Black Shadow | Souei

Chapter 17: The Gathering

Shion and Shuna each both held one of Kumiko's arms, effectively capturing the poor Kijin. Milim had helped by backing her up towards Shion and Shuna. The three female Kijin were sitting still, soaking in the hot water by the rocks while Milim had gone back to swimming.

"I'm shriveling up like a grape," Kumiko complained as the two other Kijin smiled at her. They all knew that it was just an excuse to get away. However, Shion and Shuna weren't about to let their fellow Kijin's love life go unexplained.

"Tell us, how did it go?" Shuna said, edging closer to Kumiko.

"How did what go?" Kumiko turned her head upwards to the right, away from Shuna. Her blush made it apparent that she knew exactly what they were asking for.

"So did you confess?" Shion asked with a smirk, knowing that the answer was a definite yes judging by how close they had been the last few days. Kumiko flinched, her cheeks flushing even more as she puffed her cheeks. She refused to indulge the Kijin.

"Oh-ho?" Shuna laughed as she carefully let one hand go from around Kumiko's arm to poke her red cheek. "Is that a blush I see?"

"Who confessed first?"

"Did you confess your jealousy?"

"What did Souei say?"

"Did you cuddle?"

The two Kijin asked question after question, their eyes shining with stars as they unleashed their curiosity at Kumiko. Kumiko sat between them, her puffed cheeks growing warmer and warmer with each question they asked.

"Did you kiss?" At this question, Kumiko's mind immediately went to the memory. Her head steamed. She may have been drunk, but she could still remember how it felt clear as day. How she had enjoyed it, but had been too scared to lean in for another one. Since that one kiss that night, the two of them hadn't done it again, though Kumiko knew she wouldn't mind it if he wanted to.

Two victorious gazes stared at her as she quickly snapped out of her thoughts. Yanking her hands out of the grasp, she quickly swam towards the center of the bath and away from the two females who quickly tried to grab her again.

"I won't tell you! You're just going to tell Benimaru, who's going to mention something or other to Souei!" Kumiko tried her best to fend off the two girls with water, but to no avail as they pushed past it and pounced on her. Kumiko, Shion and Shuna all were submerged into the water by the tackle. A few seconds later, the three of them resurfaced, taking in a deep breath of air as they pushed their soaking wet hair out of their faces. Unfortunately for Kumiko though, Shion and Shuna had managed to successfully capture her again.

About an hour and a half later, the four girls exited the bath, coming into the common room with their blue-grey robes on. Shuna and Shion walked out first, victorious as they dragged a mentally-exhaused Kumiko behind them. Milim simply had fun with helping to capture Kumiko every time she tried to get away. When they got to the common room, Kumiko couldn't help but notice the fact that Souei had disappeared somewhere. The rest of the boys all sat on the cushions on the ground, but the cushion by Benimaru's was empty. Kumiko assumed that it was Souei's seat, since she knew he had gone into the bath with the others earlier.

As the girls walked up to the extra cushions that had been laid out, Benimaru looked at Shion and Shuna discreetly. They both quickly nodded at Benimaru, who smirked under his breath.

"Ah, Kumiko," Benimaru said as he feigned an innocent face. Kumiko hummed in acknowledgement while she used a cloth to try to dry her hair as best as she could. "Souei went to scout the forest. He asked you to meet him there."

"He didn't tell me that..." Kumiko trailed off. She had stopped wringing out her hair and stared at Benimaru suspiciously. If that was true, wouldn't Souei have used their [Thought Communcation] to tell her?