Last chapter, Sasurai and Momiji got tangled up in a fight with some punks, Black Haru came to the bloody, violent rescue, and now that they've all had time to recover, let's see what they're up to now!
…Geez, I sound like Steve from Blue's Clues. O.o
Shigure: I love that dog!
Kia: …You would.
Shigure: By the way, what took you so long? I've been so bored waiting for you to write about me, Kia-chan!
Kia: -sighs- I'm writing now, aren't I? Let's get this started!
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"Huh?" Sasurai handed the wet plate to Tohru as she dunked her hands back into the sudsy water and looked over at Shigure. "An onsen?"
"Hai! Aya and I have noticed that everyone has been working very hard so come this Sunday, we're all going on to the onsen for some well-deserved relaxation!" The dog of the Zodiac was looking so enthused about this that it was making the girl just a little bit wary, but Tohru didn't seem to be bothered at all, smiling back genially at Shigure as she wiped the dripping plate with a cloth and set it on the counter.
"Shigure-san, by any chance, is this the same onsen that Momiji-kun took me for White Day?"
The novelist winked at her. "That's absolutely right, Tohru-kun! If you remember correctly, I was unable to accompany you, although I wished I could have…won't you let me treat you both this time?"
Sasurai risked a glance at her friend and immediately regretted it. Tohru's blue eyes were sparkling like an iridescent blue sky, her soapy hands clutched to her chest and she knew she was doomed. Unless…
"Do Yuki and Kyou know about this?" She blurted out. Going to a hot spring with a pervert was not in her Top Ten List of Things to Do for Fun. If Kyou and Yuki both objected, she still had a chance!
Shigure gave her a knowing smile, having anticipated any and all of Sasurai's protests. "Once I told them that if they didn't come, it would be just you, me, Tohru-kun, and Ayame, they agreed to come without any arguments at all! Isn't that wonderful?"
Tohru nodded enthusiastically and Sasurai stifled a groan. "Look, Shigure, I appreciate it and all, but I'm not going with just you and Ayame-san as chaperones."
"Oh, didn't I tell you that Ha'-san is coming too? And Ha'-kun, and Momitchi, and Kagura and Saa-chan and Hiro! 'Rai-chan refuses to come, sadly…"
"Saa-chan and Hiro?" The brunette echoed dubiously. "Who are they?"
Tohru opened her mouth to answer this, but Shigure cut in smoothly before she could get a single word out. "You'll find out, Sasu-chan! So, will you join us on our grand adventure?"
Sasurai hesitated. Her friend fixed her with a pleading look, and just when it couldn't possibly get any worse, Shigure threw his arms around her.
POOF!!
"My puppy-dog eyes work better in this form," the black canine explained, demonstrating as he gazed up at the sweatdropping girl with large, dark liquid eyes of melting sweetness. Now, there was something to be noted about Asamoya Sasurai. She was tough, with a stubborn personality that could rival a mule on a bad day, but she was completely helpless in the face of pleading and cute looks. Dammit…
"All right, all right, FINE!" She exploded, throwing her hands in the air and spraying poor Tohru with warm water. "I'll go, just STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"
"I'm so happy, Sasurai-chan!" With a squeal, Tohru enfolded her friend in a hug, knocking them both off-balance and sending them crashing onto the floor with Shigure to break their fall.
Please, please, PLEASE let nothing bad happen! Sasurai prayed desperately as Shigure grumbled about how heavy they were. If there's a God up there who loves me, please let this go without Ayame-san or Shigure doing something stupid!
The Fateful Sunday Arrived…
Sasurai took one look at Ayame running towards her, Tohru, Yuki, Kyou, and Shigure, wearing a wedding gown and lugging a little boy with light brown hair and narrowed brown eyes with him, and decided that God either hated her or just enjoyed watching her suffer. "'Gure-san, you've arriiiiiived!" Yuki's older brother screeched to a halt, beaming jovially as his surly prisoner scowled. "And Yuki and his friends too!"
"I'm NOT his friend, dammit!" Kyou snarled, while Tohru smiled and waved, Yuki merely stood like a stone statue, and Sasurai mumbled a greeting, wondering if she still had time to catch a bus and head back before it was too late.
