As soon as they came to Hot Springs, Tetsu showed them their rooms. The girls were in a separate room. Usually, every Servamp got a room with his Eve. The girls were in the hot bath. Their bath was separated from the bath for boys.
"Hola, hola, hola!" exclaimed Taiga while removing the robe.
She put it in the basket next to the bath and stretched.
"I see you have a lot of confidence." Rowen said, leaning her head to the edge of the bath.
"I'm not very happy with my body, but meh..." she said, shrugging. "What it is, it is. I accepted it as it is."
"Um... Do I need go naked in the bath?" Leah asked quietly behind Taiga.
She stood clenched in a white coat. Taiga shook her hand.
"Come on... There is no reason to be ashamed. There is only three of us."
Leah sighed deeply and lowered the bathrobe in the basket. She looked shyly aside. Taiga grinned at it and ran toward her. She jumped on her and began to tickle her.
"What are you ashamed about?" she asked with a grin. "You look great!"
"T-Taiga... It tickles! Stop!" she shouted through laughter.
The boys across the wall listened quietly as Leah laughed and shouted at Taiga to stop tickling her.
"The girls are having fun..." muttered Hyde.
"Taiga, not here! Not here, you fool!" Leah's scream was heared.
Among the boys there was silence again.
"I can not deal with this..." Kuro said quietly lowering into warm water.
"They are just..." Mahiru paused. "...having fun."
"Yes..." murmured Misono. "I just hope they will stay in one piece."
"It appears that they are done." Lily said with a smile when the screaming stopped.
"They had enough fun." Tetsu added.
The girls were sitting in the bath with their eyes closed. Taiga was sitting in front of Leah, who was washing her hair. She rubbed the shampoo in her hair as she sat with eyes closed enjoying the scratching.
"I wash your hair, and just attacked me..." muttered Leah.
"And because of that I love you." whispered Taiga following her hand with her head.
"Tch..." snorted Leah.
Rowen grinned at it. She opened her eyes and looked at them. She smiled to herself. After fifteen minutes, they got out of the bathroom and met in a large large room with which the other rooms were connected. Taiga sat on the floor and rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"Sleepy, sis?" Lily asked with a smile.
They all wore blue robes of Hot Spring. Taiga yawned and nodded. She leaned her head against the table with her eyes closed.
"We have Sleepy Ash number 2." Hyde said with a grin.
Kuro and Taiga rolled their eyes. Rowen held a cup of coffee in her arms and stared out of the window into the starry sky. Hyde got up and came to her. When she heard the steps, she turned her red eyes toward him.
"Can I join you, my lady?" he asked with a silly smile.
"Did you call the other girls like that too?" said Rowen, moving her legs to make room for him.
"I'm not talking to other girls like that." answered quietly Hyde and sat down across from her.
Rowen confused blinked several times. Hyde's eyes were on the dark sky. Like he refused to look at her. He had no glasses on himself.
"I gave up love a hundred years ago." he said quietly, not turning away from the sky.
"Why?" curiously asked Rowen.
When he turned to her, she could see the sadness in his eyes. He gently smiled and ran his hand through the hair.
"Many years ago I fell in love with mortal girl." he looked back toward the sky. "Princess, a beautiful princess. Her name was Ophelia and she would do everything for peace in this world."
Rowen put the cup in her lap, holding it with her hands. She did not look away from Hyde. She listened carefully to each of his words. Servamp of Greed entrusted her. He talked about his past. He trusted her, to a small girl who until recently was a useless human.
"For the sake of peace she married a prince from another kingdom, and when they saw that there was no peace, they killed her." he said quietly with tearful eyes.
He leaned his head on the door frame and closed his eyes briefly.
"What struck me the most was when the big brother decided to kill the one who made Servamps."
"Kuro?" quietly asked Rowen.
"I did not know why he wanted to do it. It was only later when I met Emma, or Taiga. I think it was one of the reasons why he killed him." he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Because he took her without his knowledge and worked experiments on her."
He turned and sighed. Again, his silly smile returned to his face. He crossed his legs and looked at her.
"Let's go back to love." he said as his red eyes glittered in the moonlight. "Did you have a tragic love story?"
"Well..." she said quietly. "Not like you, but let's just say my last boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend."
"Woah... That's awful." Hyde said quietly. "Ah, well today no such tragic stories are possible."
"Yes..." muttered Rowen. "But I do not think I'll be looking for a boyfriend soon, at least not among the people..." she smiled. "First I need to get used to the new me."
"So..." began Hyde, looking at his hands. "If some vampire, like me, wanted to come out with you after all this and try to initiate a relationship, would you refuse it?"
