Nintai wakes up to a wood plank ceiling the next morning. Rolling over, she sees a few persimmon on a plate nearby and smiles softly. She reaches out and grabs hold of one, taking a rather large bit out of it.
"Don't eat it too fast."
She bolts up in bed, noticing her clothes have changed to her cherry pajamas. Sitting up against the wall is Kasumimaru, a kind smile on his face. Turning a slight pink, Nintai swallows what's in her mouth and smiles back, a little self-conscious.
"Eating too many of those can make you sick," he says, getting up from his spot and moving closer. He drops down next to her and takes the fruit from her hand. "You need to eat them a little more slowly."
Without a care, he takes a bite from the fruit. Nintai turns a bright red, realizing that he did it very much on purpose. What's worse is that he's pretending he didn't. A soft smile on his face, he holds the fruit back out to her. Nintai drops her head as it turns a deeper red. In her mind, she's slapping herself for not taking it from him.
A light chuckle brings her eyes back to Kasumimaru, who'd gotten a lot closer when she wasn't looking. Feeling his breath on her lips, her chest constricts a little painfully, but by no means is it unenjoyable. It's very soft, but only for a second.
"Wake up! It's morning!"
Nintai bolts up in a futon. Nearby are a few persimmon on a plate. Just next to her is an annoyed Lee. Coming to the conclusion on what just happened, Nintai turns a deep shade of red and pulls her blanket over her head. He carried me again, didn't he? Then the thought that she is indeed wearing her cherry pajamas occurs to her. Did he change me, too!? Her face turns an even deeper red as her body burns from embarrassment.
"No! No more sleeping! Get up and get dressed, Cherry!"
"Ane?" Sayori opens the sliding door, a plate with a few other fruits on it in her hand. "Good! You're awake," she says happily. "Hurry up! We all made plans to go to the hot springs today!"
Nintai removes the blanket from her head and stares at Sayori. "Hot springs?"
"Yeah!" Lee cheers. "Sayori was talking about how good of aim you'd had when you threw rocks at the boys for peeking at you in the bath last night. That got the rest of us girls interested, so we're going on a field trip!"
Nintai smiles, her face still bright red as the memory of the last visit she'd had to the hot spring plays in her mind. She can still hear the water moving around while the ninja had been rinsing off whoever's blood was on him. Waahh! Why now!? Bad thought, bad thought! It just won't go away.
Ignoring the thought, she shoos the two girls out of the room and starts to change, eating the persimmon that had been nearby as she does. Her faces is still tinged pink when she leaves the room with the last fruit from the plate. He changed me… ugh…
The trip is short and uneventful. Short because the castle had supplied a few horses. Uneventful because there was nothing after them this time. Sayori and Jin are chatting happily while their horse climbs the steep path. Bo had Nami riding with him, although the girl could easily be doing what Nintai is.
While the samurai and not so skilled girls ride on horseback, Nintai, Lee, Rin and Yo are moving the trees, racing to the waters at the end of the path. It's rather funny because Rin had decided to start practicing after hearing a story about the adventures from Nintai. The first reaction the others had when they saw the efforts of her training was astonishment, then excitement. Now Rin is using it to her completely advantage.
"C'mon, Yo! You're an actual ninja. You should be beating me!" her laughter as she calls back to the green haired boy is contagious.
"Ease up, Rin!" Lee laughs just behind her.
Yo, even further behind, is bright red as he struggles to keep up.
Nintai, leisurely moving through the branches, can't help but chuckle as she keeps pace with Lee. Although Rin has made tremendous progress, the urgency Nintai had felt when chasing down the ninja squads had instilled a different type of speed and endurance in her; just the way she was named, she'll keep the leisurely pace all day.
The blue pendant around her neck shines as it always has, reflecting blue spots into the greenery. Inside it, Hantai watches the scene with a genuine grin. The girls found a nice place where they can finally relax without the threat of a psychotic… well, maybe that's not true. Without the threat of a delusional aunt around every possible corner. That's more like it.
Lee lands on a branch and looks down the path. The ninja-like runners have gained a considerable lead on the others. In front is Ittosai, trying to avoid contact with those behind him. Having a wonderful epiphany, Lee stops Yo just before he goes by her.
"I'm gonna wait for the others to catch up," she says with mischief.
He looks back for a second at the group on horseback. Yo smiles at her and nods with understanding. Then he rushes off to catch up to the other two. When he does, he lets Nintai in on the game. The girl grins like an idiot at the thought and stops on a branch, looking back to see the others still riding up the slope. Yo stops just ahead of her and looks back as well. Ittosai's still unaware and in the lead. Rin notices her friends stopped behind her and turns to watch as well, a little lost.
