The Burnt-Gold Hanamichi

"Hmph! My journey has only just begun. Don't sell my accomplishments short just because I've yet to venture too far from my origins. After all, our meeting is an important first step for me! You're practice for me, Hikari," Yoshitsune informed his ally with a cocky smirk. "Everything from your foreign ways, your religious lean, and even your unfamiliar body serve to nurture my thirst for learning about the world around me. That's right: even your body is just a tool to me, to be used for my own benefit!" he reiterated, as if the first way hadn't sounded unintentionally dirty enough. Speaking of unintentionally dirty, however, it turned out that Hikari had a lot more experience with the sort of thing than Yoshitsune had imagined or accounted for. "W-What... Brothels?! You've been inside them?" he asked, in a voice that was far too loud for their present company. "You've been inside them? Are they just like the one our navis went to, where men and women alike walk about stark naked in front of one another, offering to do this and that? O-Or are you saying you've actually used their services, like the ones that our navis have been refusing?!"

The color further drained out of the young man's face, amusingly imitating his navi's habit of changing to a pale tone when she became overly excited. "Nay, I don't believe it! That can't possibly-!" he attempted to interrupt, but then heard her out to the finish. "Oh! Of course. Yes, what I meant to say is, there's really no living with something so freakishly large, is there?" he recovered, seeming somehow proud of himself now. "A more manageable size is best." Feeling more confident now that he'd assured himself that he had a genetic advantage, i.e. he didn't need to be as well hung as the men working in the red bathhouse, Yoshitsune decided to press his luck. "As I mentioned earlier, Hikari, I'm very interested in learning more about the things that I get very little chance to explore in my daily life. Specifically, your talk of intimate experiences has intrigued me! Tell me more about some of your intimate experiences," he asked, sounding very official as he probed deeper into vague, overly personal, and dirty topics. "Do you..." he paused, closing his eyes briefly as if thinking to himself. He opened them and met Hikari's gaze again, preparing to ask something very serious. "... Presently find yourself in regular engagement with a partner, one with whom you share intimate relations?"

The bath had started to clear out, unbeknownst to Yoshitsune. Not only was it getting a bit late, but also, the two were talking far too loudly about brothels and ideal dong size in public. Only a few stragglers were still hanging about. With all of Yoshitsune's attention focused on Hikari, Divina was probably the only one who was going to get to watch Kabuki's strip show.
Yoshitsune's sudden reaction to her thoughts made Hikari cringe a little. She hadn't meant it to sound that way..."I'm sorry...I wasn't trying to belittle you. Every journey has to start somewhere, and you've chosen to start it here. That's all I meant!" The flinching only intensified as he basically said he was using her. Also, did he really have to phrase it like that...?

"W-Well..." Hoo boy. It wasn't like she'd ever worked in one, but it was still really awkward to talk about brothels like this. Especially with a guy..."The ones I've visited weren't exactly the same. It was more like...they tried to show off as much as they could while still not being legally naked. B-But I've never actually partaken in...that! I was there strictly in a priestess capacity!" Granted, Divina probably would've been okay if she had...but it was harder to spread the word of happiness on her back. Besides, she'd been nervous enough going in there with pure intentions. If she'd actually tried to do anything...well, things were usually considered not nearly as hot after someone puked their guts out on them from sheer nerves.

"Um, well...to be frank, it IS harder to make someone physically happy when they end up hurting you while trying...not deliberately, of course, but it's like trying to fit a big round peg in...well, you get the idea." The longer the discussion lingered on her past sexual experiences, the more flushed Hikari was getting. It faded slightly as it seemed for a moment like Yoshitsune was going to change the subject...but quickly came back as it turned out he wasn't. "R-Regular engagement? ...No...I haven't had any boyfriends since I became high priestess. I mean, there's the occasional, um, stress relief, but nothing past one night stands. Being Lady Divina's real world arms and legs doesn't leave much time for dating." This was getting really awkward...but, if it helped the actor learn a bit more about...stuff, she was willing to bear it.
"Hmph. Think nothing of it. There you go, being too concerned about others again," Yoshitsune responded to Hikari's apology; it was probably a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation, dealing with him. He seemed to become a bit calmer as she continued, looking an odd mix of relieved and disappointed when she mentioned that she didn't frequent brothels for the purpose of soliciting sexual partners. He further relaxed when she mentioned she wasn't currently seeing anyone, perhaps even brightened up a bit. "Hm hm hm! The world is an open oyster for those without attachments like you or I, Priestess," he chuckled, sounding cocky again. He seemed to be equating himself with her now in terms of experience, while not specifically addressing whether or not he was sexually active every now and again. The answer to that line of questioning was pretty obvious, even without asking. "And I'll enjoy shucking that oyster. Yes, when I finally decide to shuck, it will be a night to remember. A night filled without sleep, only steady, focused shucking."

All of this talk about steady, focused shucking was starting to make Yoshitsune hungry, as he often was, given that he had no money for snacks and thereby ate mostly work lunches. His stomach growled loudly beneath the water; an embarrassed frown set across his thin-featured face. "Pardon," he grumbled, straightening back up as if nothing had happened. "So, Priestess of Divina... How do you make money, living as a priestess? Do you have any other jobs that help you do so? I find that this life on the run is not strictly 'profitable,' working as the lowest on the totem pole of theater-hands. In fact, I barely make room and board. Kabuki assures me my finances are in order, but I'm never able to treat myself as I'd like to," he sighed, resting one arm over the side of the bath and leaning his head on his fist. "It's painful, to have to think of your legacy before your immediate happiness." That sounded like the opposite of what he was doing on a day-to-day basis.

