• CHAPTER 102 - IT'S STILL NOT TOTALLY AWKWARD OR ANYTHING...

    It takes a little while to adjust to living alone with your boyfriend. No matter how long you two have been together, there will always be something awkward that goes on.

    Shortly after Akatsuki visited, I finally opted to have a formal meeting with my hot spring the next day. It had been calling my name ever since I first laid eyes on it. It was about time I relieved the stress put on me since the exams and a steaming soak in relaxation and medicinal herbs would hit the spot. I figured Kai would never use it--he probably didn't want to ruin his "manly exterior"--so I felt there was no need for me to wear clothes.

    I woke up that morning from something irritating my nose. It went away for a second and then came back, fuzzy stuff brushing across my nose daintily. I groaned and pushed whatever was irritating me away but it still came back. I peeked my eyes open angrily only to snap them open in surprise.

    "Momo!" I shrieked.

    I immediately sat up and scooped Momo into my arms and cradled him closely. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kai enter the bedroom with a faint smile on his face. I giggled and played around with Momo, missing him so much.

    "Matsuda and Orihime had him groomed; they left him in a pet carrier on the steps not too long ago,"

    "They never told me," I frowned. "I was worried something happened to Momo."

    "You treat him like he's your child," Kai cocked his eyebrow.

    "He's probably the closest thing I'll ever get to having a child," I halfway said to myself.

    There was a short pause until Kai spoke up again, "You might want to hop into the spring before I prepare lunch,"

    I nodded and climbed out of bed, allowing Momo and his tired self to sleep wherever he wanted on the commodious bed. My feet drug behind me as I stumbled to the bathroom and to the linen closet. It hadn't exactly been organized quite yet but at least everybody else was nice enough to stack a bunch of towels in two of the shelves. I pulled out one powder-blue towel and did a double-take after seeing a box in the way back; a couple of small boxes. I scooped the rest of the towels in my arms and dropped them onto the ground to get a peek at whatever was in the back. I reached my hand back and grabbed two different-colored boxes to examine them.

    "There are those pain killer again," I frowned and looked at the other box. "Clear Blue?"

    Ironically, I knew exactly what Clear Blue was and I freaked. My feet couldn't carry me fast enough to Kai and I was shrieking the whole way. As soon as I reached the living room where Kai was inhabiting himself he instantly jumped to his feet, probably thinking I was being pursued by a vegetarian-eating zombie.

    "Arisa, what's wrong?!" Kai gripped my shoulders.

    "Look at what those two did!!" I freaked, holding up the boxes. "Look!!"

    Kai's eye twitched and he snatched the boxes from me. Right before Kai took the Trojan box from me, I finally read the "condom" part of it. Those sure weren't painkillers like I thought they were. But what made it worse was that it said "ribbed texture for her stimulation"; I died a little after that.

    "Get into the spring, I'll take care of this s**t," Kai groaned.

    "Promise you won't peek!" I yelled, knowing he wouldn't peek anyways.

    I hurried out of the back of the house after grabbing some herbs, a little uneasy at stripping down to get into the hot spring. I hid behind a large rock and stripped down from there. I carefully and evenly sprinkled the herbs in the water; the hot spring was no larger than two to three hot tubs. I didn't know how deep it was so I cautiously submerged myself into the water, halfway panicking at the depth it could go to. Standing in the middle, the water reached its highest point at the bottom of my bosom so I wasn't freaking out too much. There was a tidy stone bench circling around the perimeter of the spring under the water and I sat myself down.

    "Oh God..." I sighed.

    The instant the water reached my neck after I sat down, I released all muscle tension and allowed my skin to soak up as much water and herbs as it could. I had never felt so relaxed in weeks, maybe even months. I would live in that hot spring if I could; it was so much better than Matsuda and Orihime's jacuzzi. The herbs were really doing their work; they probably cost Matsuda and Orihime a fortune. It irritated me that they did so much for me the past nine to ten months and I did nothing in return except for have them pay my hospital bills. I really needed a job again.

    "I should just go work for Manager Uratada again," I mumbled to myself. "It wasn't Yukiko's fault for my mistake."

