Dinner found the four of them gathered around the table.
Jahy was now wearing an old piece of clothing that had once belonged to Masao's mother.
It still hung loosely on her small frame, but it was a definite improvement over Masao's old shirt.
Mrs. Tanaka's heart warmed at the sight of her. Worried their new guest might feel out of place, she leaned forward with a gentle smile.
"Jahy, please think of this as your own home. Make yourself comfortable, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."
"Mhmm~"
Jahy nodded, her cheeks stuffed with food, to show she'd heard.
The sight only widened Mrs. Tanaka's smile. She had no idea that the adorable girl before her was anything but a well-behaved angel. This little darling was, in fact, a future troublemaker destined to give her countless headaches.
—
After the meal, the Tanaka parents headed out to buy Jahy some daily essentials and a few proper sets of clothes.
They couldn't very well have her spending her days unclothed, only venturing outside swamped in an oversized shirt—that would be too pitiful.
—
Left alone, Jahy lounged on the sofa with practiced ease, one leg crossed over the other as she patted her slightly rounded stomach.
"The food was…acceptable," she pronounced. "It barely meets the standards for my temporary base of operations."
She then turned her gaze to Masao, her expression one of casual command.
"Masao, draw my bath. I wish to bathe."
"Hey, l'm not your servant. Don't use that tone with me."
Masao had just finished eating and had no desire to move. Even on a better day, he wouldn't tolerate being ordered around by Jahy.
Her confidence, however, was unshaken.
"Hehe~" she chuckled, a sly glint in her eye. "Didn't Kazumi and Kenji tell you to look after me before they left? Imagine what they'd think if they came home to find I couldn't even take a bath."
She referred to the Tanakas by their first names—Kazumi and Kenji. While the couple saw her as a daughter, Jahy's true age dwarfed their own combined age.
The terms 'Mom' and 'Dad' felt unnatural, and 'Auntie' and 'Uncle' were too formal. Using their given names was a comfortable middle ground, and the Tanakas, for their part, found it oddly endearing.
Hearing her wield his parents' words as a weapon, Masao felt a flicker of irritation.
"Tch, pulling that card already? Fine. But don't get used to it. This trick only works because you're new here."
Grumbling under his breath, he nonetheless trudged toward the bathroom to run the water.
He'd let it slide… just this once.
"Mhmm, excellent." Jahy watched him go, a satisfied smirk playing on her lips.
'Now this is more like it.'
A short time later, Masao returned.
"The bath's ready. Go on in. And remember, you need to wash yourself in the shower first before you get in to soak."
"I know, I know," Jahy waved a dismissive hand.
Shedding her clothes, Jahy entered the bathroom and cast a critical eye over the modest space. She let out a sigh.
"What a primitive bathing chamber," she murmured with clear disdain.
She picked up the shower head and turned the knob.
"Cold!" A jet of icy water made her gasp and recoil, holding the spray at arm's length.
"What in the world…?"
She carefully reached a hand out, sighing in relief as the water gradually warmed.
"Whew. For a moment, I thought you humans bathed in cold water."
After a quick rinse, her attention shifted to the lineup of bottles on the ledge. Masao had mentioned the various cleansers—one for hair, one for skin…
"This one's for the hair, I assume? It smells pleasant."
She poured some shampoo into her palm, inhaled the scent, and then worked it into her wet hair.
"Oh! When you rub it, it creates all this white foam! How fascinating!"
Amused, she poured out more, vigorously working it into a rich, towering lather. She failed to notice the foam slowly creeping down her forehead, heading straight for her eyes.
"Ah! My eyes! My eyes!" A sudden, searing pain stabbed through her vision, and she cried out in agony.
Blindly fumbling, her hands found the shower head again. She frantically turned the water back on, but with her eyes squeezed shut, she accidentally shoved the control to its hottest setting.
"Ah! Hot! It's scalding!" She scrambled backward from the burning spray, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Masao! Masao, help me!"
From the living room, Masao heard the commotion and approached the bathroom door.
"What's wrong?" he called out.
"My eyes! I can't see! Get in here and help me!"
"Did you get shampoo in your eyes?"
Assessing the panic in her voice, Masao decided modesty could wait and pushed the door open.
The scene was one of pure chaos. Jahy, coated from head to toe in white foam, was clutching her face and wailing. A single glance at the shower, now blasting steam, told him everything he needed to know.
"Hold still, don't move. I'll have you fixed up in a second," he instructed, his voice calm.
Hearing his steady tone, Jahy forced herself to stand still, trembling.
A moment later, a stream of blessedly cool water cascaded over her face, washing away the pain. As the foam rinsed clear, she dared to crack her eyes open. They still stung, but the world had returned to a blurry focus.
She took the shower head from him and directed the cool stream right at her eyes, rinsing them thoroughly for a full minute until the last of the irritation was gone.
"I've returned to the land of the living," she breathed, her eyes red-rimmed and watery.
She immediately fixed Masao with an accusatory glare.
"You people are monsters! You clean your hair with something this hazardous?"
"That's not how you're supposed to use it. You're supposed to keep your eyes closed when you use it," Masao explained patiently. "Besides, shampoo cleans your hair properly. It leaves it smelling nice and feeling soft afterward."
"Is it truly that good?" Jahy asked, her skepticism warring with curiosity.
She wanted to experience these supposed benefits, but her recent trauma made her hesitant. The solution was obvious.
"Fine. You do it for me, then," she commanded, deciding to delegate the risk.
"Me?" Masao pointed to his own chest, his mind a whirlwind of protest.
'This is a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. She's a demon. She's naked. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.' He looked at her, a pitiful, soapy mess with red-rimmed eyes. '...But she's also kind of helpless. And my mom will kill me if I let her suffer.'
Jahy had already plopped down on the short stool in the shower, presenting her soapy, foam-covered back to him.
"Obviously. Don't dawdle."
Looking at her waiting form, Masao finally said. "Well…alright then."
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