For better or for worse, he still wasn't paying attention to his navi's strip show, which was lighting up his PET now in flashes of white and red. If he watched it, he'd probably be seeing his navi in an entirely new and likely mutually awkward way for the foreseeable future. "Do you keep your income up by asking for donations? Er... Are you looking for a donation from me?" he asked, suddenly narrowing his eyes. "Is that why you've spent so long here? You're just waiting for a donation? As I told you, I'm quite broke!" the young man announced in a loud voice, fixing his attention upon her with a resolute smirk, as if being zenniless was something to be proud of. "Nay! I have nary a single zenny to hand over! So I'm afraid that you're treating me for free tonight, Priestess!"
"...Yes, and I don't plan on stopping being concerned about others."

She wanted to say that fairly badly, but Hikari instead continued answering the questions, instead simply thinking it. His analogy, however, made her chuckle a little, since shucking sounded so much like...well, something else. Plus, it was a silly word on its own. Shucking.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a sudden loud noise, which after a moment she realized was coming from the gut of Yoshitsune. The universal sign of hunger. She wouldn't mind getting him something to eat, but seeing as how she was utterly broke, no dice...also, she wasn't going to gain free access to the Faith of Divina's bank account until tomorrow. Huh, she'd forgotten all about that meeting tomorrow. An odd thing to forget, considering it would officially mark the end of it being known as 'that goofy Electopian cult that tries to make everyone happy', and begin the era of it being known as a proper religion, spread throughout the world, doing the work of the goddess. What a relief that would be...

...Oh, drat. She'd zoned out and missed some of the conversation. Fortunately, the actor had taken sufficiently long to get something of importance that she didn't really miss much. Thus, instead of staring blankly, she acquired a rather horrified look as she raised her hands to her chest. "Of course not! I would never! Mostly, we've gotten by on donations from followers, or from gracious people and Navis we've aided in the past. We don't go around the streets begging...in a way, that goes against the teachings. The only reason I came here is because of Lady Divina's vision, to help bring it to fruition." Speaking of which, how were the Navis doing? She took a quick look at her PET...her goddess was standing to the side of a stage, using her powers on...something. Probably had something to do with the lights, since those were getting more intense whenever she was doing something. What was on the stage, though? From that angle, she couldn't see. "Your Grace! How's everything going?"

"Oh, swimmingly." Divina's eyes widened a bit, however, as she realized that while her operator might be looking at her PET and not seeing anything, the same could not be said for Kabuki. "Er, Hikari? Can you do us a big favor?"

"Of course! I AM your humble servant, after all!"

"Can you keep...shoot, I forgot his name. Kabuki's operator. Don't let him look at his PET for a bit! I'll tell you when you!"

...That was an odd request, but there was undoubtedly some great purpose she was presently unaware of. "Of course!" In the blink of an eye, Hikari suddenly wound up sitting right next to Yoshitsune. Personal space violatingly so, given that their legs were now touching. "Say, are you comfortable right now? Is there anything I can do for you? I feel as though there's something I can do to help you, besides just sitting around." She scooted in closer, so that now they were sitting hip to hip, though she was too busy focusing on her task that she didn't notice that. She looked up at him, with big brown eyes meant to draw attention from his PET, and on to her. Because clearly, the fact a naked woman sitting right next to him, and touching him with a part of her nakedness, wouldn't be distracting enough.
"A religion that doesn't solicit donations from others? So you're not the type of religion to maintain churches or mosques or whatever either, then, I suppose? You can't have those sorts of nice things without money," Yoshitsune remarked, casting his eyes towards the water thoughtfully. Although his words were harsh, he felt that he and Hikari were bonded in that way: wayward souls, living life outside the system with few possessions to their names. They lived for things more importantly than "money," or other measures of success that societies levied upon them. "With all of us connected to the net, living half our lives there and half outside, I suppose reaching supporters is easier than ever these days. Maybe there's not the same need to take donations that there used to be."

Hikari was taking a brief break here to talk to her navi. "That's fine. In truth, I'd forgotten that Kabuki was venturing into unknown territory as a pioneer, exploring a new frontier of excitement and wonder! I ought to take a look at what she's up to," he thought to himself, holding one hand over his nose in anticipation as he reached for his PET with the one arm he had slung over the side of the bath. Before he could grab it, however, Hikari suddenly and without warning moved so close to him that his face was nearly in hers, with their legs and hips together and his arm held across her back. His eyes widened and his hands twitched; he felt completely unaware of what to do with his hand in this situation. There wasn't actually room to drop it back down to his side; he'd have to put it in his lap if he was going to withdraw it... although, he was almost tempted to regardless, to stifle another reaction that was occurring. "C-C-Comfortable? Ha! I-I am... ahem... exceedingly comfortable," he agreed, his fingers twitching in and out behind her back as he tried to decide where to keep them. The hand that was already pressed over his nose stayed there, although even if it did, the redness would start dripping out from between his fingers if he kept this way too long.

