The Second Mission: Like in those Manga Books of Yours

It was now the fourth day of Kuro’s and Hinako’s stay in the Yuruishi Onsen Resort. Every night they patrolled the different baths, looking for the phenomenon described, but they had not seen or heard anything yet. During the day they either slept or enjoyed the services of the resort, all in the name of investigation. At this time, they sat around the table in their room, clad in Yukata and enjoying their dinner.

“Three nights of absolutely nothing! I’m starting to think that there is no beast or thing skulking around at night. Maybe they all just imagined it… all the hot steam got to their head…”, Hinako said frustrated.

“Not for us to say… at least yet.”, Kuro replied and shrugged.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re here on orders to solve the problem for the client… so we stay until the problem is solved, we get called back or there is enough reason to believe that the problem has solved itself. If it’s an Akaname, then it’s probably spooked, because it was spotted before we came here, so it’s probably too scared to come back yet. I went out today to some of the other resorts around here and I overheard some of the employees talking about strange noises in the last few nights. There is definitely something sneaking around during the night and there is a very high chance that there are more than one.”

“Instead of waiting here, can’t we just scour the surrounding area? Aren’t you good at feeling magical stuff?”

“Yes, I generally can sense someone’s magical presence and changes in magical flow, especially when spells are cast, but there are two problems here.”

“And these are?”

“Well for starters… Akaname are mostly harmless beasts, that don’t have much magical power to begin with. Plus, they are quite adept in hiding their presence, since they like to avoid contact with other beings or at least try to hide themselves whenever they encounter someone. So even for me it would be difficult to follow the traces of one, especially over long distances.”

“Okay and the second one?”

“Haven’t you noticed?”

“What? I have noticed absolutely nothing, since we’re here…”

“Exactly!”

“Huh?”

“Traces of magical energy is always around us, wherever we go and places like hot springs are usually known to have a high concentration of magic in the area. That’s one part of why they are so relaxing and reinvigorating, especially for mages. But since we arrived here, I felt absolutely nothing.”

“So, there is no magical energy here at all?”

“That’s not what I said.”

Kuro produced a small flame in his hand.

“Concentrate and tell me if you can feel any magic emitting from this flame.”, Kuro suggested.

Hinako focused her mind on the flame.

“No…”, She admitted after a while.

“Exactly! Me neither! But the flame is in my hand, and I definitely used magic to make it appear.”, Kuro agreed.

He then let the flame disappear.

“What does that mean?”, Hinako asked curiously.

“That means that something is strange in the area. Something is interfering with the ability to sense magic.”, Kuro explained.

“How is that possible?”

“I have no idea. I never encountered a situation where just the ability to sense magic is obscured. You can suppress magic, but then I would not be able to cast magic at all, or it would be at least way more difficult. Then there are ways to mask your magical presence and hide it… But to make it impossible to feel magic at all, even your own… that’s well… quite strange…”

“Okay… so what will we do?”

“Same as before… wait and see if something happens.”

“Ugh… I hate waiting…”

“I can see that… well, we are in a resort and can wait while we eat good food and soak in hot water… and get paid for it as well… so it could be worse… way worse.”

“Since when are we getting paid?”

“Hmm… true… but we don’t have to pay for anything at least… I guess, we should stop breaking so much stuff, if we want to see a paycheck again…”

“Yeah, not gonna happen…”

Both laughed for a while. Kuro then ate the last bit of the lavish dinner they got provided for free.

“Well, I’m gonna soak for a while until the baths get closed and we can begin our nightly rounds.”, He said and stood up.

Kuro grabbed one of the small towels and went into their own private outdoor Onsen. He undressed, quickly gave himself a rinse and then slid into the hot and relaxing water of the big tub. The sun was currently setting, painting the horizon in a beautiful red glow. Kuro understood Hinako’s frustration really well. He himself grew restless and quite frankly bored, because nothing had happened yet. Kuro put the towel over his face, leaned back and relaxed. The warmth of the water helped alleviate the feeling of uneasiness that he had, because of the aforementioned interference with his magical senses. Kuro was nearly dozing off as he heard the door back into their room open. He peeked from under his towel and saw Hinako coming out, already completely naked, only holding a small towel in front of her.

“What the… What are you doing, kid?”, He asked a bit shocked and quickly put the towel back over his face.

“What does it look like? I’m getting in the water with you.”, Hinako answered slightly annoyed.

“But… that’s a bit… much isn’t it?”

“Why? We bathe in the same water all the time, don’t we?

“But not at the same time!”

“True… but who cares about the details… You see me as a kid anyways, so it should not be a problem, right?”

“Yeah…”

Kuro heard Hinako rinse herself with the small shower and then come into the water. From the water movement and the noises, she was sitting right next to him.

“Damn, the moon is beautiful today, huh?”, Hinako said suddenly.

“Yeah, sure is.”, Kuro agreed.

“You didn’t even look!”

Kuro slowly pulled the towel off his face and looked at the now already black night sky with a big full moon.

“You’re right, it truly is beautiful.”, He agreed a second time and then quickly put his towel back on.

They both soaked in the water for a while in silence.

“Think we will find something today?”, Hinako asked suddenly.

“Maybe…”, Kuro answered.

“Why aren’t we looking in the bigger bathing areas? Is there a reason we only patrol the smaller and private ones?”

“The bigger and public ones get cleaned during the day and immediately after they’re closed. The smaller and private ones stay open a bit longer and only get cleaned later in the night… So, the chances of running into an Akaname is higher in those, I reckon.”

“Why?”

“You know what they eat, right?”

“Yeah, grime, filth and mold. Also, human hairs, dead skin, excrements and sweat, I think.”

“Bodily fluids one could also say…”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with the private baths?”

“You’ve read some of the stories in my collection, so I’m sure you can put two and two together, girl.”

“What do… Ohhhh… I see… You mean those kinds of fluids!”

“Maybe… but mainly because they get cleaned last and nobody is in there for a longer time than the other baths.”

“Okay… makes sense…”

Both fell silent for a while.

“How about we lay out some bait?”, Hinako suggested suddenly.

“Huh?!”, Kuro exclaimed shocked.

He heard her get up and get closer to him. Kuro felt something touch his thighs on the outside, then hands touching his shoulders.

“What are you doing, kid?”, He asked panicked.

“Wanna do it like in those manga books? That’s every Otaku’s dream, isn’t it?”, Hinako whispered into his ear with a sultry voice.

A shiver ran through Kuro’s body and he had to swallow. He felt the towel being slowly pulled off his face. He looked directly at Hinako, who sat down on his legs, her knees on either side of them, her towel nowhere to be seen.

“Or am I really just a little kid to you?”, She said and gave him and enticing look out of her big brown eyes.

“No… ummm… you’re definitely…ahhh… a woman… a fully… umm… grown… woman… I can… see that… ahhh… clearly… but…”, Kuro began to stutter as the words in his mouth failed him.

“But what? Do you not find me attractive?”

Kuro’s mouth opened, but before he could say anything they suddenly heard a strange noise coming from beyond the fence behind them. It was a slurping noise.