Shigure, however, seemed to be a capable mind-reader and placed a heavy hand on the brunette's shoulders. She slumped, unhappily accepting her defeat as the Hebi and the Inu of the Zodiac began exchanging their usual perverted remarks while the unfortunate boy in Ayame's hold rolled his eyes, but was powerless to escape.
"Is everyone here already, Aya?" Shigure inquired, sobering after awhile.
"And what are you doing wearing a wedding dress?" Yuki demanded sharply, as Sasurai and Kyou both remained at a loss for words. "Let Hiro go."
"Hahahaha! Yuki!" His older brother gestured grandly, releasing the boy who immediately locked Sasurai into a staring contest. "Is this dress not beautiful? My customer wanted to know how durable his dress will be and so I decided to try it out by wearing it for a week! And so, this is the last day and it is indeed holding up well, no?"
Before Yuki could reply, Ayame turned back to Shigure. "Everyone has arrived! Kisa-chan and Hiro-chan and everyone! Come, let us go greet them!" The boy known as "Hiro" continued to stare at Sasurai, who was beginning to feel a little unnerved under such piercing scrutiny.
"Why are you staring?" She finally asked exasperatedly.
Hiro smirked. "Does it matter? Why are you upset by me looking at you? Is it a crime to be curious about strangers? Should I not stare if someone is robbing a bank? Is your self-esteem that low to be daunted by a kid?"
"I'll show you 'daunted', you little--" Unfortunately, she was prevented from smashing the brat's face in by Yuki, who shook his head warningly.
"Hiro always acts like this with everyone, except for Kisa. It's nothing personal. Come on, Asamoya-san, let's go inside…" With his hands placed on her shoulders, the nezumi firmly steered her into the building--where she came face-to-face with a woman who could have been one of those zombies in any particular horror movie.
"Welcome…" She gasped out, her gray eyes drilling into Sasurai's own startled hazel ones. "To…my…ONSEEEEEN…will it be the same room?"
"Eh…uh…u-um…are you…?"
The woman's eyes widened. "You are new! I do not recognize you! And I was being presumptuous!" To the girl's horror, she grabbed her by the arms and began shaking her, while howling out apologies at the top of her lungs.
"GOMEN NASAI, GOMEN NASAI, I SHOULD NOT HAVE ASSUMED THAT YOU HAD BEEN HERE BEFORE AND NOW I MUST SPILL OUT MY INNARDS TO ATONE FOR MY HORRIBLE SIN GOMEN NASAIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Throughout her monologue and constant shaking, Sasurai had been turning paler by the second. "T-there's no need to apologiiiize," she managed to get out.
"GOMEN NASAAAAAAAAAIIIIIII, I AM SO SORRY, I WILL APOLOGIZE TO THE WOOOOOOORRRRRLD!"
"Sasurai!"
"Sass-chan! Yun-chan!"
Help arrived from two unlikely sources: a boar and a bunny. Kagura came racing up to throw her arms around Sasurai, who was thankfully freed from the zombie woman's grasp, and hugged the older girl out of sheer gratefulness while Momiji bounced around them, then hopped outside, squealing Tohru's name.
"Hiro-chan bet Shii-chan that you wouldn't come and you did!" The gray-eyed girl paused, looking over at Sasurai's shoulder and acting rather bashful. "By the way…d-did Kyou-kun come as well?"
Well, that explains why he was glaring at me like that…wonder how much money he lost. "Actually, Kyou is here. He's waiting for you outside."
Yuki smiled at this, as Kagura let out a cry similar to Momiji's and tore outside. There came several screams of horror coming from a certain orange-haired neko and loud shouts of "KYOU-KUUUUUUUUUUUUN!", as well as Tohru's smaller voice, trying to keep the overenthusiastic boar from tearing Kyou to pieces in her joy. From Kyou's screeches, however, Tohru's endeavors weren't being too successful.
"I thought I heard a commotion out here…" Sasurai and the zombie woman turned at the same time to see Hatori approaching them, wearing a…bathrobe?!
"You," Sasurai stated calmly, pointing a quivering finger at him. "YOU."
The stoic doctor raised an eyebrow. "Me," he replied calmly. "Is something wrong?"
The girl suddenly burst out laughing, almost doubled over. "You…you're wearing a BATHROBE!!" She wheezed, giggling so hard that Tohru (who had entered and greeted the Okami) looked at her concernedly.
