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After the crew completed their mission on a far-away island of keeping away monsters from the natural hot springs that fill the landscape, they were invited by their employer to partake in a relaxing afternoon. Azusa and Narmaya that had been part of the group decided to take a turn into one of the pools of hot water around before departing next morning.
They had bathed together in the past, but that was such a distant time before their fall out when they were still children. To this day, Azusa remembers her first bath on Narmaya’s family dojo; she had never taken a dip into hot water and screeched in fear of it, fearing to be burned, but Narmaya held her hands while Laruna washed the grime off her hair, untangling the mess of it. It had been the first time she remembers a bath that wasn’t on a cold stream in the exterior. And it soon became a custom to take a bath after training with Narmaya, washing each other backs after beating each other mercilessly with their practice swords—Azusa never won, but spending that relaxing time afterwards with Narmaya was always a small victory in her eyes.
In memory of those occasions and less awkward after the whole murder attempt deal, both draph woman agreed to go alone and have some drinks while relaxing in the outdoor baths, with the full moon illuminating the clear waters that reflected the starry sky in them. With their hairs tied up high and only a towel covering them, both immerse themselves into the hot spring.
“Ah, this sure feels amazing after such a long day!” Narmaya hums as she sinks in the water, a wide smile in her flushed face as she relaxes against the rock rim of the pool. “I can see why those monsters wanted to take a dip too.”
Feeling her muscles unwinding from the hard work of the day and fatigue washing away by the minerals in the water, Azusa sighs content and cannot do but agree with Narmaya, her head hanging back as she feels the vapor tickling her cheeks.
“Hm, it is like nothing I have tried before; maybe it’s partly because of the ambient.” Azusa muses as she opens her eyes to the wonders in the sky; the silky navy-blue sky is covered in many starts gleaming there, accompanying the moon in that cloudless night. And as she attunes her ears, she can hear the song of the wind across the willow trees that surround the spring.
The sound of water moving and splashing, Azusa finally sits properly in the water as she peers at Narmaya who just stood up and sat by the edge, picking a small cup from the tray with sake they brought to relax with—and maybe, she should haven’t look. She is too old for this kind of reckless desire, puerile as if she had never experienced it—but with Narmaya all of her common sense is annihilated in a swift motion. In seconds, all of her senses are stolen by her; suddenly, she’s back at her teenager years when looking at Narmaya’s naked body felt suddenly forbidden, awakening something that went beyond innocent yearning.
What she sees has her heart in a cardiac arrest. With water layering over her body, her ivory and faultless white skin slightly gleams under the moonlight; from her beautifully thick, toned thighs that she crosses by the calf and swings slightly making ripples in the water; to slim arms and dainty hands; to where small droplets of water goes down to get lost inside her bountiful, round chest against which her towel sticks as its only cover, barely holding on as the weight of water pulls it down.
“I didn’t expect the water to be this hot; Azusa, be careful to not overheat.” Narmaya’s melodious voice says but Azusa’s ears barely register its sound as the sound of her blood rushing to her head deafens her.
And the towel, that damned towel that creates creases as it embraces Narmaya’s voluptuous figure shaped by both her genes and her constant workout, sticking tightly to her wide hips and thin waist—a towel that feel too small, too scandalous on the exquisite woman its attached to. Azusa’s eyes feel like they’re about to burst out by how hard she’s staring even when she doesn’t mean to, but she cannot tear her gaze apart; last time she had seen Narmaya so naked, she was less well endowed in all areas of her body. It feels as if she is discovering new places she has ignored.
“Ah, the sake is so delicious!” Narmaya coos happily after a sip of her cup, at which Azusa gulps heavily, the water in her mouth that pilled in turned thick and heavy, yet her lips remain dry. With her body leaning backwards in a relaxed pose, her free hand serving as support, Narmaya enjoys her beverage with gusto; with her elegant profile contrasting by the ethereal moon behind her, illuminating the blush in her cheeks and each strand of hair that falls carelessly against her cheeks, sticking due to the humidity. Her throat bulging as the liquor goes down, chest swelling as she sighs content afterwards; her voice feeling almost sultry to Azusa’s pointy ears. Azusa wishes she was that cup, envying it for touching those alluring lips.
