"You pay the water bill then," Yuna grumbled as she sat down on the stool next to Ayumi. "To be clear."
"Come on... so many people will live here by then."
Mizuki sat on the other side of Ayumi, while Nisha sat down next to her friend. She leaned forward and watched the other women wash themselves before she copied their moves. "Then the move is decided?" the guitarist asked, loosened the hair clip and lay it on the floor in front of her.
"Sure."
The blue-haired girl squinted. "No!"
"Blue..."
"Okay. You are not yet in agreement. Excuse the question." Laughing, the oldest high-school student lifted her wooden bowl and tipped a load of water over her head, then refilled it. "Good temperature."
Next to her, the hostess did the same and then grabbed a bottle of shampoo. "Did Kanade-san know we were coming?"
Yuna snorted. "Judging by how you behave all the time, he probably expected us."
"The man is good at his job. Hire him."
"Shut your mouth."
The other high-school students laughed while shampooing their hair. "Wouldn't it be super-cool to have a butler? At best one like Walter from Hellsing," said the violet-haired girl.
"He was a traitor."
"He was a badass. Kanade-san will then keep you save from all the bad guys." Nisha frowned critically, nudged the girl next to her with her elbow and gave her a questioning look that was answered with a shake of the head.
"The only thing he has to keep away from me is this scrounger next to me."
"I love you too, dear sister."
Annoyed, Yuna growled, lifted her wooden bowl, which she had purposely filled with cold water, and swung it so that all of her water splashed across her roommate's face, causing her to make a shrill scream. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
"It's funny," the blue-haired sneered.
"That means war!" Ayumi grabbed her shower head, turned on the cold water and splashed it at her neighbor, who threw herself backwards from her stool, whereupon the class representative was hit and squealed loudly.
"Girls, pull yourself together!" Mizuki squeezed out laughing, while the gray-haired girl took her own shower head and splashed herself with warm water.
"Only after the little beast is soaking wet." The hostess grabbed her wooden bowl and filled it with cold water before chasing Yuna through the bathing area, accompanied by amused gazes of the others.
After a failed attempt, Ayumi sat down again and washed herself. "You certainly run so fast because your body is so aerodynamically shaped."
Behind her, a boiling huntress appeared, her eyes sparkling angrily. "Say that again," she hissed in a low, threatening voice.
The redhead squinted back, tucking her hands under her breasts and bobbing. "I didn't say anything, kid."
"Boah... sometimes you are so annoying." Demonstrating, Yuna marched to the other side of Nisha and sat down there to finish her washing.
"That was a bit nasty, Shikibu-san," Nisha mumbled.
"What? Some have big breasts and some big mouths."
The blue-haired girl cast a cold look to her roommate. "You have both." Again, all the women laughed, and after a brief hesitation, the Masuda girl also joined in.
While they continued to talk, the ladies washed themselves, put up their hair if necessary, and went to the actual bath, where they sat in the hot water and put a rag on their foreheads.
"Wow. Awesome," Ayumi gasped as she stretched halfway in the water.
"Pretty hot. Does it have a thermometer?" The violet-haired girl looked around searching.
"Doesn't matter. Enjoy it." With a half-open eye she looked at the younger high-school students who had sat down opposite her. Yuna looked grim, while Nisha stood up and sat on the edge. "Are you all right, Nisha-chan?"
"It's really hot. I don't like that." She put her hands in her lap and studied the furnishings.
"Is that a tattoo?" Mizuki wondered as she sat up, allowing the water to reach her shoulders.
Surprised, Yuna realized that the guitarist was looking at her classmate, who was smiling sheepishly. "Yes."
"A real one?" With a nod, the cat girl confirmed the question. "Your mother must be pretty cool if she allowed you to. I would also have one stung there, or on the thigh, but my parents won't allow me."
"Oh... that's nothing."
Ayumi clicked her tongue. "For a Yakuza girl."
"Could you just say nothing? From your voice, I get ear cancer," the blue-haired nagged.
"Relax, Blue. You are in an Onsen. There is nothing more relaxing in this world."
"Bla." The Masuda girl looked at her friend until she turned to her, whereupon she could see the black symbol on her classmate's hip. It were three concentric circles that were completely closed and without embellishments.
"What does it mean?" Curious, the violet-haired girl studied the symbol.
"Um... it's supposed to protect me."
"Of what?"
Smiling, the cat girl shrugged. "Everything, I guess."
"I think that's pretty cool," confessed the guitarist.
"What? That's nothing."
Mizuki laughed and sat down differently. "I beg your pardon?! You are guaranteed the only student at our school who has a tattoo. You should be extremely popular."
"Oh... I'll keep that for myself."
"How she adorns herself. Cute." Grinning, Ayumi sat down too, but on her lower legs, so that the water only reached her elbows.
"Really. If you showed it, you'd be totally popular right now," the violet-haired girl guessed.
"I don't want that. That's my little secret, so keep it to yourself."
"Understood?!" Yuna hissed threateningly.
"Relax, Blue."
Mizuki got up and sat on the edge as well. "It's really damn hot."
