadow Makino Juro had left in his mind.
"That guy..."
Miyagi ground his teeth.
His voice carried the despair of someone who had been completely outclassed in every possible category.
"Shut up."
Rukawa rolled over, turning his back toward everyone.
His voice remained as cold as ever.
Yet...
The rigid tension in his back betrayed the storm raging inside him.
Clearly...
The lingering shock of that Holy Sword had managed to crack even the icy fox's composure.
"Shallow!"
"You're all unbelievably shallow!"
Sakuragi suddenly roared.
The outburst startled Akagi awake so violently he nearly suffered a heart attack.
"The hell are you yelling about in the middle of the night?"
Akagi sat up with a black expression.
The veins on his forehead bulged once again.
Were these problem children sent by heaven specifically to shorten my lifespan?
"Gorilla!"
"You saw it too, didn't you?"
"That guy was only..."
"...a little bigger."
"So what?"
"A real man..."
Sakuragi slapped his own chest repeatedly.
Thump! Thump!
As though trying to encourage himself.
"...isn't judged by appearances!"
"It's courage!"
"It's spirit!"
"It's the resolve to remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapses before your eyes!"
Mitsui also sat up.
He ran a hand through his messy hair, looking utterly miserable.
As the former delinquent leader...
Losing such a primitive contest of male pride...
Was the greatest humiliation of his life.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Mitsui stared at him.
"I refuse to accept it!"
Sakuragi jumped off the tatami.
Barefoot, he paced back and forth like an agitated red-haired monkey.
"What happened earlier was only a physical contest."
"That's too low-level!"
"If we're going to compete..."
"Then let's compete spiritually!"
"Let's see who's got the most courage!"
Miyagi raised an eyebrow.
Now he was interested.
"And how do we do that?"
A mischievous grin spread across Sakuragi's face.
On the way back earlier...
He had secretly questioned the innkeeper—the one who looked like he'd crawled straight out of a horror movie.
"Hehehe..."
Lowering his voice dramatically, Sakuragi leaned toward everyone.
His face looked especially sinister under the dim light.
"I heard..."
"Behind this inn..."
"...there's an abandoned shrine."
"And supposedly..."
Slide...
Before he could finish...
The closed paper door suddenly slid open.
A cold mountain breeze rushed inside.
"GYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
Sakuragi and Miyagi instantly lunged toward each other, hugging tightly as they let out screams worthy of a slaughterhouse.
Standing in the doorway...
Juro held a bottle of cold milk in one hand.
He looked at the pair with the same expression one might use when observing two complete idiots.
"Practicing a duet?"
"Trying to summon every ghost on this mountain?"
Only then did everyone notice...
Makino Juro wasn't alone.
Haruko.
Ayako.
And all four members of the Sakuragi Army had also stepped outside after hearing the commotion.
"Sakuragi-kun?"
Haruko asked worriedly.
"What happened?"
"That scream sounded awful..."
She wore a light pink yukata.
Her damp hair rested gently on her shoulders.
"N-Nothing!"
Sakuragi shoved Miyagi away as though he'd been electrocuted.
He straightened an imaginary necktie...
And instantly switched into Tough Guy Mode.
"This genius was just..."
"...training my voice!"
"That's right!"
"I'm strengthening my diaphragm!"
"It's preparation for tomorrow's special training!"
"Tch."
Miyagi rolled his eyes and mercilessly exposed him.
"He was obviously trying to organize a courage test."
"A courage test?"
Ayako's eyes immediately lit up.
"That actually sounds fun."
"It's a long night anyway."
"Why don't we all go together?"
She gently fanned herself with her folding fan, smiling with obvious interest.
"W-Well..."
Akagi was just about to reject the childish proposal with the authority expected of a team captain.
But when he saw the excitement sparkling in Ayako's eyes...
The words caught in his throat.
"...Fine."
"So it's settled."
The moment Sakuragi realized Haruko would be joining...
It felt as though every cell in his body burst into flames.
This was the perfect chance to show off his manliness!
If Haruko got scared...
And he stepped forward to protect her...
Hehehe...
The mental image was so beautiful...
He nearly got a nosebleed just imagining it.
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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