After about five minutes of waiting, the three in the trees watch as Lee falls from the tree screaming 'Ninja attack!' at the top of her lungs. They burst into laughter as she lands on Ittosai's back and scares him witless, barely dodging an elbow as he swings his arm at her. The next thing they see is him spurring his horse into full gallop after the girl as she races through the trees.
"Run, you idiots!"
And they do, laughing the entire way up the slope while Ittosai screams abuse at the lot of them. A great deal of it he'll regret later. Those behind him are laughing as well, spurring their own horses forward.
Reaching the hot spring, the girls escape Ittosai easily on the other side of the rocky divide. Yo isn't so lucky, but he's agile enough to avoid any damage. Listening to the nonsense on the other side as everyone else catches up, Nintai, Lee, and Rin area already stripping as they laugh about the prank.
"Better than the first time!" Lee exclaims in triumph.
"I wish I'd been here then," Rin sulks.
"Heh heh. Don't let it go to your head, Lee. Ittosai's gonna get back at you!"
Lee grins happily with two thumbs up. She'll be waiting for it. Rin giggles as she thinks about the prank she and Yo have planned for the group when they go to sleep later. Hatsuhime had wanted the max amount of time to enjoy the springs, so the group was just going to spend the night at the cave like last time.
Nintai's mind wanders as she slides into the steaming waters of the spring. "I just hope the ninja don't steal my clothes again."
Lee and Rin chuckle as they place all the clothes, folded and hiding the more personal pieces within, next to Nintai's. Sayori, Hatsuhime and Nami soon join them, splashing the water at those already in the springs as they climb in. It eventually turns into a comparison contest, with Nami winning.
"Of course you win! You're the oldest one of all of us! If anything, you should be using the measurements from when you were in high school!" Lee is whining and complaining, sparking an argument over the fairness of the ruling.
"Oh, honestly," Nintai sighs.
The other four moves a little further away from them, trying to ignore the noise as they talk about something else. They eventually fall quiet to listen to the other side of the springs, wondering about the boys.
Speaking of which. The event is occurring again. Guess adding to the number of girls just makes it all the more irresistible.
"Mon-Mon! Stop that! Remember last time?"
"Seriously! You just have a death wish!"
The whispering is evident, and the spiky hair is easy to see in the steam. Nintai rolls her eyes and looks to Nami a little ways away. The two had stopped arguing and are just sitting deflated at the edge. The girls smiles happily and picks up a random rock from the edge. Weighing it in her hand, she chucks it over. Not exactly the best of aim, but she at least hits her target.
The girls break out into laughter as they hear a loud splash and feel the water around them ripple. After another moment, they hear Mon-Mon surfacing and gasping for air. The entire group of boys on the other side start the 'I told you so's and the girls laugh even harder. Screw the guys enjoying this trip; the girls are the ones making the most of it.
Those on the other side of the dividing rocks are staring at Mon-Mon with apathy; Ittosai is actually chuckling maliciously. While everyone ignores him, the monk touches his tender shoulder as it lightly bleeds.
"That really hurt. I think she's gotten stronger."
"No surprise there, you perv," Yo comments. "I could barely keep up with them."
The other girls have gotten dressed and are staring at Nintai in worry. She doesn't want to get out yet, so she'd told them to go on without her, but…
"No way! You said it yourself; we need to be on the lookout for side effects of the portal." Nami is in full swing, only held in check by Lee as she laughs it off.
"Oh, please! You know nothing would dare affect Nintai! She's too B-A for it!"
Sayori and Rin agree, placing Nami at a disadvantage. Smiling at her friends, Nintai shoos them off to the boys. This time, there's no screaming. The best guess she can come up with is that Jin is either still in the water or got out early to completely dress himself. Sighing in contentment, Nintai leans against the rock wall of the spring. The water really is relaxing.
"Enjoying yourself?"
"Huh?"
Nintai looks around to see the pendant glowing a bright blue. She smiles peacefully. "Yes, I am. Sorry you can't join me," she says sadly.
"It's fine," Hantai laughs. "I don't particularly care for baths, so perpetual cleanliness is great in my book."
Nintai chuckles at the thought. True, never having to bathe would be a great thing, and it would save her a lot of time, but every once in a while, a nice, long, hot bath is good. And she's enjoying hers right now. When she'd gotten in, she could feel the stress from six months of worry melting away.
"So, 'ko.' How was the conversation with ninja boy?"
"Oh, don't even. You were there!"