He stared briefly back down into her brown eyes, then closed his, both eyebrows twitching as he found himself now unable to deal with several different parts of his body. "It was all a ruse! Of course she can't keep her religion going by unsolicited charity alone... The talk about sex and brothels and all of that... I understand it distinctly now! Just as the female kabuki actors at the birth of the theater brought in customers with the side attraction of prostitution after the shows, so does she double as both priestess and prostitute! She's... she's honed in on my status as a virgin, a-and now that we're alone, she's offering me service!" he reasoned, his mouth starting to gape beneath his closed hand. "But nay, she knows that I have no money! C-Could it be... She's just in it for the sex?! That's it! I'm about to become 'stress relief' for her!" All of the color started to drain from his face, making him look like he was changing colors, amusingly similar to his navi.

"But... Yoka's great men have all been bold and seized every opportunity placed before them in life. No great man shies away from an opportunity like this! So... I will...!"

Finally, he moved the hand currently behind Hikari's arm to one shoulder gently and kept it there, in a possessive way that most likely make them look like boyfriend and girlfriend to anyone watching. He gave a cool smirk, mostly hidden by the hand still covering his nose and upper lip. "Yes, I'm comfortable! But if you're offering... I'd be happy if you made me your-"

Yoshitsune stopped there, realizing that he could be making a huge mistake. What if she WASN'T offering to take his virginity? He could make a tremendous fool of himself and possibly alienate the operator, which would ruin everything for his navi as well, since she was still involved in a mission with said operator's navi. "I-I'd be happy if... Happy if you, as you're implying, would offer me... That is, you already offered... I should say... AHEM! Are you offering...?!" he begged, his face beginning to go red as he talked himself senseless. "Are you offering?! Just tell me already!" He stared down into her eyes and held her shoulder forcefully. From this distance, however it was abundantly clear how jittery he was; the forcefulness of his hold on her shoulder was brought on by his own wretched anxiety and uncertainty.
"Oh, no! One of our members recently acquired...quite an inheritance, and he donated it all in Lady Divina's name! We used the money to build temples in several countries...so hopefully, we'll have more of a foothold in the real world than before!" Hikari was absolutely delighted about the temples...it meant she was finally able to move out of that tiny, cramped apartment she'd been in for years...and into a slightly less tiny, cramped room in the temple's back. She didn't need a big room, anyway. After all, she spent most of her time working for the good of the goddess...and she wasn't a very big person, anyway.

Her good mood didn't last, however, as Yoshitsune started...she didn't know what he was doing. "Um, are you okay...?" As he lost color, she gained a reddish tint as he placed his arm around her, then his hand on her shoulder and asked if she was offering. All she could do was look back at him, and ask what was on her mind..."Um...offering what? I suppose if you want something to drink, I could go get it for you..." He was really starting to look jittery...which was starting to make her a little jittery...
"Temples! Well th-that's quite something, ahem," Yoshitsune laughed, sounding perhaps more trite and belittling than genuinely impressed. Really, he was just surprised to hear more normal, religious-organization-related conversation. Unfortunately for the nervous young man, however, she basically called him out on his aimless nonsense, not that she could do otherwise; it was impossible to figure out what he was requesting her without clearer sentences. "How dare you ask me to spell it out! I-I mean... we're talking about you getting my d-d-di-!" Before he could finish that thought, he had a flash of inspiration, one that was absolutely necessary given that it was becoming increasingly clear she hadn't been proposing they have sex. "Discipleship! You're asking me to become a disciple of Divina, aren't you?! Well, why should I? Sell me on it!" he barked, sounding extremely hoarse now and quite clearly bleeding from his nose, as he repositioned his hands into a more natural position.

"Drink. I should have said drink," he thought, realizing that would have been a much more natural train of conversation all too late. Furthermore, it could have given him some distance, which would allow him to clean up his face and nurse a certain element of his gender back down to something more reasonable for polite company. "So, why do people become disciples of Divina? Talk to me like you would an interested first-time visitor to one of your churches, during one of your sermons. What does Divina offer? What can I offer to Divina?" Truth be told, he really had no interest at all, due to the selfishness that was quickly revealing itself as his defining characteristic at this, the prime age of eighteen. However, for the sake of diffusing the awkward situation and, for that matter, reclaiming his own calm, he had to get the conversation to something not at all related to sex. While he talked about discipleship, sermons, goddesses, and that sort of thing, all he could think about was the image he'd placed into his own head earlier, one where he got his first real experience with Divina's priestess. "If Divina really is a goddess... She's being cruel to me right now!" he thought to himself, blaming her somehow for his predicament.
As Yoshitsune started to stutter, Hikari started to tense up, unsure of where he was going with it. Fortunately, his choice in words was much less objectionable than she had feared, though said with such force that she instinctively moved back from him a bit. As for what he had said..."N-No! I wasn't talking about that at all! Well, it would be wonderful if the goddess has spoken to your heart...but we don't go out and look for converts. We simply spread her message of love and happiness, and maintain faith that those who are touched by it will seek us out. Being pressured into such a change is no good...it's much better that such a thing be triggered from within."

"Um, Divina herself handles the sermons...I mostly just welcome the real world followers and make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens during them. But, I can tell you why people join us. For the most part, people grow weary of the negativity that can sometimes run rampant in the world. We offer a positive outlook and future, focused on helping each other. It sounds like a simple reason...and it is, really...but I think that resonates with people, which leads to them joining our cause." The high priestess took a deep breath, in part to stop herself from continuing. She was starting to get the vibe he wasn't particularly interested in joining the faith. Not that it mattered, as she could hear a whistling noise from her PET. "Just a moment...yes, Lady Divina?"

