Here's Chapter 12. I literally listened to a lot of spa-like instrumental music to try and set the mood for writing this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 12- Massages and Onsens
A few days have passed since we started learning varma kalai. Furuichi and I have very nearly mastered the techniques. Today, I'm learning how to use twin blades while Furuichi is learning how to use the spear.
"When using the dual knives, you have to make sure to use one of them offensively, and the other defensively," Arjun tells me as he helps me with my stance. "The advantage of this is that you can use one as a holding weapon after contact is made, and use the other one to attack the open area of the opponent. Now, let's try this again."
Arjun lunges at me with dual knives, and I start to attack and defend myself. For the most part, I'm getting the hang of using the dual blades, and I find myself being able to think fast and moving quickly, even better than when I first started training.
"You're getting so much better at this, you know?" Arjun praises me.
I smile. "Thank you," I say, giving a bow of respect.
"Now, let's do this again," he says, getting into a stance.
(Oga)
"That's all for today," Hilda says at the end of our aerobics exercises. Almost everyone sighs in relief, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily.
"Man, I could really use a nice soaking in an onsen right now," I sigh.
"Da buu…" Berubo agrees. Right then, I see Hilda smirking slightly.
"As a reward for all your hard work these past few days, we're going to go to an onsen tonight to rejuvenate ourselves," Hilda suddenly says. "Besides, you'll need all your energy restored for the rest of the training."
Wait, seriously?! I think to myself. Everyone else seems excited for the little onsen trip. Himekawa puts his hand up. "My family owns a small onsen in Ishiyama, so we'll all go there tonight," he says.
On the walk back home to get our things ready, I turn to Hilda. "What made you decide to take a trip to the onsen?" I ask. I'm honestly curious as to why she's doing this all of a sudden.
"Because I thought it would be a good idea to have this trip, since onsens are said to have healing properties in them," she says. "Also…" she lowers her eyes. "I wanted to repay you for saving me in the pool."
"Oh." I leave it at that, although at the mention of that incident, I feel a blush on my face.
We all arrive at the onsen, which has separate baths for men and women. After changing into the deep blue yukatas that have red flower patterns, we make our way to the onsen.
"Ahh, that hits the spot," Tojo sighs as he lowers himself into the soothing warm water after removing the yukatas.
"Don't splash around too much, or you'll get lightheaded," I warn as I slowly lower Berubo in the water who lets out a content 'Dabu' once in the water. Someone comes by with some cold drinks and towels and places it near the onsen.
"This feels nice," Izuma says. "I really needed this, actually. I think I pulled a few back and leg muscles."
"I don't understand you, Himekawa," Miki suddenly comments. "How is it that you look like a completely different person when your hair isn't in that pompadour?"
Himekawa shrugs nonchalantly. "I don't know and I don't care," he replies.
"Why isn't Berubo with Hilda?" Natsume asks.
"I decided to let her have some alone time with the girls," I reply, leaning back against the edge of the onsen.
"Oi, Kanzaki, what the hell are you doing, man?!" Miki suddenly asks in shock. We all turn and see Kanzaki attempting to peek over the barrier that separates the men's bath and the women's bath.
"You miss Furuichi so much that you're trying to be like him?" I ask in a teasing voice.
"Shut up!" he snaps.
"No, he just wants to get a look at Hanazawa in an onsen," Natsume teases, making us laugh. Right then, a bar of soap falls onto Kanzaki's head, dropped by a towel-clad Nene, who is glaring at him.
"We can hear you," she scolds harshly. Kanzaki lowers himself back down into the water, looking a bit annoyed.
"So, Tojo," Himekawa starts. "I've noticed that you and Shizuka are hanging out a lot more. What's the deal?"
Tojo lowers his eyes, a red tint on his face, which I'm pretty sure is not just from the onsen steam. I grin. "You and her are dating, huh?" I ask.
He stares in shock. "Wha-no! Say that one more time and I'll kick your ass!" he threatens.
"Oh really?" Izuma suddenly asks. "I saw her give you a kiss the other day. And she's always talked about you in such a positive manner, since you're her childhood friend and she always likes to remember the days when you two were kids."
"Okay fine!" he gives in. "We've been dating for a while now. Happy?!"
"Dude, congrats!" Miki praises, and we all start patting him on the back when I hear the sound of girls talking. I moved closer to the barrier, trying to listen to their conversation.
"So, Hil-Hil," Yuka suddenly says. "Ever since Oga saved you from drowning, you've been acting kind of different towards him. Why's that?"
"What do you mean?" I hear her ask.
"Well, usually you always call him names and yell at him, but now you've started calling him by his first name and well, you've softened up towards him," Nene explains.
"Don't tell me, you've actually really fallen for him, right?" Shizuka asks.
"W-Well, you see," Hilda begins. "He's actually matured quite a bit, and he's become a lot more sensitive as well."
As I listen to Hilda talk about me, I feel kind of flattered and I find my face heating up, and it's definitely not from the onsen. Eventually, I wade over to Berubo who's happily playing with his bath toys. "I'm getting out now, I'm feeling a little lightheaded," I say. After all, I've been soaking in the onsen for a long time.
(Furuichi)
When training ends this evening, I find myself in so much pain for some reason. As it turns out, I have several muscle injuries in my back, my legs, and my tendons. I wince to myself as I walk inside the kalari. "Ow…" I hiss, cringing at the throbbing pain in my tendons.
