She’d reached the door of the sento and pulled it open. ‘Bathhouses in Japan are communal.’
He paused at the door, his mouth hanging open. ‘But I didn’t bring my swimmers.’
‘Who says you need swimmers?’ She couldn’t help but laugh—he looked rooted to the spot. She pulled out her bag and paid at Reception. It only took a few seconds for Avery to appear at her shoulder.
From the expression on his face he’d collected his thoughts in a whole different direction. His smile reached from one side of his face to the other. Everything was going perfectly to plan.
She pointed off to the right and handed him a key. ‘You go that way—I go to the left. Take off your clothes in the changing room. There will be pyjamas or a loose kimono inside for you to change into. Leave all your other things in the locker, then head inside.’
He was still smiling. ‘I’ll see you inside, then.’ He walked towards the door—no, he swaggered towards the door and Katsuko almost burst out laughing.
The receptionist was smiling at her broadly. She’d seen it all before.
The next hour or so would be interesting.
* * *
Avery just about flung his clothes into the locker and pulled on the pyjamas. They were thin and light—almost like a pair of surgical scrubs. He moved outside and looked up. It was a bright corridor, sealed off from the outside world but clearly outdoors. Ahead was another door.
He couldn’t stop smiling. He pushed the door open and stopped walking promptly.
The room was filled with naked men and steam. Lots of steam. An assistant gestured for him to take off his clothes. He paused, he couldn’t help it. Avery had never been embarrassed by his body and it was apparent that every single man in this room felt the same way. He was a doctor—there was nothing he hadn’t seen before. Men of all shapes and sizes stood in front of him. Most of them were chatting to each other as if they were fully clothed. Nakedness didn’t seem to be an issue.
Avery pulled off his pyjamas and sat on the stool that the smiling assistant pointed to—it was obvious he was used to visitors. Two seconds later he was hit by a warm shower spray and handed what looked like a kind of loofah.
He gave a nod and scrubbed at his skin while the warm shower buzzed over him. When he was finished the assistant gestured for him to walk further on. Ahead, was the biggest array of large tubs he’d ever seen. Some were empty, some had a few men in them, and others were busy. To the side were rooms with a range of glass doors that looked like saunas.
He stuck his toe in the nearest tub and pulled it out sharply. The water was near scalding. The doctor in him wanted to tell everyone not to go near it. But a few seconds later a man who resembled a sumo wrestler stepped into the tub with no trepidation whatsoever.
For a minute Avery forgot all about his nakedness. Any second now the guy would have a heart attack in water at that temperature. Instead, the man spread his arms out around the side of the tub and leaned back, as if it was his favourite place in the world.
Avery gave his head a little shake and moved forward. He dipped his toe in a variety of tubs. They ranged from scalding to very hot to hot. The next tub had only one man in it and the water temperature was warm and pleasant. The man gave him a gracious nod that made Avery feel it was impossible to walk away.
He gave a nod too and climbed in. The water was soothing. It instantly relaxed his tense muscles. He kept glancing around. First of all, at the other tub where he kept expecting the large man to faint, then around the whole bathing area.
It took him a few seconds to realise that Katsuko was nowhere in sight. In fact, no women were anywhere in sight.
The man in his tub nodded towards him again. ‘Visitor?’
Avery smiled. He really did need to learn some Japanese. ‘Yes.’
The man smiled politely. ‘Okatu base?’
Avery laughed and nodded. He might as well have a sign on his forehead that said he was American.
‘Pilot?’
He shook his head. ‘No, doctor.’
‘Ah. Doctor. Good.’ He gave him a thoughtful glance and pointed to the tub. ‘First time?’
Yes, it seemed he did have a sign on his head.
‘It is, yes.’
The man pointed further down the bathhouse. ‘Try bath with tea.’
‘Tea?’
He gave a knowing nod. ‘Yes.’
Avery was surprised. He’d never heard of a bath with tea. When Katsuko had told him not to bring anything she hadn’t been joking. Towels were everywhere. Along with soap, shampoo, moisturising lotion and cotton swabs. But no one actually used these products in the water. They only used them in the showers.
He rested his head back for a moment and closed his eyes. Katsuko had surprised him. When she’d brought him into a bathhouse and hinted they’d be naked his mind had naturally gone into overdrive—just as she’d intended.
He almost laughed out loud. She’d got him. Fair and square. She’d led him right up the proverbial path.
He couldn’t wipe away the grin as he opened his eyes again and stared around the vast bathhouse at the wide variety of naked men. Of all the places in the world to come...
He nodded to the other man and climbed back out, walking along—not particularly conscious of his nakedness—past the variety of other tubs. Some were bubbling with jets. One definitely looked like green tea. Another had a very odd aroma. No one was in it and he bent down to have a closer smell. He almost spluttered. Red wine? In a bathhouse?
He looked around to see if anyone was watching. Everyone was going about their daily business, so he dipped his finger into the water and brought it up to his nose. Definitely red wine. He’d seen everything now.
He had a half a mind to climb into it. Cleopatra had apparently bathed in red wine. If it was good enough for the Egyptians...
Five seconds later he was in the wine.
It was the oddest feeling. The smell was so strong and the feeling exuberant. And it was hot. Very hot. Was it possible to boil in a tub of wine? He’d never seen this much wine before and he was pretty sure people could get drunk on the fumes alone.
A few minutes was long enough, then he headed back to the showers and tried to scrub the smell of wine from his skin. He could just imagine the look on Blake Anderson’s face tomorrow morning if he turned up smelling of wine.
Curiosity was killing him. There had to be a women-only section in here too. He could only imagine it was completely hidden from view, otherwise it would be every teenage boy’s dream.
As he headed to the changing room he was surprised by the time. He’d been in here for more than an hour and a half. One of the assistants signalled for him to put back on the scrubs-like pyjamas and head through another door.
He should have guessed. Katsuko had the widest grin he’d ever seen and was sprawled across a chaise longue.
‘How do you like a Japanese bathhouse?’ she teased.
He pushed her
legs over and sat down beside her. ‘I can think of a few improvements.’
‘I wonder what they might be. Did you enjoy the experience?’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘What’s not to enjoy? If I didn’t know enough about body shapes before, I certainly do now. Once I got over the shock of being naked among complete strangers I was kind of hoping there might have been naked females around too.’
‘I bet you were.’ She shook her head. ‘But the bathing is always completely separate. Some super-sentos are more equipped for families. They have mixed bathing and everyone wears swimsuits. But I thought I should show you the genuine Japanese experience.’ She looked around. ‘It’s usually busier when I come. Most people come to the bathhouses in the evening rather than during the day. I just wanted to give you a gentle introduction.’
‘You think I needed it?’
She swung her legs to the floor. ‘What do you want to do next? There’s a bar upstairs and there’s a restaurant. There are also some rooftop footbaths or there’s a low-temperature sauna—you keep your clothes on in there.’
A few teenage girls walked past, their wet hair tied up in ponytails. They were looking at him and Katsuko and whispering together.
He shifted in the chair. They must have been in the bathhouse at the same time as Katsuko. It was clear she’d noticed their actions. She waved her hand. ‘Pay no notice, they’re just silly schoolgirls. One of them was talking about me while she was sitting next to me. She nearly died when I turned around and answered her in perfect Japanese.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘I even corrected her grammar for her.’
Was this the kind of thing Katsuko experienced regularly? He tried to temper the little flame burning inside him. He glared at the teenagers. ‘Silly schoolgirls who should know better,’ he said.
He turned back towards her. It was clear that Katsuko didn’t want to take this any further. He could see her biting her lip.