Tsuki! - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

      Hannah and Toshihiro arrived at the hotspring just before dinnertime the next day, and were shown to a two-room suite. Both of the rooms in the suite were a little bigger than Toshihiro’s apartment, and he winced as he imagined just how much this was going to cost for a two-week stay.

Hannah slipped her hand into Toshihiro’s, and smiled at him happily, which made him stop worrying about the cost.

The woman who had checked them in had given Hannah a local guidebook printed in both English and Japanese. She had also given Hannah an English version of the rules and policies for the inn and hotspring.

Hannah read through all of the rules, and then looked through the guidebook. She grinned at Toshihiro because a lot of the things to do in the area were perfectly suited to her.

Toshihiro smiled back at her, and began to undress. One of the rules of the hotspring was that both men and women could be naked in the large hotspring, but the rest of the time, it was preferred they at least wear a robe. Toshihiro wanted to change into the robe before going to dinner.

Hannah had no problem stripping also. She kissed and cuddled up to her new husband as they took their clothes off, and Toshihiro had to give some serious thought as to why they couldn’t just have sex right now.

Oh yeah, we haven’t eaten since breakfast! He carefully held Hannah at arms length, and tilted his head to the door. Hannah nodded, and walked towards the door. Toshihiro grabbed her, and dressed her in a robe, causing Hannah to make a sound of disappointment, and then giggle.

Toshihiro put on his own robe, slipped Hannah’s hand through his arm, and escorted her to the dining area.

The inn wasn’t very big, but it was big enough to have 12 rooms, including the one the newlyweds currently occupied. The dinning room was roomy enough to accommodate all of the guests, plus extra people if necessary. It was currently full of guests wearing robes, most of whom were couples, but there were two whole families, and one group of what appeared to be college students.

Toshihiro and Hannah sat at an empty space at one of the tables, and watched as the staff brought in the food. They were served a variety of delicious Japanese fare, and Hannah had to ask Toshihiro, by pointing at each dish, and exhaling open-mouthed as she waved air into her mouth, if the dish was spicy.

Toshihiro tasted all of the dishes first, and pointed out the spicy ones, then he tilted his head side to side as if to say so so about the dishes that were only mildly spicy. He had noticed one thing about Hannah’s cooking; she did use spices, but not any of the hot spices, so he figured she must not like spicy food.

Hannah tried a few of the mildly spicy dishes, and while she liked some, others were hot enough to make her gasp and down some cold water. After that, she and Toshihiro giggled, and attempted to feed each other.

“That is so sweet! You two may not talk much, but you sure seem to be in love!” An American woman with a southern accent said. She was sitting at the same table as Toshihiro and Hannah, but across from them.

“Thank you, it’s our honeymoon,” Hannah admitted with a joyous smile.

“Really?” The woman asked. “My name is Darla, and this is my husband Joe. We have been married for five years, and we are on vacation. I’ve always wanted to see Japan, so we are on something of a whirlwind tour of the country.”

“That sounds so fun!” Hannah exclaimed. “What made you stay here?”

“Oh, there’s lots to do in the area, plus, we…” Darla gave Hannah a confidential look. “We’re nudists, and we have been staying in places as close to the nudist lifestyle as we can find all across Japan.”

“I’m a nudist too! I was raised by nudist parents, though I didn’t really know that Japan had much to offer to interest nudists. I mean, they do bathe in public bathhouses occasionally, but they usually separate the genders,” Hannah continued the conversation.

“Well, we haven’t come across anything like our resort back in the states, but things like this pop up quite a bit,” Darla shrugged.

“Oh! I forgot to introduce ourselves!” Hannah lightly smacked herself on the forehead. “I’m Hannah, and this is Hero.”

“Nice to meet you Hannah.” Both Darla and Joe shook her hand.

“You say you’re on your honeymoon; how long have you two been together?” Joe asked.

“Oh… Well, Hero saved me from a nasty rainstorm and some thugs about… four months ago, and well…” Hannah shrugged and blushed. She turned to Toshihiro, kissed him, touched her hand to her heart, and then to his. Toshihiro kissed her hand, touched his hand to his heart, and then to hers.