The pendant glows sadly. "Yeah, and it made me wish I had a body. But hey, gotta sacrifice something for perpetual hygiene, right? Anyways."
"Something up? You don't usually stay inside the pendant when you talk anymore."
"That's because there's always people around," she whines. "I don't like creating a form in the physical world. It feels creepy to not have clothes on. Kinda like the people around me are seeing everything even if I was wearing some."
"TMI, Hantai. TMI."
"Oh, whatever. Anyways, I only do it so people aren't staring at your chest when I'm talking. You're a bit-"
"Stop! I get it," Nintai rushes.
Their laughter echoes through the trees and the two chat about the greenery around them, along with the time schedule of a portal. According to Hantai's calculations, so long as the others head back on time, Nintai wouldn't have to worry. With the pendant around her neck, Nintai would be immune to the effects of slipping through the portal.
"What are the effects?" Nintai asks with worry.
"The usual. Hallucinations, mood-swings, a possible snap of patience."
"Okay. I'll make sure to let everyone know to keep an eye out for that stuff."
"Good," Hantai says happily. "Well, that's all I've got for you right now. Enjoy your bath!"
And the glow disappears, making the blue stone in the pendant darken. Nintai stays in the waters for another hour, half-expecting Kasumimaru to pop up for some reason. Well, it had happened last time. Yeah. Last time. Shaking the thought from her head, she gets out and redresses. If she keeps the others waiting on her, Ittosai at least would be ready to slice her in two.
Sitting around a campfire, the entire group listens to the real story on how Nintai, Lee and Nami had stopped the ninja. It came to happen because Rin had decided to ask for a retelling of the entire event. Although Ittosai was ticked about it, and Muneshige was a little peeved for not seeing the lie, everyone took it with good stride. The girls had their reasons, after all.
"And in the end, Nintai fell for a ninja!"
A shoe flies over the fire and slams Lee in the head. "Shut it!"
That was one part of the story that was never supposed to be told.
"A ninja, huh?" Yo leans towards her. "Which one? Was it the guy with the scar?"
Nintai slaps him upside the head and he backs off, pouting. Rin is immediately there with a hug to make him feel better. The actual effect, though, is a bright pink boy. It's rather cute and sends everyone into fits of laughter. Again, Nintai has avoided the topic of who she'd fallen for. Sure, she wouldn't be able to avoid it for much longer, but for now.
"Well, as much fun as this is," Ittosai mutters, "I'm going to bed. Don't even know why I came."
"Because you have a crush on Lee?" Nami's innocent smile annoys Ittosai to no end, and the comment turns him red from rage.
But since he can't do anything, Ittosai gets up and storms into the cave they're all in front of. Bo chuckles at the sight and looks at Lee, who smiles in victory and gives Nami a high-five. The girl has been toying with him all day, and the only reason he hasn't gotten back at her yet is the lotus-haired girl nearby.
With everyone listening to another story from Lee, Bo tugs on Nintai's sleeve and motions to the cave. They both get up and move inside. There, Bo taps Ittosai with his foot to get him to join.
"What?"
"Just get up," Nintai sighs.
The three sit in a circle and Bo asks his question. "You realize your friend is tormenting our beloved psychopath, right?"
Ittosai's eyebrow twitches. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, please," Nintai scoffs. "It's true and you know it. And yes, I'm well aware she's tormenting him. I believe Nami's a little closer than she thinks she is."
Bo smiles in agreement but Ittosai laughs it off. "Right! That little girl definitely likes me," he says sarcastically.
"Oh, Ittosai. You know nothing about dating, do you?"
The blonde glares at her over his glasses. Obviously not. In response, Nintai goes into detail on how her time's dating system works. By the time she's done, Bo is trying to keep himself from laughing at Ittosai's reaction; paled and like he's going to be sick.
"Awww. Too much for the little boy?" Nintai smiles at the blonde.
He turns around and lay back down, ignoring them. Bo clears his throat, still trying to hold back the laughter, and keeps going.
"What about Rin?"
"Same thing. And Sayori's crazy for Jin. Honestly, I think they would've enjoyed a bath together."
They both hear a muffled laugh from Ittosai and watch his shoulders shake for a moment. "Bone-headed girl."
Nintai rolls her eyes and continues. "Nami's pretty much the only one of us who hasn't got a crush on someone. So if you're looking for a date, Bo, I'd go with her."
Bo raises his eyebrows and smiles. "Oh, I'm not too sure that's what I was after." His smile worries Nintai as she realizes her mistake; she had failed to exclude herself from the group. "So who would you happen to have a thing for?"
