“KYA!!! KYA!!!” Hanami’s blade swished aside, creating a refreshing gust that blew along her side. She eyed the robotic kendoka’s stance and stepped into close range. “KAIZEN!” Her empowering scream added strength to her swift strike. The attack knocked the robotic kendoka back several feet as the next two robots passed it, headed towards her from both sides.

 

Running over to the nearest robot, she quickly struck the side of its knees, leading it to nearly stagger off balance, granting her the opportunity she needed. Hanami stepped onto its head as it looked up, knocking it down, and she gracefully backflipped back onto the ground. The other one moved in, only for the girl to block its downward thrust in time and look around. “I’m actually breaking a sweat here!”

 

There were three around her now, with others rushing into position. “Think Hanami… think!” Allowing the weight of the struggling kendo bot to come down, she rolled sideways and whipped her blade across the side of its head, disabling it as the others closed in. She zoomed in, striking them all down while evading smoothly like an ice skater in a rink. One of the grey robots that stood at about 5’10 swung its blade down towards Hanami’s left hip. She blocked it and forced the robot’s blade to rise up, and as it did, she spun below and struck the robot’s thigh, causing the robot to buckle. Hanami backed up as the second robot advanced towards her, attempting to jab at her. A third robot joined in. Both forced her to move back to avoid their attempted jabs. 

 

“Hauuuu!” Hanami said loudly, her voice gradually lowering. She focused on the angle that the two blades came from when she was pinned up against a wall and knelt down to swing her blade downwards to halt the one on the right, and jumped up and set her feet against the wall. Boosting off of the wall, she went above the robot, striking it directly at the top of the head. “Maybe I ought to increase their speed!” She thought as she managed to roll into a smooth landing right behind the second one.

 

Hanami swirled the kendo blade along her forearm to confuse the robot, as its eyes moved around trying to track the tip of the kendo blade. The blade spun around too fast and before it could track the tip, the blade whipped down, with the tip striking the robot straight down from the forehead to its nose. With the bot stunned, Hanami slid her feet over and took a single step up, delivering a second strike that made the robot drop back. Now there was only one left, but it was already behind her. 

 

She lifted her kendo blade up and blocked the robot’s blade, but fell on her back as the robotic kendoka jabbed the blade down towards her. Hanami moved her head side to side, avoiding the strikes, and as her neck started getting tired, she tapped the tip of the bot’s blade, causing it to rise high over its head. She used that instance to lunge forward and roll onto her feet, leading the robot to slam the kendo blade onto the ground, making a strong striking sound. The sound echoed around, giving Hanami jitters throughout her body as she rose and dashed in to finish the last kendo bot off.

 

The strike landed right across the bot’s face where it had the button. “KAIZEN!” She whipped her arms back and brought the blade back to its face for a second time. The amplified force pushed it further, smashing the kendo bot over straight to the ground. Hanami took a single hop step backwards and maintained her stance until it was clear it wasn’t moving. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. After four seconds, she exhaled, relieving her shoulders. 

 

She turned away and walked over to the boxes where she had set her towel and grabbed it, setting it around her shoulders after placing her kendo blade down. “Whew, that was great! June must have really known I’d gotten much stronger to not want to face me in kendo,” she told herself and exited out of the room. As she left, she was met with her reflection on the window straight ahead in the hallway. Taking a glance, she recalled when she’d been stuck in a cell, with tattered clothes. Now she was slightly different than that and it’d only been a day. She turned away and walked over to the third floor staircase. When Hanami set her hands on the armrest, she glanced down and saw maids crossing the lobby.

 

 

 

“Lord Hachi is nearing his return!” 

 

“Run! No panicking! Prepare the foyer properly!” 

 

“Put that over there, quickly!”

 

“He’s bound to fire us all with that sort of dusting! Airi!” 

  

Hanami heard the maids preparing for Takumi’s return. They all seemed scared, all unwilling to be the first to greet him home. They all played rock-paper-scissors as they waited. She slumped down, pressing her cheek to her forearm as she watched. 