Hannah gestured a question, wondering if he was still hungry, and he shook his head, then tapped her to ask if she was. She tilted her head side to side, and pointed at some of the tiny squid on his plate. She made an expression that indicated she was not sure she would like it, but she was willing to give it a try.

Toshihiro picked up his chopsticks, picked up the tiny squid, and offered it to her. Hannah licked the squid, decided she kind of liked the taste, and took a bite. She laughed as she chewed the slightly rubbery morsel in her mouth.

“You two are so quiet, except for bunches of giggles!” Darla exclaimed.

“Huh?” Hannah turned to face Darla again. “Oh! That’s because Hero doesn’t speak English, and I can’t speak Japanese, except for small phrases such as hello, thank you, and goodbye.”

“You can’t even speak the same language, and you got married!” Darla burst out in surprise.

Hannah shrugged, and spread her hands wide as if to say, “Hey! What can I say?” She then smiled at Toshihiro, and said, “I found the man I love, nothing else matters.”

“Such young love!” Darla sighed, and Joe tactfully did not say his rather pessimistic comment.

Meanwhile, Toshihiro was having a similar conversation with a Japanese couple sitting on his other side.

“Married to an American?!” The Japanese woman exclaimed.

“What’s wrong with that?” Toshihiro asked.

“Oh nothing really, it’s just that there are plenty of nice Japanese girls you could have married.”

“That’s true, but I don’t love any of them like I love Hana,” Toshihiro stated.

The woman scoffed, and rolled her eyes.

Her husband leaned forward to look at Toshihiro. “Well, apparently you’re not the only man to marry an American recently. I read in the paper this morning that some lucky Japanese man married an American heiress yesterday. The papers didn’t know any of the details, having been barred from the wedding, but the girl’s father is a very wealthy financial genius who had been staying in Japan for a few months on business with his daughter.”

Toshihiro didn’t really have to feign surprise. Very wealthy? “Really? Must be nice to be that guy.”

“I agree!” The man chuckled, and then flinched away from his wife, who had hit him. “What?”

“Just be happy you’re married to me!”

“Of course dear!” The man soothed.

By now, enough time had passed after everyone had finished eating that most people were getting anxious to get into the hotspring.

Hannah and Toshihiro followed everyone to the outdoor hotspring, and Hannah looked around excitedly. She loved bathing outdoors, and while she had been in several nudist outdoor swimming pools, she had never been in a communal outdoor bath.

She immediately, and without a second thought, took off her robe, and hung it on a hook. Toshihiro had bathed in public, of course, and he had even been to a hotspring before, but this was his first mixed bath, and he was a bit shy. He took his robe off slowly, as if he had to remind himself this was okay, and then led Hannah to the area in which they were supposed to wash themselves before they entered the hotspring.

Soon, the two of them were in the hotspring, relaxing, and sighing in pleasure.

The college students struck up a conversation with Toshihiro, and discovered that he was a college student too. They discussed their various subjects in depth, because they all had such varied interests.

After a while, Hannah began to yawn. The hotspring wasn’t as hot as a hot tub usually was, and she had asked about the effects on her baby. She had been told that pregnant women bathed in it all the time, and never had anyone reported any ill effects. Still, being pregnant made her sleepy, and combined with the relaxation provided by the bath… Well, Hannah fell asleep on Toshihiro’s shoulder, and almost slid underwater.

“Hana? Hana?” Toshihiro shook her gently.

“Hero…” Hannah murmured happily, and snuggled into him.

Toshihiro turned to the college students. “I should bring my wife back to our room, she’s carrying our baby, and I don’t want to risk her drowning.”

The college students gaped at him. They had all figured that Toshihiro was here on a romantic getaway with a momentary girlfriend; a summer fling to brag about to his friends.

Toshihiro shook Hannah slightly more awake, and then guided her out of the bath. He helped her into her robe, pulled his on, and then swept her into his arms to carry her back to their room.

Hannah was heavier than she looked, and Toshihiro was not overly strong, but he was strong enough to carry her as far as he needed to. He set Hannah on her feet long enough to remove her robe, and then carefully laid her on the large bed. He locked the door to their suite, and crawled into bed beside his wife.

Toshihiro pulled Hannah into his arms, and gave his hands permission to stroke her arms, back, and hair as she slept. This repetitive motion was so soothing, that he was soon asleep.

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