Asakura carried Ruri into the bathroom.
Although it was called a bathroom, in an inn specializing in hot springs, even the indoor bath was quite spacious, giving it a somewhat subtle public bath feel.
The water in the bath had already been thoughtfully filled by Haruno—her two bodyguards were still in snake form obediently facing the wall, so she had to do all the work herself—the water surface was calm, faintly steaming.
The seemingly old wooden floor was darkened by steam, and stepping on it gave a slight warmth that traveled from the soles of the feet up to the legs.
Most people have probably experienced this: holding a girl feels much lighter than holding something of the same weight.
What? Never had such an experience?
No problem, holding a boy is the same.
In short, although it's not ruled out that hormones provide a little help, it's mainly because the person being held also unconsciously adjusts their center of gravity to cooperate with the holder.
So friends who often kill people should know that holding an unconscious person actually feels much heavier.
Fortunately, Asakura's physical strength is still a bit stronger than an average person, and Ruri is on the petite side, so holding her wasn't difficult at all.
Even though she had lost consciousness, the girl still instinctively leaned gently into his arms.
Unlike the heavy Gothic lolita dress before, Ruri was now wearing a light, plain-colored bathrobe—
—This was also kindly changed by Haruno. When Asakura made this request, she looked at him as if she wanted to say something but held back. Probably due to Asakura's warning gaze and the two snakes still facing the wall, Haruno ultimately didn't say anything strange, only softly muttered like a helpless husband, 'Be gentle, don't break her,' and so on. Asakura just skipped it like the plot of the first chapter of Endfield.
The fabric of the bathrobe was inherently soft and quickly lost its stiffness in the humid air.
The cuffs and lapels were the first to get dampened by the steam, the light blue fabric darkening, sticking to her arms and chest, leaving clear marks.
Her long black hair hung down her back, the ends already wet, sticking to the back of the kimono.
Her weight was not heavy, but she was very close, and Asakura could clearly feel the girl's body temperature through the fabric.
He stepped into the bath, the water covering his ankles, then his calves, then his knees.
When the hem of her bathrobe, similar to a kimono, was fully immersed, due to capillary action, the fabric absorbed enough water and became heavy, the original wrinkles smoothed out, and the shape was clearly fixed by the water.
When the water reached his waist—which could be considered deep water in the bath—Asakura slowly set Ruri down.
The water surface gently rippled, and the petite girl floated on the water.
At that moment, the kimono was completely soaked, the lapels clinging to her body, pressed layer by layer by the nominally hot spring water.
Although the fabric was still there, it had lost its isolating effect, leaving only a thin presence floating on her skin, rising and falling slightly with her breath.
The girl still showed no signs of waking up; her long eyelashes were moist with steam, looking very close.
Asakura sat beside her and picked up a towel.
His movements were gentle; he first put the towel into the water, let it soak completely, then wrung it not too dry, and then reached out to gather her hair.
The long black hair was lifted, heavy with the weight of water.
He slowly immersed the strands into the pool, then lifted them up; the hot spring water (nominally) flowed down the ends, sliding along her back and disappearing into the pool.
The strands stuck to Ruri's neck, making that small patch of fair skin look particularly quiet.
This child, although she hasn't had any special care, her hair and skin are quite good. Is this also a characteristic after becoming a witch?
Speaking of which, it seems no witch is ugly; even the most ordinary Yanami has at least 2k-level beauty.
What? Yanami is not a witch, just a shrine maiden chosen by him?
Something like that.
Pushing aside the strange thoughts that popped into his mind, Asakura began to wash Ruri's body.
The magic power in the girl's body was almost depleted, which was inevitable.
In fact, Asakura didn't know how she managed to summon something on the scale of Godzilla. The only thing certain was that the girl had also taken her own step forward in the Magic Spell.
But precisely because of this, Ruri's current situation was a bit tricky. Although not as bad as Asagumo's situation of overdrafting for a long time, it was still not good.