 

The maids played on until Miranda came around, asking, “What in the world are you girls doing?” To her dismay, they all bombarded her with the same answer that came down to none of them being able to greet Takumi. “Fine, I’ll do it again,” she said, as all of them quickly surrounded her with a group hug. 

 

Twenty seconds later, they all saw the front door open, prompting them to all get into position. Takumi arrived home. He rubbed his neck in annoyance as he stepped into the entrance. He slid his shoes off in front of Miranda, who presented him with some fuzzy bat slippers.

“Welcome home, young master!” the five ninja maids said in unison in front of the other maids, bowing down before him. Takumi stared at them blankly. “Thanks,” he replied. Just as he did, he caught a particular scent he was familiar with… one that ticked him off and made him feel uncomfortable. Initially, he swatted the memories attempting to get into his head, but went on to follow the scent anyway. He followed this scent straight into the lobby, shifting his sight over to the upper staircase. The strong scent of cherries stained his nose. The darkened staircase was lit by a passing orb which stopped beside that certain someone, revealing Hanami, who sheepishly watched him. 

 

“Awww… those adorable slippers suit big bad Taki. Your feet are the cutest thing about you now, yohoho,” her voice echoed down through the lobby. Some of the maids did their best to not laugh as it almost flew out of their mouths. For once, someone said the thought they’d all had. Takumi looked down to the slippers and automatically kicked them aside in response to what she said. His cheeks shifted to a faint pink as a sense of embarrassment filled him up. Hanami couldn’t help but laugh at him, completely having forgotten what occurred earlier in the day in Miyumi’s office.

 

“Sir, you don’t want your slippers?” Miranda asked, concerned when he had kicked off his favorite slippers. She stood up and hunched over, retrieving them. Takumi shook his head when Miranda raised them up for him to take. 

 

“Mira, put those silly things away right now. I told you to keep those in my room!” Takumi whispered down to her in a grouchy tone, as his eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. Her blank eyes went down to his favorite slippers and back up to him. “What’s with this strange behavior?” she wondered. Curious, she went on and asked. “Silly? But you really love your slippers.” 

 

“I do, but that damn Hasegawa is here. Use your head, Mira!” Takumi spouted in return, facepalming himself. He moved over and plopped down beside Miranda to remove his socks. He slipped one of his socks off and tossed it at one of the maids on standby. She didn’t dare move as part of the wet sock had landed in her mouth. She remained frozen like the other maids that kept their mouths open, as they each held in the internal desire to shriek. Takumi passed by them all, not paying them the slightest attention. They remained still as if he were a t-rex passing by. 

 

Miranda held the slippers out, and ran around him, holding them out to him at different angles. She raised them up towards Takumi’s face. Takumi stepped aside and passed her, avoiding eye contact with Hanami, who watched him walk off, only for him to stop momentarily. He removed his other sock and handed it to one of the maids that had followed behind him as he crossed the lobby barefoot and passed the staircase beside the one that led to the upper floors.

 

He didn’t dare turn his head up to his fiancee at all. He knew he was being watched and laughed at. She was even now sticking her tongue out at him, until he disappeared out of her line of sight. “What the heck is his problem? Can’t be mad because I saw his big boy slippers. Maybe I can use that against him some time. Oh this is good, really good!” she told herself, giggling even more. She skipped off, now in an even better mood. 

 

“I ought to rip off that b*tches hair,” Takumi thought to himself. 

 

All of the maids let out a deep breath once Takumi wasn’t visible anymore. Miranda proceeded to turn the corner and saw him remove his coat. “So, you’re really ditching your slippers? Should I throw them away?” she asked him, as he opened a closet door.

 

“Miranda, Miranda… you’re having a hard time using your head today, eh?” He sighed. “Give me that.” Taking the slippers, Takumi flung them into the closet, growling under his breath. He went on to hang his coat onto one of the rackets and slammed the door shut. 

