"Okay! That's enough!"
Fujiwara Chika grabbed Chitanda's hand. She said "just a little bit," but she had poked so many times!
Chitanda Eru giggled, then sat back down between Yukinoshita and Fujiwara Chika. "Um, I remember Fujiwara-san and Yukino-san both have sisters at home, right? That's so nice...."
Yukinoshita Yukino shook her head. "Having a sister isn't necessarily a good thing. At least I'm not good at dealing with my sister."
Fujiwara Chika scratched her head. "I have three sisters in my family. I have an older sister and a younger sister in middle school. But we all get along very well. Why are you somewhat distant from your sister, Yukino-san?"
Chitanda Eru nodded. "Mhm, mhm. It might be rude to ask, but what kind of person is your sister, Yukino-san?"
"My sister...."
"Although my relationship with my sister isn't very good, I can't deny that she is a nearly perfect person. I feel like I can't beat her in any field...."
Fujiwara Chika thought for a moment. "Mmm, having such an outstanding sister must be stressful...."
Chitanda also imagined if she had such an outstanding sister. That might be pretty good too.
Chitanda: "Hehe, although I'm an only child, I actually really want a sibling. Having someone you can confide in by your side all the time, isn't that a wonderful thing?"
Yukinoshita Yukino fell silent.... Confiding in her sister, even lying together at night talking about things she wouldn't dare tell others, simply didn't suit sisters like them.
Maybe Fujiwara Chika could do it, but when Yukino thought of that Yukinoshita Haruno who liked to tease her, and that Yukinoshita Haruno whom she had always looked up to, she really had nothing to say.
"Yukino-oneechan, Eru-oneechan, Chika-oneechan, you guys come up. Ai will scrub your backs in turns."
Fujiwara Chika stayed in the hot spring. "You guys go first. I'll soak for a bit longer."
Chitanda: "Me too~"
Seeing that her two friends wanted to soak a bit longer, Yukinoshita Yukino, whose constitution was below average, stood up from the hot spring.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Ai-chan."
Hinatsuru Ai picked up a towel. "Mhm, mhm. Ai grew up in a hot spring inn. I've scrubbed backs and given massages to many big sisters."
Yukino moved a small stool over and sat on it, while Hinatsuru Ai began her performance. "Relax, Yukino-oneechan. I'll wash your whole body clean~"
On the other side, in the men's bath, Uchiha Ryo sat on a stool, looking at himself in the mirror. When he mobilized his chakra, not only did his Sharingan change, but his five senses also improved significantly.
For example, he finally heard clearly what they were talking about next door.
Why am I stuck in the men's bath? Uchiha Ryo imagined the paradise on the other side of the rockery. Suddenly, he stood up and looked at the forest outside the fence not far away.
"I thought I was alone. Does the little guy want to come soak in the hot spring too?"
The forest remained silent, and the faint sound from just now was hidden.
"Don't worry. I'm quite tolerant of youkai. For example, the cafe I opened has taken in two foxes as employees."
After a short silence, a child who looked about the same age as Ai walked out of the forest and stood outside the fence.
It was a child wearing a brown kimono, but he had obvious fox ears on his head, and a tail that couldn't be hidden behind him.
"I see. You can't fully transform into a human yet...."
The little fox looked at Uchiha Ryo, who showed a gentle smile.
"Do you live on the back mountain? Actually, there's a fox named Maki Chi at our Shuchiin."
The little fox looked up, his bright eyes looking at Uchiha Ryo in surprise.
"You know my brother? So you're the human my sister said helped them?"
With that, the little fox leaped over the meter-high fence and arrived by the pool of the men's open-air hot spring.
→
"Hello, my name is Maki Kozune. Because I can't transform into a human completely like my brother and sister, I can only stay on the mountain."
Uchiha Ryo nodded. "I see. But since you live on this mountain, have you heard of the legend of the Abyss Pool?"
"Abyss Pool?"
Kozune shook his head. "No! It's not an Abyss Pool. That's the habitat of Lord Hotaru (Firefly). It's because those humans with ill intentions want to pollute this forest and this pond that Lord Hotaru takes action to teach them a lesson."
Hotaru?
Uchiha Ryo frowned. "Come soak in the bath too. As for this Lord Hotaru you mentioned, tell me more."
A hundred years ago, before Shuchiin was built and this mountain was basically uninhabited, there was a pond with flowing water from the high mountains near the hot spring source on the mountain.
Every summer, countless fireflies would appear by the pond, like the stars in the sky descending to the earth.
But as humans continued to destroy the environment, the mountain was developed, the water in the pond was polluted, and the fireflies became fewer and fewer.... But finally! Lord Hotaru appeared!
She would drive away anyone who tried to destroy the forest or pollute the pond. And this legend of the Abyss Pool was probably spread by those who were frightened.
Kozune soaked comfortably in the hot spring and told everything he knew. The so-called legend of the Abyss Pool was just a prank by youkai on bad people.
Uchiha Ryo wasn't surprised by this. As the saying goes, three men make a tiger. No one would believe a rumor told by one person, but what if a group of people were saying it?
But there was one more point. A Shuchiin student said they found a woman hanging herself in the inn. What was that about?
Kozune expressed confusion, but he didn't think Lord Hotaru would do such a thing.
"Forget it then. It was supposed to be a two-day trip to a hot spring inn. Happiness is the most important thing."
Compared to the curiosity of Chitanda Eru and Fujiwara Chika, Uchiha Ryo expressed that it was none of his business. He would just stay for two days and leave. When he had a chance, he would try the mixed bath here.
.....
"Amazing~ Ai-chan, your skills are really good...."
In the lounge, Fujiwara Chika lay naked on the bed, while Hinatsuru Ai knelt on Chika's back and massaged her.
Beside the big and small girls were Yukinoshita and Chitanda, who had already been massaged. Even they couldn't help but marvel at Ai-chan's unparalleled skills.
"So comfortable, Ai-chan.... We'll come again next time~"
Hinatsuru Ai wiped her sweat. "Okay~ Whenever the big sisters come, I will definitely entertain you with all my heart."
Leaving the open-air hot spring, Ai-chan went back to the entrance of the inn to help her mother first, while the three girls returned to the guest room chatting and laughing.
Standing at the door of the room, Chitanda Eru looked at the door next door.
"Uchiha-kun should be back, right?"
Yukinoshita: "He usually washes very quickly. He should be back."
Fujiwara Chika: "Oh? How do you know Uchiha-kun is fast, Yukino-san~"
The door next door was pushed open from the inside. Uchiha Ryo walked out helplessly and looked at Fujiwara Chika.
"I'm not fast at all, thank you very much! I just don't take as long to soak in the hot spring as you guys."
Fujiwara Chika stretched, revealing her proud figure. "We didn't just soak in the hot spring. We also received a massage from Ai-chan. It was really comfortable~"
Uchiha Ryo: "....."
How nice. I didn't get a massage....
Wait! Uchiha Ryo thought of something, then looked at the three girls with a wicked grin.