"Is she feeling all right?" Hatsuharu had now joined the growing group and was peering at Sasurai with an air of bemusement. "Maybe she should go into the water before she hurts herself…"
"Hahahaha…oh…a BATHROBE!!!"
"I-I think Hatsuharu-san is right," Tohru said quickly. "Come on, Sasurai-chan, let's go in! It's very nice at night!"
Kagura dropped a bloodied Kyou to the ground and bounded over. "I'll go in with you! Kisa-chan is waiting for you, Tohru-kun. She's very excited about this."
"I'll go in with you, too!" Momiji piped up gleefully.
"NO," Kyou and Yuki both said at once, the former struggling to sit up and staunch the flow of blood from his nose. Poor guy. Love hurt.
"You'll stay on the men's side," Hatori informed the usagi sternly, earning a petulant stare and a "But HA'RI…" He was (strangely enough) blushing slightly, for Sasurai couldn't seem to control her hysterics at seeing such a serious man in a bathrobe, of all clothing. A white, fluffy bathrobe.
Maybe she was just losing her remaining sanity while staying with this family.
--In the Hot Springs--
"Eh? Tohru-kun…" Sasurai, who had finally managed to calm down, pointed at the picture that her friend held as they basked in the hot water, hair pinned atop their heads. "Who is that?"
"Oh!" The brunette smiled cheerfully. "This is my Okaasan. She died in a car accident about two years ago…she enjoyed our last trip to the onsen, so I brought her along this time, too!"
Kagura's gray eyes began to sparkle. "Tohru-kun, that's so thoughtful!"
Kisa, the youngest female, nodded in agreement. Upon meeting her, Sasurai had instantly pulled a Tohru and fallen in love with the tiger of the Chinese Zodiac. She looked to be around twelve or thirteen years of age, with golden-brown hair, and soulful brown eyes. She didn't talk much, but she seemed to like the newcomer to the family and clung to her almost as much as she still did to Tohru.
"That IS a nice gesture," Sasurai remarked, sinking into the water with a sigh of sheer bliss. "Ahh, this feels so good…"
Little did the girls know that they were being watched. As the conversation switched to romance, two certain Zodiac members fought over the peephole in the wooden fence that separated the two hot springs.
"'Gure-san, it's my turn!" Ayame whined, trying to press himself against the hole. "After all, Sasu-chan IS my employee and it's only fitting that I should get to see her!"
"But she and Tohru-kun both live in MY house," the inu retorted, and the two began to squabble.
Kyou rolled his eyes, as did Yuki. "Honestly," the latter stated. "You two are so vulgar!"
Ayame turned to regard his brother. "Ah, but Yuki, your princess is so lovely! You should come have a look! And Hiro-chan can look too, and so can Kyonkichi-kun! After all, Kagura and Kisa-chan are over there as well."
Hiro turned an incredibly shade of pink and Kyou covered his own embarrassment by yelling loudly, "DON'T CALL ME THAT, YOU BASTARD!!"
"Ha'-kun, what about you?" Knowing well enough to leave Hatori alone, Shigure looked at Hatsuharu, who seemed to be dozing off in the water.
The ox shook his head. "It's rude to peek at naked girls."
"Right, right!" Momiji agreed. "But I know what's fun!" Before Yuki or Kyou could stop him, the little blonde boy was yelling to the other side.
"Ne, ne, Tohru, Sasurai, minna! Let's all sing my song together, ne? Yuuhi no yamani…teru, teru, Momiji…"
Tohru willingly joined in, if a bit shyly, and once Kisa, Kagura, and Sasurai had gotten the words memorized, they all sang along. Hatsuharu even hummed under his breath and Ayame bellowed out the words in such a tone that poor Hatori had to leave the springs before he went deaf.
And then Kagura spotted Shigure's eye watching them.
"EEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH, SHII-CHAN NO HENTAI!!!!!!!" Eyes blazing, the girl slammed her fists into the water, generating a wave of water that rose over the wall and swept the unfortunate males out of the onsen. ((A/N: Hey, it's anime. Things do this.))
A shadow in the foliage nearby watched, and two dark eyes glinted…
---Later…---
Finally, everyone had toweled off and were now dressed in blue kimonos (minus Ayame and his wedding dress)--including Hatori, which almost made Sasurai lapse into a laughing fit again. Now, most of the group had gathered in one of the rec rooms, watching Tohru attempt to hit the ping-pong ball that Kyou was gently pitching her way. And still, she failed miserably, but she kept smiling about it. Hatori had gone to bed early, due to a headache…mostly generated by the company he was keeping and the apologetic screams of the Okami.
