Our Local Sentou
By Emi Tsuruta

Note: this is one in a series of posts about my life.  If you'd like some background about me and my friends and what we've been doing, please drop by my home page at:
http://www.asstr.org/~emitsuruta/

A few posts ago, I started to tell you about my visit back to Japan the winter before last.  So far, I guess I mainly talked about my hot spring trip with my cousin Namie, but actually there are a couple more things that happened.  One day, I was up in my old room in my parents' house getting ready to go out, when I heard these loud metallic rattling noises coming from downstairs.  I went down, and asked my mom what was going on.

"Oh you know how the sliding glass door to the bath always sticks.  We finally decided to get it fixed."

"Oh shoot.  I kind of wanted to take a shower."  I walked over, and took a peek into the bath room where the workman was wrestling with the door making a horrible racket.  "Um, excuse me," I called out.  "Is this going to take long?  I kind of want to use the shower."

He turned, looked back at me curiously, and took off his cap, scratching his head.

"I think I'm going to have to take out the frame here, and put in a new one.  It'll take a while for the plaster to dry.  Maybe you'd better go someplace else."

I looked back at my mom, a bit upset.

"Your father and I were talking about checking into an inn," she offered.

"Oh no!  I don't have time.  I'm supposed to meet Miori in Tokyo at 6."

"You'll just have to go to a sentou," she shrugged.  Sentous are the public bath houses.  They are pretty common in Japan, although I guess they are less popular than they used to be.  I'd been to one once or twice when I was little, but not lately.  I'd gotten so used to having my own bath.

"OK, OK.  Where's the nearest one?"

"There's Shimizuyu and Well Heartopia near Zaimokuza beach.  Takinoyu went out of business."

I didn't have much time, so I ran back upstairs, and stuffed a change of clothes into my bag.  My mom gave me directions, and I bundled up in my winter coat and boots, and headed out.  Shimizuyu is south of the station and quite a long bus ride away from my house.  I guess it's not that far really; it just seemed like it because I was in a hurry.  The building was kind of older, Japanese style with white walls, grey tile roofing and a noren curtain over the entrance.  I slid open the door, took off my boots, and put them in a locker.  I went in the women's side, and just inside the door was the bandai, a raised counter where this older guy was sitting.  He had a white handkerchief tied on his head and a towel around his neck, and seemed quite at home sitting there in his t-shirt.  I guess it was pretty warm inside the bath house.  He must be the owner or something.

"Irasshai (=Welcome)," he smiled.  I was feeling a bit nervous, this being my first time and all, but he seemed harmless enough.  I handed him my four hundred yen, and he nodded for me to go in.  The room was kind of divided in two by a high bank of lockers running up the middle.  I peeked around the end, but there was no one there, no one in the change room at all.  I glanced back at the man, but he seemed to be reading the newspaper.  I didn't really want to change out here where he could see, so I walked around to the far side of the lockers.  Sun was shining in through the windows, and outside I could see some trees and the wall of the shop next door.  I could hardly believe how out in the open it all was.  Do women actually change here?  I guess no one is going to come down the alleyway between the two buildings, but still!

Anyway, I didn't have much time, so I stuffed my bag into one of the lockers, and hurried to undress.  I took off my coat, and put it in the locker.  It was hard to stay calm though knowing that that man was sitting just on the other side of the lockers.  Maybe he was used to the situation, but I certainly wasn't.  Still, I'd better hurry it up, if I want to make it to Tokyo on time.

I kicked off my shoes, and pulled down my jeans and panties.  I took off my socks next, but I was starting to feel a faint twinge of excitement from standing next to the window bottomless.  I stripped out of my sweater, blouse and bra, stuffed them in the locker, shut it, and pulled out the key.  Only then I suddenly realized I'd left my towel in my bag inside the locker.  Oh shoot!  I've got to stop doing this.  This is like the hundredth time.  I put the key back in the lock, but I'd couldn't get the locker to open.  I looked closer, and realized that the shoulder strap from my backpack had gotten caught in the lock.  I struggled with the door and key, and there was no handle or anything to grab onto.  I was starting to worry a bit because here I was stark naked, and I couldn't get to my clothes.  I slowly realized I'd probably have to ask the man at the desk to help.

I looked down at my naked body.  Because it was winter, I didn't have any tanlines or anything, but I really did look horribly indecent with my breasts sticking way out and my fluffy black pubic hair glistening in the bright light.  I tried to cover my body with my hands, but that looked just silly.  Anyway, I couldn't just stand here forever.  I peeked my head around the corner, and looked up at the man on the bandai.  He was still reading the newspaper, but he looked up when he saw me.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Um, I... uh... I can't get the locker open."

