Book 2: Chapter 15 (1/2)
I walked down the hallway confidently with Kira following shyly. I couldn’t really say where my burst of confidence came from. Perhaps having Kira there with a common goal felt good. Perhaps, I was just excited about getting to enjoy a hot spring with a pretty girl. Strictly speaking, we were both too young to be there, and if it hadn’t been for Kira’s fake ID, the pair of us would have been kicked out on the street and perhaps even our parents called. Admittedly, I had been going on impulse here, and if it wasn’t for Kira, I might have even been arrested.
As for what was going through Kira’s mind, I couldn’t guess. I considered using my skill on her to dirt scribe her mind. However, dirt scribe seemed to work best when you were openly pressuring someone on a sensitive topic. I had nothing, in particular, I wanted to know about Kira, and even if she had some deepest darkest secret to exploit, not only was I not looking to exploit it at the moment, but with her mind on her mother, my exploration might come up empty-handed. Dirt scribing someone wasn’t an exact science. Plus, the night was still young.
The only other skill I had was locked promise. Netori had described it as something akin to hypnosis. You could strongly suggest to someone that they had to obey you, and their mind would make excuses to always follow through with a promise. It worked great with Akiko, but it only worked on one person at a time, and I had never specifically taken it off of her. That meant my last orders to her were to go back to Derek. Those were orders she broke. Therefore, I could only reason that manipulation worked better than locked promise. It should, it was a higher tier skill, after all.
Until I could corner Akiko again, I couldn’t free her of the locked promise and use it on someone else. At least, that’s what Netori had told me. Therefore, my only option was to find a 3rd skill that I could use. My points were so close, and yet still so far away. With a little help from Mrs. Fukumi, I could finally push it over the edge. Since Kira had shown up, I had considered instead pushing myself on her, especially after she told me she had a boyfriend, but she was a childhood friend who had never wronged me. I already felt guilty enough going after her mother, even though I felt that woman deserved it.
Perhaps, that was part of the reason I wanted Kira to come with me. I wanted her to see her mother in all her cheating glory. If I could get her riled up enough, then perhaps Kira wouldn’t mind what happened to her mother after. It was a slightly strategic move by me. I should also note that within my bathing supplies was the camera I had purchased. It was actually waterproof. I really spared no expense when I bought this from the store. I had wanted to prepare for any eventuality. I’d only have one chance to save my sister from Jack’s clutches, and I didn’t want a splash of water being the difference.
We reached the changing rooms, which were still separate despite the fact that it led to a co-ed spring. Actually, there were three springs in all, and each room lead to a single-sex and the co-ed which was in the middle. I washed my body and then put my robe back on and headed into the hot spring with wet hair sticking to my cheeks. Hot mist struck my face and a strong mineral smell attacked my nose as I entered the main area. Looking around for a moment, I found a few couples in the spring. Most of them looked many times older than me. Only one couple looked to be in their twenties. I was relieved to see that some were also wearing masks, so we weren’t the only ones trying to be anonymous.
If this had been a little over a month ago, I might have shown a big erection as blood burst from my nose. That was the old me, a virgin who couldn’t handle that level of stimulation. Time with Maria and Akiko had changed that, and while I appreciated and was excited by the female body, I could mostly keep my cool. I pulled off my robe, threw it on a bench, and then slipped into the pool. I noticed an older woman glancing over at my crotch be she nodded approvingly. I couldn’t stop myself from blushing, especially when she noticed me looking and winked at me.
A few moments later, Kira walked into the room too. She was a lot slower and looked considerably more nervous. Her head was down as she tried to avoid looking at anyone else in the hot spring. The same could not be said in reverse, as a youthful, fair-skinned girl with her hair tied up, wearing nothing but a skimpy robe, was the highlight of the evening. All of the men glanced over at her with interest, and a few even had slightly perverted expressions.
Kira’s face flushed as if she was aware she was being looked at, but as soon as her eyes landed on me, she instantly made her way over. She didn’t even bother to remove her robe first, instead stepping directly in to the water and making it wet. She pulled the robe off as she lowered herself into the water next to me, only giving everyone just a brief glimpse of her naked body before it plunged underwater. At this distance and angle, no one would be able to see her body under the murky mineral water. Well, no one, except for me. I didn’t linger on her though. Rather, I tilted back my head and closed my eyes. It wasn’t until Kira’s naked body pushed against me that I looked back down again.
She was actually trying to use my body partially to hide herself. Her level of nervousness was clear, as was the fact that I was her partner in this. The handful of single men in the pool gave bitter looks before going back to what they were doing. As for the other couples, one group chuckled before turning away, and another couple kept shooting glances at us and whispering. The couple who did that were two older people, the woman of which was the one who had winked at me earlier.
“They’re not here.” Kira whispered to me, “We came for nothing!”
“Patience…” I spoke back. “They may come later tonight, or maybe not until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Her voice was filled with bitterness. “I don’t want to stay here longer than I have to…”
“It’s okay if you want to go back to the room,” I said. “I’ll keep a lookout until something happens.”
Kira lowered her head, clinging to my arm but keeping just enough distance so her parts didn’t touch me. However, she didn’t answer me, stubbornly remaining seated and refusing to retreat.
“Excuse me… it’s nice to see such a young couple coming this weekend. So, few youths these days appreciate the full hot spring experience.” The voice came from the couple that had been eyeing us.
The man and woman had come over to our sides, and the guy was talking with a pleasant smile. Unlike us, they weren’t wearing a mask in the slightest. As soon as she noticed the pair moving towards us, Kira shrank against me. This time, her breasts did touch my arm, but she gave no sign of awareness, her expression growing even shyer. If she kept clinging to me like this, I would struggle to keep myself from having an erection.
“Ah… well… we’re just staying the night.” I addressed them with a disarming smile. “We’re really just on a road trip, experiencing whatever attractions pass our way.”
“Is that so?” The man said, scratching his chin, “Is there an occasion?”
“It’s our honeymoon.” I put my arm around Kira, who continued to lower her head silently while I maintained the lie we had told when we entered this place.