"It's okay for him to look at his PET again. You don't need to distract him anymore."

"Oh, okay. Is there anything else you want me to do?"

The goddess Navi hesitated for a moment; she wanted to tease her about the fact she was naked in a hot spring with a man, but after everything she just witnessed, it seemed...in poor taste, to say the least. "...No, that's all. I'll let you know if I need anything else from you."

"Well, you know there is nothing I wouldn't do for you, your holiness!"

...It was like she WANTED to get teased. Hikari was super lucky she wasn't in the mood for it. "Right. Well, if you'll excuse me, Kabuki and I need to discuss our next move." The video on the PET screen vanished, leaving the priestess to her own devices.

Which brought her to a predicament...there wasn't a whole lot to talk about. The only thing really linking them were their Navis doing things together, and they hadn't really been paying much attention on that front, due to Divina's request. Wait, what about...yeah, that'd work. "Um, you call your Navi 'Sister', correct? You two must sure be close. Lady Divina and I are close, of course, but I don't think we could really call each other that..." While he wanted to learn things from her, perhaps she could learn from him what a more ordinary operator/Navi relationship was like...
"Negativity! I don't bother with things like that. Nay, the words of others hold no sway of me," Yoshitsune laughed in response, although again, he seemed either blind or inconsiderate to what a bother he sometimes was to others. "I guess I can understand what you're saying, though. After all, the purpose of all groups is reinforcing one another, the weak feeding off the strongest in the group to reinforce themselves. I suppose that's why some find happiness in religion," he concluded, although that was far from the positive message that Hikari probably wanted to get across.

With Hikari no longer struggling to draw his attention, Yoshitsune spared his PET a brief moment of focus, lamenting the fact that he'd missed seeing his busty net navigator get naked. That probably wasn't the best time to segue into a conversation over why he called her "sister," but it was too late to back out of the discussion now. Still moody, he lowered his eyebrows and smiled in spite of his feelings. "Yea, we share a bond that most operators and navis will never obtain, because we have sworn that it be so. We trust each other and respect all of each other's decisions, sharing our thoughts and feelings. Although we both live alone, separated by the space of the net, we are never apart. That's what our oath means: living together, as a family," he elaborated, speaking so eloquently that it sounded as though he'd rehearsed this explanation. Unfortunately, his words didn't appear particularly truthful at this moment; both operator and navi were pouting at their lack of understanding each other's wishes clearly, after Yoshitsune had unwittingly missed his navi's act and then begged for her to do it again. "This sort of oath can't be taken lightly. Perhaps one day you and your navi will share something similar. Until then, you can only seek to further give your lives to each other, depending implicitly upon your ally."

"It may be a bit much to imply that our relationship means more than one between a priestess and her goddess," Kabuki pitched in. "But all the same! I agree with most of my honorable Brother's sentiments. All it really requires is total openness with your partner. And of course, the most important ingredient: LOVE! The KEY IN~GRE~DEE~AAAANT!"

"Yea, it is true. Love," Yoshitsune agreed, blushing a bit as he crossed his arms seriously and nodded along. "What do you say, Hikari? Do you love Divina?"
"Um, that's...not really..." ...Hikari didn't even know how to respond to that. Not because Yoshitsune had any sort of valid point. If anything, it was such a non-point that it was kind of hard to dignify it with a response. Fortunately, he took a look at his PET, giving her a reprieve from having to come up with one. She took a moment to do the same...that's odd, Kabuki didn't seem to be wearing as much as she once was. Her goddess, thankfully, was still wearing as much as she usually did. Well, at least it looked like it...she didn't really know what she wore underneath her toga dress. She assumed there was a full set of underwear for modesty's sake, but really, who knew? One thing she knew from interacting with her on a daily basis was that trying to figure out the whims of a goddess was like her trying to figure out quantum physics. It just wasn't happening.

In other news, she got the answer to her question. Nothing too groundbreaking, but..."I see...in a way, I suppose it's not too different from me and Lady Divina. Though, in our case, it's less a sisterly relationship, and more a mistress/servant one." Naturally, this was followed up by getting asked if she loved her Navi. "That's a silly question. I love her more than anything!"

...Umm...

"Of course, it's not love in the romantic sense. It's a little hard to put into words...how to say it..." Hmm, this really was tricky. It seemed like no matter how she said it, it'd either be understating things, or make it sound like she was some sort of pervert that wanted to bang her Navi. And she didn't want either of those things. "I suppose it's a kind that transcends explanation. I know that sounds like a cop out...but when you're dealing with higher powers than yourself, it makes sense that a mere mortal like me couldn't entirely comprehend such things. I guess that's why it's called faith, right?"

