Chapter 20

"Hey…. HEY! Wakey Wakey Princess!"

"Nothing? Normally that would get him up in no time."

"Dad, remember, he's a snake, he has snake like tendencies, the cold really shocked his body."

"I could have told him that. Then again, he doesn't want my advice unless he asks for it! Good thing I came by then."

Slowly, Amai came too. He blinked a few times and saw Snek staring down at him. "There he is!" he announced. "You're a dumbass!"

"What…"

"You heard me dumbass, who the hell takes a shower at the base of the waterfall in the first snowfall! Not to mention wearing something electrical while doing so. You forgot Alley's heat distribution system on your back!" said Snek. "You were lucky, I came by to check on things, when I saw you floating face first in the water!"

Amai slowly sat himself up, looking about he found he was in a sauna of sorts, everything was so warm and it felt wonderful! Nearly the whole house was here as Alley rolled her eyes. "Way to spoil the surprise Amai!" she scolded. "I've been working for months on this!"

"Where… where is this place?" he asked.

"Not too far from the house, I just finished the passageway so Snek could use it in the winter time. It's a hot spring! There's a natural ones on the mountain, Pac found it a few months ago, and I decided to box it in so we have our own little sauna. I was going to surprise everyone until you decided to give yourself a cold shock. Then there was no other choice but to use it to bring you back to consciousness!"

His body was still numb from it all, he couldn't bring himself to move much. So with a roll of her eyes, Alley levitated Amai off the ground, he held him over the largest hot springs before easing him down into it. From there, he fully woke his body returned to full function and then he felt complete and utter relaxation. "Looks nice," said Snek.

"Well the hot springs are for everyone. There's a section down over here for mom and I to use, but here, the larger one is for Snek… well Amai right now, the other it's all yours, so go nuts! I got to head back to the lab and fix Amai's heat device… again." She sighed.

When Alley left, the guys grinned, they stripped down and jumped into the hot spring. Snek savored it all. "My God, this is awesome!" he said. "I wish she made this last year, I spent nearly all of winter sleeping!"

"This is divine!" purred Amai.

"Oh yeah, he's here." Muttered Snek. "So how is he doing?"

Garou shrugged. "I don't really know how to tell anymore…"

"I'm over here and I can still hear you" protested Amai. "What is your problem with me anyways? I am doing exactly what you want me to do. Living the way Snek would have…"

"Yeah, but I think dad was expecting you to suffer a little more." Hunter explained.

"Not to mention, I was expecting you to suffer!" announced Snek. "But good job at keeping up with the kid. I'm impressed."

"He's not a comfy as you are Snake." Said Draven.

"Not at all, but he is getting there," explained Goliath.

"You two have grown a lot since I last saw you. I can tell you got stronger," Snek said and smiled. "Damn, I do miss this… but I am starting to find things I miss as a human too."

"Like freedom? Being able to do your own thing without people constantly staring at you?" asked Amai.

Snek smirked. "That's not what is bothering you now is it? You can go out in public but refuse to show your face. You're still embarrassed to be that. I get it. I was too! But what the hell can you do about it?"

"I think I told you before, if I wanted your advice I would ask for it." Amai said as he began to close his eyes and savor the warmth of the water. His body slithered through the warm water, he appeared content to it all.

"I see his humility hasn't changed,"

Suiryu snickered. "He's been a sour snake ever since he got here. I haven't really seen him adjust as well as you have Snek. I know you took some time to, but him… I don't know…"

"I don't care what any of you have to say about me, I am merely waiting for the time to run out and I go back to being me again," said Amai. "Quite frankly, I could wait this out a while longer if I had to…"

"Oh please, I think you would crack if you were stuck like that for a year!" protested Snek. "Take away your movies, acting, music and you would go nuts"

Amai didn't reply, he was lost in the enjoyment of the hot spring.

"Well, I'm done soaking. You getting out Amai?" asked Garou.

"No, I don't think I will be for a while."

"Whatever, don't say in too late, you'll set off your metabolism again." Garou jumped out of the water. Suiryu, the twins and Hunter followed, Snek stayed behind to enjoy it a while longer.

There was silence between the two heroes. Snek savored the soak, yet he kept turning to Amai who were peering over at him. "What?" Snek demanded.

Amai merely smirked but went back to resting his eyes. Snek followed suit until he heard. "I'm sorry."

Instantly his eyes shot open. Snek turned to Amai who was now looking right at him, there was sincerity in his eyes for once. "Wait… what?" Snek demanded.

"I'm… sorry." He said slowly. "I… I had no idea… this… this is difficult, this life… this way… and yet…"

It was a little startling to Snek, he has never seen Amai stumble over his words before, and yet, he could tell, he meant the apology. "This was the main reason why you and I switched places. Don't you get it?" he asked. "I was still a hero, no matter what I looked like or what I became. I wasn't going to let a jackass like you tell me otherwise."

Amai merely nodded his head, but then shook it in disbelief. "How did you not go insane in a house like this?"

Snek laughed. "Try staying in a hospital for six months doing nothing but the same shit over and over again until it becomes a boring routine! Despite how it looks here… I felt comfortable. Anywhere else would have been a pity party. Boo hoo, why me? Poor Snek, look what happened to him! I don't need that shit, I don't want that shit directed at me. I already felt like crap to begin with, I didn't need people reminding me what happen. Here… you're seen just as another person, who you really are. Have they treated you any different because you looked like that?" he asked.

"No…"

"Exactly!" Snek announced.

"Huh, I never thought of it that way. They still despise me."

"So do I," said Snek, but there was an intriguing look on his face. "Unless you can change my mind otherwise. Amai, you may not see it, but there's an opportunity here for you. Whether you take it or not, whether you want it or don't. No one in this house will look beyond who you are, unless you show them. Quite frankly, you haven't given them a reason to give you a chance to prove yourself that you're actually learning something, becoming a better person for it. I'll be honest. I don't think you can change. When this is all said and done, you get to go back to your old way of life, I go back to becoming a serpent monster. You could probably care less about that. You probably won't even hesitate to put the likes of me down again just because I am such a creature." Snek paused. "Ha, a part of me is actually hoping you would see something else, the so call beauty you are looking for in a hero and you discover that in this form."

Snek got himself out of the hot spring. "Well I'm sick of looking at you, and I'm getting pruned, see you back in the house." He left shortly after.

Amai soaked a while longer. As good as the hot water felt, Garou was right. The monster that's been lingering in his stomach finally digested… hunger was starting to get the better of him once again…