Thoughtfully, the tallest girl grimaced. She let her arms slide through the water and focused on her feelings. Although she could feel the temperature, she found it extremely pleasant. She focused on her power and slowly pushed its effect back, making her feel hotter.
She gasped and turned her power back until she felt the temperature pleasant again. Lately, she had spent too little time experimenting with her power. She hadn't realized how finely regulatable her ability had become. Surely that had to be related to the amount of soul energy she had inherited from Tirr. He had killed some oni, so their energy was permanently tied to his, just as his now became part of the huntress.
"What are you looking at, Nisha-chan?" the violet-haired girl wondered.
"Nothing..."
Mizuki chuckled. "Come on. It's just us. Spit it out."
"You have no hair..." The cheeks of the class representative reddened.
"What do you mean?" Ayumi turned her head and looked curiously at the body of the oldest high-school student. "Yes indeed! You little slut!"
"Hey!" Outraged, the guitarist blushed and quickly slipped into the water, where she sank to her chin and squinted darkly at the redhead.
"Sorry, Sazaki-senpai," Nisha mumbled, crossing her legs quickly.
"What's going on?" Yuna wondered, who hadn't really listened.
"Well, she shaves, Blue."
"Her armpits, or what?"
The hostess rolled her eyes and sighed theatrically. "Her bikini line, you zero checker."
At first the blue-haired girl blinked in confusion, but then she opened her eyes and turned bright red. "Oh my God! Don't talk about that!" She pressed her hands to her face and shook herself. "You make me sick!"
While Nisha grinned in embarrassment, Ayumi laughed with relish under the piercing gaze of the guitarist.
"And? Does he think it's sexy?" the older one asked.
Mizuki sat up again. "I guess so. He does it too. That was disgusting, the first time I had hair between my teeth. Then we agreed to shave."
Laughing, the redhead clapped her hand against her forehead. "Oh yeah. I know that. And since you're doing it, he's giving in nicely?"
"Might be possible." Although Mizuki bit her lower lip, she couldn't resist a grin.
Agitated, Ayumi moved closer to her interlocutor. "How is it with a tongue piercing?"
"Don't tell me you didn't have one yet?"
"No. I'm a hussy, but I'm not going to let anyone do it either." She looked at the other high-school girls, who looked over in a rather shocked way.
"I'll vomit right away..." Yuna whined with a bright red head.
"Don't be a child. You and Wataru surely do it like the rabbits." The roommate grinned provocatively.
If it had been possible, the blue-haired girl would have turned even more red. Instead, she snapped, "Not at all! That's... that's disgusting!"
"You really haven't slept with each other yet?" Mizuki marveled.
"No!"
"I thought you were kidding us. Wow. Why is that?"
Seeking help, the tall girl looked at her friend, who only shrugged in embarrassment. She looked back to the older women. "I... don't..." She remembered that she probably would have slept with him last Sunday if he hadn't pinched. "I don't know..."
"Hey. Don't worry. Take your time," the guitarist explained quickly. "I mean, I love sex, but in the beginning I regretted it, after we started. Suddenly, he just wanted to get in my panties, instead of just making out with me. That was very annoying."
"Don't be surprised." Ayumi rolled around so that she was leaning against the edge of the pool with her neck, letting her body float in the water again. "Guys get totally horny as soon as they have had their first time." She looked at her neighbor. "Let him work for it a little more if you prefer to just make out."
"You're one to talk."
The redhead looked to Mizuki. "What?"
"You're always hooking up with guys."
"I love sex. I'm an unbound woman, so I can do whatever I want."
Nisha cleared her throat. "What do you like about it so much, Shikibu-san?"
"I almost forgot you." The hostess sat up again. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"Someone you make out with?"
"No! I have no time for such things," struggled the cat girl off.
"Well, you have a tattoo, so I can't mock you as a philistine, like your cancerous friend."
"You're such a bitch," Yuna snarled.
"Yeah, yeah. Hm... what I like about it? It makes me feel good. I mean really good. I forget all my worries for a moment. And I feel alive. Have you ever had an orgasm, girls?"
"I think I'll leave for good. I can't stand this any longer." The blue-haired girl came snorting to her feet.
"She definitely has not got anything going yet. Mini tits, wild growth – no man would touch that."
Mizuki punched the oldest. "You're really incredible. Excuse her, Yuna-chan. She doesn't mean it that way."
"As far as I'm concerned, she could drown in the bath," returned the tall girl.
"I love you, Blue," Ayumi chirped cheerfully, but she earned only one outstretched middle finger before Yuna grabbed a towel and began to dry herself. "Come on, Yuna-chan. You just let yourself provoke too easily. I'm really sorry." The redhead got out of the bath and walked over to her roommate. "You are on the threshold to become a woman. Everything is all right with you, okay?"
"I hate it when you're so mean to me."
"I'm a lousy sister, I know. I'm really sorry, Blue."
Sighing, the high-school student nodded. "Okay."
"And now come back into the water."
"All right." Yuna threw the towel curled up in a corner and went back to the pool with Ayumi.
"Have you ever had his thing in your hand?" the older one whispered so that the others couldn't hear it.
"Okay. Forget it. I'm out." Determined, the blue-haired turned away and stomped over to the door.