Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy. How can something so wet be so fluffy?
Eve walks into the bathroom and shrieks. Her expression is charmingly disturbed and her face is pale. How cute.
"Look, it's fluffy…" Azusa holds out a handful of dark red bubbles.
With a twitch, she asks about the red liquid he's sitting in.
Azusa slowly explains that Kou bought a novelty bubble bath by accident. Kou was worried about stains, so he gave it to Azusa. But it doesn't look much like real blood, in Azusa's opinion, since it's all foamy.
Yui places her hand on her chest. "That startled me. So, why are you, um, taking a bath in this bathroom?" This bathroom is close to her bedroom. It's her bathroom, in other words.
Azusa inhales. "Because it smells like you, and… it's soothing…" He tilts his head. "I was waiting for you."
Yui sits on the edge of the tub, and her expression is thoughtful. "Why?"
His eyes skitter away. He looks down at the blood-like bath he's sitting in and gathers another handful of bubbles. He softly blows on them, making some of the bubbles float into the air.
"Did you want something?"
"Hm?" He blinks, and lifts his eyes to hers. "Oh...take a bath with me."
Her cheeks turn pink. How pretty. "I, I can't do that."
Azusa raises both water and bubbles and lets them fall through his fingers. "Are you not going to take a bath?"
"Well-"
His brows furrow, and he bows his head. "Or… is the problem me…?" He glances up at her face, which wears a complicated expression.
"Ahhhh…"
Eve decides to take a bath with him.
He hides a smile behind his wrist.
After they're finished getting ready - Yui keeps her modesty covered with a towel, and he put one on too - she sighs, squeezes her eyes shut, and steps into the deep soaker tub and sits down quickly. She covers her face with both hands and squishes her expression. Her cheeks are blushing red. "It isn't boiling like I thought… It feels kinda nice."
Well, that's true. If it's too hot... he won't be able to handle that. The bubbles are a smaller than before and crackling a little louder, but still fluffy. He lifts some up and blows them at her.
Yui smiles in a lopsided way. "Stop it..."
But he doesn't; instead, he places some bubbles on her head, like a strange hat.
She laughs at him. "Happy?" She touches the lump of bubbles on her head and grins.
He nods quickly. He is happy, now that's she's smiling and so close to him. He admires the way the thin skin of her eyelids moves with her eyes as she looks him up and down.
"I just noticed… you don't have any bandages on. Are your wounds okay?"
"Do you want to see?"
"Er…"
"Then I'll help you..." He picks up her hand and brings it to his throat. "Feel it?"
His breath catches as he feels her little fingers trace the scars on his neck. The tip of her second finger brushes a waterlogged scab and breaks it off. It sparks painfully for a moment, and Azusa smells his own blood as it wells up and dribbles down his neck.
Yui gasps. Her fingers twitch and spread the blood over his skin.
He can feel the bones of her wrist move in his grip.
"I'm done." She swallows. "Um, thank you, Azusa-kun."
He lets her hand slowly slip through his fingers.
She curls the hand into a fist against her breastbone and cups it with the other.
Looking at her sweetly flustered face makes him feel excited. "Me too… I'll touch your neck, now."
Yui shrinks back an unbearable few centimeters, and he grabs her arm on impulse. She doesn't say anything when his thumb slides up the curve of her neck. Her pulse is a quick little beat under his touch.
Azusa spreads his hand over her soft skin and feels the subtle shifts in her breathing. He closes his eyes.
Eve's heartbeat. Eve's breathing. Eve's trust.
Azusa opens his eyes and sees her eyes have closed, too. The corner of his mouth lifts up. He presses tiny kisses to her lovely eyelids.
Her eyelashes flutter, and she smiles back at him.
"Now… I'll help you spill your blood, too."
"Um… I'm not sure you should do it in here." She splashes the blood red water with her fingers. "Not that anyone will notice the difference, but I think we should get out of the bath first..."
"No, please…? Before Eve's skin cools…"
Yui mumbles something like, "oh, of course," but kindly shifts her creamy curls over one shoulder before folding her arm over her breasts again.
He leans forward, and a damp strand of her hair clings to his cheek as he nibbles her skin softly, then bites and sucks. She's so pliant, he wonders if there's something magical in the bathwater beyond the color.
He slides a few fingers from the notch at the back of her neck down her spine and watches her shoulders shiver. He wonders if her skin might be softer than usual, and as soon as he thinks it, he has to check to be sure. Azusa's fingers creep into the curve of her elbow to pull her close before he presses his mouth to her neck again.
Yui's skin is softer. She smells sweeter, too.
"What do you mean about my skin-" Her words are cut off by a gasp when Azusa licks the blood dripping from her neck. Her cheeks are growing flushed again, and she touches her forearm.
"I guess it does feel a little different. What's in this bath, Azusa-kun?"
"I don't know. It's Kou's..." He licks across her bite wounds. The skin on her neck is so thin. He can feel her heartbeat with his mouth.
When he's finished, Eve is wearing a blissful face. He feels wonderful, too, and full of warm blood.
"Somehow… the water looks more like blood now that it has yours and mine in it." Azusa slices open the surface with his finger. The bubbles have faded significantly.
Yui leans her forehead against his shoulder.
He touches the wings of her back. "Hey, are you sleepy?"
"Not really. Are you?"
His skin feels… tingly. Perhaps his limbs are falling asleep? The sensation hurts pleasantly when he moves to touch her new bite. "Maybe..." He licks the blood off his fingers.
She nods. "I need a couple of minutes. I feel dizzy."
When they do finally get out of the bath, she plops a fluffy towel on his head before he can react. He lets it rest on top of his head for a moment.
"Why did you …are we playing a game?" Some children pretend to be "ghosts" by putting blankets over their heads, don't they? So, Azusa probably looks like a ghost. Hm.
He can hear her running water to rinse the bath suds from her hair, then the sound of footsteps.
He pulls the towel off and shakes the hair out of his eyes. "Where are you going…?"
She's almost out the doorway when she stops. Her cheeks turn rosy, and her eyes fix on a point above his head. "I, uh, my room? I'm going to finish dying off in there. Azusa-kun, please cover up."
Azusa touched his mouth with the back of his hand and pondered this. "Hm… Yui-san is still shy…?"
Yui runs away from him with a, "Yes!"
It takes willpower not to chase after her. He dries off and gets dressed. He leaves his shirt unbuttoned so he can quickly follow her into her bedroom, and the cuffs flop loosely against his forearms as he walks.
She sits on her bed, still dressed in her towel, and softly patting her blonde hair dry with another towel.
Azusa sits behind her and silently watches her dry her hair.
Yui has a practiced grace in the way she moves her arms, but when she looks down, she sighs. "I think I need another bath, Azusa-kun."
The red bath suds didn't stain their dark blue bathtub, but it did leave a blood-like residue on the towels even after her second rinse.
He laughs softly. "…me too."
She smiles back, and he thinks: ah, Yui is so sweet to him. She doesn't need to be, but she is... and it only makes Azusa like her more...and more...