 

“Okay, attitude. You’re not having dinner either?” Miranda stared at him. 

 

“Nah, I’m going off to the hot spring to cool down. Been a long day, sorry.” Takumi placed his hand on Miranda’s head, then peered out through the glassdoor. The path seemed muddy, and he could also see the bamboo path he’d be taking in a moment. “Have honey rolls delivered to my room,” he told Miranda and slid into the closet again. As soon as he threw the coat in, he stood up, with the intention of washing them himself rather than having the maids do it. All the while Miranda remained on standby, her expression shifted to a silent squint.

 

“That’s not a balanced meal, master,” Miranda uttered, hearing him instantly spout, “I told you a thousand times, don’t tell me what I can and can’t eat, Mira! Have the meal delivered to my room. I don’t want any more run-ins with that brat tonight.” The door swung open soon after Takumi adjusted his robe.

 

Before passing Miranda, he hunched in close and tapped her lips twice with his index fingers, a signal established between them. The other maids ogled at the sight of this while Miranda simply answered in her mind, “As you wish M’lord…”

 

With her agreeing, Takumi went off to the glass door. He tapped his palm against the door’s pad and stepped onto the stone path that had a series of leaves and boulders scattered up ahead. “One of you come out here and clean this,” Takumi telepathically told the maids that were inside and gracefully avoided the mess as he walked off. 

 

He got onto the grassy spots and went through the purple bamboo path. Each bamboo seemed to radiate a soft purple glow, complementing the night sky overhead. Lanterns illuminated the path, hovering beside the thousands of bamboo trees. It displayed the natural scenery that Takumi adored. “Finally, peace,” he thought to himself.

 

With a deep breath, he adjusted his bathrobe and looked up at the clear night sky. “Mmm… what a day,” he reflected on the atrocious weather he had just left behind. From it being sunny to rainy. It was an issue that still had to be fixed: the Census system that shifted the weather to keep the city clean and the upper sectors afloat. 

 

“That’s something… the elders can handle it. Got my own share of problems as is.” Takumi jumped down some steps, his thoughts going off to basketball; despite the fact he got to play, he hadn’t completed his mission of finding the captain. To make matters worse, it didn’t seem like he’d be able to practice either.

“There’s no way I can focus on balling tonight with that brat around. Gotta talk to Yuuichi myself tomorrow and figure out where Katsuya is.” Takumi’s eyes glowed in the darkness. He picked up his pace, gripping the wooden bin under his arm tightly. He felt himself slip into slight desperation over the current situation. “Taro is overseas already… and I’m stuck here.” He stepped forward and swiftly jumped up onto a boulder, as dozens of gleaming lanterns floated around. 

 

“At this pace, I’ll never catch up to Taro… he’ll figure out grandfather’s reasoning first.” Takumi dropped off of the boulder and swiftly cleared a hill of boulders in a matter of seconds, dashing off into the bamboo forest at the top. He continued through, following the arrows that pointed in the direction of the hot spring bath house. The running gave him flashbacks of sunlight hitting his eyes, as two figures swiped their hands down towards him and the next thing he saw was the ground. In the memory, he felt the air escaping his lungs. 

 

He felt an intense sensation on his knees, as if they were being scorched. He rolled onto his back with blood messing his eyesight. “Pathetic loser,” a certain someone said. “Can’t believe this is the kid that wants to take on Taro.” That individual stood over him with a smug glare that angered Takumi. In the distance, a maid posted at the entrance of the hot spring spotted a number of bamboo trees tumbling over. Anyone would think it was a raging gorilla tearing them out of the ground. Those glowing purple eyes soon lunged out, revealing it to be Takumi himself.

 

Takumi let out a low growl, snapping out of the vision. He felt his left sandals slip off as his foot plunged into the see-through water that streamed in front of the bath house. He briefly stared at his rippling reflection. The water only went up to his ankle. Taking a look ahead, he didn’t bother going for them since he already felt mucky underwater grass brushing against his feet, only upsetting him more as he silently stepped toward.