The simplest method was, of course, direct magic replenishment.
Kissing and making love are both relatively simple and direct methods.
But honestly, Asakura didn't have much magic power left now, given the series of recent events that had consumed a lot of his magic. If it weren't for 'Limited Infinity' and having drained poor Hitori twice in a row, Asakura himself would be facing the dilemma of insufficient magic reserves.
So kissing, a method with relatively high consumption, is obviously not cost-effective.
Then what about making love? That's much more effective than kissing.
But first, Asakura didn't have Ruri's permission. Regardless of her affection level for him, directly going in would be somewhat dishonorable, and legally it would be considered rape.
Second, Ruri is only fourteen years old, and Asakura subtly couldn't get over that mental hurdle; treating her seriously would feel like soliciting a minor.
Third, although many chapters have passed, it was actually only two days ago that Asakura was drained by Asagumo. That drain might have been too severe; even after two days of rest, although it wasn't to the point of having nothing left, Asakura felt his kidneys hadn't fully recovered. If he really had to go again, he would be a bit weak in the knees.
So, is there a method that is more efficient than kissing but doesn't require actual doing it?
Yes, there is, brother. There is.
That is to perform a 'ritual' while in physical contact.
Asakura had already accepted the faith from Yanami—never mind how much faith, but she could already use the divine spell [Crowd], so you can say she believed—and already possessed the elements of a 'deity.'
Since that's the case, he could naturally use his divine status to bestow his power upon the shrine maiden candidate he had chosen.
However, directly bestowing it also consumes a lot of magic power, not much different from simple kissing, so Asakura needed to perform a baptism ritual to increase the magic conduction rate!
When the towel touched her shoulder, Ruri's body trembled slightly. This didn't mean the girl had woken up; it was just a simple reflex, similar to a knee-jerk reaction, except the girl's skin felt much softer and smoother than a frog's leg.
The warm water spread with the towel, flowing along her shoulder line and collarbone. The soaked kimono clung to her body, the fabric barely floating in the water, pressed down obediently.
Asakura wiped very slowly, as if confirming every touch—by the way, although the ritual process seemed like he was taking advantage of Ruri, according to the essence of the ritual, it was actually the girl, as a believer, taking advantage of him as the deity.
That's right, my heart and actions are as clear as a Mirror; everything I do is righteous!
Asakura made a resounding declaration in his heart.
He scooped up the hot spring water (as claimed by the Merchants) and poured it over the girl, repeating the same motion.
Where the water flowed, the fabric would briefly leave her skin, then quickly stick back. That brief gap made the presence of the girl's body under the bathrobe even more pronounced.
Her eyes were closed, and as Asakura's magic power flowed into her body, her originally somewhat labored breathing gradually became calmer.
Steam rose between them, softening the view, leaving only close-range contours.
The kimono-like bathrobe floated gently in the water, the hem occasionally touching her leg before being carried away by the current, always maintaining that elusive state.
Asakura continued washing downward.
The towel slid along the girl's arm, the sound of water echoing in the bathroom, but not noisy.
Each wringing and soaking caused subtle changes in the towel's texture.
At some sudden moment, Asakura felt the girl's body tense up slightly.
He didn't say anything, pretending not to notice, and gently adjusted the girl's posture so her body could relax more in the water.
The water surface gently swayed.
The bathrobe clung tighter in the water, the fabric finally yielding under the pressure of the hot spring water (definitely not), conforming to the girl's graceful—graceful... rather than graceful, it was a youthful, vibrant beauty of the body's curves, with even the smallest undulations depicted by the water.
But it still covered her, as if deliberately maintaining the last bit of propriety.
That's how shrine maidens in Japan are; aside from doujinshi and strange anime, they generally emphasize being suggestive but not explicit.
For the completeness of the ritual, Asakura washed very seriously, without making any boundary-crossing moves.
He just stayed very close, close enough to feel each other's breath—the girl's breathing became rapid, but not from pain, simply from feeling a certain... well, shame or something?
