After polishing off the meat in the pot, their voices joined in unison with a "Thank you for the meal." Cleaning up was simple enough: rinsing the bowl, the pot, and the sticks Yuna had used as chopsticks with water from the waterskin was all it took. Since Eiji's hands were sticky with grease, he used the opportunity to wash them with soap as well. Having so few dishes to wash was about the only real perk of this lifestyle. The waterskin ended up completely empty, but there was plenty of water outside. That, too, was a perk of this place.
Yuna pulled a slender object from her pouch: a toothbrush, along with a small tube of toothpaste. It seemed the packing checklist from the orientation guide had proven useful once again.
"Ah, I need to brush my teeth....Um, the water's outside, right?"
"Yeah."
Glancing at the empty waterskin, Eiji grabbed the magic sword wrapped in straw matting from where it leaned against the wall.
Heading toward the doorway, Yuna's feet came to a halt right in front of the door. Her gaze drifted in the direction where the gray grass had parted earlier that evening.
Without a word, Eiji brushed past her and crossed the threshold first.
"Are you coming with me, Eiji-kun?"
"Nah, well... I figured I'd look at the night sky while I'm at it, I guess."
"...With your sword?"
"With my sword."
Even he had to admit it was a flimsy excuse. Behind him, Yuna let out a soft chuckle.
"...Thanks."
"For what?"
"Hmm. It's a secret."
He had hoped to leave it at that without spelling things out, but as usual, this childhood friend of his saw right through him on matters like this.
Outside, the night was clear. The moon was a little past half-full, casting a dim glow over the cobblestones around the well. The night air was cool against bare skin, but with the lingering warmth from their bath and dinner, it actually felt quite pleasant.
Reaching the well, Yuna scooped up water from the edge and began brushing her teeth. The rhythmic, mundane sound of scrubbing and the babble of the water running through the channel were the only noises accompanying the night in the plaza.
Beside her, Eiji planted the magic sword like a cane and turned toward the mountains. Perhaps the beast behind the howling had already been wiped out, as there was no sign of it tonight. The stars had multiplied since dusk.
Come to think of it, yesterday they hadn't even brought up brushing their teeth. They had been utterly exhausted, so it had probably been the furthest thing from their minds. The fact that the habit of brushing after a meal had readily resurfaced meant that Yuna was finally regaining some peace of mind, too.
As she brushed, Yuna's eyes drifted toward him for a moment. To be precise, toward Eiji's hands—toward his empty right hand, which held no toothbrush.
(I want to brush mine too, but... it's back in my bag.)
Both his toothbrush and toothpaste were with the luggage left behind in the royal palace. He wondered what that attendant who had asked which room it belonged to was doing with his bag right about now. If it was still there, he wanted to go back and retrieve it someday.
Just as he was adding a toothbrush to the mental to-do list in the corner of his mind, Yuna finished rinsing her mouth.
Then, she began washing the toothbrush with water from the well.
The way she cleaned it was remarkably meticulous: spreading the bristles with her fingers, running water through them, and smoothing them back together. She really is thorough, Eiji thought. He had never seen anyone spend so much time taking care of a toothbrush before.
Even after she finished washing it, Yuna didn't move right away. Shifting the toothbrush in her grip, she turned the handle toward him. Her eyes, however, remained fixed on the water channel.
"If you'd like... you can use this. It might gross you out since I just used it, though."
"Wait, what?!"
His voice cracked at his childhood friend's utterly unexpected offer.
He looked back and forth between the offered toothbrush and Yuna's profile. No matter how many times he looked, the reality of the situation didn't change.
"N-No... I'm not the issue here. Aren't you uncomfortable with it?"
A prolonged silence fell. Only the sound of water from the well and the channel flowed between them.
"If it's with you, Eiji-kun... I don't mind. Besides, you'll get cavities."
At that, Eiji froze entirely.
She doesn't mind? About what? Sharing a toothbrush? But isn't that basically an indirect kiss?
A multitude of thoughts swirled through his head, but if she said it was fine, he had no reason to turn her down.
"Well, um. I shall gladly borrow it, then."
"P-Please, be my guest."
The moment he took it, Yuna stole a glance at him. Before their eyes could meet, her gaze flicked back toward the water channel.
For some reason, both of them had slipped into stiff, polite speech. He never would have imagined a single toothbrush could make their Japanese sound so awkward.
In truth, if he ended up with cavities, there were no dentists in this world—though perhaps a Saint could heal them—so it really would be bad. More than that, though, it would be far worse if his breath turned foul and made Yuna dislike him. While stringing together these rationalizations, his hand was already accepting the tube of toothpaste from her.
When it came time to squeeze the paste onto the bristles, his fingers trembled slightly. He was about to put an object into his own mouth that, until just moments ago, had been inside hers.
(Aw, to hell with it!)
Carried by the momentum of splashing water onto it, he began brushing.
The second he started, he immediately noticed: Yuna was staring intently at him.
Perched on the edge of the well with her hands resting on her knees, she was in full observation mode. Her eyes never strayed from Eiji's mouth. Was she grading his technique or something?
It made him acutely self-conscious of everything down to his molars, his front teeth, and the exact order he brushed them in. Never in his entire life had he felt this nervous while brushing his teeth.
When he finished rinsing, Yuna leaned forward.
"How was it...?"
"How was it? Well... got them nice and clean."
"That's... not quite what I meant, though."
Yuna sounded faintly exasperated.
"Huh? Then what did you mean...?"
"It's nothing. Never mind."
Lowering her brows with a wry smile, she gave a small shrug. Then, she looked down at the tube in Eiji's hand.
"Do you think you can make toothpaste, too?"
"Who knows? We won't find out until it runs out. The hair treatment and shampoo only triggered once the bottles were empty, after all."
"Your skill is kind of funny, Eiji-kun."
"It won't even lift a finger until something's completely gone, of all things. It's such a pain, honestly."
It acted like the very pinnacle of convenience, only to hold out when it mattered most. As its owner, he felt entitled to grumble a bit, but Yuna was the partner who covered for those shortcomings. And since this whole lifestyle was made possible thanks to it, he decided to keep his complaints to a minimum.
Rinsing the borrowed toothbrush in the well water, he handed it back.
"You really saved me. Thanks."
"...Y-You're welcome."
Yuna's reply hitched for just a beat as she took it.
And her fingers moved away a little faster than usual. Even under the moonlight, it was obvious her ears were bright red. Had she caught a chill from the night air? That seemed unlikely, given how the warmth of their bath still lingered.
Before he could dwell on it, Yuna had already tucked the toothbrush back into her pouch and started walking toward the house. Eiji hitched the magic sword over his shoulder and followed half a step behind her.
Back inside, they damped down the hearth fire, leaving only the glowing embers. The light in the dirt-floored room grew a shade dimmer. On a night in another world with no smartphones, PCs, or televisions, there was simply nothing else to do. All that remained was to sleep.
"Let's get to bed soon. We've got a long trek tomorrow, after all."
"Yeah."
Yuna shut the front door and dropped the crossbar into place. The sound of the sturdy wood falling into its slot echoed reassuringly once again tonight.
The instant it echoed, both of them froze simultaneously.
(...I completely forgot.)
He hadn't built another bed. In the back room, there was still only one. The chore he thought he had pushed into the corner of his mind had popped right back up to mock him.
"Ah..."
"...Don't say it. I just remembered, too."
The man who had built a bathhouse, slain monsters, and mapped out tomorrow's itinerary had ground to a dead halt before the very same problem for the second night in a row.