"You okay?" I turn and see Ayaka, standing in the doorway. For a moment, I can't help but admire how pretty she looks… did I just call her pretty?
"No, not really," I reply. "I have quite a few muscle injuries right now. I think I injured myself during training."
"Oooh, that sucks," she says.
I nod. "Do… Do you think you could give me a massage?" I ask.
For a moment, I'm a bit scared that she'll scold me for being a pervert, but instead, she nods her head. "Sure, why not?" she replies. "Go take a bath first, then come into the healing room."
After my bath in the temple pond, I put on a pair of boxers and wrap a towel around my waist before making my way to the healing room. The room is lit by several candles and a fragrant aroma fills the room as I watch Ayaka prepare the massage oils. Again, I take time to admire her. Her long hair, currently up in a high ponytail, frames her face well, her black tank top really shows off her toned arms, and the black pants show off her toned, yet curvy legs.
"The oil's ready," she says, bringing three pots of oil over.
"Why are you bringing three pots?" I ask, lying down on the massage bench, already starting to feel a bit relaxed.
"Each oil contains a different healing property," she explains. "The first one is a coconut oil, and that will help calm you down and help you sleep easy at night. For your injuries, I'll be using warm sesame oil, which will help heal and calm your injuries."
I nod. "Okay."
"Relax now, Furuichi," she tells me.
Right then, I feel her hands start rubbing the sesame oil on my bare back, and I let out a small sigh at the calming sensation. Her hands are gentle and tender, yet firm and strong as they rub the oil all over my back. The scent of the oil fills my nose, and I find my senses being soothed. "How does this feel?" she asks.
I sigh. "Wonderful," I reply in a blissful state of mind. "What scent is this oil?"
"The base is sesame oil, but there is Himalayan fir, waterlily, and sandalwood in the oil," she replies. "This should help sooth your injuries." Suddenly, I feel her hands start tapping certain points on my back. I let out a gasp of both surprise and relief.
"Does this hurt?"
I shake my head. "No, it feels good, I was just taken by surprise," I say, resting my head on my arms as I close my eyes. "Where did you learn to be a masseuse?" I ask.
I hear her chuckle slightly as she continues tapping certain areas. "Grandpa taught me how to," she replies. "There are four different techniques used in Ayurvedic massages. Tapping awakens the body, helps increase the blood flow, and it helps make the muscles strong."
Right then, Ayaka moves to my tendons and I let out a sigh of relief. The oil seems to be doing its work, as I feel the throbbing pain slowly lessening. She then starts to knead my back and legs, and I hiss from the short bursts of pain. "Kneading relaxes and removes the stress that's accumulated in the muscles, joints, and ligaments," she explains.
After a while, she starts rubbing my back and legs. This feels amazing! I think to myself. I don't think I've ever been this relaxed before. And Ayaka's soothing voice just makes it even better. "Rubbing helps excite the circulation of the blood, and increases the heat in the massaged areas," she continues. She starts to hum a gentle tune to herself, calming me even further.
Finally, I feel her firm fingers squeezing my legs before moving to my toes. "Squeezing helps balance the blood pressure and relieve the arms and legs of tension," she says. "Now, I want you to roll over on your back."
(Ayaka)
When Furuichi turns onto his back, I feel my face heating up at how well-toned his chest is. His face looks so relaxed right now. His eyes are closed and there is a small smile on his face. At this, I feel my face heating up even more. He looks so cute and innocent when he's like this!
As I rub the coconut oil over his torso, I feel every small imperfection and scar in his formerly flawless skin, which was no doubt caused by the training. I then start tapping the certain points on his chest, trying to awaken the nervous system and help increase the blood flow. "Hey, Ayaka?" Furuichi asks, opening one eye. "What exactly are the benefits of these massages?" he asks.
I think for a moment. "Marma massages help alleviate nervousness and anxiety, muscle injuries, stress, lightheadedness, and it helps improve your blood flow and make your muscles stronger. An Ayurvedic oil massage improves vision, helps your sleep pattern, nourishes the body, and your limbs will for sure become firmer," I explain. "Also, massaging the marma points helps cleanse blocked energy, or what you would call chi."
He nods. "No wonder," he says. "I feel so much better and more at peace after these kinds of massages."
For a while, I continue to massage him in a comfortable silence. Furuichi is very good company to have around, and it's actually pretty fun to train with him. Soon, I finish massaging him. "Okay, we're all done," I say.
He slowly gets up from the bench. "Wow…" he says. "I feel so much better! I don't feel any pain at all!"
I smile at him. "Feeling better?"
"Hell yeah!" he says, smiling at me. "Thanks, Ayaka. Because of this massage, I feel so much more alive now."
"You're very welcome," I say. "Now go get some clothes on."
Furuichi looks down, suddenly remembering that he's only in a towel. "Oh… right… sorry…" He turns to leave but stops for a moment. "Ayaka, can you come here for a second?"
I walk up to him. "Yeah?" Right then, to my shock, Furuichi leans in and gives me a kiss on my cheek. I stare at him in surprise, my face turning five different shades of red as I move my hand up to the spot where he kissed me.
"Thanks again," he says before leaving. I'm left standing in the healing room, my face bright red, my mind all fuzzy, simply because he has given me a kiss on my cheek. I feel warm all over from that simple gesture.
"He… He kissed me on the cheek…" I whisper. I smile softly to myself. "And I liked it."
The warm feeling still lingers on when I go to sleep tonight. And I find myself drifting off to sleep with a smile on my face.