Why is my Isekai in the Slice of Life anime was become a Horror Story?

Chapter 19: Bathing Together with Chika, and Maki is Very Angry

Fujiwara Chika had never been this nervous.

Even compared to the dangerous moments in Nutty Dutty Cave, she had never felt this tense.

Swoosh—

Hot water from the shower quickly flowed down, hitting the floor with a dull echo.

The girl slowly stepped forward, standing right under the shower, letting the warm water soak her body.

Thump thump—

Her heartbeat was clearer than ever.

Fujiwara Chika felt her face burning, so hot that the previously warm water now felt cold.

And the reason she felt this way was, of course, because right behind her at that very moment, there was a man standing.

A man who not long ago had been by her side, exploring the cave together, but now was in the same bathroom, with complete honesty.

Thump thump—

With such a powerful heartbeat, how could she remain calm?

'Uwaa, how did it end up like this?'

She had just used that yellow striped outfit to successfully move to a new area, and before she could even understand what was going on, she was forced to bathe with someone of the opposite sex in the same room? This is too much!

"Are you done?"

Suddenly, Takakai's voice came from behind.

"Eh?!"

Chika jumped, almost leaping on the spot.

"Are you done? We only have 15 minutes. Both of you must complete the bathing step, or we might get attacked."

Takakai's voice came again, very calm, with no hint of malice.

"Umm... Umu, d-done, Takahashi-kun, you can go in..."

Chika was so nervous that she shrank back, taking one step after another away from the shower.

In her brief glimpse, she saw Takakai walking toward her with his back turned. The two of them stood facing the wall, turning their backs to each other, moving in this way to ensure no one could see the other's body, avoiding embarrassment for Chika.

Even so, the girl still felt extremely shy.

'Now that I think about it, this guy has quite a nice physique.'

Before undressing, they had agreed not to look at each other. But Fujiwara Chika, known for having little credibility when it comes to matters that aren't life-and-death secrets, had already sneakily glanced at Takakai countless times.

Although his back wasn't comparable to a bodybuilder's, there were still distinct, strong lines.

His arms had quite impressive muscles, like every muscle fiber had been trained to perfection, not as though through regular training, but more like some superpower had endowed him, making his entire body reach a perfect state of balance.

'And it seems his butt is look good too...'

Slap!

Realizing that her gaze had unconsciously lingered somewhere inappropriate, Chika quickly slapped her own face.

"What's wrong?"

Takakai, who was quickly washing his hair, heard the sound and asked.

"N-nothing..."

Chika, now feeling guilty, turned her head away, her voice barely audible. But in her mind, the image she had just seen kept replaying over and over.

The 15-minute bath time had passed about 5 minutes by now.

Setting aside the girl's embarrassment in the bathroom, at another location, two people were watching all of this unfold, and their emotions were in turmoil.

Shinomiya Kaguya felt like she had just stepped into a new territory.

A man and a woman bathing together, this was truly shameless! But because of the special circumstances, she didn't feel she could say much.

But... but... could a boy's body really change like that?!

Born into the Shinomiya conglomerate—a highly conservative family that followed the patriarchal principles of the feudal era—Kaguya had been like a canary trapped in a cage ever since she was born, completely unaware of many things. She didn't even understand basic concepts like the "first time"; her knowledge of human biology only extended to things like "children aren't delivered by storks" and "on the wedding night, just let the husband handle it."

Because of this, the most intense feeling she had at this moment was—she had just seen a monster.

What the heck?!

Completely different from what she had seen with her niece, a newborn child, this was clearly at the level of a parasite, right?! Moreover, it was the kind of prehistoric parasite, a large organism that could barely be seen in modern times.

She raised her hand, covering her face, covering her eyes.

The shock was so great that Kaguya couldn't bear to look anymore.

But… it seemed she still wanted to see more.

So her fingers, covering her eyes, slowly loosened, creating a small gap.

"Oh..."

Once again, she was hit by a shock.

She quickly closed her fingers tightly.

But she still wanted to see just a little more.

So her fingers cracked open once more.

"Oh..."

Another shock.

At this moment, no matter how hard she tried, Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't maintain her usual cold expression, only managing to suppress her reaction with all her might, trying to avoid drawing attention from the person next to her.

Although, even if she truly showed a reaction, the person standing beside her wouldn't notice.