She looked at him with pink cheeks. He did not look up from his hand. But she could see that he flushed.
"And why would a vampire like you want to be with me at all?" uncertainly asked Rowen.
"Because the vampire feels something special about you, and vampire's feeling is never wrong."
He looked slightly up to her. His cheeks grew hot, his red eyes glittering. Rowen smiled gently. She looked away, to now cold baths.
"Well... if that vampire is you, I'd probably say yes." she whispered, refusing to look at him.
But he took her hand to her and shifted her head toward himself. Hyde smiled gently at her. He gently passed his palm on her cheek. He moved a few strands of her now short hair behind her ear.
"Then this vampire promises to do everything to make you happy." he said quietly, leaning her hand on his cheek.
"I-Idiot..." muttered Rowen while her cheeks became red. "We must first survive vampires."
"You're cute when you're shy." Hyde said and chuckled.
He rose her hands up to his lips. He put the gentle kisses on them. Rowen froze when an unknown scene spun in front of her. She was a little girl. She was sitting on a swing with someone. She could not see who it was, his face was darkened. She blinked several times and the scene was gone. Hyde sat again in front of her. She still had that strange feeling as if she knows him from somewhere...
"From now on you are mine. Although officially we are not together..." he said and chuckled slightly. "But I will be jealous if any of them tries something."
She patted him on a cheek with a smile. She turned to the others who had a discussion at the table. Half of them were gone. Still, Mikuni, Jeje, Lily and Licht were as awake as if it were noon, and not nearly midnight.
"I should be sleeping. Tomorrow is a big day ahead of us." she said, rising.
"Yes... Great day of planning attack." Hyde muttered.
Rowen rolled her eyes on it and pressed him a kiss on the cheek. Hyde took the cheek. His eyes widened and cheeks reddened even more. He took her hand in his and pulled her closer to him. He approached her ear.
"...Good night, good night!Parting is such a sweet sorrow,That I'll say good night till it's morrow." he whispered softly.
"William Shakespear, Romeo and Juliet." Rowen said with a smile. "Is not that Julia's verse?"
"It does not matter." he grinned. "It is suitable for this moment."
Before he let her go, he kissed her again. He put his lips on her cheek and kept them there for a few moments. She stiffened in his hands. The second scene appeared in front of her eyes. Little Rowen was hanging upside down on the tree branch, and someone stood in front of her and was smiling at her. The scene was disappeared as quickly as it came. Hyde pulled her out of it when he smiled against her cheek.
"Sleep well, my lady." he said dramatically.
"You too, my knight." giggled Rowen.
He sent her a last kiss before he walked into his room. She lied down in her sleeping bag. The curtains for changing divided Leah's, Taiga's and hers sleeping bag. Just so they have some privacy. She smiled broadly and gently closed her eyes.
Taiga did not know what time exactly was when opening the door of their room woke her up. She sat up in her sleeping bag and listened. She was ready to jump at the newcomer every moment and tear him into pieces. Steps have become louder. Just when she wanted to jump to the newcomer, he stepped into the light.
"Kuro?" asked with a whisper Taiga.
His hair was wrinkled as he rubbed his eyes.
"What happened?" she asked, rising.
"Nothing, just..." he paused, not looking at her. "I want to cuddle."
His hair covered his eyes so that she could not see his face. Something must have happened. Kuro has never awakened at night by himself to cuddle. She knew it ever since she was his Eve. She raised her eyebrow and sighed.
"Nothing really happened?" she asked, moving into her sleeping bag.
Kuro turned into a kitten and crawled under the covers. Who would say that so lazy and humble Servamp is actually the most dangerous and powerful of all nine Servamps?
"Kuro?" she asked quietly, rubbing his soft belly.
"I just want to cuddle, that's all..."
"You never woke in the middle of the night. What happened?" insisted Taiga.
The cat sighed. With the small poof it turned into a tired blue Servamp. He glanced at her sighing.
"I had a nightmare... About that... And about the time I killed the creator." he said drawing something on the floor with his finger.
"You know it's just a dream..." muttered Taiga, turning to him.
He looked at her. His cheeks were pink in color. Even in the dark it could be seen that he was nervous. Why was he? When she was his Eve, he would always cuddle with her. He would always sleep with her in bed.
"Mahiru told me to share my feelings with someone if they start..." he paused and started to scratch his cheek. "...torturing me, I guess."
Taiga gently smiled. It seems that Mahiru had a great influence on Kuro. She reached out to him inviting him into his arms. He blinked a few times idly. Then he turned to her on her side and pulled her into his arms. He buried his face in her clothes and took a deep breath.
"Good night..." he heard her voice in the distance.
He smiled cheerfully as her scent took him into the world of dreams.