18. 温泉

Hot Spring

Akira pushed the door to the onsen open. He had already removed his glasses and left them in one of the cubbies in the showers, so the steam that billowed out had nothing to fog up. He took a few tentative steps into the room and closed the door behind him, immediately enveloping his body in the humid air.

He strolled over to the edge of the water and dipped a toe in. The water was pleasantly warm, and Akira waded in without reservations. He doffed his towel and flung it aside before bobbing to a deeper spot of the bath. He sat and immersed his legs in the warmth of the water.

It was the perfect depth for a nice, relaxing read.

Akira leaned against the smooth stones behind him and cracked his journal open to his latest entry. He only read his own writing back to himself when he was trying to make sense of something that had happened, and this time was no exception. Through the light steam that billowed up from the bath, he read:

I barely have the energy to make an entry today, as it has been an arduous and emotionally taxing day. As usual, I arose early to attend my music appreciation club before school. Anna was still deep in the throes of slumber when I checked in on her at about 6:30. I pity her, or at least I did, but more on that anon.

At the club meeting, the discourse descended into a petty argument regarding the merits of classical vis-a-vis modern music. I have no strong opinion one way or the other - I'll be the first to admit that today's music can be quite infectious - yet somehow Shinji roped me into advocating for the merits of the classical camp. Goodness knows I alienated half of the club by pointing out that every Western song composed in the last 400 years can trace its roots to Bach and his innovative contrapuntal style. (Oh, the pitfalls of pushy friends!)

Akira skimmed over the rest of the day's annoyances to get to the part that confused him most.

Prep school, meanwhile, continues its relentless quest to denude my life of any free time whatsoever. I can only marvel at the sheer volume of work my instructors expect an already busy high school student to realistically complete every day. I started on it immediately after I returned to the Inn at about 5:30, having just found, to my surprise, that Anna was still not back. She'd been returning by 5:00 for the past week on account of her detention.

In any event, I lost myself in my work (please note sarcasm - the reading passages they assign should be prescribed by doctors as a fast-acting soporific). Minutes stretched into hours and still there was no sign of Anna. A nagging fear implanted itself at the back of my mind, and by 8:00 it had progressed to unmitigated panic. Had she been accosted by a pickpocket - or even worse? I abandoned all pretense of completing my assignments and watched anxiously out the window for a sign of Anna.

At last, nearly an hour later, her familiar black-clad figure strolled through the gates. But my relief was instantly tinged with revulsion when I saw, as surely as I sit here writing these words now, a boy accompanying her!

All manner of emotions rushed into my head at the sight of him - anger, betrayal, enmity, even hatred - but I forced myself to calm down. This was no time to jump to conclusions, after all; it was late, and all outward appearances suggested that the boy was merely being a gentleman and walking the lady home, as it were. After furtively making sure that they did not kiss goodbye, I hastily cracked my textbooks back open, to give the illusion of having been too preoccupied with my studies to have borne witness to anything unseemly. Sure enough, Anna entered my room scant moments later. We exchanged pleasantries - ones which conspicuously omitted any mention of having walked home with a boy, at any rate - and I did my utmost to speak civilly despite myself.

For Yoh's sake, and mine as well, I have resolved to confront her about this as soon as it becomes expedient to do so.

Akira punctuated his journal entry by slamming the book shut. "Ah," he sighed, laying the journal on the lip of the bath and sliding his body deeper into the water, "it's too relaxing in here. I don't know what I hoped to accomplish by coming here to read that."

"It is a little strange. Usually I come here when I want to clear my mind, not fill it with a book."

A plume of water shot up from the bath where Akira's body slammed against the surface of the water in shock. He had inhaled some of the water and was now coughing violently.

"Er … I guess you didn't hear me knocking," Anna said, as apologetically as her voice ever got.