 

“Th-The pay is good…” the maid said, nervously maintaining a curved smile as her knees trembled. The small maid stood near a small bridge that led to the grassy flat ground. Trees rose up high and curled, closing visibility of the sky around the bath house, and surrounded the front of the place like blankets. If it weren’t for the orbs carved into the trees, the whole space would be pitch black.

 

“Hello sir, welcome b--ba-back,” she stuttered, feeling a lump form in her small throat. Takumi stepped onto the gravel that was under the water. Some swept aside as he kicked rocks around, stomping his way through. “LALI, HE’S UPSET!” She internally squealed, unsure of what to do. “Out of everyone they posted me here… the smallest one,” Lali whined. “Here he comes… act normal, ACT NORMAL! GAHHHH!! HE CUT A PATH RIGHT THROUGH THE WATER!”

 

Takumi didn’t bother taking the small wooden bridge that led to the area. The water splashed about with each step, brushing along his ankles and wetting the lower portion of his robe. The little maid quivered and brought the bucket of soap up. She held it out in front of herself to the best of her ability. The look in his eyes terrified her to the point that she turned her head away in fear. That is, until she felt the weight of the heavy bucket disappear after ten seconds. Takumi snatched it from her, going straight in. She turned around and only saw the red curtains flapping about. 

 

“I… I survived.” She dropped to her knees, clenching the grass that brushed between her fingers. “It’s a miracle!” She celebrated happily, smiling in delight. Her moment of ease was short-lived though, as her ears picked up the sound of moving curtains. Takumi stepped back outside. Right as she looked over, she was hit with a fish shaped soap right against her forehead. She dropped back, as her hands twitched. Takumi walked straight to her, lifted her up by her collar. “You had one job.” 

 

“S-Sorry!” She flinched, placing her hand on his wrist, but found he shoved another soap bar in her mouth to stop her from speaking. She spit it out at a moment’s notice, only for Takumi to wrap his fingers around her small neck, lifting her up higher. 

 

“OH, MASTER TAKUMI! Please, be gentle… my eyes might pop out.” Lali slightly salivated, feeling Takumi’s grip on her neck strengthen, but then… her expression became one of sheer pleasure.

“What the hell? F*cking slut.” Takumi freaked out and flung her into the flowing water that passed around the grassy mush they were on. The disruption of the water flow caused golden orbs of light to float out under the waves until they were caught by the dense trees that blocked visibility of the night sky over them. Being small, she flopped around in the water, screaming. She felt like she was drowning until she realized the water wasn’t too high. She stood up, drenched.

 

“Where are the towels?” she heard Takumi growl, as she saw a menacing vibe rising around him.

 

“You’re asking me?” she said, dumbfounded, in shivers. 

 

“You’re the one who’s posted here!” Takumi’s patience decreased drastically. 

 

“Ah! T-They’re inside! I FORGOT TO BRING THEM!” Lali clawed her hands into her hair, remembering that she had folded towels into a bin, but left the bin inside. 

 

“Okay… you’re fired. I better not see you again,” she heard Takumi say, causing her to break into uncontrollable sobs almost right away. He heard crying, but continued into the hot spring. “The more I fire, the more trash they bring in.” Stepping in, Takumi brushed aside the curtain that had the kanji for “life” on it. Outside, Miranda swooped down beside Lali, having followed Takumi under Alto’s orders. She rubbed Lali’s back. “Mira! I got fired! I’m done for!” Lali buried her face into Miranda’s breasts, unsure of what she’d do since she had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t return home to her clan with such disgraceful news. 

 

“No, you aren't. As usual, he won’t even recognize you the next time he sees you. Go to the maid’s quarters. Maira is switching out with you for now, let her know,” Miranda assured the young Setsu, rubbing the back of her head.