He squinted at me for a second almost as if he were annoyed, but soon set down his paper, pushed open the swinging door in the counter, and came over.  I bit my lip bracing to see his reaction when he realized I was naked.  He glanced down at my pussy briefly with a deadpan expression, but quickly turned to the locker.  I couldn't believe how calm he seemed.  Here I was, standing here stark naked next to man I didn't even know.  My whole body was starting to shake.  I felt like I was on fire.  I didn't know what to do, how to act.  I guess I really should have covered up, but for some reason, I thought that might seem even more strange, indecent somehow.  I could feel something on my leg, a bit of fluff, so I reached down, and brushed it off.

After a while though, I couldn't take it anymore.  I finally moved around behind him, as he reached up, and fiddled with the door.  He turned the key, and then pulled on the strap of my bag finally getting the door open.  He turned to face me, and scolded,

"You can't let things get caught in the door.  These are old lockers, and we get this problem a lot."

I nodded, and bowed an apology still feeling terribly embarrassed.  He squinted at me for a moment, and then disappeared back around the corner.  I let out a deep sigh of relief.  That was just so weird.  Still, I didn't have time to worry about that now.  I grabbed my towel, and hit the showers.  What am I doing?  To him, it seemed like no big deal, but the whole situation was making me crazy.  When I was done showering, I slipped into the pool, and started to calm down a bit.  By the time I'd gotten back dressed, I was more or less back to normal.  When I passed him, the man gave me a faint smile.  I guess he'd found the whole thing amusing too.

I didn't quite make it to Tokyo for six, but I ended up having a good visit with Miori anyway.  She was still on about coming to the States to see me sometime.

When I got back to the house that night, my parents were off at the hotel, so no one was home.  It felt strange to be home alone, a little bit scary.  The door to our bath had been torn right out, and there were buckets of plaster and tarps everywhere.  I kind of wanted to take a bath, so I phoned my mom, but she told me to wait till the work was all finished.  I reminded her that my friend Michiyo and my older sister Norika were coming to our house the next day, but she promised that the workman would be done by then.  I stayed up watching TV for a little bit, but there was nothing good on, so I ended up going to bed early.

The next morning, I woke up hearing the workman knocking on our door.  I was still in my nightie, but he just kept on knocking, so I went down, and let him in.  He looked a bit surprised when I answered the door, perhaps expecting my mom or someone.  I didn't have any make-up on, so I kind of shielded my face, and ran back upstairs.  Anyway, I don't have time to fool around.  I had to get ready, and go meet Michiyo.  I decided to just quickly wash my hair in the kitchen sink, and then head out to the sentou.  I tiptoed back downstairs, and peeked into the bath.  He had gone back outside to get his tools, so I grabbed my shampoo, a sponge and a towel.  I set them down next to the sink in the kitchen, and pulled the thin yellow curtain across the doorway leading to the bath.  I could hear him coming and going, but with the curtain shut, at least he wouldn't be able to see me.

I still felt nervous though, but I quickly washed, and rinsed my hair, and then started to sponge off my legs.  I wanted to sponge off my whole body, but I knew I shouldn't with the workman buzzing around.  I didn't like feeling all sticky though.  Staring over at the curtain, I lifted up my nightie, and sponged at my tummy and underarms.  He was right there, I could tell, just on the other side of the curtain, setting up his stuff.  Almost in a trance, I pulled down my panties, and nervously sponged between my legs.  I knew I was taking a terrible risk, but I just couldn't help myself.  I ended up pulling my panties right off and rubbing soap and water all over my secret places.

Suddenly, I heard my cellphone ringing.  Oh shoot.  It had to be Michiyo.  I'd better answer it.  I peeked through the curtain into the bath to make sure the workman was still there, and then ran around to the front hall to where my bag was.  I quickly bent over, and fished the phone out of my bag, but the workman had left the front door open.  I covered my pussy with my hand, but the breeze was driving me crazy.

"Hello, Michiyo.  Yeah, it's me."  I tiptoed over to the front door, and leaned out to grab the handle.  It was a beautiful morning out, bright, sunny and much warmer than the day before.  I didn't see anyone outside, so I paused for a moment enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my naked skin as I chatted with Michiyo.  The wind was blowing my nightie up all over the place, and I couldn't help laughing.  When I turned though, I suddenly realized the workman had come out into the hallway, and was staring down in shock at my bare behind.