If Akira's heart was racing from the fright of his unexpected visitor, it practically pumped right out of his chest when he looked up and saw Anna wearing nothing but a rather skimpy two-piece swimsuit - solid black, of course.

Realizing he hadn't spoken a word to Anna yet, Akira said, "A - Anna! You look absolutely -" He stopped himself just in time. "- Um, absolutely ready to take a dip in the onsen," he finished smoothly.

Anna decided to let Akira's obvious embarrassment go by the wayside for the moment. "You've never been more right," she said. "This past week has been a nonstop whirlwind of …" She trailed off as she looked at Akira - really looked at him.

Maybe it was because Anna's breakup had been far too fresh when she had first spoken to Akira to be bothered with taking in his physical appearance. Maybe it was the way his more than vague resemblance to Yoh made her twinge with pangs of guilt whenever the two of them locked eyes. Maybe it was something else entirely. Whatever the reason, Anna had never really stopped to see Akira for what he really was.

What he really was, she was only now starting to see, was a quite handsome young man.

His hairdo was somewhat shorter and more studious than Yoh's; his face a little narrower; his expression less prone to spontaneous easy grins; his eyes somewhat more serious and brooding. But something about him, especially without his glasses, immediately called to mind her erstwhile fiance.

And his body …

Anna admitted to herself that she had never really considered the possibility that Akira might be physically attractive, owing to his bookish nature. It was, she was realizing now, an almost criminal oversight. Akira didn't have the compact, rippling muscles of Ren - not that she had ever looked at him that way, of course - nor did he have Yoh's musculature, solid and hiding just beneath the surface until called to action, like a battalion of guerilla soldiers. What he did have, quite simply, was the physical equivalent of a fresh cut of lean sashimi - smooth and satisfying. It was certainly a feast for Anna's eyes …

Akira felt Anna's heavy gaze upon his skin. His blush intensified as he suddenly realized that only a thin, steamy sheet of water separated him from Anna and his completely nude figure. He discreetly interlocked his fingers and moved his hands below the surface to shield from view a certain … anatomical landmark.

Akira anxiously filled the awkward vacuum of silence with the first words that came to mind. "Um, I would like to come inside - oh God, I mean, would you like to ... come sit next to me - I mean, maybe you'd like to -"

Without even acknowledging Akira's fumbling speech, Anna unhesitatingly plunged herself into the bath beside him. Her wake washed over Akira's lap. He looked up at Anna's figure, now as scantily clad and as close to him as it had ever been before. It was his turn to indulge his roving eyes.

Anna was quite attractive even in her usual unflattering clothes. In her current get-up, she was knockout beautiful. Without her headscarf keeping it in check, her blond hair was free to mingle with the currents of the bath and cling onto her face in cadence with the current. Her eyes were closed and she looked blissful. He dared not move his gaze any lower …

She opened her eyes and slowly drifted towards Akira. Unhurriedly, she sat up, leaning her back against the same rock that Akira was reclining on.

"We did this once," she said suddenly, cupping her hands at the surface of the water. The gentle current lapped over the edges of her hands and they slowly filled with warmth. "Yoh and I." She splashed her face with the water she had cupped. It disappeared into her hair, then coalesced at its tips and dripped onto her shoulders.

Akira looked at Anna expectantly, waiting for her to go on. She did not. It occurred to him that she was waiting for him to respond.

"Oh?" Akira asked. "Just once? You are quite the ascetic. I've availed myself of this amenity more than that, and I've barely been here a week."

"No," Anna said by way of explanation, "we both made use of this onsen plenty of times. But together at the same time? Only once." She stretched her neck, which issued forth a few sharp pops that rang out over the murmur of the hot springs.

"I assume it wasn't a very enjoyable experience, then," Akira ventured.

"Quite the opposite." Anna's expression softened slightly as she appeared to reminisce. "It was enjoyable. But that was the problem. It was too enjoyable."