Hiro was looking bored, but Kisa seemed enthralled by the game, and he didn't seem to want to insult it in her presence. Noticing the blush that appeared on the boy's face when Kisa smiled at him, Sasurai decided she had to give him SOME sort of opportunity.
"Ne, Hiro-san…"
"Yeah?" He gave her a surly glance and she stifled a sharp retort, reminding herself that it wasn't personal, as Yuki has assured her.
"Why don't you try playing with Kisa-chan? There's another table next door…"
Hiro hesitated, but the hesitant smile his companion gave him decided him, and he awkwardly took her hand and led her out of the room.
"Why, you devious little matchmaker!" Shigure muttered, as Sasurai grinned at him, flashing him a thumbs up.
"Yuki-kun, why don't you go against Kyou-kun?" Tohru suggested. "You're both so good."
"I'm not playing against him!" Kyou exploded.
Yuki shrugged. "I would, but as you can see, Honda-san, that baka neko is too afraid to challenge me…"
That struck a nerve and Kyou immediately countered with, "BRING IT ON, RAT-BOY!!! I'LL DESTROY YOU!"
Two minutes later, the rec room was a war zone, with out of control ping pong balls zigzagging everywhere. Hatsuharu, Momiji, and Sasurai had sought refuge under one of the folding tables, while Tohru looked on apprehensively, Shigure and Ayame deciding that now was the perfect time to go eat, and Kagura hugging Kyou around the waist and making his attempts to hit the ball even more difficult.
Suddenly, Sasurai froze, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. "…That's weird…"
"What's weird?" Hatsuharu looked at her quizzically.
"That Kyou and Yuki haven't killed each other yet?" Momiji chirped.
She smiled, shaking her head. "No…but it just felt…like I was being watched."
"Snort."
Normally, that sound wasn't one to usually strike fear into the hearts of men, but when delivered right by Sasurai's ear, it was effective enough.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" She jumped up, and (forgetting where she was) promptly whapped her head on the underside of the table and hit the ground, landing on top of Hatsuharu.
POOF!
"I'm sorry!" The girl cried frantically, moving away from the cow and glaring daggers at the object of her fear. "Pug, what are you doing here? Did you hitch hike or something?"
The little dog wheezed and trotted out--where the Okami promptly tripped over him, hit Ayame, who was checking to see if anyone had won the meaningless ping-pong battle yet…and, well, we all know that Sasurai is afraid of snakes.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH, SNAKE, GET IT AWAY FROM ME, GET IT AWAAAAAAAY!"
"Y'know, being a cow sometimes is very uncomfortable…"
"Sasu-chan, please! Must you scream so loudly? Am I not a beautiful specimen?"
"SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!"
"Ayame, you're scaring Sasurai, change back!"
POOF!
"AHHHHHH, PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!!!!!!"
"STOP DUCKING, KUSO NEZUMI!!"
"Stop getting the ball out, baka neko."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!"
"Isn't that what you just did? You should really follow your own advice…"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"YAAAAAAAAAY, KYOU-KUN!"
"LET GO OF ME!!!!"
"A-a-ano, Kyou-kun, Yuki-kun…!"
"GOMEN NASAIIIIIIIIIII! I AM SO SORRY FOR TRIPPING OVER YOU!!!! AND I AM SO SORRY THAT I TURNED YOU INTO A SNAKE, AYAME-BOCCHAN!!!! GOMEN NASAIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!"
Kisa and Hiro had actually drifted off in the other room, propped against each other with the tora's head resting against Hiro's shoulder.
Inside his room, Hatori winced and decided to bring ear-plugs if he was ever brought along on this idiotic trip again.
---OOC---
Sorry that took me so long! -cough- GOMEN NASAIIIIIIIIII!
All right, please review! NEXT chapter!
- When Hatsuharu catches a cold and transforms, guess who's out rounding up cows at that very moment?
- It's a slaughter house rescue mission! Can Yuki, Sasurai, and Shigure save Haru on time?
- Sasurai feels bad for the cows…and Shigure's a dog…dogs round up cattle, right? Uh-oh.