"Emi, Emi!  What's wrong?" Michiyo asked.  My mind had froze.  I couldn't think how to explain what I was doing out here half naked in the open doorway.  I just stood there for the longest time, leaning forward, my legs spread, feeling tingles run up my spine as he stared on.  I slowly straightened back up, and opened my eyes wide blinking at him innocently wondering what he would do.  He seemed even more surprised than I was.  I eventually pulled the door shut, and my nightie settled back down almost covering my bare bottom.  I pulled the front of the nightie down to cover my pussy, and nervously edged past him scurrying back to the kitchen.  I stood there for a while my heart pounding in my chest, wondering what he was going to do.

"Emi, Emi.  Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine.  I just had to deal with the workman for a moment."  I took a deep breath, still wondering where he was.  "Anyway, I've got to get ready.  I may be a bit late.  I'll call you when I'm at the station, OK?"

Apparently, the workman had gone out to his van to get some more stuff, so I quickly finished sponging off, dashed up to my room, and got dressed.  I left the house in a terrible rush not bothering to say anything to him.  I sure hope he doesn't tell my parents about this.  I guess I've told you I've done things like this before, but rarely have I gotten caught at such close range.  That was a little too close.

Anyway, I caught the bus to the sentou, took off my boots, and dashed into the women's dressing room.  There were a lot more customers there than the day before.  There were two women there, naked, fresh from the bath, a couple of little girls already dressed, and another man (the real owner?) and his wife sweeping the floor.  I was more than a little shocked to see this guy wandering around in the change room while all these women were changing.  These two women in particular didn't seem too offended.  They were even kind of laughing because the guy was deliberately sweeping right next to them, I guess so he could get a better look at their naked bodies.  One of the women quickly pulled on a t-shirt, and wrapped a towel around her waist, but the other woman just stood there smiling, and letting him look at her bare bottom as she got her bra done up.  I was so surprised both by the nerve of this guy and by how calm they all were about the situation.  The two girls were just looking on a bit surprised, but the man's wife was laughing her head off.  Eventually, the guy let them be, and came back to the bandai, so I could pay.

There was another woman there, and she stripped right off standing right in front of the bandai.  I began to feel silly almost for how embarrassed I'd gotten the day before.  It really did seem to be no big deal.  I chose a locker on this side this time, right across from the bandai.  The wife had disappeared, but just as I was about to take off my panties, the bandai man came back in.  I hesitated for a moment waiting for him to take his seat, and then stripped naked.  I have to admit I felt a little thrill at my own daring.

I went into the baths, showered off, and took a quick dip in the pool.  There was another girl there around my age.  We finished, and came back out to the dressing room at the same time.  The guy kept coming in and out obviously trying to get a look at us while we toweled off, but the other girl didn't seem worried about him at all.  I could definitely feel him watching me, but I stretched up and arched my back giving him a little show.  I didn't have much time though, so I eventually got dressed, and headed out to meet Michiyo.

That night, Michiyo came back to our house with me.  The workman had finished installing the new door, but the plaster still wasn't dry.  My sister Norika was there too, and my parents offered to get us a room at their inn, but I suggested we just go to the sento instead.  I kind of wanted to show it to Michiyo and Norika anyway, and see what they made of it all.  I kept wondering if I was the only one who felt this way, so I wanted to see what they thought.

When we got there though, instead of one of the old men, there was a boy our age on the bandai.  It took me a second, but I soon realized he was one of the boys Michiyo and I used to go to high school with.

"Naoya, what are you doing here?" I asked, surprised to see him.  I hadn't seen him for years, since high school graduation.

"I'm just helping my parents out over the break," he smiled.  Thinking back, I vaguely remembered him saying that his parents ran a sentou.  I guess he even invited us here, a couple of times, although I doubt we ever went.  I always had the feeling that he had a crush on Michiyo or me, or perhaps the two of us.  He was a nice enough guy I guess, but I already had a boyfriend at the time, and Michiyo was more into this guy named Yuuji.

"Three?" he asked.  I nodded, and we each handed him our money.  Michiyo had gone all quiet all of a sudden, embarrassed I guess to run into Naoya here.  He motioned for us to go ahead, but Michiyo looked a bit hesitant.

"Did you know he'd be here?" Michiyo whispered.  I shook my head no.  There seemed to be a few women in the bath, but there was no one much in the change room.  Norika moved a bit further down, but still in view of the bandai, and started changing.  I guess she really didn't know Naoya that well, but Michiyo looked distinctly uncomfortable about the idea of getting undressed with him sitting right there watching us.  He was looking down at a magazine or something, trying his best to look like he didn't care.  I finally decided to just forget about him, and get undressed.  I took off my boots, pants and tights, but when I looked in my bag, I realized I'd forgotten to bring my towel again.

