I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

“Sex! Sex!”

Normally, they would have stopped, being mindful of the girls around, but the sense of freedom in the open space of the hot spring broke their limits.

The infectiousness was so great that it turned nearly a third of the second-year male students in the hot spring into sex-obsessed individuals in an instant.

“What in the world…?”

As Ryuji muttered with a bewildered expression, Mahes, despite being a ghost, crossed his arms as he soaked in the hot spring and said.

“Sometimes sexual desire drives people crazy. And madness is easily contagious.”

“Don’t explain it so seriously…”

I muttered to myself, deciding to observe my classmates’ frenzy for now.

They were just talking, not yet taking any action.

If I intervened prematurely without reading the situation, I might be seen as someone who can’t read the room.

But perhaps I underestimated the sexual desires of a teenage high school student.

Because someone actually took action in a situation where everyone else just talked about peeping into the women’s bath.

It was a guy named Masaru, known as a pervert from the next class.

Masaru pounded on the bamboo barrier separating the men’s and women’s baths, shouting,

“Foolish guys! How long will you just watch each other?! Paradise awaits us beyond this barrier!”

Then one of the bald trios in our class replied in a low voice,

“But that bamboo barrier is too high. Unless we are giants, realistically, it’s impossible to peek over it.”

“Nonsense! Are you going to give up over such a small obstacle? Think about making the impossible possible!”

“Then tell me! Do you have a way to look over that tall barrier?!”

“Of course!”

Masaru confidently pointed to the wooden buckets piled in a corner of the bathhouse.

“Stack them in a pyramid formation and climb up to see over it!”

“!!!!”

The children looked at the buckets in shock.

It seemed they had never thought of such an idea.

Mahes, from Egypt, the land of pyramids, rubbed his chin, saying, “Oh,” as if admiring the idea.

“No, you shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Is that so?”

When Ryuji, standing next to him, tackled him with a bewildered expression, Mahes scratched his head awkwardly.

“Cool! Masaru!”

Anyway, in the meantime, those who agreed with Masaru’s idea began to stand up one by one, starting to make his idea a reality.

Specifically, they began to stack the wooden buckets in the corner of the bathhouse into a tall tower.

In order to sneak a peek at the paradise beyond the approximately 5-meter-tall bamboo barrier.

“It’s complete!”

The tower of wooden buckets was thus completed.

Like the Tower of Babel, built to reach the heavenly gods, the tower soared sky-high, standing about 3 meters tall.

But considering the average height of a Japanese high school student, it fell short by a precarious 20-30 cm.

Perhaps if one were a growing teenager standing at 190 cm.

“Argh! How foolish!”

Masaru, the pioneer who first climbed the tower, shuddered at his miscalculation, but he couldn’t force himself to grow taller.

“We can’t give up now that we’ve come this far!”

Despite the precarious footing, he stubbornly lifted his heels.

Now, the women’s bath was almost within sight.

I had to admire his determination to see the women’s bath, but the girls from our class were over there.

It was time to intervene, so I got up from the hot spring.

“Hey, how dare you try to peek into the women’s bath where I am? You’ve got guts.”

A familiar voice came from beyond the bamboo barrier.

Bang!!

Suddenly, a dry gunshot rang out in the bath.

“Argh!”

Masaru, hit in the chin by a rubber bullet fired from Sasha’s model gun, collapsed like a lie, just as paradise was within reach.

Crash!

The tower of wooden buckets collapsed along with his ambition.

“Masaru! NOOOOOOOOO!”

At his valiant end, someone cried out, while others looked on in dismay.

Though I didn’t belong to either group, as a fellow man, I paid my respects to him.

‘Foolish, but it was cool.’

His only flaw was not realizing that the commotion in the men’s bath could be heard in the women’s bath.

‘In such an environment, there’s no way the soundproofing is good.’

I gently knocked on the bamboo barrier behind me and was about to leave the hot spring when I noticed it.

There was a perfectly formed gap between the bamboo walls.