Shijo Maki.

The girl who had come with Kaguya to watch the surveillance screen was now clenching her fists tightly.

What the heck is going on?!

Her eyes were wide open, glued to the screen, as Maki stared intently at Fujiwara Chika—the girl with a full figure, shyly hiding her body, but occasionally turning her head, sneakily glancing at the man behind her.

That man—Takahashi Takakai—had never turned his head, always seriously standing with his back to Chika. Maki really wanted to observe him a bit, but after being frightened by the "monster," she still didn't have the courage to take her eyes off the screen.

But this woman…

The woman who, for some reason, appeared in the bathroom with Takakai…

'What is that expression!?... Is she in heat!?'

Shijo Maki's pupils were covered by a layer of dark shadow.

'That expression definitely looks like a cat in heat, right?!'

If this were an anime world, maybe dark, swirling energy would be rising around her by now.

'She turned her head again, peeking at Kai-kun again!'

'Pretending, covering her eyes with her hands—who is she putting on a show for?!'

'She's definitely thinking about perverted things, her heart racing, imagining some romantic scenario, maybe even already starting to think about things that can't be said out loud!'

'In a bizarre horror game, where one slip-up could cost you your life, but she's not focused on survival at all. Instead, her brain is fogged with desire. Maybe due to some sort of suspension bridge effect, she's now ready to offer herself, unable to control the urge to throw herself into his arms!'

'A girl this shameless must never be forgiven—!!!'

...

Beep beep!

A clear electronic sound rang out.

At this moment, both of them realized that the bath time had ended.

The two people in the bathroom had finished putting on their clean yellow-striped uniforms and exited the shower area, heading toward the staff break room.

"Haa…"

Shijo Maki took a deep breath, instinctively planning to leave the room and find Takakai immediately.

But before she could do that, Kaguya raised her hand to stop her.

"It's time for us to go to the research area. We can't go over there now; we can only wait for the next action step."

After the stimulating scene of bathing together ended, Shinomiya Kaguya quickly regained her composure, pulled Maki back, and advised her.

The reason Kaguya could switch identities and leave the staff break room was that Shijo Maki had exploited a loophole when the security team left after the expedition team returned, sneaked into the room, and left behind the research uniforms and the ruleboard. But now, there was no opportunity for that anymore.

Takakai and Chika suddenly appeared, inexplicably replacing the previous member of Team C3 in the expedition. Kaguya and Maki—acting as researchers—could at most supervise the bath area but could not enter the staff break room, which was guarded by soldiers.

Shijo Maki, who understood the situation well, said nothing and simply stopped in her tracks.

"What's going on… I was this worried and yet..."

The girl's voice carried something unusual.

"Maki-san, are you… are you crying?"

Noticing the oddness in her tone, Kaguya looked surprised and stepped forward.

"Who's crying? I'm just a bit annoyed," Maki said, looking up, her eyes clearly holding back tears, but she gritted her teeth in anger as she stepped toward the door, reaching out to open it.

And just then, she saw the blood-stained fabric doll lying outside the door.

Shijo Maki froze for a moment but quickly realized that this was Takakai's doll—Obsession—that he had sent to find her.

She crouched down, picked up the doll, and noticed a small piece of paper tucked underneath, which seemed hastily written.

"Sorry for taking so long to find you. Are you okay?"

"I will try to find a way to reunite and break out of this dungeon. Hang in there."

The handwriting was shaky, hard to read, and some words were even misspelled. It was unclear when he had written this.

"What the heck, does he think this will make me feel like he's thoughtful or something?"

Shijo Maki muttered under her breath, glaring at the doll in her hand, but carefully tucked the note away.

Her mood was still very unsettled.

But… it seemed a bit better now.

The girl hugged the doll tightly and left the room, heading toward another area of the facility.

—

In a cramped room with a single bed, Chika and Takakai—one sitting on the bed, the other leaning against the wall—both wore awkward expressions.

According to the next instructions, they were to remain in this room for twelve hours, only able to leave temporarily when the next expedition began.

In other words… a man and a woman were locked in the same room.

The girl sitting on the bed slightly curled up, her thin clothing unable to conceal the alluring curves of her body.

Takakai tried to maintain his calm, but inwardly, he couldn't help but feel—this trial was a bit too harsh.