Ittosai rolls over, his interest piqued. "Yes, little girl. Who did you get whipped with?" The sadistic smile on his face annoys her, but she forces the feeling down.
"Last I checked, Blondie, that's NTK." Bo stares at her, confused. "Need to know."
She then gets up and move back outside to join those around the fire, where Jin and Muneshige are doing karaoke, somehow.
Nintai opens her eyes. Just like last time, everyone else is fast asleep. With no need to fear any pursuit or danger, they didn't set up a watch through the night. Instead, Ittosai had been designated for the front of the cave, in case something he could slash should wander in. He had happily accepted the post.
Stretching her limbs, Nintai gets up from her spot and sneaks out of the cave, barely avoiding waking Ittosai as he snores softly. He seems a lot more defenseless in his sleep than he should. Out in the morning air, Nintai breathes deeply, debating grabbing one more bath in the hot spring. It's very unlikely that everyone will wake up any time soon, as dawn has about an hour before it starts.
With a shrug at the thought, she begins the trek back up the slopes to the spring. After being outsmarted with the topic of her love life, she could use the morale boost. Bo's just too smart for her to not be fully aware around.
Seeing the steam through the trees, Nintai picks up the pace and climbs over the crest of the path. She then turns a bright red.
"You," he whispers when he turns to her.
Kasumimaru is sitting on the edge of the spring, topless and soaking his legs in the water. Assessing her for a moment, he gives a quick smile before turning back to the spring. Bright side, at least he's not completely naked. That's the only thing keeping her nose from bleeding.
Dropping her sight, she thinks about how repetitive this trip has been. She shakes her head vigorously, regretting it instantly as the liquids swish around in her skull. Nintai takes one deep breath and moves toward the spring. This she doesn't regret, at least, not subconsciously.
Without a shirt on, Kasumimaru's entire torso is exposed for her viewing pleasure. Whether he realizes this or not, though, is another story. Forcing her courage through, Nintai pulls off her socks and shoes and dips her own legs in the water. The relaxing heat drowns her anxiety and gives her non-synthetic courage.
"So. Whacha doing?"
She turns and smiles at the ninja next to her. He stares at her blankly. Ugh… I think I did something wrong.
"Weren't you going to take a bath?" he asks.
Jumping at the sound of his voice, Nintai suddenly remembers why she'd come up the slope to begin with. Her cheeks tinge a slight pink as she nods slowly. Why do you know that? Common sense points out the baths their feet are in, and she accepts the reasoning easily. Seriously, she should listen to her instincts a little more closely.
She does her best to keep her heart calm, although a topless man next to her isn't exactly an assisting factor. Barely keeping her body at normal functioning levels, Nintai stares off at the water. Hopefully the distraction of some random fantasy will calm her. It's a good idea, admittedly, but can easily backfire.
Case in point: Instead of thinking about ponies and butterflies, Nintai's mind creates a nice dark room. There, she quietly tries to sleep on nothing when the sound of a door gains her attention. Opening her eyes, she sees the shadow of someone in a shrinking rectangle of light as the door closes.
The next thing she's aware of are two hands skimming along her side. She shifts onto her back to get a look at the person touching her. Hovering over her is a man with silver hair, different colored eyes, and a scar on the left side of his face. In her eyes, he's breathtaking. Her eyes locked with his, she feels her body overheating as his face gets closer and closer to hers.
"What's wrong?"
"Eh?"
Nintai jumps at the voice next to her. She hadn't even noticed Kasumimaru getting closer to her. What's more, she hadn't noticed him peering into her face as she stared off. The next thought she has is on how bright red she probably is.
"What's with you?" he asks seriously. "I don't remember you being this responsive before."
Nintai smiles weakly. Responsive? Really? In all honestly, she's not quite sure what's wrong with her herself. She's hoping that there isn't some random side effect that Hantai hasn't told her about.
"Hey. Are you listening?"
"Wha? Oh, sorry! I'm just spacing off!"
Kasumimaru assesses her critically. "Maybe…"
She feels his hands on her cheek and side and is swallowed by the warm waters of the spring. The memory of her dream reflects in her head as something soft presses against her lips and she closes her eyes.
"Wake up, stupid!"
Her eyes fly open as Nami shakes her. She can feel the sweat on her forehead and the sensation on her mouth. Her face a bright red, the feeling of a hand registers as Lee checks her forehead. Shaking the hands away, Nintai sits up easily. The others immediately try to push her back down.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
"I'm fine," she sighs, knocking the hands away once more and glancing to her side.