 

 

 

Inside, the fog spread past Takumi’s knees, exiting briefly until the curtains pulled themselves back into place thanks to the magnetic hooks at the top, and a magnet with the opposite force at the end of the hidden pole. Takumi walked through the hall, making sure not to go too fast to avoid slipping on the moist wooden floorboards. He made it halfway down the hall and stopped, taking a look at the sign with an arrow that indicated it was the men’s hot spring area. He slid the curtain aside and entered, passing over the bedrock. Just as he had entered, a robotic cleaner slid a cart in front of the “men’s” sign outside and wandered off. 

 

Takumi stopped in front of the green water that had a school of koi fish near the area he was just about to enter through. When he stepped in, the fish spread away, avoiding him. Takumi untied the robe and slid it off, setting it on top of a stool that was nearby. The foggy mist cleared as June opened his eyes and Takumi turned to face him. June’s eyes narrowed down and his pale cheeks shifted to a bright pink.

 

An awkward five seconds passed without a single word between the two. June didn’t avert his eyes, as he was frozen in shock. A nearby log tilted over, slapping against a boulder. The sound echoed through. Without saying anything, Takumi turned away and made his way into the hot spring with the basket. He passed by June and went over to an area beside a boulder and slid down, sinking into the water as mist swayed along the surface. 

 

He closed his eyes in meditation, and listened to the water brushing up along his jaw when he lowered down until the water went over his upper lip. He was submerged in his thoughts… at least for a few seconds. At the other end, June grabbed an empty bucket and plunged it into the water, creating a sound that Takumi could clearly hear. Takumi heard June mumble while shaking until he got it together. 

 

“Um…”

 

Takumi didn’t open his eyes, as he tried getting into a zen state, focusing more on the warm water which was relaxing the muscles along his lower back and shoulder. His ears plunged into the water a number of times when he drew closer to losing focus. 

 

“Tachi…” June began. 

 

“Psst- Tachi.” 

 

“Tachi… um…” 

 

“Don’t call me that, mustard face,” Takumi responded back. June briefly coughed and thought of his head being a yellow mustard bottle, but brushed it off. 

 

“Sorry about earlier. I got caught in my feelings, since she’s my cousin. I didn’t mean to almost fight you.” June observed the water swaying on his palm, the reflection of his eye visible. “Had to follow Miyumi’s orders after all… and the orders were to bring you back.” Takumi remained in place. “You understand, right? Upholding one’s duties…” June ran his wet hand back through his soft blonde hair, causing it to spike upwards as he waited for Takumi to say something. 

 

With no indication that Takumi was going to answer back, June went on with his ranting, further destroying the tranquility Takumi expected to have that night. “Then, the stuff at the offi-” Just before June could go any further, Takumi opened his eyes and lifted his head out of the water. He looked over to June, causing him to become silent, as he watched Takumi lean back.

 

“Shut up already,” Takumi growled, fed up with the yapping. “Prick’s acting like we’re friends or somethin’. Apologizing for what?”

 

June sank into the water, blowing bubbles out of his mouth and then rose back up. He stood above the water, explaining, “I was just trying to apologize!” Takumi didn’t reply, and instead turned his back to June, sliding back against the boulder. June scoffed, “This guy…”

 

Takumi formed a smirk. “What’s so funny?” June inquired. 

 

Takumi replied, “I mean, I don’t blame you.”

 

June scratched the ridge of his ear. “Huh?”

 

Takumi shrugged and explained, “Seeing someone like me hold the girl you like in my arms… of course you’d be upset.”

 

“M-Me… like her?!”

 

“As a cousin, I mean… right?” Takumi smirked again. “Too bad for you… I own her. She’s my property.” Takumi looked over his shoulder with his signature glare.

“You took it there again… she doesn’t belong to you!”

 

“She doesn’t? Maybe I’ll see if that’s true later tonight. At… her chamber,” Takumi sent a smirk his way. 

 

“Tachi!” 

 

June stood up and raised his fist, upset by the way Takumi spoke of Hanami. He was going to jump over and punch him. “As if I’ll allow that! If you so much a-” Before he could finish, they heard a familiar voice. 