Akira blushed. "Are you implying that your foray into the bath as a couple culminated in an act of coit-"

"No!" Anna interrupted. "I told you the truth. Yoh and I never did … that." Her face flushed slightly. "It wasn't necessary. I could tell our relationship was reaching a new level from everything else."

"Oh." Akira couldn't resist. Against his better judgment, he asked, "Were you both nude?"

"Th - that doesn't matter!" Anna snapped, her cheeks betraying the answer. "What does matter is that Yoh's departure to America was getting closer and closer. I'd been working him harder than ever. I could see the lifeless look in his eyes. And I could tell from our daily interactions that he was starting to resent me. His 'Yes, Anna' started to take on an edge. I could hear anger in his chores - dishes banging together, toilet seats slamming down carelessly - and I knew I had to do something.

"I didn't want to taint Yoh's last memories of me before his big trip. I felt it would demotivate him." Anna toyed with the idea of telling Akira another reason, but decided against it. "So I started easing off. I took over some of the chores. I forced myself to be looser with my praise, and … and even with my signs of affection. Yoh's mood turned around quickly."

"It … it sounds like Yoh was …" Akira looked afraid to verbalize his thoughts, but he pressed on. "You adjusted a few parameters and observed the effects of your tinkering. It's like Yoh wasn't your lover so much as an unwitting test subject."

A flame of anger flickered behind Anna's eyes for a moment, but she snuffed it out with a great mental push. "Make no mistake, Akira. I loved Yoh. And I still do. And no matter what happens in the end, some part of me will always love him."

Akira looked unconvinced. "And yet here we are," he said with uncharacteristic boldness. "Two single classmates taking a dip together with another boy waiting in the wings. Yes, Anna," Akira said, marshalling his courage to continue, "I saw that last night. Who was that, by the way? Yet you sit next to me, proclaiming your undying love for your ex-fiance. 'Methinks the lady doth protest too much.'"

Anna didn't miss a beat. "The 'lady,'" she said icily, "is just trying to get insight from other boys. I try my best to handle things by myself, but dealing with this alone has been so hard. Having to move on after your fiance leaves you. Or trying to change so he wants to come back. Or accepting the fact that his leaving was all your fault. I used to be afraid to admit this, but I'm not anymore. I need help to deal with it all. And I need help to change. It's too hard for me by myself."

"Oh," Akira spat, feeling his temperature rise even against the warmth of the water, "have you come to the earth-shattering revelation that life can be hard sometimes? I seem to recall a great man who once said that the true measure of a person is found not in times of comfort and convenience, but in times of challenge. You are not rising to the challenge, Anna. You are taking the path of least resistance because it comforts you. But is this what Yoh would want? To watch you eschew the school counselor and turn to supposed friends instead? To look on as you wrap these 'friends' around your little finger like a classy prosti-"

"How DARE you!"

Anna's ferocious rebuttal shook the walls of the onsen and almost seemed to frighten the bubbling hot spring into silence. She had sprung to her feet, leaving her knee-deep in the water as she towered over Akira's reclined figure. Her hot, angry, ragged breaths kicked up the steam before her face like smoke from a freshly stoked fire.

"I have been nothing but clear to everyone that I am not interested in becoming anything more than a friend," she snarled in Akira's direction. "If you want to jump to conclusions and think I'm a whore for talking to two boys, that's your problem. Not mine!"

Akira, for his part, returned Anna's razor-sharp glare with courage he scarcely knew he had. "True. Only you've been more than just talking, haven't you?" he asked pointedly. "Your ability to bluster away any whispers of your infidelity is unparalleled. A little digging, though, unearths the truth."

"What truth?!" Anna demanded. "Makoto and I are just -"

"Makoto!" Akira pronounced with vehemence. "Your detention partner. I knew it! You were far too giddy about the prospect of detention the last time we spoke of it. Small wonder, now that I realize you were looking forward to touching more than just some laboratory equipment!"

