The Second Mission: It's just Feet, Dude!

“Woah!“, Hinako exclaimed, when Kuro rose up from under her.

She fell back into the water, as he jumped up on the fence. The next moment Kuro vanished behind it, and a shrill squeaking was heard.

“Gotcha!”, His voice echoed through the night.

Hinako watched perplexed as he jumped back over the fence, dragging a small and scrawny creature behind him. It had pale greenish skin, black shaggy hair and a long, a little bit frog-like tongue.

“Look! I got it!”, Kuro exclaimed happily.

“Oh, I was looking alright…”, mumbled Hinako.

The completely naked Kuro didn’t seem to hear.

“Don’t kill me! I don’t want any trouble!”, The creature said with a lisp.

“Don’t worry. If you don’t give me a reason to, I won’t. For now, let’s just talk.”, Kuro said and waved his free hand.

Rocks formed around the creatures’ feet, holding it in place. Kuro then let go and turned back to Hinako.

“What’s with the stupid smile?”, He wondered.

“Oh, I’m just glad about the answer for my previous question.”, Hinako answered and winked.

Kuro looked even more confused for a moment until he realized. He quickly jumped back into the water and sat down.

“Shut up… That… doesn’t mean anything…”, Kuro said with a bright red face.

“Please let me go! I won’t do anything! I promise!”, The creature said and tried to free himself unsuccessfully.

Hinako switched her focus on the Akaname.

“So, this is an Akaname, huh? Never seen one in person.”, Hinako mentioned with curiosity.

“Please let me go!”, It lisped again.

“You got a name?”

“Nebu…please I don’t want trouble…”

“We just want to ask you some questions, Nebu. If you answer us truthfully, we will let you go. You can trust us.”, Kuro said calmly.

The creature named Nebu looked at him for a moment.

“That’s what all humans say… Humans are not to be trusted! Humans are full of shit!”, Nebu suddenly spat defiantly.

“Though you like that about us?”, wondered Hinako.

“Different shit…”

“Well, it’s true, that a lot of humans are full of shit, but you can trust us.”, Kuro remarked.

“Why?”

“Do you have any other choice?”

Nebu tried to free his feet again to no avail.

“No… Humans promises that they don’t hurt Nebu? Let Nebu go? Give Nebu a snack?”, Nebu said, its tongue licking across the lips.

“Nobody said anything about snacks!”, Hinako said strictly.

“Okay… no snacks… but let go?”

Kuro waved his hand again and the rocks crumbled from his feet.

“See? But before you leave, we would like to ask you some question.”, He said.

Nebu shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot.

“Okay… what do you want to know?”, Nebu asked.

“First… what are you doing here?”, Kuro asked.

“Looking for snacks and hiding.”

“Why here and not in the sewers or in some damp cave?”

“Sewer is dangerous… not good anymore.”

“Why is that?”

“Humans come and catch Nebu and friends.”

“What humans?”

“Evil humans! Bring Nebu and friends to some weird room… full of big glass jars…”

Hinako and Kuro looked at each other for a moment.

“What did they do to you there?”, Kuro wanted to know.

“Not me, but friends, they cut and stuck things in them… changed them…”, Nebu said and shook his body, as if trying to physically get rid of a bad memory.

“And what did you do?”

“Nebu smart! Nebu ran away! First through tunnels then through hole above. Came out under trees not far from here. Then was looking for snacks. Found this place. Not much, but good snacks.”

“Can you show us the way to that hole?”

“No! Not going back! Humans said to only answer questions, then let Nebu go!”

“Oh, please Nebu, can you show us the way there?”, Hinako asked.

Nebu thought for a while and scratched his shaggy black hair.

“If you give Nebu snack, then Nebu will show you hole.”, It offered.

“What… kind of Snack do you want?”, Hinako asked worried.

“Nebu like feet. Give Nebu fresh feet to lick as snack and Nebu will show you hole.”

“Huh?!”

“Deal! You can lick the lovely feet of this fine young woman here and then you will show us the way!”, Kuro interjected.

Hinako turned towards him aghast.

“Oi, now wait a damn minute! That’s not… That’s just… ewww!!”, She exclaimed with disgust.

“What? Just let it slobber your tootsies a bit… Sometimes you have to take one for the team… It’s just feet, dude.”, Kuro mentioned with a shrug, but couldn’t hold back his smirk fully.

Hinako looked at him in shock and shook her head.

“Not want her feet! Too clean! Want his stinky ones!”, Nebu suddenly said and pointed to Kuro.

“What?!”, He exclaimed shocked.

Hinako began to laugh.

“What’s up dude? It’s just feet, dude! Sometimes you have to take one for the team… DUDE!”, Hinako said mockingly.

Kuro gave her a glare and then looked at Nebu, whose tongue licker over its lips again.

“I just cleaned my feet. They are not stinky!”, He said in protest.

“But full of dead skin!”, Nebu replied and drooled a bit.

Kuro lifted one of his feet from the water and looked at the calluses on his soles. He then looked at the very widely smiling Hinako and sighed.

“Argh… fine…”, Kuro agreed reluctantly.

He then got out of the water.

“You go inside in the meantime and get our stuff.”, Kuro said to Hinako.

“No way I’m gonna miss that! I will watch it, so I can remind you of it forever!”, she refused with a smile.

Kuro sighed again, sat himself at the edge of the water and held his feet towards Nebu.

“Here… dig in… but be gentle…”, He said, trying to sound casually.

Kuro closed his eyes and thought about his favourite Vtuber to distract himself from all the slurping and the weird sensation on his feet. Five minutes later Nebu was satisfied. Kuro looked at his slimy feet with disgust. The next moment they were in flames and the skin turned black. The fire let up and Kuro shook his feet. The upper skin crumbled to ash and fresh pink skin appeared.

“If you tell anyone what happened here, you’re dead…”, Kuro said to Hinako, who watched it all happen.

She nodded and snickered. Kuro’s feet were back to normal again and he stood up. They both went inside to get their stuff.

Fifteen minutes later Hinako and Kuro came out of their room again, fully dressed. She in her new combat suit and he is in his normal shirt and jeans. Nebu had waited patiently outside and was licking across the floor.

“Now show us the way, Nebu.”, Hinako said.

Nebu nodded and crawled over the fence. Hinako and Kuro followed. The Akaname led them further into the adjacent woods. Half an hour later it stopped by a big rock under some trees.

“The hole.”, Nebu said.

“That’s indeed a hole.”, Kuro said, looking down into the blackness of an around two-meter-wide opening in the floor.

The way down wasn’t straight but heavily slanted.

“Can Nebu go now?”, Nebu asked.

“Yeah… but look for snacks somewhere else and not in the Onsens Resorts again, or you will get in trouble.”

“Nebu don’t want trouble, so Nebu will search for new snack place.”

The Akaname then scurried away into the thicket.

“Now what?”, Hinako asked and went up next to Kuro.

“Well, we have two options. The first is to adhere to the protocol, report this in and wait for further instructions…”, Kuro began, still looking down the hole.

“And the second?”

Kuro slowly turned his head towards her and smiled.

“This.”, He said and took a step forward.

Kuro slid down the side and got immediately swallowed up by the darkness. Hinako sighed and jumped after him.