Chapter 22

**Chapter 22** is titled "Hot Springs".

## Summary

### Part 1

The Reito Group arrives at a hot spring inn near the sea and Sui is excited. Rea says there is a group of students on a trip so they will make their reservation after them. Akane says she heard they will have spiny lobsters to eat, and Sui wants to play ping pong, but Maria suggests to go to the hot spring. Rea becomes angry and says they are not there to play. Reito then looks out at the sea and says it is pretty. Akane thinks it is too bad Mahiru could not join them, and Reito agrees. However, Rea asks if they realized they would not allow outsiders to travel with them. Akane asks if it is her job to create an environment where Reito can relax, but Rea says her job is to manage Reito's everyday life and help him with his virus research as much as possible. Akane realizes the two have a difference of opinion when Rea is hit with a towel in the face because of Maria and Sui playing around. Akane decides to join them, and Rea becomes more angry after getting hit again and wonders if they would get a grip.

In the bath, Reito says he wanted to use the open air bath but he was told by Rea to use the private bath for security reasons. Suddenly, Reito realizes he is in a holographic open air bath. Immediately, the other members of the Reito Group arrive to take a bath. Reito questions why they joined but Akane wonders why not because people did not think of baths as male or female-only. Reito then wants to get out of the bath but Akane stops him by grabbing his wrist and says as a token of gratitude for helping them, she offers to wash his back. However, Reito declines and says they always help him, so Akane did not mind asking Reito to wash their backs for always helping them. While washing Sui's back, Sui is pleased with getting her back washed by Reito. Maria is next to get her back washed. Reito begins to use the sprayer on Maria but she freaks out because it is hot so she decided to do the rest on her own. Mira is next to get her back washed by Reito. While washing her back, Reito thinks of her back as lovely. Akane asks Rea if she wanted her back washed by him, but she declines. Akane is the last to get her back washed, but she asks for Reito to use his hands because she has sensitive skin.

### Part 2

Reito begins washing Akane's back, and she is pleased by his performance. Reito says it is time to rinse, but Akane wants him to wash under her arms and her sides. She also wants him to wash her legs and then tells him to wash every nook and cranny carefully. To finish it, Akane grabs Reito's arms for him to wash her breasts and genitalia. Reito then quickly runs away and tells her to wash the rest by herself. Akane becomes disappointed and says they were almost done. Later at Keimon City Central Hospital, Reito, Rea, and Maria visit Taniguchi. Rea greets Taniguchi and informs her who they are but the elderly woman says she already knows. Rea then tells her she are there to inquire about her deceased husband, but Taniguchi says she is certain she already told them everything about him. This leads Maria to believe she is unwilling to talk about him.

Taniguchi then turns to Reito and tells him she saw his interview and thinks his cure development is impressive, but it has nothing to do with her because if he manages to make a cure, her husband would not return. Rea pleads for more information about what her husband did before he was infected by the virus, but Taniguchi becomes angry and says they defiled his body. Maria explains it is called pathological autopsy and it is meant to investigate the cause of the infection, but the woman is uninterested and says her husband had a hatred towards doctors. Taniguchi starts coughing, so Rea approaches her but Taniguchi slaps her hand and tells her not to touch her. Reito asks what they can do to get her to help them, so Taniguchi requests for a hug, only to be kidding and demands them to leave.

In the hallway, Maria says infected persons appeared simultaneously all over the world by the MK Virus. She continues to say there are theories that it is an act of biological terrorism by an organization or dictatorship, theories that it is a natural phenomenon, and theories the Earth is purging mankind but the origin of the virus is unclear. However, she says the husband of Taniguchi was the first person confirmed in Japan to be infected. She mentions that if he hated technology so much to not have a GPS, he did not have a digital diary. Maria wonders what he did prior to the outbreak to be able to pinpoint the source of the virus. Rea speculates since she has a strong distrust towards UW, the past government must have been overly coercive towards her. In Taniguchi's room, she contacts Elisa and tells her beloved visited and asks if she wants to meet him soon.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

### Part 1

* Sui Yamada
* Reito Mizuhara
* Akane Ryuzoji
* Mira Suou
* Maria Kuroda
* Rea Katagiri

### Part 2

* Akane Ryuzoji
* Reito Mizuhara
* Rea Katagiri
* Maria Kuroda
* Mira Suou
* Sui Yamada
* Taniguchi
* Elisa Tachibana