Disclaimer: The information about the Azabu-Juban Onsen (hot spring) that I found while researching was found from some internet websites. Therefore I disclaim the information as not being my own. Now don't you dare sue me!
Terminology:
Onsen = hot spring
Sento = public bath
A/N: I've just realized this entire fic has spanned only 3 and a half days. Lol, I must be good at dragging things out…it's been the same day for 4 chapters!!! Time must be going really slowly, haha. Anyway, on with the story! :D
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They arrived firstly at Minako's house. Setsuna had never been in her home before. The home had a warm, family-ish appearance about it, though Setsuna knew better than to think it was one of those happy and dandy places. She'd heard things about Minako's family being somewhat dysfunctional, with a passive father and a mother that was always yelling, meaning the family wasn't as tightly knit as the house's appearance suggested.
Minako insisted that Setsuna wait by the door since she wouldn't be very long. She dashed upstairs and then, a minute later, dashed back down again carrying with her two swimming costumes. Setsuna raised an eyebrow and wondered what Minako could have had in store.
It turned out that their actual destination was the Azabu-Juban Onsen, one of the best known hot springs in Tokyo, which was situated in a building in the shopping district of Azabu-Juban. The spring had brownish water which was said to cure rheumatism, arthritis, neuralgia and other ailments.
On the ground floor was a regular sento. Not being a weekend or public holiday, there weren't huge numbers of people there, just the odd couple on a getaway. The bath was a little on the hot side, but the kind of heat that your body would retain and would get one's circulation kicking.
Setsuna would have taken more time to appreciate the warmth if it hadn't been for the fact that seeing Minako in her swimming costume was very enticing. Going red, she averted her eyes from the girl's body and tried to tame the images that had entered her head. She had once considered herself a person that was always in control, but the last three days had definitely proved otherwise.
"You look great," she said when Minako stepped out the changing room in her swimsuit.
"So do you," Minako replied. Setsuna could feel herself going red.
Once they were in the bath she wasn't quite sure what to do. The gates of time hadn't had such a calming presence as the hot spring. In fact, they had been rather cold and empty-feeling as if to emphasize her loneliness. Setsuna didn't know what she was doing here. She'd never once been able to allow herself to simply relax, had never once had a holiday while performing her duty.
Relaxation had always come second to duty, and duty second to none.
She felt tense and on alert, despite the calming effect of the water, knowing that it wasn't her place to be here and never had been. Even though she now knew it was simply the bad mindset of depression, she still felt as if she didn't belong among the ordinary population.
"Relax," said Minako and Setsuna figured that Minako had sensed how she was feeling. "It's not a crime you know."
"Of course."
At the time gates she'd never been allowed to relax except when she was sleeping. She hadn't dared to think of all the bad things that could have happened if she'd let her guard down even for just a minute. Doing so would have certainly ensured the destruction of the universe, something she, as the guardian of time, never ever wanted to be responsible for.
"I lied," said Minako. Setsuna snapped her head up and immediately went into defence mode. No, not you! I trusted you more than anyone! she thought frantically, but fought to keep her cool until she'd heard the girl out. "I lied about my abilities. It's only you I can sense, not the others."
Only me? Setsuna thought confusedly. She considered what that could mean. It made her an exception on Minako's part, which implied there was something particular about her - something that made her an open book to Minako. She couldn't think how she was different from anyone else. It's not as if she should be particularly special.
"How come?"
Minako didn't answer immediately. Her expression suggested she was struggling with something, probably something big.
"It's different with you. You're so unique, so different from everyone else. In a good way, of course." The sentences were slightly awkward in structure and sounded rushed, like she wasn't really comfortable with what she was saying. Setsuna felt that weird warm feeling again when she heard the compliment, the same one she'd felt earlier. She felt her heart rate speed up as her mind dared to hope that Minako was saying what she so badly wanted to hear. Quickly she discarded the hope. There was no way, simply no way. Setsuna of all people just didn't get that lucky.
"You're really unique too. In a good way."
They were close, with Minako's arm around Setsuna's shoulder and their face barely a ruler length apart. Setsuna could tell that both of them could feel that kind of tension but didn't move to turn it into anything. The fear was returning. What would this mean for both her, and everyone else? She remembered the cold, angry voices of Haruka and Michiru as they went down on Minako simply for being friends with her. It would only make things harder if they got together as a couple.
"Setsuna, what are we?" asked Minako.
Indeed, what were they? To Setsuna, Minako was the closest friend she'd ever had, and also her saviour. She was the first person in whom she could place all her trust and confide in without having to worry about risk or betrayal. She was also the person whom Setsuna wanted to get much closer to, something she had shunted as Sailor Pluto. Finally, Minako was the person who'd helped Setsuna open up to her own feelings and allow herself to feel too.
"We are two people," she replied. "Two people sitting in a hot spring relaxing together. Two people who weren't meant to become close, but did so gladly and regardless of consequence."
"I really like you."
"I really like you too," Setsuna admitted.
It wasn't one of those moments where you felt happier than you'd ever been in your entire life. Of course Setsuna was happy, but she also felt overwhelmed. So much had happened in the past few days that she didn't know how she felt about everything. She was sure of her feelings for Minako, but not about everything else, and knew that a relationship wouldn't be an instant solution to all her problems. Being in love didn't kill the emptiness and loneliness that had been with her for so many hundreds of years and didn't enlighten her on how she was supposed to adapt completely to this normal lifestyle. The bad emotions were slightly more tamed but nevertheless still there and she knew it would be a long time before they were gone.