She immediately jumps when her eyes catch the sight of a bunch of persimmons sitting on a cloth on the ground nearby. Don't tell me… With a hunch filed away in her head, she reaches for one and takes a close look at it. Ripened completely and picked at its peak. Her hunch confirmed, she smiles softly and rubs the dust off the skin. The others stare at her in confusion as she eats the fruit happily.
"I don't get it," Yo whimpers.
"What don't you get?"
Bo sighs as Jin and Yo chatter aimlessly about Nintai's wakeup call this morning.
"She was just fine on the way here. Yet suddenly she's sulky and no fun."
All three of the boys look up ahead, where Nintai walks quietly. Since she'd woken up, her head has been full of ninjas and water. The entire thing annoys her greatly, but she's having trouble changing her train of thought right now. There's nothing here to keep her occupied, which she hadn't even considered a problem when she'd prepared to come back. If anything, she'd thought it a blessing.
With a small sigh, she trudges forward, her face still tinged pink from the thoughts in her head since morning. Her wakeup call hadn't helped with it at all. If anything, it only made it worse; her heads been coming up with ideas about how the dream ended, and they're all rather graphic. How do I even know about this stuff!? Sex-ed comes to mind.
Staring off once more, Nintai doesn't even notice the strange stares she's been getting from the others the entire time. All she notices is the weight in her hand from a persimmon. Absently, she raises it to her lips and takes a bite.
"Maybe we should try a tournament or something…" Lee's idea sticks into one head, but the others immediately deny it.
"Aw, why not?" Ittosai smirks. "I think it'd be a bloody fun day."
"Of course you do, psycho," Yo mutters from the back of Mon-Mon's horse.
Rin, walking alongside, covers her mouth as her shoulders shake.
"Is she still spacing off?" Nami whispers to Lee.
Lee nods as she watches her friend on the walkways. For the last week, Nintai has been staring off into space. Everyone's worried sick. They can't tell if it's just because of a crush or if it's because of jumping through the portal.
"She needs a kickstart. Maybe a-"
"No," Nami says simply.
"Oh come on! A tournament could help!"
Sighing, Nami turns and walks away. Lee chases after her, leaving Nintai to continue not noticing anything except the passing of clouds. She really could use a kickstart right now.
It's sunset and the gang, minus one spaced Nintai, has made a decision. The first thing they have to do is get the plan they have set up. With this in mind, Sayori and Jin are on lookout, their eyes glued to Nintai while the rest of the group runs around the castle. Well, not everyone. Ittosai is snoozing in one random garden, uninterested in the events.
While the two around the corner watch her quietly, Nintai stares into the gravel of the rock garden. The trees seem just as off as she does and the blooming flowers' colors are dulled like her eyes. In an observer's eyes, she's depressed and maybe even a little ill. But the girl staring off knows better; she just can't stop thinking about the dreams she's had.
It's only been the two, but both times she's sure Kasumimaru had been there while she slept. How he had gotten past Ittosai the second time, she doesn't bother to wonder about. What she does wonder about is how he'd gotten past her. Well, since he's not really a danger, it sort of makes sense. Plus, if he had meant her harm, he would've done something when they were alone and sitting in that tree. Why wait until she's surrounded by her friends?
Sayori hears a tapping and looks down the hall into the castle. At the other end is Lee giving a thumbs up. Everything's set. Grinning like idiots, Sayori and Jin start moving towards the spaced off girl.
"Ane!"
"Huh?" Nintai looks up from the gravel of the garden to a bouncing Sayori. "What's up, Imōto?"
Sayori bounds up to the girl and grabs her arm. "Time to go!"
Nintai stares at her blankly as she's pulled to her feet and towards a grinning Jin. Together, the three start to traverse the castle. Nintai, still somewhat spaced, has a rather bad feeling about what's going to happen next.
In the next three minutes, a total of four things happen. The main hall, where the majority of the group, excluding the three walking the halls and the uninterested Ittosai, experiences a sudden collapse. The floors shatter into hundreds of pieces and those standing on them fall to the dirt beneath.
The next thing to happen is a group of ninja, very strangely dressed in white, attempt to deal with Ittosai. Not the brightest move, true, but they still attempted it. The psychotic killer remains unharmed, except for a few small cuts from lucky shots.
Jin and Sayori are both knocked to the ground when Nintai turns the corner ahead of them, hitting the ground with a loud thud and gaining the girl's attention. Even though they're not dead, Sayori take severe damage to her left ribs. Jin, being both a boy and a trained fighter, takes less damage, but is still in too much pain to move.
And finally, when the other three events occur, a tower made of mortar builds itself from the ground up, attempting to reach the heavens.