    It had been about a month since I last saw Yukiko and a little longer than that since I saw Manager Uratada. The last I heard, she was having her baby and I still didn't know the gender. Yeah, I was pretty sure I was going to work for her again. It was such a blast, except that Akatsuki would more than likely disapprove of my decision and tell Kai all about that attempted date rape. Sometimes it was a burden for Akatsuki to act like a big brother.

    After soaking for a long time, I noticed my skin was incredibly smooth as well. I was feeling so fresh and rejuvenated; hot springs were even more amazing than what I've been told. I was just about to prepare myself to hop out when I came to a dead halt and panicked; I forgot to bring a towel out. I cursed at myself internally and panicked more. I couldn't just run into the house naked and expect Kai to not notice. He was probably still in the bathroom anyways. There was also no way I would climb out of the spring and air dry myself; it was even worse to sit in the back yard naked than run through the house in the nude.

    "s**t. When I said I'd live in this hot spring, I didn't mean literally!" I shouted at myself.

    I lowered myself into the water up to my nose and groaned. Attempting to muster up my courage for my upcoming brave act wasn't as easy as I anticipated. The chances of Kai seeing me naked were probably fifty-fifty...or ninety-ten. Goddammit, if I wouldn't have found those Trojan and Clear Blue boxes then this wouldn't have happened!

    I took another five minutes to calm myself down. I went with my decision to run into the house in the nude, hoping Kai would never notice. I sucked all of my breath in, turned around, and darted out of the hot spring only to run into a slab of stone...with clothing on. I knew exactly who it was and felt no other thing to do except for grip his shirt tightly so he wouldn't pull me back and see me naked. My face combusted into flames and I started shaking.

    "Um..." Kai paused. "You forgot your...towel."

    I didn't move an inch; I didn't even breathe. One single movement and Kai could very well be staring at my naked front side. I slid into an internal panic and only kept myself glued to Kai. Kai cautiously reposed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to flinch and shriek and jump back. It was also the last thing I wanted to do; Kai was staring at my completely naked body. I shrieked again and jumped back into the spring after ten to fifteen seconds of shock and awkward silence.

    "Oh my God, you pervert!" I freaked out, dipping myself into the water up to my clavicle but the water was pretty clear so it was hard to cover myself up.

    "I just came out to give you your towel; I wasn't expecting you to jump out right away." Kai frowned, not seeming to be as affected as I was.

    "I was going to run inside," I mumbled. "I didn't want you to come out here."

    "Well..." Kai paused. "I'm out here."

    "How can you act so casual, Kai?! I'm standing in front of you naked!"

    "I was in medical school, remember?" Kai frowned again. "I've seen plenty of naked women."

    "Well that makes me feel better, you jerk," I whined. "God, our second full day and it keeps getting awkward; I don't think it can get any worse than this."

    "Don't be so sure," Kai kneeled down in front of me. "I could hop in too, you know."

    I froze, "On second thought, this isn't as bad as it sounds," I blushed at my sarcasm.

    "I destroyed all of what came with Takeuchi and Kira's pranks," Kai paused. "Things should get back to normal now."

    "Are you sure they're all gone?" I whispered, still covering myself under the clear water.

    "I'm positive," he reassured. "Now come out."

    "You butthead, I'm not getting out with you around,"

    "Here," Kai unfolded the towel and held it out in front of him horizontally so there was a wall between us, "jump in."

    "That's very generous of you, Kai, but I'm not--oh fine!" I argued.

    I took a quick second to jump out of the spring and into the towel and Kai's arms immediately constricted around me with the towel. After a couple more seconds, Kai nuzzled my neck and caused me to giggle a little as I sat on the ground.

    "You're so warm," he smiled against my neck.

    "You're freezing," I laughed, forgetting about how I was sitting in his arms naked.

    Kai sat down and I sat between his legs as he continued to cradle me in my snow white towel, "So how are you liking our new home so far?"

    I smiled, "Next to the embarrassing moments, I'm loving it,"

    Kai kissed the top of my head and smiled, "Good,"

    A sudden sense overcame me and I felt disturbed. I didn't know why, but I felt as though there was something wrong with Kai. I couldn't determine how I figured that since there was no physical or emotional changes about him, but something about him disturbed me deeply. It worried me at first, but I figured it was just the feeling of me lying naked in his arms. I have been known to be paranoid at all the wrong things...

    ...Sometimes.