Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 38

The water from the spring was cold, but it was much better than the salt water I had dropped into. I used my hands to cup the water from the shallow puddle where most of the water collected before streaming down the little crevice it had carved out over the years, splashing the water over my face and dunking my hair into the water as my fingers worked out the salted clumps.

"We have larger springs on our island..." Jyushi commented, his form not moving from his guarded stance, "There's also a spring in Ichi's territory that is constantly under the sun, so we sometimes use that one when we need warm water."

I glanced over at him, seeing the thick wall of reticulated tail wrapped over itself multiple times to form a wall of sorts around the small spring and myself. It gave me complete privacy, which I used to my full advantage to wash the salt water still clinging to my naked form.

"The river that we met at is actually one of the bigger rivers on the island," Jyushi's voice perked up a little, "I went there a lot just to swim around since it's deep enough."

"How deep is it?"

"About...two of you?" He sounded perplexed as he tried to give me a measurement, "I like swimming through the grass on the bottom."

I laughed a little, "That does sound deep if it's two of me. Maybe we can go swimming together, since I did agree to you showing me around your little bit of the island."

The coils around me shifted a little as Jyushi gasped, "That would be great! Just tell me when you need air, though. I don't think you can hold your breath for as long as I can."

"Definitely not as long as you," I stifled a shudder as I squeezed out the excess water in my hair, feeling some cold droplets fall down my exposed back.

"What are you both talking about?" I heard Oso's voice call out from a little further away.

"I'm going to show her where she can soak on our island," Jyushi answered happily, his length shifting a little before I realized that he was lowering the duffel bag blindly. I gently took the bag from his grip before digging through the top layer to find a set of clean clothes, mentally patting myself on the back for doing all of my laundry before leaving. Taking out a small hand towel, I began to dry myself and slip into the clean clothes.

"Oh, the springs?"

"Yeah, including the warm one in Ichi's part."

"Ah. That one goes away in the colder seasons, so it may not be there when we get back. It was starting to dry up before we left," Oso sounded pensive.

"Aww, really...?" Jyushi deflated a little before flinching from my touch, "Are you done?"

"Yeah, I just need to rinse off the salty clothes, but I've finished my bath," I watched as Jyushi's human half turned into view, his orange eyes slowly meeting mine before pulling away to reveal the spring and myself once more, "Will either of you need to rinse off the salt water?"

Both nagas glanced towards each other before looking back at me, "Not really."

"If you're sure, then I'll get started," I knelt by the waterline of the spring, feeling the cool grass underneath my knees as I pulled up the legs of my shorts a little, "How was everyone else?"

"The woman is working on Todo's shoulder," Oso settled on my right, his position mimicked by Jyushi on my left, "He was shot by the hunters and she was getting a bullet out of him."

I dropped my salt-soaked shirt into the spring in shock, quickly catching it before it could float further downstream.

"He...was shot?" Was that why he fell forward and pushed me to the ground...?