| [Aug. 29th, 2017|03:41 am] |
With gear redistributed and last instructions given, they started off again, swinging northwest to come back down at Hiraizumi from the main road. Gendou led the way, with a firm stride but an attentive ear bent for his wife and his mother. Ka-chan skipped alongside. Kakashi, at least, seemed to be enjoying himself.
Hiraizumi's main streets were already bustling, and the first two inns they tried were full. Gendou's luck held at the third inn, a smaller place on a quieter street; it was shabby but clean, with an attached bathhouse. "Mixed bathing only," the innkeeper said, "but we're a family establishment." And for a small additional fee, it seemed, they could reserve an hour for themselves.
Gendou glanced at his mother, then his wife. "I'm sure we can spare it just this once…"
"For Obaasan!" Ka-chan burst out, at his elbow.
Rie weighed her purse, looked at her mother-in-law, and then sighed. "It is a special occasion." She counted out each coin carefully.
The innkeeper showed them to a nicely sized tatami room, with futons stacked in a closet and a sliding door opening onto a small porch and a tiny interior garden. Ka-chan prowled around, poking into every corner and opening every door. Ryuu found himself saddled with the chore of following the innkeeper to a storage room for another heaping load of bedding.
When he got back, the plans were already laid: baths first, then the festival, with dinner to be sought from the vendors' stalls. "Takoyaki!" Ka-chan said, bouncing rapturously. Did Kakashi even like the stuff?
The innkeeper cleared her throat. "The bath isn't currently in use, Gendou-san. If you like, your family is welcome to use it now." She had towels and soap, as well as a stack of the inn's clean yukata. "If you'll just follow me."
There was a tiny room for undressing, opening onto the larger bathroom with four taps and the big soaking pool at the end. No shower fixtures; they'd have to scrub down on stools in the traditional style, and at least one of them would have to wait his turn, with nothing to do but watch…
Kurenai checked the lock on the door, then deftly shaped the seals for a jutsu Ryouma didn't recognize. The sound of the innkeeper's shuffling footsteps abruptly faded. Kurenai's henge was gone, and the mud was drying on her uniform.
"I have been waiting for this moment for five days," she said, reaching for the zipper of her flak vest. "I imagine most of you feel the same. If you're squeamish, feel free to look away. If not, may I remind you that you have nothing I haven't already seen, and I imagine the reverse is true. But if you think you can keep that henge up while bathing, Kakashi, you're welcome to try."
Genma's henge dropped away. He glanced at Kurenai, then at Raidou, and then started stripping down. Raidou mirrored him, separating their filthy underpinnings from armor, and tossing the washable gear onto the tiled floor for a scrub.
Kurenai, with less armor and a looser uniform to shed, took the first tap. Her skin was porcelain-pale, unscarred. Her body was slim but soft, with a generosity to hip and breast that combat kunoichi could seldom afford. When Genma took the tap beside her, his light skin looked gold by comparison, his shoulders broad with muscle. The raking scars across his back were fading pale, but the knotted lines on belly and thigh were still livid dark.
Ryouma already knew Raidou's body too well. He turned away, and made the mistake of meeting Ka-chan's eyes.
The girl's face was a stranger's, harder to read than Kakashi's masked expressions ever were. But she stretched, and kept stretching, long and lean, until she slid back into Kakashi's shape and leaned against the door. "I'd rather save the chakra." Kakashi had to look down at Ryouma, still in his teenage disguise; after a moment his eyes lifted away. He pulled that crumple-covered orange book out of his belt pouch. "Go ahead."
Of course he'd rather read. Ryouma bit down a snarl, dropped his henge, and reached for his armor buckles. |
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