It may be the steam hazing her mind, maybe the minerals in the water are tickling some part of her brain in a weird way, but Azusa can feel her body temperature rise not necessarily because of the water. Her breath hastens, turning heavy and shallow in her bosom as her throat feels more constricted with each inhalation.
Heavy, hot palpitations extending from the inside of her body the more she looks at Narmaya, basking in her supernatural beauty under the moonlight— Azusa licks her lips as she stares heavily at Narmaya, unable to tear her eyes apart, as if she had been cursed again, her psyche obfuscated into something worse and more consuming than craziness.
“Azusa, your face looks too red, maybe you should get out; overheating is bad for your health.” Narmaya turns around to her, saying that with a worried, gentle tone that makes Azusa’s heart drum like crazy inside her chest—a fluttering, bubbling-like sensation expanding inside her and extending to her skin, making it prickle everywhere.
My body… feels unbelievably hot, I need to look away. Her common-sense yells her in bright red lights but a single drop of water falling down Narmaya’s long, thin neck traversing to her aristocratic collarbone is enough to have her drunk without a drop of liquor. Intoxicating, overwhelming as if her body was collapsing yet it is invigorating, quenching a thirst she didn’t know she had until then. Her fleshly needs eating away her good judgment and twisting her feelings further, another type of desire. Narmaya, Narmaya, I want to touch her.
Suddenly, Narmaya leans forward to her, making Azusa break out of her daydream and panic settling in her chest by how close she gets to her—her face, blushed cheeks and sweat running down her marble-like skin, hovering over hers. So close.
“Are you alright, Azusa?” And she can only see those plump, pink lips speak with a hypnotic movement that had her mind coming undone as a feral part of her commands her to move and kiss them. Her eyes cannot do more but move away in an attempt to rein her impulses, but oh so cursed she is, only to have them fall over Narmaya’s chest, her towel barely holding in together, slowly unfolding and coming off, more of that blushed skin coming into her gaze—and then, freeing from their confinement, two pink buds peer from under the towel.
Narmaya’s soft, nimble fingers caress her cheek—and the next thing Azusa feels is her body untangling, falling backwards and the sound of water filling her ears, the full moon judging her lustful mind from upwards before all turns black.
Slowly, with her head feeling dizzy and heavy, Azusa’s vision starts to return to her behind a veil of haze. Her whole body feels hot and sweaty in a gross way, her extremities too heavy to move, almost as if they had been unjointed from her body and her skin was the only things holding her body together. She doesn’t feel relaxed at all, in fact, she feels sick and like throwing up.
“Oh, Azusa, you woke up?” Narmaya’s panicked voice sounds like coming underwater to her, her lilac silhouette appearing from her side, blowing air over her, surely with a paper fan in an attempt to make her feel better.
I must have passed out. Azusa concludes, closing her eyes and groaning. Even her memories felt beyond a cloak concealing them.
Then, slowly, she’s able to piece back what happened and feel nothing but appalled, too weak to move and stab herself out of shame for how she had devoured Narmaya with her eyes back then. There was no way she could ever get the heavenly sight of Narmaya in that hot spring—also no way she can look her ever again in the eyes either.
“Azusa, you have to be more careful, the hot springs can be dangerous.” Lyria’s voice suddenly comes by the other side, her celeste figure peeking in the corner of her eyes—she’s not sure if the blurriness is because she passed out because of the heat or the aftereffects of the curse coming back. Surely Narmaya called them out when she collapsed to help tend her, she should apologize and thank the captain afterwards.
Oh, innocent Lyria, they certainly were. Azusa’s hazy mind is able to piece together.
That hot spring was certainly lethal for her.