A/N: Hi everyone, I'm so sorry if you thought that I forgot about this. I didn't, but being a high school senior has been a lot more stressful than I expected. Anyway, in order to make up for how long I've basically been on hiatus, here is a double chapter upload. Get ready for some good stuff, if you know what I mean! And as always, please leave me reviews of what you think! Lots of love to you all!

"Um, Chikane-chan," Himeko said, distracting Chikane from a long paragraph about music theory.

"Yes?" Chikane asked absently, attempting to remain focused on her reading.

"Well, we have a break coming up, right?"

"Mhm."

"I was thinking… ah, well maybe we could go to an onsen together…?" Himeko stuttered uncertainly. Chikane looked up, devoting her full attention to Himeko's blushing face.

"You want to go on a trip together?" Chikane asked, feeling as uncertain as Himeko sounded.

"Yes," Himeko said, looking at her lap. "I just thought it would be a fun thing to do, because… we've never gone on one before…"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Himeko," Chikane said, regaining her composure and smiling.

"I'm so glad!" Himeko exclaimed. "I'll start planning everything right now… we'll need to figure out which onsen to go to and for how long and…" Chikane laughed as Himeko ran into the other room, still muttering about plans. She left Himeko's apartment soon after, realizing that she wasn't getting any work done with Himeko fluttering around like a crazed hummingbird. She walked home through the Tokyo streets as the sun began to set, and felt comforted seeing all of the lights beginning to come on.

A trip to the onsen, she thought, and then felt a little flicker of what she could only call stage fright. We're probably going to be staying in the same room. We're going to an onsen! I'm so nervous. Seeing Himeko like that, sleeping in the same room… Chikane tried to veer away from the topic but she couldn't ignore the little voice in her head whispering, "But I really do want her… so badly."

"No," Chikane told herself aloud, "I can behave myself and have a good time with Himeko. I am not going to ruin this."

Chikane rubbed her eyes as she and Himeko stood waiting for the early morning train. All around them stood sharply dressed and serious looking business men and women preparing for a day's work. The train arrived and the two girls entered, feeling slightly out of place in their casual clothes with their overnight bags on their shoulders.

Chikane gripped the pole tightly, feeling more nervous butterflies than she had before her first major piano recital as a child. You can do this… you can do this, she repeated to herself, praying that it was really true. Himeko seemed to sense the tension radiating off of her companion, and she brushed her hand along Chikane's upper arm to try and calm her down.

"Are you feeling alright, Chikane-chan?" she asked, searching Chikane's face with a concerned expression.

"Oh, it's nothing, just lost in my thoughts," Chikane said easily, working to hide her stress under the mask once more.

They were just rolling into the next station, and the doors slid open. Suddenly, a wave of Japanese workers descended upon them and crushed them toward the other side of the train. Chikane found herself squished face to face with Himeko, and her breathing hitched. Unbidden, Chikane's mind raced on ahead of her own thoughts. I can feel her chest against mine! She's so close, I could just reach down a little and kiss her hard right now- Chikane mentally shook herself and occupied herself with trying to get a little breathing room on the packed train. Before she could commence shoving, Himeko wrapped her slender arms around Chikane's waist with a sweetly coy smile.

"You smell so nice today," Himeko whispered, and Chikane's mind blanked. She stood still and wrapped her arms around Himeko as well, dipping somewhat lower than her back. No one can see, she told her guilty conscience.

When the train reached the next stop, enough people disembarked for them to feel less like they were packed in a sardine can. Chikane stepped sheepishly away from the shorter girl, hoping that Himeko wouldn't think badly of her.

"How many more stops do we have?" Himeko asked, surprising Chikane by looping her hand through Chikane's elbow.

"Three more, I think," Chikane replied with a small smile, covering Himeko's hand with her own. They remained in that position until their stop came, by which time the train was practically empty.

Chikane set her bag down on the bed. Just one bed, she sighed internally. Himeko immediately got distracted by the sliding screen door onto the balcony.

"Chikane-chan, you have to see this view!"

"It's beautiful," Chikane agreed, joining the blonde on the balcony and gazing over the railing. The onsen was located on the side of a mountain, overlooking a seaside town and the ocean water sparkled in the late morning sun.

"But my Chikane-chan is the most beautiful," Himeko responded, leaning her head against Chikane's shoulder. Chikane wrapped an arm around her girlfriend, wondering what had brought on the sudden bout of affection.

"Shall we go down to the baths then?" Chikane asked. Himeko nodded enthusiastically and bounded into the bathroom to change out of her clothes, leaving Chikane to undress in the room. Braiding her hair, she set about removing her clothes. Where's my towel? I just had it a moment ago, I thought. Chikane failed to hear the bathroom door open, and turned around in her search for the towel just as Himeko stepped out of the bathroom.

"Are you ready Chi- oh, uh…" Himeko trailed off, as she noticed Chikane's state of nudity.

"Himeko! I, uh…"

"You left your towel in the bathroom," Himeko stammered, alternating glances between the floor and Chikane. She handed the white towel over with a brilliant blush blooming on her cheeks.

"Thanks," Chikane muttered, feeling a flush travel up her own face, accompanied by a tingling in her core that she was only too familiar with.

"Why don't we head down," Himeko suggested after a few moments of awkward silence. Chikane nodded her acquiescence, not trusting her voice to not tremble and crack. They donned their flip flops, and entered the shower area to rinse off before entering the onsen.