“……”

Should I just remember that spot?

---

All those who tried to peek into the women’s bath were caught, thanks to the reports of the girls who finished bathing.

This included Masaru, the ringleader, and all those who had gone along with him and inadvertently revealed their voices.

This caused quite a storm before bedtime, but it was a story completely unrelated to those of us who did not participate.

At least being students, it ended with just this commotion. If they were older, they’d all be dragged to the police station for trying to peek into the women’s bath.

Let’s be thankful for the lenient world of love comedies regarding peeping into the women’s bath.

“Man, I’m so tired.”

Satoru said this in the dark room, and Ryuji, lying next to him, chuckled emptily.

“It can’t be helped; we’ve been walking all day.”

Lying at the very end of my futon in a ‘river’ formation, I asked the two who had experience traveling in Kyoto.

“What’s the vibe like in the movie village and Gion District we’re visiting tomorrow?”

“It’s just a regular tourist spot. Famous for being used a lot for historical dramas and movie shooting.”

“And there are two things you’ll definitely end up buying there.”

“What are they?”

“Wooden swords and Shinsengumi haori.”¹

“Oh.”

Indeed, I saw a lot of them yesterday when we went to Kiyomizudera.

The distinctive jade-colored haori with a cogwheel pattern.

It seemed to be a symbol of those who visited the movie street ahead of us.

“Honestly, it’s because they look cool.”

“No man could resist.”

Seeing them share this strange bond, it seemed both had experience buying them.

“What about the Gion District?”

“Oh, there you can see Geishas and Maikos. Of course, not every day, only at specific times or days.”

“Are they pretty?”

“That varies from person to person. Personally, not so much. They wear too much white makeup on their faces.”

So, it’s a matter of personal taste.

「I want to see Geishas too!」

「I’ve seen them on TV. Geishas are like dancers in this country.」

Ignoring the ghost duo chatting beside me, I, who had just finished planning tomorrow’s schedule, took a glance at my smartphone before bed.

There were no messages from either the President or the Vice President.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think they didn’t message me out of consideration since I was on a school trip, but knowing the inside story, I couldn’t relax and enjoy myself.

I stared at the messenger window until I finally turned off the screen.

Because I knew it was pointless to worry about it alone.

“Good night.”

Muttering that as I pulled up the blanket, I sensed a movement from beside me.

But whether they had no intention to reply or not, the room remained quiet.

I gently closed my eyes, feeling sleepiness creeping in.

Because it was better to conserve energy for another busy day tomorrow.

---

Chirp! Chirp!

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping in my ears.

‘It’s an unfamiliar ceiling.’

As I sat up in a daze, I saw Satoru and Ryuji sleeping next to me, drooling.

Checking the time on my phone, it was 6 AM.

I had overslept compared to my usual waking time, but considering how much we walked yesterday, it was relatively early.

I stepped out into the hallway for a quick walk to fully wake up, and there was nobody around.

Wearing the slippers provided in the room, I headed to the lounge, where I found our homeroom teacher, Matsuda.

“Good morning.”

“Yeah, you woke up early.”

Mr. Matsuda, waving his hand at me, yawned and stretched out.

“Did you stay up all night?”

“Yeah, sort of like night duty. I have to prevent our students from wandering around at night.”

I handed Matsuda a coffee from the vending machine, as he looked tired.

“Here, have this.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Mr. Matsuda looked at the canned coffee I handed him with curiosity, then opened it, saying he’d enjoy it.

“Do you usually wake up at this time?”

I shook my head at his question.

“No. I usually wake up earlier to exercise, but I overslept today.”

“Well, to maintain that amount of muscle, it can’t be helped.”

Mr. Matsuda nodded understandingly and tapped my shoulder, suggesting we exercise together next time.

I said I’d consider it, then took a sip of the freshly vended cider and headed to the garden behind the inn.

1. ED/N: Shinsengumi haori is a traditional coat or jacket worn by the members of the Shinsengumi. ️