With that, Hikari laid back, until it almost looked like she was laying down. "Is it just me, or does this water actually manage to feel better the longer you soak in it?" Unfortunately for her, her slightly odd repositioning ended up bringing her upper half close to the surface, and while there was nothing flat out showing, if Yoshitsune looked over, he would have a very clear outline of the high priestess's chest area...
Yoshitsune didn't look terribly interested in the answer; he simply shrugged and raised his eyebrows. "That's good, then. If you can put your love perfectly into words, it can't be unique, and therefore, it is frivolous and bent by the standards and influence of society. Nay, that sort of love is no love at all. I believe that feeling you have for Divina could one day become the same sort of perfectly trusting bond that my Sister and I share. Cherish it," he responded, nodding solemnly as if he'd said something very important. He kept them closed for a time, simply listening to the sound of his ally's voice. "Aye, but if we stay in too long, we'll prune. Keep that in mind. You're lucky you have a veteran bath-house employee like myself here to provide you with a good, seasoned-" he began confidently, then suddenly silenced himself, feeling a huge lump in his throat as he found himself staring at what little he could make out of the priestess's body.

"Is she really so air-headed?! She's exposed herself near completely. If I was only a bit closer, I'd see everything!" he thought to himself, his eyes swimming beneath his fierce, peaked eyebrows. Blood began to run down from his nostrils again, cresting upon his tightly drawn upper lip. "But there's nothing to be excited about! There's nothing to see, at all... Not like the matron or Kabuki!" he reminded himself, finally thinking to clasp his hands back over his mouth. "There's nothing to see. There's nothing to see. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing! Nothing!" the young man scolded himself, trying to return normal blood flow to various parts of his body through sheer force of will. Part of the reason it wasn't working was because every time he repeated 'nothing' to himself, he found himself hunching forward a bit, to try to get just a little bit of a better look. "Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!"

"NOTHING!" he cried out audibly from behind his hands, now almost hunched over Hikari's unfortunately prone form with wide eyes staring into her own presumably now open ones. "N-Nothing! There's... ah... there's n-n-nothing..." he defended himself weakly, unable to draw back now that he'd put himself in such an awkward position. "Nothing that I do not know about bathhouses! Ask me anything!" he encouraged her in a hoarse voice. If she didn't move or otherwise move him, blood was probably going to start dripping out from beneath his palms and onto her, which would be upsetting for several reasons.
"Thanks...I suppose something like that is the ideal I should shoot for as a priestess." Hikari happily laid/sat there, completely failing at noticing that she might as well be laying under a glass pane, and simply continued listening to Yoshitsune as she closed her eyes. "Yes, it's quite fortunate I have an expert to know when to get out." Unlike most people, the tone of her remark was definitely not that of sarcasm; she was genuinely glad she had someone to tell her when she'd start to get pruney.

A little time passed, and the priestess noted her companion in soaking being uncharacteristically quiet. She slowly opened her eyes, to look over at him...only to see him hovering over her, towel covering much of his face. A moment passed as she processed it..."Eep!" She immediately lost all balance, and ended up completely submerged. When she came up, she had ended up putting a little distance between the two of them. And one thing about came to her attention immediately..."Ah, the blood!" In the blink of an eye, she was back over in his face, rearranging his towel somewhat, to give him more layers for his blood to seep through, and even had a corner for wiping off his hands. Oddly, she seemed unconcerned about exactly why he had been that close to her, instead more worried about the increasing amount of red on the towel. "That's...that's a lot of blood...do you feel okay? Not feeling dizzy or anything? Maybe you should see a doctor...oh, do you need another towel? There was enough blood on your hand that I don't think it's doing a good job of soaking it in, so maybe...yes, just a moment!"

Once again, she showed off her ninja of Divina skills, getting out of the spring, grabbing the towel, and hopping back in before Yoshitsune could see anything. She then took the old towel out of his hand, handed him the new one, and tossed the bloody one over to the side, landing near the PETs. "There, that should be better. Sure you're not feeling woozy or anything?" Now it was Hikari's turn to be staring at him with wide eyes. "Oh, I know! Since you know everything about hot springs, tell me how they work! Something simple like that'll let me know you're getting enough blood to your brain!" Again, most people wouldn't be saying that with an entirely straight face...but the high priestess wasn't most people, and was simply concerned with the man's safety. For some reason.
Yoshitsune wasn't sure what was being said about blood or dizziness or towels, but he was glad that none of it included anything about him being a pervert for leaning in while Hikari closed her eyes. He wasn't quite sure what she was saying about doctors or jobs or soaking either. Really, now that he took the time to think about it, he realized he wasn't understanding much of anything that was being said any more. Whatever else was happening, he remembered that based on the evening so far, he was almost certainly still bleeding through the nose. He accepted the towel graciously and closed his eyes, attempting to recover his senses rather than black out from exhaustion and blood loss.

The brief respite did him a bit of good, and about a minute later, he opened his bloodshot-looking eyes, sleepily turning them back to Hikari as he continued to cover the lower half of his face with the towel she'd given him. He'd missed her asking if he was woozy entirely and thus didn't answer. Thankfully, his hearing and senses were both flooding back to him now... but not nearly fast enough. "She said something about... hot springs... and my working here at one... and something about blood," he pondered to himself, failing to realize that he was about to expose Hikari to the fact that he wasn't alright at all. "I, the prodigy, Yoshitsune Serisage," he began, pressing one hand to his chest dramatically and closing his eyes again, "do indeed work at a bathhouse, which utilizes the hot springs. That said... Hot springs work... hot water bubbles up from the earth's crust... Yea, not unlike my blood escapes from my own body, now I understand... Blood escapes from the body of Yoshitsune Serisage and leaks into the water, giving it a rich, red color... The red shows that her emotions have intensified... I respect how she projects her voice, but it begins to grate on the ears if she... does it so constantly."