"Do you want a towel?" I asked Michiyo, and she nodded.  I strolled over to the counter, pulling my sweater down to cover my panties, and shyly asked Naoya,

"Um, do you think we could get two towels?"

He looked up, and glanced down at my bare legs, and then in the door at Michiyo and Norika.  Michiyo blushed, and held her slacks up to hide her panties.

"Oh, ye-ye-yeah.  Sure," he stammered, clearly a bit flustered himself.  Seeing Naoya again brought back a lot of memories from high school.  Now that I thought about it, Naoya had always been pretty nice to both Michiyo and me.

He brought back two towels, and handed them to me.  I smiled at him, and then scooted back to my locker.  I gave Michiyo her towel, and waited for Naoya to turn away.  He definitely took his time about sitting down.  Norika was kind of shielded by the two of us, so she just nonchalantly peeled off her top, and undid her bra.  I was the closest to the door, so I waited till he was definitely looking away, and finally pulled off my panties.

"This towel's kind of small, don't you think?" Michiyo said holding it up against her body.  "More like a washcloth than a towel."

Naoya overheard her, and looked up again.  I grabbed my own towel, and held it up to cover my bare bottom.  It was one thing to have those old men flitting around, and quite another to have Naoya stare right at me.  Norika was naked by then, and she calmly walked back to the bath, and went inside while Naoya stared at her sultry hips.  He eventually snapped out of it, and asked us,

"What's wrong?"

I glanced back at Michiyo, who looked really tense, and then I pulled the towel around to cover my pussy and walked over to show him.

"Do you have any bigger ones?" I asked my voice wavering from the embarrassment.  He stared at me for the longest time, and then finally said,

"Oh, yeah.  Let me just check."  He came right out into the women's change room, and rounded the corner into some kind of storage closet.  He must have stumbled or something because soon we heard this loud crash.

"Are you alright?" I asked, peering nervously over towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah.  I'm fine."

Michiyo came over, and tried to get me to put my panties back on, but I waved her away.  I guess I was getting a bit turned on by then, standing out here bottomless with Naoya so close by.  She tried to force me to take them, but I really wasn't interested.  Instead, I grabbed her panties, and tried to pull them down.

"Kyaaa!" she screamed.  That wouldn't have been so bad, but just then I saw three guys wander in way over on the other side of the bandai.  I was standing there with my bare bottom showing, so I quickly scurried back away from the counter.  Michiyo lightly hit me on the shoulder, but I told her to shush.  The guys seemed to be construction workers, young men, wearing hachimakis (headbands) on their heads.  Soon, Naoya came back, and took their money.  I could see this one guy edging over trying to peek in on us.  Eventually, they went inside, but we could still hear their voices.  Naoya turned back to me, and said,

"I can't seem to find the bigger towels.  I don't know where my mom put them."

"I see.  Um, that's OK, I guess," I replied.  Michiyo shot me this look, but what could we do?  He said he couldn't find them, so we'd have to make do with the small ones.  Eventually, he settled back into his seat.  Michiyo and I quickly finished undressing, and headed into the bath.

"What took you guys so long?" Norika asked.

"Michiyo wanted a bigger towel."

Norika laughed.  Michiyo looked liked she wanted to say something, but she ended up not.  We sat our bare bottoms down on the little plastic stools, and ran the water.

"Hey, it's cold," Michiyo complained.  Mine was too.  We looked over at Norika, who was already soaking in the pool.

"Mine was alright," she told us calmly.  We tried a couple more taps, but they all seemed to be for cold water.  Michiyo and I looked at each other.

"I'll go," I offered.

"But put something on," she called after me.  I slid open the glass door, and then looked back giving her a mischievous grin.  I was already getting naughty thoughts in my head.  I paused for a moment to get up my nerve, covered my pussy with the washcloth, and then bravely walked right up to the bandai, peering up shyly at Naoya.  He seemed kind of shocked to see me out here again virtually naked this time.

"A-a-all we're getting from the t-t-taps is c-c-cold water," I told him, my voice wavering even more.  He just sat there staring at my bare breasts and the washcloth I was covering my pussy with.  I felt so embarrassed, but exhilarated too I guess.  What a thrill it was to flash a guy I used to go to school with.  After a long silence, he finally came out, and went back into the storage room next to the entrance.

