Chapter 7: A Handful of Rest: Part 2

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Yeah.”

Without objection from my father about entering the sauna, we headed towards the sauna room attached to the hot springs.

“A proper sauna is like this after all.”

“Hot!”

As Renji-san said this and opened the door, an unbelievably hot blast of air hit my face. I already wanted to retract my earlier statement and just soak in the hot springs, but since we had come this far, there was no turning back now.

As I braced myself and entered, I was greeted by a spacious area. The sauna room could accommodate about twenty people, and there was a television. I couldn’t help but think that my nose would get scorched every time I breathed.

“Good, since it’s this time, there’s no one else here.”

“It’s larger than I expected.”

“The other sauna room is even hotter than this, but it only fits four people.”

“Oh, the cabin one.”

The two of them proceeded deeper into the sauna room, engaging in sauna talk that they both seemed to understand.

Not understanding the topic of their conversation at all, I followed my father’s example and took a wooden board-like material.

“What’s this for…?” I wondered, but before I could finish my thought, my father and the others laid it down and sat on it.

“Itsuki-kun, you’re supposed to sit on the sauna mat.”

“Mm.”

So, this is called a sauna mat…

Taking in this new knowledge, I sat on the sauna mat. The moment I sat down, a wave of heat enveloped my entire body.

After a few breaths, I could feel sweat slowly starting to trickle out. Actually, more than anything, it was hard to breathe. It felt like I was breathing through a towel.

“Make sure to leave the sauna before reaching your limit.”

“Mm.”

“When you come out, there’s the cold water bath, but… for you, Itsuki-kun, a cold shower might be fine.”

Oh no, here it comes! The mysterious sauna ritual!

Taking a cold shower after leaving the sauna is often discussed as a set, but I couldn’t understand it at all. However, I remembered what Renji-san told me just now about entering the cold water bath to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Since I had come this far, I decided to go through with the entire sauna set, but I asked Renji-san an important question.

“How long should I stay in here?”

“Well, until you reach your limit, I guess.”

What kind of answer is that?

However, Renji-san has never lied to me before, so what he’s saying must be correct.

…Or is it really?

I continued to sit there silently, taking deep breaths.

As I continued to breathe, I gradually noticed my heart rate increasing. I could feel sweat dripping down. When I wiped my sweat with the towel I brought, it seemed like the heat of the sauna intensified, so I stopped wiping.

Neither my father nor Renji-san said anything. Silence dominated the room.

Well, I understood why. Talking would make my mouth feel like it’s burning from the heat.

And so, as I sat there, my thoughts couldn’t seem to come together. Thoughts that I had started would halt due to the heat, and even if I tried to resume them, they wouldn’t materialize.

Although they wouldn’t materialize, if the sauna could relieve stress… there was one thing that bothered me.

“Hey.”

With a volume that could rival the TV’s sound, I asked the two of them.

“If the sauna is stress-relieving… would it work for Nina-chan too?”

“I wonder…”

The first to respond to my question was my father.

In his usual heavy tone, he continued.

“A sauna… it can help with sleep and calming the mind. But it’s not something that can be used for fundamental treatment.”

“I think Soiuchiro’s right.”

If it goes well… that’s what I was thinking when I asked, but the responses from the two were different.

“Just being able to sleep can heal the mind. In that sense, using the sauna might be okay.”

I hoped that what my father said would be true.

If Nina-chan could be healed by it, then that’s good.

I remained silent and continued to sit for another eight minutes.

“I’m going to leave now…”

Finally reaching my limit, I said only that and left.

The temperature difference tightened my body. Just as Renji-san had said, I was about to enter the cold water bath when…

“There are… two.”

There were two cold water baths.

Each one had a thermometer attached, indicating the water temperature.

One was 17°C, and the other was 7°C.

I tentatively dipped my hand into the 7°C water.

“Ah!?”

It wasn’t a temperature I could bear, so I flowed into the 17°C one. As soon as I dipped my foot in, my whole body shivered. No way. I couldn’t submerge my entire body in this, could I? Am I sane??

However, nothing would start if I didn’t try.

I steeled myself and submerged my entire body into the cold water bath.

The moment I submerged, my breath stopped.

I couldn’t breathe…!

For a moment, I thought so. But gradually, I got used to it, and instead… it started to feel good. Perhaps because my whole body was heated up from the sauna, the cold temperature of the cold water bath felt pleasant.

As I was enjoying the cold water bath, my father came out of the sauna.

When he came out and saw the cold water, without hesitation, he scooped up water with a bucket at 7°C, poured it over his whole body to wash away the sweat, and then, still with momentum, he entered the single-digit temperature pool. Amazing.

Then, silence enveloped us just like in the sauna.

However, this time it didn’t last long… My father stood up vigorously.

“Itsuki, let’s go outside.”

“Outside?”

“Outside air bath.”

It seemed like some variant of forest bathing… thought Itsuki, as he followed his father outside. There were several chairs prepared, and they poured hot water from the outdoor bath onto them before sitting down. Sitting down, their bodies, cooled in the cold water bath, gradually warmed up.

However, the wind gently brushed away that warmth.

It felt really nice.

After a while, it felt like all the strength drained from their bodies.

They felt completely lethargic, unable to think about anything.

Letting themselves go, their thoughts became sluggish, their sense of time melting away. Breaths felt neither fast nor slow. Thinking became bothersome, and just closing their eyes and breathing felt pleasant.

“…Feels good, doesn’t it?”

His father muttered softly.

Although Itsuki couldn’t understand the meaning of those words before, he did now.

…I see, so this is what it means to feel good.

Even if they wanted to move, they couldn’t muster the strength, feeling as if they had become one with the air.

After maintaining silence for a while, Renji also arrived and sat on the bench for forest bathing.

While sitting there in silence, Renji, who was right beside him, suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, Itsuki-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m counting on you with Aya.”

For a moment, Itsuki didn’t understand the meaning of Renji’s words, then after a slight pause,

“…Yeah. Leave it to me.”

That’s how he replied.

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