With that having made almost zero sense, Yoshitsune turned around quickly, grabbed his PET, and rose out of the water. Although he was using his folding fan PET to cover his lower body, it was really only hiding just the bare essentials. By divine providence, the PET screen was turned towards Hikari, not himself. "I think I need to go towel off and rest a bit, away from the heat. Please, join me," he requested, beckoning Hikari towards the men's dressing room, which was obviously a no-go. The way he was stumbling on his feet, Hikari could not be one-hundred percent certain if he was going to make it there himself before collapsing.
Hikari slowly looked more and more aghast as Yoshitsune went on and on about not what she had asked. He definitely needed some sort of medical attention. And then...he hopped out. Fortunately he was covering his, er, area in most need of covering, but now he wanted to go into the men's dressing room, which was problematic for her for...obvious reasons. Still, she absolutely couldn't leave him alone, even if it meant going in there. Not when he was in that state. She quickly got out and covered herself with her own towel, though now it was soaked, so it ended up hugging her body quite a bit. Though, at the very least, she had no problems being fully covered.

"H-Hold on!" She quickly made her way over to him, and thought about placing one his arms over her shoulders for support, but he'd either end up streaming blood all over the floor, or he'd end up...exposed, and she didn't find either of those things especially desirable. "Okay, easy does it...take your time if you need to." She really didn't want to be going where she was going right now, but again, she absolutely couldn't let Yoshitsune go in there on his own. What if something happened? She'd never forgive herself. Hopefully no one else was in there, or about to go in there...
Thankfully, further nose-bleeds from Yoshitsune didn't seem as though they were going to be a problem; even with Hikari's sopping wet towel and close proximity and the erotic nature of her going into the guy's dressing room with him, he was so braindead that he was practically unconscious. "Yea, indeed. Take my time. I shall," he responded, taking a few uneasy steps forward before falling onto his hands and knees. He crawled a short distance before making it back to his feet, then walked the rest of the way. His recover seemed to be speeding along well. By the time he reached the doors, he was walking like a normal person again, although the look in his eyes was still "blood-loss addled delirium." But clearly, he'd had some previous experience with recovering from this sort of ailment. "Thank you, Hikari. Please watch Kabuki for me too, for the moment. I'm not sure I can be relied upon to advise her."

Everyone had mostly cleared out of the bathing room, but just as that state couldn't last, logically, nor could the dressing room. Currently, two guys were huddled near the back: one with extremely shifty-looking eyes and thick eyeliner, along with a long nose and over-exaggerated frown that made it look like he'd probably had a hard life, and another very large one with curly black hair and a big chin. "Is that Hideyoshi? He looks like he's dead," the big one remarked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully with one fat hand.

"Nevermind that! Look who he's with! That's a giii~iiirl, isn't it?" the eye-liner wearing one murmured, grinning in a positively evil way and speaking in a way reminiscent of Kabuki. "I'm jealous! They look pretty together~!"

"Yeah... together, they both look kinda similar," the other man remarked, which would probably be taken as something of an insult to Hikari, if she thought about it hard enough. "Uuuu... Hey, you two?" he asked, rising to his full height. The big man's tremendous gut stuck out over his lower-body towel, which at first made it questionable as to whether he was wearing one at all. "You need help?"

"Yeeee~yaaaah, help with aaaaa~nything! Or should we leave? I've never seen 'Yoshi with a giiii~url before! Darn, when he went so long without one, despite his good looks, I had started to think... well, somebody else had a chance," the long-nosed one giggled, fanning himself with a folded-up towel. "Boo!"

Yoshitsune was now frowning with an unhidden sneer, making it clear he had no desire to associate with either of the two men. "Hikari, we've made a mistake... The two of us would be more comfortable if we went to the girl's dressing room. Please, take me there," he demanded, giving Hikari an order that carried a lot of new baggage that neither of them needed, especially not when they'd already made themselves known to the two guys in this room.

"Oya?! What are you two doing, then, eeeex~actly?!" the eyeliner guy snickered, leaning in too close on Hikari with a grin widening over his overly glossy lips.

Kabuki reacted as well. "W-What are you two doing, EX~AAAACT~LYYY?!" she cried, turning red across her body, from her crevices to her glowing hair. "Oh, right. Caring for Hideyoshi. Ahem, er, carry on!"
Despite the early spill, he otherwise seemed to be making good progress on his recovery. That was good. She simply nodded at Yoshitsune's request, though his Navi not getting advice wasn't really her concern at the moment. Especially since she was with Divina herself. And with that, the two headed in...and she immediately noted that the changing room was occupied. She'd never do it out loud, but in her head, a giant "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" echoed.

Oddly, they almost seemed to be happy that she'd come in there with him...hmm, if they knew him, it was likely they were other staff. But regardless, she really didn't want to deal with this. And since her conscience prevented her from leaving Yoshitsune for now, that made her next move extremely easy. Especially when the alternative was to head to the girl's room. "Both of you, please take care of whatever business you two have and leave as quickly as possible! This is plenty awkward enough as is, without the two of you here! And I can't leave Hideyoshi when he's clearly not 100 percent! I don't think he needs immediate medical condition, at least...now, please! Leave us alone!"