Asakura smiled.
The steam swirled between them, time slowing down.
Finally, he wrung out the towel and gently placed it over her shoulder.
The warm cloth touched her, and Ruri quietly opened her eyes, glanced at him, and seeing that Asakura seemed unaware she had woken up, quickly looked away.
The water surface gradually calmed, leaving only small ripples.
The bathroom fell silent.
The soaked bathrobe still clung to her body, buoyed by the water, gently rising and falling.
The steam slowly dissipated, but still left a lingering warmth, as if still resting on the skin.
"Alright, that's about enough for now."
Asakura said with a smile, "Hurry up and get up, or the Yukinoshita lady outside will get anxious."
He stood up first, then reached out his hand to the girl.
The girl opened her eyes, expressionless, but her wine-red pupils (colored contacts) held a hint of disappointment and frustration.
"Takuma-senpai noticed long ago?"
"Not that early."
Asakura answered seriously.
Ruri also stood up, her steps light as she stepped onto the edge of the bath. As soon as she left the water, her skin immediately felt the coolness of the air, small water droplets sliding down her legs, leaving traces on the floor.
The kimono clung to her body without extra covering; the fabric, saturated with water, tightly followed the lines of her body.
The girl, who usually wore a black Gothic lolita dress without any reaction, now felt a sense of shame.
But Asakura had already thoughtfully brought a thick towel and draped it over her shoulder.
When the towel fell, it absorbed some of the water and also blocked the air.
The girl slightly shrank her shoulders but didn't dodge.
Asakura began to dry Ruri.
His movements were slow, as if afraid of using too much force.
The girl's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she instinctively lowered her head.
"Do you dislike it?"
Asakura asked.
"...I don't dislike it."
The girl replied softly.
The towel pressed down along her shoulder line, absorbing the water bit by bit.
The soaked bathrobe was pressed by the towel, sticking even tighter, but the outline under the fabric was still clear.
When the towel moved away, steam rose again, and her skin warmed slightly due to the temperature difference. Her originally pale, sickly complexion now had a healthy flush.
Asakura dried her carefully, from shoulders to back, then to arms.
Ruri's lips moved, but she subtly enjoyed being taken care of—at home, she was the eldest and always took care of others; this was one of the rare times she was being cared for.
It felt unexpectedly nice.
Next was her hair.
She lowered her head slightly, letting her long hair hang down.
Asakura wrapped the strands in the towel, gently pressing to squeeze out the moisture.
The black hime-cut hair looked very quiet in the towel, with water droplets occasionally dripping from the ends onto the wooden floor, the sound very soft.
As the girl lifted her head, the blush on her fair face deepened, to the point where Asakura couldn't help but worry she might faint.
Dark hair clung to the side of her neck, and her fair skin held a strange, irresistible allure that drew his gaze.
Asakura looked away, muttering to himself, "I'm not a vampire," while refolding the towel.
He fetched a clean yukata for her and set it aside.
As Ruri reached out to take it, her soaking wet yukata clung tighter with the movement, before quickly settling back into place.
She didn't change immediately, simply standing there wrapped in a towel, letting her body slowly adjust to the air.
The bathroom fell quiet for a moment. Only the sound of water droplets falling from her hair remained, along with the closeness of their proximity.
Asakura finished tidying up the used items, returned to her side, and glanced at the clothes the girl still hadn't changed out of.
Ruri exhaled softly, as if finally fully relaxing.
This was the brief moment of stillness after the bath.
"Tell me what exactly happened."
"Mm."
The warmth of the water had faded, but the lingering heat remained on her skin, and the dampness had yet to dissipate; everything hung in that moment of being about to continue, yet not quite doing so.
Note: This is just a rhetorical device. In the original work, Ruri is 160cm tall, which is 4cm taller than Yanami as a junior high student, making her quite large for a kouhai-type character. Of course, Yanami is nearly ten kilograms heavier than Ruri; where exactly that weight lies is a matter of opinion.