"I have never, ever, touched anyone the way you're implying," Anna said, her voice suddenly little more than a whisper - a cutting, deadly whisper.

"Well, keep things up with Makoto, and it won't be long before you do," Akira shot back. "Incidentally, how does he take his ice cream? I'm guessing a scoop of vanilla on a waffle cone. Probably with some sprinkles on top. It would match his personality. Milquetoast, but with a flimsy coating of panache."

"How - how did you know about the ice cream?" Anna asked, her fury displaced by shock.

"I noticed something last night when you came in to check on me," Makoto pointed out. "When I saw the white stains on your school uniform, it took every ounce of restraint in me not to assume the worst. But the sweet smell on your breath exonerated you.

"Are you in the habit of taking 'just friends' out for ice cream?" Makoto continued, in a voice that was both even-keeled and scathing. "Because, and correct me if I'm mistaken, I assume you see me as a friend. And, curiously enough, I don't believe we've ever done anything together outside of school."

"Right," Anna said with bitter sarcasm, "we only live together. We're practically complete strangers."

"We are!" Akira retorted. "You spend most of your waking life in this Inn actively avoiding me. Forgive me if the way you're seeking another boy's attention makes me suspicious!"

"Suspicious?" Anna countered. "Or jealous?"

"Oh, no you don't." Akira thrusted his chin at Anna. "This is about you and your coquettishness, Anna. I've got nothing to do with that."

"I'm guessing that's a fancy way of calling me a skank," Anna said. "Well, you're mistaken. This has everything to do with you being jealous. Don't sit there and try to tell me you're upset on Yoh's behalf. You didn't even know the guy. You're jealous of Makoto. End of discussion."

"I pity Makoto," Akira said dismissively. "Judging by the way he thinks it's okay to parlay your moment of weakness into a relationship, he seems to lack basic human decency. It's nothing less than disgusting."

"You sound pretty high and mighty for a guy who checks me out every chance he gets," Anna rebutted.

"I do no such thing!" Akira smacked his palm into the surface of the water for emphasis. Warm droplets of water cascaded onto both of the bath's occupants. "I have far too much respect for you, to say nothing of Yoh, to even think of you in such terms!"

The hot spring continued to gurgle, filling the silence as the two stared each other down. Suddenly Anna licked her lips.

"Bullshit," she said simply.

Akira looked frustrated. "I can't change your mind, Anna. I have no way of proving the fact that I don't look at you in that sort of way."

For once, Anna was smiling a little mischievous grin. "Sure you do."

She looked down at the waterline around Akira's waist meaningfully.

"Are you mad?!" Akira demanded hotly, reflexively covering himself with his hands again.

"Not anymore," Anna replied. "Take a good, long look," she said, wading a few steps closer to Akira.

"Stop!" Akira implored, looking anywhere but at Anna's advancing figure. "This will prove nothing! One may as well argue that an adolescent boy has romantic feelings for his stash of magazines -"

"If what you say is true, Akira," Anna cut in, "and your respect for Yoh outweighs all, this should be no problem for you. What are you afraid of?"

"This is depravity and madness!" Akira protested. "How will you live with yourself if we proceed? You can't possibly rest easy at night, hoping to reunite with Yoh while knowing that you solicited a peek at my -"

"I'm willing to take that risk to prove a point," she said. "Now look at me, damn it."

"No!" Akira implored, not daring to look Anna's way. His expression grew more and more imperiled the longer Anna stood before him. Finally, he cracked.

"All right, enough! Yes, Anna, I admit it." It was only then that he could bring himself to look at her. She, as he had known all along, was breathtaking.

"Admit what?" she asked.

"Anna," Akira confessed, "I am absolutely, incontrovertibly, irrationally smitten with you."

With fear of her wrath plain in his eyes, Akira looked up to her face to glimpse her reaction.

She didn't look at all surprised.

"I seem to have that effect on people," she admitted …

To be continued in chapter 19