Kabuki chimed in, but she seemed to take the hint a bit better. Though, it still didn't amuse Hikari in the least. "In the name of Lady Divina, why is everyone thinking we're doing something dirty? The dirtiest thing about it is all the blood coming from his nose!"
The two guys reacted to Hikari's plea with surprise. "L-Leave? But we can't go back out there... we're naked..." the big guy murmured, looking bashful.

"You could just go into the bath, Dum-Dum!" the painted up man sneered. "Which is what we ought to do! After all, they're cleeeearly not up to anything, they just need to be alone~" He may have been agreeing with Hikari, but it didn't really sound like he was, from his tone. "C'mon, let's leave 'em alone~"

"Yea, please," Yoshitsune coughed, sounding unwell. He actually looked like he was doing a good bit better, though. Perhaps the look of the acquaintances, both male and both sort of unsettling in different ways, had taken his mind off of Hikari. He hadn't looked at her in a while, which also helped. "I'll have you know that there is nothing dirty about my blood, however! I have very strong blood, carrying a heritage of artists and nobles!" Even now, Yoshitsune had time to take offense at unreasonable things.

"Make sure all of that noble blood doesn't go out of your heee~ad, or anywhere else~" the skinny guy cooed once again, before the two of them both disappeared. The big guy was sheepishly covering his buttocks with both hands as he left, since the towel couldn't quite do the job, but even that wasn't quite enough...

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With those two gone and Kabuki being too occupied to pay attention at the moment, Yoshitsune was left to the recovery process with Hikari. "You're a useful person, Priestess," the young man sighed... it was apparently supposed to be a compliment. "Like your navi, you're quite capable of taking control of a situation when you have the mind to. Now, please, allow me to relax here for a bit... You needn't stay and... probably shouldn't, regardless," he admitted. Something in his head, perhaps tiredness, perhaps instinctual self-preservation, was keeping his eyes looking at his own feet rather than at her. "As the hot spring expert, I say we have spent more than enough time in the heat of the baths for one day. Let us both get dressed again..."

It was then that Yoshitsune realized he was seeing a bit more than his feet when he looked down. Alarmed and red-faced, he suddenly clutched both hands over his lower body. "Hyaaaaa!" he cried, quite aware of his nakedness and with more modesty than Hikari might have imagined. "A-A towel! I need a towel, before you go!" he begged. "The goddess provides!" he thought, realizing that there was one seemingly hanging right near to him. With all of the force he saw necessary to protect what little dignity he had left, he moved one hand and attempted to yank at the towel, not realizing that the object it was hanging on was, in fact, the priestess. She'd have to fight hard if she was going to stop him, but luckily, he didn't have the use of both hands right now.
"Yes. Bath, now!!!" Much to her relief, the two men got the hint (more or less), and left her and Yoshitsune by themselves. Hikari let out a sigh of relief, not especially used to being that forceful. Yoshitsune pointed this out in so many words, which made her smile and turn towards him, though she didn't look directly at him. "Yes, I think Lady Divina's rubbed off on me in that regard. Since I've started serving her, I've become a bit more extroverted than I was before." ...Which raised the question of how timid she was before, considering her issues as she entered the building. "It's probably why my parents didn't have me committed once I became a priestess..."

"That's too bad...I wouldn't have minded going back in for a bit. Er, on second thought...maybe not." The two men from a moment ago entered her mind, dispelling that desire. "You're the expert, though. And you seem well enough to leave you alone for a bit." Before she went ahead and left, she let out a big yawn and stretched...naturally, this was right as her actor companion freaked out and grabbed her towel. The priestess was too caught up in her stretching to notice, so he got his wish without any resistance. "See you in a minute, Hideyoshi!" He, however, was free to see her for a moment, precisely as the goddess had created her...

Unaware of her complete and utter lack of covering, Hikari exited, through the (thankfully steamy) hot springs area, and into the dressing room for her own gender. "I'll need to check Lady Divina's progress shortly...hmm?" That was odd...she was reaching for her towel, but wasn't getting anything...oh. OH. Her face quickly turned red as she looked down, and finding no trace of anything currently covering her. Just...her. She looked over at the floor, and found nothing resembling it. Which meant...at the very least, it'd fallen off on her walk to the dressing room. Which, in turn meant that there was a chance people had seen her in the buff. "Oh, goddess...please tell me no one saw me like this..."

Since the aforementioned goddess was too indisposed to comment, she didn't have much else to do, other than notice that she was mostly dry aside from her head, so she at least wouldn't have any problems putting her clothes back on. Not wanting anyone to walk in and see her like...that, she got her plain panties back on in the blink of an eye. And, while by her own admission it wasn't overly important for a lady of her figure, her matching bra received similar treatment. There, that was the most important stuff covered. Now she just needed to put on her dress, like so...and attach the shoulderplates and attached cape like so...there. Now all she needed to do was get her sandals back on...and done. One good thing about being high priestess was that the outfit was super easy to put on. Oh, and she couldn't forget her glasses, of course. It didn't matter so much in the hot springs, but once she was out of there, everything looking hazy would be...less desirable.