Himeko saw my full front, completely naked! Chikane's shoulders curled forward as she recalled the still fresh embarrassment, and she washed the last vestiges of soap from her back. Does she think my body is attractive? I've always worried that my breasts are too large. Perhaps they put her off and that's why we haven't had very much intimate contact yet-

"Come on Chikane," Himeko chirped, interrupting Chikane's quickly downward-spiraling thoughts.

As they stepped outside into the brisk late autumn air, however, Chikane smelled the enriching minerals of the onsen water and was transported back to memories of family onsen visits during her youth. She felt the scent already beginning to relax the twisted knot of stress sitting heavily in her belly. Himeko scampered forward to the edge of the water. With a seemingly sly look at Chikane, she dropped her towel, exposing her slim and shapely rear to Chikane's wide eyes. Surprisingly gracefully, Himeko lowered herself into the water that came almost up to her shoulders.

After she had picked her jaw up off the ground, Chikane sat Himeko at the water's edge and- with the memory of her earlier embarrassment still in mind- only withdrew the towel when she was sure that she was submerged. Unlike Himeko, the water level just barely cleared the slope of Chikane's breasts, and she sank lower in the water to compensate.

"Ahhhh," Himeko sighed, sinking almost up to her chin. "This is so nice. I don't think I've been this relaxed since the beginning of the school term." The warm water had caused a flush on Himeko's light cheeks, and there were several strands of hair hanging wispy at the base of her neck. Chikane mindlessly reached out to brush them back among the rest of Himeko's updo, causing the blonde to shudder involuntarily.

"Chikane-chan, warn me before you suddenly touch my neck like that," Himeko whined, lip dropping into a pout.

"Did you ever go to an onsen when you were younger, Himeko?"

"No, I never had the opportunity. My first time going wasn't until the summer after I graduated from high school."

"Ah. I always feel nostalgic when I come back to an onsen. It reminds me of the times when I was a little girl and I would come with my mother and father. That was before they began to travel so much, and it makes me happy to remember the happy times that we spent together."

"Chikane-chan… how much do your parents know about us? I mean, will they be angry that you won't carry on your family and so on?"

"No, I haven't told them. It's not because I don't want to, not at all… I just felt that it was the sort of news that should be delivered in person rather than in a letter or phone call."

"I just never know how to explain to others how we met, when no one will understand."

"I know. I often worry about how to tell them. Honestly, it's been so long since I've seen them that I can't even be sure of how they'll take the news of me not liking men, much less the fact that I'm committed to someone they haven't chosen. I mean, I was always worrying that they would choose someone for me."

"I don't want that Chikane-chan."

"Of course not. I don't know what we'd do. That's why you have to meet them as soon as possible."

Himeko's eyes widened, "You want me to meet them?"

"Of course, because… I love you," Chikane said, with the ever-present blush that came with those words.

"That means a lot to me," Himeko said softly, placing her warm cheek against Chikane's shoulder.

"I'll call them tonight to see when they will be home."

That evening, the couple had dried off and changed into robes so that they could join other guests in the common area. They had eaten dinner and were sitting back on a pair of cushions enjoying after-dinner drinks.

"Chikane-chan, can you go get me another?" Himeko asked, flourishing her empty cup with a giggle.

"Okay… are you sure?" Chikane asked as she glanced at Himeko's flushed face.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Himeko shouted boisterously. Chikane shook her head as she went to refill the cups.

"It's so hot in here," Himeko whined when Chikane returned with the refreshed drinks, pulling at the neck of her robe. She then proceeded to entertain herself by poking her own chest as she looked down at her cleavage.

"Himeko, people are looking," Chikane hissed. Himeko just laughed and wrapped her arms around the blushing raven-haired girl.

"Chikane-chan, do you think I'm sexy?"

"What?"

"Do you think I'm sex-y?"

Chikane kissed her forehead, "Of course I do, silly."

"Woo! She thinks I'm sexy!" Himeko screamed, causing every head in the room to turn toward the couple.

"Okay, I think we're going upstairs," Chikane cried, dragging Himeko by the arm.

"Ooh, yeah, let's go upstairs so we can do naughty stuff!" Himeko chugged the last of her sake as she stumbled along in Chikane's wake. "Won't you carry me, Chikane-chan?"

"We're almost to the room."

"Aw, you're no fun."

Chikane opened the room, and Himeko immediately flopped down on the bed, beckoning. "Come here, I want to kiss you."

"You're very drunk," Chikane accused.

"So?"

Rolling her eyes, Chikane gave in and leaned in to Himeko's lips, capturing them in her own. Himeko wrapped her arms around Chikane's neck to pull her closer. Breathlessly, Chikane pulled away. "You taste like sake."

"So do you," Himeko retorted, sticking out her tongue. "You know, I wasn't kidding about wanting to do stuff with you," she said sounding surprisingly lucid.

"I still stand by the fact that you're drunk."

"I don't care. I want you right now, Chikane-chan," Himeko said, fixing Chikane with lidded violet eyes.

"Just one minute," Chikane gasped, retreating to the bathroom. Breathing deeply, she stared down her reflection and debated over whether she should give in to what her body wanted.

"Himeko wants to," she reasoned, "but she's also not fully in control of her senses." Then she thought of the look in Himeko's eyes when she'd said how much she wanted Chikane. To hell with it. Smoothing the front of her robe she opened the door.

Himeko was lying horizontally across the bed, fast asleep. The tiniest of snores escaped her mouth with every exhaled breath, and her arms were crossed over her stomach. Chikane smiled at the sight, and moved to turn the blonde the right direction across the bed, tucking her under the covers. Carefully, so as not to disturb the sleeping girl, she climbed into the bed too, wrapping her arms around the sleeping form as she drifted off too.