 

“Ooo, it’s warm and cozy in here! My shoulders are so tense! Am I the only one here? It’s so huge! I’m in a fluffy cloud!”

 

Takumi and June both looked at each other with widened eyes. 

 

“Bath time, bath time, I worked up a sweat, so I have to bathe and get splashidy wet! I’ma find a rubber ducky, to pet, pet, pet.”

 

“Aw, f*ck me…” Takumi internally told himself, squinting his eyes. He knew all too well who that was. Curtains could be heard being moved aside as a feminine silhouette became clearer through the fog. June turned around completely… without a towel.

 

“Great! There are other girls here to keep me company.” Hanami had heard water swaying when she had entered the hot spring. She held her towel tightly wrapped around herself and opened her eyes, only to freeze up completely. At the sight of a naked Takumi and June. Without a single word, she turned away as June tried to reach out and say something. 

 

“HHhaba-Hkkah!” 

 

Strands of her hair popped up. “He’s not the same boy from years back,” she internally told herself, processing what she had seen. “A-And… T-Ta-” Tilting her head slightly, her pale face shifted to a bright pink.

 

Takumi noted how June was looking at Hanami: he was frozen with his jaw dropped, as if he’d died. Takumi grabbed a nearby empty wooden bucket that floated around and chucked it at the back of June’s head. With a “CLACK!”, June dropped face first into the water, knocked out by the sudden strike. Hanami took in a long breath as Takumi slid his fingers to his ears.

 

“EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!!!” The girl screamed at the top of her lungs, as Takumi sighed.

 

She lifted the bucket that she had grabbed before entering the spring, and with all her strength, she pelted it at Takumi, who slapped it aside. Hanami stormed out, entering the women’s bathhouse and made her way over to the hot spring, looking up to the rock formation that kept both sides apart. 

 

A nerve sprouted across the side of Takumi’s head. “Tch, just my luck. She just had to come in here…” Takumi looked around and spotted his bucket. Grabbing it, he carried the bucket of green soaps out of the hot spring and made his way towards the rocky wall. “Wait… if I do this, it’ll just spark a bigger issue,” he told himself, dropping the bucket down. With this in mind, Takumi turned away and waddled like a penguin, making sure not to slip. He sat down on the stool and planned to just scrub his back. Suddenly, he heard Hanami screaming. 

 

“PERVERTS, PERVERTS, PERVERTS!!!” She screamed much louder each time, repeating it out and over. Each scream brought him closer to his breaking point. “YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU MADE ME SEE!” She chucked a second bucket over the wall. The bucket hit June in the face just as he had come out of the water, and he fell right back into the water, as Takumi called out in response, “If anyone’s the pervert, it’s you… walking into the men’s side!”

 

“WHAT?!” Hanami shouted back.

 

Takumi called out, “I said, you’re the pervert for walking into the men’s side, stupid b*tch!”

 

She responded, “THERE WAS NO SIGN! CALL ME THAT AGAIN AND I’LL GO BACK IN THERE!” She paused. “EVEN THOUGH I DON’T WANNA! D-Don’t force me to!” She blurted out, flustered. 

 

Takumi stood up and walked back towards the bucket. As he did, he saw a bar of soap soar overhead. It came down towards him, but he tilted his upper body, successfully avoiding it as it slid around. Takumi then swung loads of soap over the rocky formation. The soap bars plunged into the hot spring Hanami was in, splashing the water against her as she tried to defend herself by flailing her arms around. In the process, her towel nearly came off, as five of the soaps struck the top of her head repeatedly. “OWWWW!!!” she yelped, slipping into the water. Bubbles blew out all around her as she dove down, moving some of the flowing grass under the water before coming back up.

 

“Takumi!” she yelled out as she heard him laugh. Another bar of soap splashed right in front of her, forcing her to rub her eyes. Some of the soap had gotten in, causing her to move down and try to wash the soap from her eye with the water. “I’ve been hit!” she yelled. After three splashes, she clenched her eyes and reached around until she felt the handle of her bucket. “I’VE GOT ONE FOR YOU!” She adjusted her eyesight and shot out of the water, latching onto the rock formation.