Though still a bit rosy in her cheeks, Hikari walked outside, nonchalantly walking over to one of the stations. She grabbed a towel and started drying her hair, and waited on Yoshitsune.
Hikari said a bit more about the confidence she'd gained from being a priestess of Divina and referred to Yoshitsune as an expert, both topics Yoshitsune found agreeable as they referred to serious, adult matters and did nothing to arouse his own imagination or his curiosity, which had already been too far aroused this morning. He nodded along and grabbed the towel, happy to find no resistance and immediately burying his face into the cotton. As a result, Hikari's naked form would be temporarily hidden from his view, which would have been a relief to her later if she'd realized it and also meant that she could leave the room without worrying about all of the blood in his body spilling out of his face in a nervous reaction. "Yea, verily. We will meet again soo-!" he began to respond, but managed to glimpse her from behind as she exited, behind being the operative word. This time there wasn't a lot of steam to cover her, since she hadn't made it outside to the bath yet, and unlike Kabuki or Divina, she didn't have a huge curtain of hair to hide her bottom. Even close up, he'd have to look closely to see anything explicit, but it was still too much; a red stain began permeating the white towel he'd clutched to his face. She was already out of the room when he managed a few more syllables: "Hik... Hikari..." he gasped, seemingly remembering 'Priestess' name for the first time since they'd begun this adventure.

Yoshitsune was now left to deal with two horrid sensations, both requiring the use of the towel he'd just picked up. One: the fountain of blood newly streaming out of his nose. Two: the throbbing sensation that had just shot through his lower body. "I saw it! I saw a real, naked woman!" he thought to himself, somehow pleased with the outcome despite the uncomfortable feeling in various parts of his body, including the feeling that he might pass out again. He was done pretending he had no interest in seeing Hikari, now that neither Kabuki, Hikari, nor Divina was around for him to feel guilty or standoffish about it. "Oh, Gods! If I had only looked a moment sooner, I may have seen more," he thought to himself, clutching the towel harder to his nose and staring wide-eyed at his lower body... which reminded him that more stimulation was not what he needed right now. "Right, my health... My health!"

"OOO~TOU~TOOO! Have you and Hikari finished with the bath?" Kabuki asked, piping up from his PET, which was now situated by his thigh. "Ah, the screen's still a bit misty. Could you give me a wipe? N-Not that I need to see, but I do so love your face, my LOVE~AAA~BUL brother!" she giggled. "Oh, are you still washing your head? I think I see the handle of a bucket there between your legs. Ah, SHIII~MA~TAAA! I-I wasn't looking between your legs!" she gasped, waving her fiery hair back and forth as she shook her head in denial.

Thankfully, Yoshitsune wasn't really listening, but he did catch the fact that Kabuki was speaking to him while he was naked. With his lower face still smeared with blood, he moved the towel to his lower body. "I'm fine!" he barked in a hoarse voice.

As if on queue, the tubby guy from earlier peaked his head back in to check on Yoshitsune. "I know the girl said to stay out... but are you alright, Hideyoshi?" he asked, frowning widely and scratching his curly hair. His look changed to one of alarm as he realized that there was a big, bloody spot on the towel the young man was using to cover his lower body. "O... OOOOH! W-W-WHA-?!"

"OUT! OUT, IDIOT!" Yoshitsune bellowed, throwing a nearby scrub brush at the ogre-like man in a girlish gesture of modesty. "I cannot think but to find reason to chastise the fools about me!" he growled, resolving that the best solution would definitely be to put on his baggy clothes so that he could stop worrying about his erection.

--------------------------------

Hikari would still need to wait a while longer for Yoshitsune to appear; he was taking his sweet time, given that he not only needed to dress back, but also wanted to clean up his face. Finally, he re-emerged, both of them now wearing the unique, costume-like outfits associated with their professions. "Priestess!" he acknowledged her, keeping a serious face. Red began to creep back across his cheeks as he frowned tightly. The problem wasn't so much that he'd seen her naked for a moment... it was that she'd seen him naked for an undefined period of time. "About... about our nakedness just now..." He really ought to apologize. He wouldn't, though. "I'm ashamed of nothing!" he announced with a serious expression, meaning to convey that he was fine if she'd seen his manhood, because he wasn't ashamed of it, nope, not at all. Unfortunately, it would definitely sound like he was saying he wasn't ashamed to have seen her in the nude.
Hmm...he sure was taking a while. While she was waiting, she might as well see what her goddess was up to...hmm? There was a request to have her sensory data recorded. "Sensory data? That's odd...but, it does say it was made by Lady Divina herself...she wouldn't do that without good reason, I'm sure." And, request accepted. Now, let's see what was going on...there she was, along with Kabuki, and a third Navi. Probably the one that set up the mission. Other than that, it was hard to follow along, since she'd seen so little of what had happened. She'd have to hear it from the source when she got home.

The shouting of her job title made Hikari look up, and saw Yoshitsune heading over. It made her a little nervous...what if he...? No, he didn't. He couldn't. But, she didn't see her towel anywhere in the bath, which meant she lost it in the other dressing room...as red started to make its way across his face, so did it across hers, as it slowly started to look like he had seen something...

...'Our' nakedness? That sealed it..."Y-You saw me...?" And now the red was everywhere on her face, and probably not about to leave any time soon. "And I went through all the trouble to not look at you...n-not because I didn't think it would be wonderful! I'm sure it would've been a sight to behold, but, ummm..." She had to stop for a moment, and take a couple of deep breaths so she didn't pass out from sheer nerves. "...Umm...well, out of curiosity, what did you see, exactly...?" Deep down, a tiny part of her wanted him to say that he saw everything, and it was the highlight of his life...a very tiny part.