"Ha?"

s.h.i.+ori uttered in confusion at what Wu Yan, Tohka, Kotori, and Yos.h.i.+no discussed in front of her.

"We are going to the hot springs?"

"Ah, yeap…"

Wu Yan sighed. He's not sure whether to laugh or cry when he saw how surprised s.h.i.+ori is with this idea.

When he was taking a bath with Yos.h.i.+no, Wu Yan wondered if he would get to go into the hot springs with other spirits like the original main character.

His fleeting thought actually came true.

This is inevitable. When Tohka asked to take a bath with him, obviously, he can't because he already took one with Yos.h.i.+no. It was a very tempting offer for sure but since Kotori was there he didn't say yes.

He thought the bathroom scandal would end like that but Tohka just wouldn't let it go. She kept throwing a tantrum until Kotori almost lost it. Kotori was very close to putting on her black ribbon in order to pacify her.

Wu Yan yelled out loud just as the situation was on the verge of going out of control.

"Let's all go to the hot springs tomorrow! This way, n.o.body's left out!"

Apparently, that was a good enough solution since n.o.body objected.

Hence, their present situation…

"Going to the hot springs huh?"

s.h.i.+ori is also tempted by the prospect of going to the hot springs. Hot springs had a certain for ladies like s.h.i.+ori.

But, the problem here…

"A mixed bath?…"

s.h.i.+ori cast doubtful eyes on Wu Yan, she's looking at him like he's walking a slippery path to h.e.l.l. Wu Yan's lip twitched in response.

s.h.i.+ori got it right, Wu Yan's planning on going to the mixed bath.

s.h.i.+ori got the answer from his silence, she looked at the other girls and she found herself speechless.

Tohka's off the hook since she's Wu Yan's girlfriend. Bathing with her boyfriend in the mixed bath is risque but not suspicious. Yos.h.i.+no's also fine since she's still a kid. Plus, she already took a bath with him last night, a mixed bath is the same thing except the venue is different.

What about Kotori? She's Wu Yan's sister, are they going into the bath together as well?

Bathing together as siblings should be a thing that stopped after they graduated from being kids. It's rare for grownups to still do the same but s.h.i.+ori just think it's weird.

Kotori is so embarra.s.sed she could die. She lowered her head and she got angry with herself for agreeing to go on this trip together. What got her so motivated?

Wu Yan is also dodging s.h.i.+ori's gaze. It's like his sc.u.mbag plan is laid bare in front of another girl and he's sweating so hard right now.

After staring at Wu Yan a bit more, s.h.i.+ori scratched her cheek.

"You guys go ahead, I am going to stay at home and wait for you guys to return."

Maybe s.h.i.+ori imagined it but the four of them actually seem relieved that s.h.i.+ori's not coming with them.

s.h.i.+ori would probably make them feel stressed if she tagged along.

===

On the way to the hot springs resort, Tohka and Yos.h.i.+no kept glancing around at everything around them like they are newborn babies. They kept pointing at stuff and asking questions in an energetic manner. Luckily for Wu Yan, he wasn't asked frequently enough to drain all his energy. Otherwise, even if he's ecstatic about this trip, they would still make him go into energy conservation mode.

He wondered how Kotori arranged for the expenses to be covered by Ratatoskr. Somehow, Kotori managed to get them to cover all the expenses incurred, even Reine got called in to drive them which is quite confusing for Wu Yan.

For her to pull some strings, this meant Kotori turned into her commander mode to get things done. However, given her strong tsundere personality in her commander mode, would she really agree to enter the mixed bath with Wu Yan?

Reine drove everyone to the hot springs resort just like the original work. The AST members didn't come to mess up their trip halfway. Without s.h.i.+ori's presence, Tob.i.+.c.hi Origami also didn't appear with her AST teammates in tow. Hence, there wasn't a fight between Ratatoskr and AST members in the commercial streets.

Also, Yos.h.i.+non is back on Yos.h.i.+no's hand. She kept busting Wu Yan's b.a.l.l.s as well as annoy the heck out of Tohka and Kotori. They are all officially hating this bunny's return.

Wu Yan had this coming, he took the opportunity to seal Yos.h.i.+no's power while Yos.h.i.+non's away. Of course, Yos.h.i.+non's not too happy with him.

The sun is already setting when they arrived at their destination, almost the optimum time for going into the hot springs. Wu Yan & company picked the right time to arrive at the resort reserved by Ratatoskr.

Soon, the group made their way towards the hot springs.

Looking at the steamy hot springs, Wu Yan, Kotori, Tohka, Yos.h.i.+non, and Yos.h.i.+no all had happy looks. Reine the always tired-looking lady disappeared without saying anything on their way here.

Wu Yan looked at Kotori, Tohka, and Yos.h.i.+no before he coughed in a serious manner.

"Alright, let's get out of those clothes…"

Kotori and Tohka flinched. They blushed a bit as they fidgeted.

"Erm… Do we have to do it now?…"

Kotori hesitated, it seems she's having the cold feet. Wu Yan sighed silently, Kotori got into the bath quite willingly in the original work even if she was in her bath towel and commander mode.

"Maa, you can stay there with your clothes on…"

Wu Yan continued in a nonchalant manner.

"I reckon we won't be waiting for you when we are done bathing, just saying…"

Kotori pursed her lips. Her smile turned upside down and her white ribbons lowered as if it's signaling her mood right now. She still looked cute though.

Kotori finally made the decision to enter the hot springs.

"s.h.i.+do…"

Tohka turned around towards Wu Yan, she pointed at the door.

"You, get out, come back in after a while."

Wu Yan flinched.

"Why?"

Tohka stomped before she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Just get out! Stupid! Idjit!"

It's like Astrea's image overlapped with Tohka, Wu Yan sighed before taking Yos.h.i.+no's hand.

"Alright, guess I will be changing clothes with Yos.h.i.+no at some other place then…"

"Oya…"

Yos.h.i.+non made sure Tohka can hear her.

"It would seem s.h.i.+do likes Yos.h.i.+no MORE!"

Tohka uttered a cold hmph as she leered at Yos.h.i.+non. But, she didn't say anything.