 

“You ruined my relaxation time!” she cried across the wall. Takumi on the other end yelled back, “You messed mine up first, and paid for it! Stand down, squirt!”

 

“Like hell I will, TAKUMI!!!!!” Hanami squeaked in return. She looked back down to another bucket of soaps on her side. She dove back into the hot spring and swam over to retrieve them. Takumi heard the splash and figured she had slipped. He laughed under his breath a bit with a smirk and asked, “Did you just slip on your incompetence!?” She didn’t respond, wearing a devious grin while swimming over to the edge of the hot spring. She picked up her bucket full of soap and returned to the rock wall.

The girl got onto it and climbed to the top with the bucket in hand. Not hearing anything, but noticing that her cherry scent was growing stronger, Takumi looked up to the top of the rock wall where she poked her head out, and he met the devious look she had on her face.

 

“Hanami …” 

 

“Don’t call me by my real name!” she hissed, setting the bucket, and started to chuck soaps towards him, adjusting her knees on the solid bedding. Takumi stepped over and was forced to press himself against the rock wall in order to avoid the soaps. He knelt down to reach one, but pressed himself harder against the rock when he saw that she wasn’t only throwing soaps anymore. She had thrown a large rock that struck June on the head just when he got back up…  causing him to fall back yet again into the mist that made the floor borderline invisible. Takumi managed to grab two soaps and decided to take the risk. He counted, “1... 2!”, and slid over and looked up to the top. He aimed and chucked the two soaps. 

 

“HA! Not hitting me with those!” Hanami dodged both of the soaps, but lost her footing when the unexpected third soap rushed up, nearly hitting her nose. The girl had leaned back and almost fell, but as she forced herself forward, she lost her foot and slipped down, letting out an alarming scream that forced Takumi to quickly slide over and catch her in time. Upon catching her though, Takumi slipped over one of the soaps that she had tossed earlier. 

 

“WWWAAHHH!” she squealed as they tumbled over. Hanami felt him press up against her, his cheek was pressed against hers. Groaning, she reached up, feeling his chest as his hands were gripping her thighs. 

 

“Ge-Get off,” she told him, moving around, as her breasts smothered him until he pulled back. Squinting his eyes, he pushed her off as she grasped his shoulder so she wouldn’t slip when she tried getting up, too. This action wound up making Takumi slip forward, so he landed on top of her once again. When they opened their eyes, they were face-to-face.

 

She glanced at his upper lip. “T-Ta…” Her heartbeat accelerated, as she was taking in the structure of his upper body. Takumi maintained his palm over her head and pulled up a bit. His manhood was pressed up against her inner thigh, as her towel was up slightly.

 

“I never noticed…” She took in his well-built body and couldn’t help but stare at his shoulder blades. His positioning cast a shadow over her as their eyes met once more upon glancing at each other. “His eyes… they aren’t like his typical expressionless eyes,” her lips parted briefly. “They actually… have life in them.” A gleaming light twinkled past his left side.

 

Takumi was studying her as well, glancing at her lip and back to her eyes. Hanami did the same and fumes spread out of her ears. “Hasegawa,” her name rolled out of his mouth, echoing smoothly in her head. “She actually seems cute… when she’s actually quiet,” he thought to himself. 

 

“Y-Yeah?” she responded back, unable to move under his hypnotizing gaze. His hands smoothly moved across her thighs, making her tense up at first, but she soon relaxed when he set his hand over her head once more and his other hand beside her hand, making her blush further when she felt his hand tap hers. All was quiet in the hot spring, aside from the sound of the steaming water that was simmering as it was coming down from a log.

 

Takumi glanced at the side of her neck, and without saying another word, he went down… his instinct overriding his logic. All he wanted was to take a nibble at her neck. Seeing the water glide across her pale skin only made it harder to resist, as the throbbing became stronger.