"I thought I'd turned all the water heaters on.  It must be one of these switches here somewhere," I could hear him saying.  I walked right over to the front entrance, and peered out.  There wasn't anyone in the entrance hall, and even the workers we saw earlier sounded like they'd gone into the baths on the guys side.  I was feeling so frisky standing out here in the buff.  I tiptoed out into the hall, and scurried over to the front door.  It sounded pretty quiet, so I carefully slid it open, and peeked out.  There was snow on the streets, but no sign of any cars.  That would be such a rush to nip outside into the street naked like this.  Unfortunately, I could hear Naoya coming back, so I quickly shut the door, and scooted back to the girls change room before he saw me.

"Everything seems alright there," he assured me.  "Are you sure you're turning the taps right?  There's kind of trick to it."

I stared up at him nervously, but I was starting to feel cold and more than a little embarrassed, so I backed up into the change room.  He asked,

"Do you mind if I come in, and show you?" he went on.  I just gaped at him, a bit taken aback at the question.  I was kind of excited though by then, so without really thinking about it, I finally nodded my head for him to come in.  I backed up out of his way, and let him go through.  I knew that Michiyo would probably flip out as soon as she saw him, but I couldn't help wondering how they all would react.  He rapped on the glazed glass door.

"Emi?" Michiyo called out nervously.

"It's Naoya.  Can I just show you how to turn on the hot water tap?"

She must have been so shocked.  All we could hear was silence.  He apparently took this as a yes, and carefully slid open the glass door, and went in.

"Excuse me for barging in like this," he said politely.  He was grinning from ear to ear so happy to finally get a chance to see the three of us naked.  Norika was well hidden in the bath, but Michiyo was standing right there covering her pussy with her washcloth, her cheeks a bright shade of pink.

"Sorry, this'll just take a second."  He rotated this big steel dial on one of the faucets, and then turned the handle.  "There.  That's hotter, isn't it?"

Michiyo looked like she was about to faint.  I finally sat my bare bottom down on one of the stools, and turned the dial the way he had done.

"Oh, I see now," I said, smiling up at him.  He looked pleased as punch to be of service.  Norika cradled her head on her hands at the edge of the tub, and asked him,

"Do you often come into the girls' side?"

"To clean it when there's no one here.  Usually girls don't like it if I come right in."

Michiyo sat back down on one of the stools, turning her back to him trying to hide her embarrassment.  He glanced back and forth from her to me, obviously thrilled to no end to see us naked.

"So were you guys in the same class?" Norika asked.

"Yeah, I guess we were," he said sitting down on the tub ledge next to Norika.  He was staring right at Michiyo, craning his head around to peek at her pussy.

"Here, why don't you get him to scrub your backs?" Norika suggested, obviously enjoying teasing us.  Naoya grinned, but I quickly vetoed that idea.

"Um no thanks.  Michiyo and I aren't really used to bathing with guys, are we?"  I touched her shoulder, but she looked over at me with this fire blazing in her eyes.  I've never seen her like this before.  I couldn't tell for sure if it was embarrassment or excitement or what, but anyway, she definitely looked pretty worked up about something.  Naoya too was clearly getting more and more excited.

"Um, I was thinking... now that Emi's back maybe we should organize some kind of reunion you know for people from our class."

It was a good idea, but by then, even I was beginning to feel uncomfortable sitting here letting him stare at us naked.

"OK, OK.  Can we talk about that later?"

"Um, yeah, OK," he said finally getting up.  He took one last lingering look at Michiyo and me, and then walked back to the door.  "Have a nice bath," he waved cheerily, leaving.  We finally showered off, and got in the bath with Norika.  Michiyo looked mortified, and I felt pretty strange myself.  Norika was just sitting there looking amused.

"He looked pretty happy to see you two," she joked.  I just rolled my eyes.  When we were done, I went to the glass door, and peeked out to see if Naoya was watching.  Luckily, he seemed to be talking to some customers on the other side, so we all dashed out, and quickly got dressed.  On our way out, he asked,

"Can I get you guys phone numbers?  I'll phone up Morisawa and Yuuji and them and see what they're doing."  Morisawa was another classmate who kind of hung around with us, and Yuuji was the guy that Michiyo liked.  I hadn't seen either of them for ages.  I wrote down my phone number on his pad, and Michiyo eventually wrote hers too.

"OK, I'll give you a call," he smiled.  We said goodbye, and left.  Norika had this catlike smile the whole way home.

"What?" I asked.

"No, it's just you two seem pretty popular."

I laughed, but Mitsuyo just smiled weakly.

More next time.  Take care.

Emi Tsuruta
My web site:
http://www.asstr.org/~emitsuruta/
