This choice: Back at the hot springs... • Go Back...Chapter #22Trying to Relax by: Unknown Wisps of steam steadily continued to rise from the sweltry hot spring, making the air around it transform into a humid and moist very moist cloud. Somewhere within this floated a very bleary looking Kouji; now, even his face and shoulders had broken out into a heavy sweat. The dark haired boy's head started to spin as he began to feel light-headed and wobbly due to the heat.
With a gasp, Kouji took in as much dense air into his lungs as he could and swam off to the bank of the hot spring, away from the steam in the center. The swim was seemingly long and tiring, and by the time he reached the desired location, he was exhausted! He drew in a deep breath of the thinner, cold air as his entire body felt total relief from the deep humidity from before. With the cool air, his energy slowly began to return to him, and perhaps he felt more energized than before.
He clasped onto the side of the spring with both his hands and pushed up hard, trying to get his knees out of the water and onto the bank. It took him a while, but eventually Kouji managed to pick himself out of the water and sit on the edge.
Glistening with droplets of water, the blue haired boy sighed as he looked down at his plump abdomen protruding outward and softly resting in his lap. Kouji realized that swimming, or even getting out of the water was a more difficult task than ever before, due to his newfound pudge- perhaps it had been more than that... maybe a little bit of a struggle.
Shaking his head, Kouji told himself, "The heat must have gotten to my head; it probably made me a bit weaker," he assured before grinning slightly, "Although, it was boiling hot out there, so I probably burned off a few pounds just by sitting in the steam."
Catching sight of his chubby belly, Kouji let out a deep breath, "Aw... who am I trying to fool anyway?" Kouji's blue hair, now loose, untied, and drenched in water, hung halfway down his back at the longest. He also had wet locks of hair obscuring his forehead and draping a little over his eyes. He watched as a round, fat water droplet slided down a damp clump of his hair, and splash into the hot spring.
"Now, where did I put it?" Kouji asked himself as he searched the ground around him for the small, durable, blue rubber band he always used to tie his hair up. Bereft of this important device, Kouji's long hair would be awry and falling all over the place. A wet lock of hair flopped over Kouji's eyes and hindered his vision. Sighing, he parted it away with his hand as he bent down on his knees and began to scour his surroundings for that all-important rubber band.
However, as he bent down, he noticed his bathing suit, especially around his rear end, felt a smidge tighter than was comfortable. The blue haired boy shrugged to himself in annoyance, but wouldn't let it bother him. He already knew he was out of shape... it just kept on being brought to his attention one way after another.
Brushing away a few pebbles and parting away blades of grass seemed to yield no results. Kouji groaned in frustration as his lengthy hair cascaded over his vision for the umpteenth time. Why hadn't he been more careful with it? Or why did he take it off in the first place? He knew his blue mop of hair would get like this if he didn't... Sighing to himself again, Kouji gazed across to the horizon...
Immediately, he became enlightened once he peered over the hot springs. The boy with the slack blue hair gasped audibly as his eyes snapped open with astonishment.
Then came the conventional slap in the face, although the blow was softened by his hair which had fallen back in the nick of time.
The changing stall and the house with the red roof was standing on the OTHER side of the hot springs! Kouji must have been so light-headed in the heat that he floated all the way over to the opposite side of the springs, and if that wasn't bad enough, he didn't realize it until just now.
Trudging back to the bank of the spring with a somewhat defeated look on his face, Kouji Minamoto edged the hot springs to reach the changing stall where he bet he had left his vital band. He didn't swim across the spring like he did last time because he didn't want to risk having his vision obscured by his loving locks in the clouds of hot steam; Kouji noticed that the temperature in the steam cloud had probably risen even more, and the steamy whisps extended closer to the edges. Now he was grateful he didn't rough it.
Again, Kouji pushed up and got his partially flaccid legs out of the water before walking off to the changing stall to fetch his band. He looked down to see his belly jiggling very slightly with his every step, just too much for his own comfort...
He wasn't planning on getting dressed right away; he'd just straighten his hair off and head back to the water... maybe to sit by the edge with his feet dipped, letting the rest of his body to dry, or maybe to get back in if Beliamon didn't show up anytime soon.
He became a little at rest when he discovered his hairband was resting on an ivory colored basin near the side opposite the large rows of changing stalls. A mirror lay above the basin, and he was able to tie his mess of hair up, pushing the renegade locks away, in no time.
Kouji headed back out to the edge where he sat for a few minutes, gazing into the steamy water. He tried to just lay back and get some more relaxation after his little fiasco swimming across the hot spring, but there was a few pressing matters on his mind.
Again, Kouji wondered what exactly was delaying his captor, or, if not that, simply taking her so long... he had easily been gone for about an hour and a half, and he didn't think Beliamon was one to become lost in Ayzahn Ra, especially when she knew of his own location. After a while, he idly began to drum his legs with his hands, and to his vexation, there also was a slight jiggle.
He turned his face towards the gray skies... not a cloud up there for him to wonder about; they were just gray, stolid, and never changing...  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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