After several rest stops and a visit to a run-down supermarket, they arrived at the campsite in the late afternoon. It was not much of a campsite. Little more than a grassy area that jutted out over the sea. There were a few other campers, mostly solo travelers who had come on their motorcycles.

Jiro helped Kaori pitch the tent while Yui and Aya went off to fetch wood for a fire.

“Isn’t this tent kind of small?” said Jiro as he pounded the final stake into the grass.

Kaori shrugged. “It’s a tent for two people.”

“But there’s four of us.”

“You say it like it’s a problem.”

“It is a problem. With my allergies, especially.”

“Jiro,” Kaori said, coming alongside him. He could smell the lavender of her perfume. “You are a terrible liar. I saw how wide your eyes got when I told you Yui and I like to sleep naked. Don’t you want to know what Yui looks like without a shirt on? Whether she only shaves her legs or if she shaves …” she raised an eyebrow “…everywhere.”

“N-no I’m not.” He hated how Kaori always knew exactly what he was thinking. Personality aside, Yui was a very attractive girl. He had often undressed her in his mind, slipping off her bathhouse uniform to reveal small breasts, doll-like skin, the youthful curve of her ass …

Kaori laughed. “Just one word of caution though. Keep your hands off Yui, okay? If you want to touch someone …” Kaori unzipped her windbreaker. She had on a tube top underneath that barely covered anything at all. “You can touch me.”

Jiro mumbled something and looked away.

Kaori laughed. “Aya’s right. You’re so cute when you’re uncomfortable.” Kaori sat back on the grass unlaced her boots. “My feet are all sweaty from driving …” She pulled off her socks to reveal the smooth soles of her feet. She set them in the grass and wriggled her toes. Jiro caught a whiff of sweat and musk. “Ah, that feels good … Hey Jiro.”

“What?”

“I could really use a foot massage.”

“Absolutely not.” Aya and Yui could come back at any time.

“If we use a towel, your allergies won’t be a problem. You can massage me any way you like, okay? No questions asked. Put my legs on your lap. Get in deep between my toes.” She leaned forward and whispered into Jiro’s ear. “You can even rub them against certain places. Any place you like. How does that sound?”

“I said no.” His voice was hoarse. Any more of this and little Jiro would pitch a tent of his own.

“Okay fine. Your loss.” Kaori re-zipped her windbreaker. “But joking aside, hands off Yui ok? I’m saying this for both of your sakes.”

“Got it …” What was Kaori and Yui’s relationship? How did Kaori know that Yui slept naked? He had sometimes seen them talking softly to each other in the halls of the bathhouse. And he knew they took baths together. Surely that could only mean … Jiro began to imagine the kinds of things Kaori did to Yui in the baths … Maybe they even slept together naked … pleasuring each other with all kinds of rubbing, grinding, licking, scissoring …”

“Jiro?”

“Yea?”

“Yui and I … our relationship is not what you’re imagining. And I know exactly what you’re thinking about.”

He turned red.

Kaori crossed her legs and began to massage her own feet. “Yui volunteered for this trip you know. After all, this loan from Sheena could save the bathhouse. And Yui cares about the bathhouse more than anyone.”

Jiro raised an eyebrow. That was news to him. “What do you mean?”

“Yui, she—” Kaori closed her mouth. Aya and Yui were toward them on the grass, each with an armload of firewood.

“This place spooks me out,” said Aya, dropping her load of firewood. “I hear this is a popular suicide spot. Students who fail their exams, heartbroken men, stuff like that. All it takes is one jump …” She shuddered. “I hope there aren’t any ghosts.”

The campsite had a concrete pit for fires and, with help from a propane torch, they soon had a little fire going. Then they went to the car and got the dinners they had bought from the supermarket.

Jiro unwrapped a sandwich, took a bite, and looked at Yui with incredulity. He hadn’t noticed at the supermarket, but Yui’s plastic bag was filled to the brim with food: cup noodles, rice balls, bento boxes with seaweed and fried fish. There was easily enough food in there to feed four ordinary adults. Is she saving up for something? Jiro wondered.

Yui unwrapped a giant rice ball and stuffed the entire thing into her little mouth. Chewing daintily, she popped the plastic top off the bento box with one hand and, with the other, poured hot water from a kettle into a cup of instant ramen noodles.

“Yui, uh, are you sure you’re going to be able to finish all that?” Jiro asked, in another attempt to make conversation.

Yui shot Jiro a murderous glare but said nothing. Then she looked away and went on eating. What is with this girl? Why is she so rude?

“I know we haven’t eaten all day,” said Aya, who was just as surprised by Yui’s appetite. “But that is one jumbo-sized dinner.”

Jiro laughed. “Yea, I wonder where it all goes. It’s like she’s eating for two people … or for ten.”

As soon as Jiro spoke, Yui glared at him again. Then slowly, she finished chewing, set down her bento box, and stood up. Walking over to the fire, she grabbed the end of a branch that was sticking out from the fire. And lobbed it directly at Jiro.

Jiro let out a shout and dodged the flaming branch. A few hot embers fell on his leg. He yelped in pain and hurried to stomp out the flames with his flip-flops.

“Yui! What the hell?! You could have burned me!”

He felt a sudden rush of anger. What was with this girl? “Yui,” he said, almost shouting. “I don’t care how much you hate me, but there are things you should and should not say. And there are definitely things you should and should not do. No respectable adult behaves like you do. Didn’t your parents teach you anything?”

For a long moment, everybody was silent. There was no sound but the crackling of the fire and the waves hitting the rocks below. Then, without looking at anyone, Yui stood up, grabbed her dinner, and stalked off into the dark.

“Jiro …” Kaori said softly, after a time. “That was going too far.”