By the time Yae Miko snapped back to reality, she found herself already dragged into the dressing room by Bai Luo, who was already casually stripping off his clothes.
"What are you looking at me for? Strip. Who wears clothes in a bath?"
Having shed his trench coat, Bai Luo revealed a physique perfectly defined by his tight-fitting undershirt. He wasn't a hulking wall of muscle, but he was undeniably lean and toned.
"..."
Yae Miko was starting to hesitate. Should she really continue playing the role of Kuroda? She felt that if this continued, she would be led by the nose the entire time. But exposing her identity now would be a massive blow to her pride.
Fine. He can't see my real body anyway. I might as well use this chance to squeeze some intel out of him. In the end, it's still up in the air who's really taking advantage of whom.
Little did she know... Bai Luo was thinking the exact same thing.
"I'm heading in. Don't dawdle."
To avoid putting too much pressure on the "fox," Bai Luo took the initiative to enter the hot spring area first. Once inside, however, a look of disappointment crossed his face. Unlike the Imperial Hot Spring, this water smelled only of sulfur. It lacked that herbal medicinal scent, and more importantly, it lacked that fragrance—sweeter than Sweet Flowers—that he had smelled before.
'So it really is just a normal spring. Whatever, I'll make do. It feels good nonetheless.'
Why did Bai Luo choose this specific moment to tease the pink-haired fox? It was because Yae Miko had brought this on herself. If she had come in her true form, Bai Luo wouldn't have dared to be this arrogant.
As someone who juggled the identities of both Battousai and the Instructor, he knew one thing clearly: as long as Yae Miko didn't want to expose herself, she had to abandon her true nature and act according to Kuroda's personality. This meant Bai Luo could act entirely like his usual self, while Yae Miko was restricted by the "Kuroda" persona, unable to fight back properly.
It was like Bai Luo going all-out against a Yae Miko whose hands and feet were tied. He could find work to do anytime, but a Yae Miko in *this* state was a rare find. If he didn't seize this chance to stir up trouble, would he even be Bai Luo? To ensure she didn't get scared back into her original form, he even held back a little. Otherwise, he would have shown her that besides cats, foxes also don't play well with dogs.
Back in the dressing room, once Bai Luo was gone, Yae Miko waved her hand. The lock fell open, and the locker containing Bai Luo's clothes slid out. With a flick of her fingers, his clothes were flipped over by her elemental energy. Aside from a coin pouch with a dog-paw print and a few Sunsettias, there was nothing.
After discreetly restoring the clothes to their original state, she paused, opened the locker again, took out the coin pouch, and blew a puff of colorless, odorless powder into it. She nodded with satisfaction.
Just as Bai Luo wouldn't be himself if he wasn't causing trouble, Yae Miko—even disguised as Kuroda—showed her true "fox" nature when he wasn't looking.
Locking the locker again, she didn't actually strip. Instead, she snapped her fingers. In a flash of light, her Kuroda outfit vanished, replaced by the form of a lean, fit man. As for the lower half... she modestly manifested a towel to cover up. Whether she was being genuinely modest or simply didn't know what was supposed to be down there was a secret known only to her.
When walking the mortal realm, aside from her Guuji robes, she mostly wore clothes constructed from her own energy. Beneath that energy was her true fox form. However, she didn't use her fox form for this bath; she used a human one. Her main concern was shedding fur—if she left fox hair behind, Bai Luo might find a clue.
The moment she stepped out of the dressing room, her expression shifted. The cunning look vanished, replaced by a slightly awkward, honest demeanor. The "Best Actor" and "Best Actress" began a new round of the play.
"Kuroda! Over here!"
Patting the space beside him, Bai Luo signaled for the other to sit. This was Yae Miko's first time in the male section of a bathhouse. She wasn't sure if men usually sat this close together. But to avoid suspicion, she didn't hesitate and sat directly next to him. To prevent him from noticing anything odd, she even made sure to mask her natural fragrance.
"You're a sneaky one, aren't you? Claiming you rarely come here, yet the owner treats you like his own father," Bai Luo joked, naturally draping an arm over "Kuroda's" shoulder like they were old pals. He didn't look like someone who knew her secret at all.
"I... only come occasionally," she replied with a forced, awkward smile. Internally, she was already planning how to punish the real Kuroda when she got back. Who would have thought that honest-looking man spent every day loafing around in a place like this? Truly, appearances are deceiving.
Actually, she couldn't blame Kuroda. Before meeting Bai Luo, Kuroda's status at the Yae Publishing House wasn't that high; he was just an ordinary editor. His authors rarely updated, and he was so idle he spent his time helping sell merch. But Bai Luo's novel had propelled him to the top. His status skyrocketed, and so did his salary. It was then that he became obsessed with the feeling of a good soak.
Hiss—is even this part of your calculation, Bai Luo?!
One had to admit, Yae Miko was truly something else. Despite sitting next to a completely naked Bai Luo, she didn't show a hint of panic or embarrassment. She handled his various questions with ease.
"Speaking of which, my back is a bit itchy. Kuroda, give me a scrub, will you?" After some small talk, Bai Luo reached back to scratch his back as if it were a casual request.
In truth, he had just dug a pit for her.
"In here? The grime would ruin the water, wouldn't it?" Yae Miko didn't realize the trap. She subconsciously gave the exact answer Bai Luo expected.
"True. Let's head up there then."
With a splash, Bai Luo stood up. His dark silhouette, cast by the overhead lights, loomed over Yae Miko's face, momentarily taking her breath away.
'Wait... why is this person's 'tail' on the front?'
It wasn't until Bai Luo wrapped a towel around his waist and lay face-down on the scrubbing table that she regained her composure.
"Come on, Kuroda. Give me a good scrub."
Looking at the frozen "Kuroda" still in the water, a subtle expression flickered across Bai Luo's face. To set this scene up, he had spent extra money to bribe the actual bathhouse attendants to stay away.
'Well now, my dear Lady Guuji... things have come to this. Can you keep up the act?'
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