"Uh... Ehe?"
"...Forget it. Even if you don't say it, I can pretty much guess. It was right after we finished dinner, wasn't it?"
Shiki was slightly helpless; Ayaka had been planning this for a long time!
Right after they finished dinner, the young girl had left for a short while. Shiki hadn't paid it any mind at the time, but it turned out she had prepared a surprise for her the moment she turned around after finishing the meridian map.
"But how were you so sure that I wouldn't continue?"
"Of course!" Ayaka nodded her head lightly. "Perhaps you yourself didn't notice, Shiki, but while we were eating dinner, there was already a hint of fatigue between your brows..."
"You need to rest, so even if you wanted to continue, I would have dragged you over with a firm attitude!"
Ayaka's expression was firm, but to Shiki, this was just very cute.
"...I really can't do anything with you."
Smiling helplessly, Shiki untied her obi, took off the outermost furisode, and revealed the white hadajuban underneath.
A moment later...
Shiki's entire body was submerged in the hot spring. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the steam, and her short black hair hung down naturally, revealing a posture never seen before in front of Ayaka.
Come to think of it, this was their first time meeting each other completely naked.
Ayaka looked at Shiki, and Shiki looked at Ayaka.
The young girl's long white hair was tied into a bun, and her face was also flushed red. However, compared to Shiki's generous sitting posture, Ayaka seemed much more reserved.
Shiki laid her legs flat and spread her arms 180 degrees, placing them on the edge of the pool, openly and generously displaying the front of her body.
However, Ayaka had her knees bent and her arms wrapped around herself; seen from the front, only her two smooth calves were visible.
On Earth, Shiki was a true Northern girl, and soaking in large bathhouses was a very common occurrence.
What's more, who was she soaking in the hot spring with? Ayaka! Her wife! What was the problem with being a little more generous?
However, what Shiki didn't expect was that while she had no problem, Ayaka, the one who invited her to the hot spring, had a problem.
"Ayaka, don't you feel uncomfortable sitting like that?"
Shiki looked up at the ceiling, her slender neck fully exposed, which made Ayaka hold herself even tighter.
"No... I think it's fine..."
Ayaka looked at the two mounds of fat on the young girl's chest and couldn't help but feel a little envious. If she could, she would also like to be more mature.
"Is that so?"
Shiki listened to the young girl's words with a slightly skeptical look on her face. Is this curled-up sitting position really comfortable?
Although it was quite comfortable to hug something while sleeping, surely that could be skipped while soaking in a hot spring?
The hot spring immediately fell into silence, with only the gurgling sound from the heating.
Ayaka buried half her face in the water and just kept staring at her hands under the water, as if they were incredibly fun.
Seeing this scene, Shiki felt she should do something.
Shiki moved toward Ayaka without a sound. At this moment, the young girl hadn't noticed someone approaching slowly and was still focused on playing with her fingers.
Immediately after, she saw a hand appear under her legs.
"...Eh?"
Before she could react, she was lifted out of the water in a princess carry.
"Whoa! Shiki, what are you doing all of a sudden?"
Ayaka struggled in the air, but while it was called a struggle, the range of motion wasn't actually very large. Rather than struggling, it was more like... acting coquettishly?
She twisted symbolically a few times and then buried her face in Shiki's chest.
"Of course, it's to let you properly relax. After all, someone aggressively told me to relax and rest, yet she herself has been very tense the whole time~"
"Hmph!"
This description was practically giving away her ID number. Ayaka shyly punched her once, but how much damage that force could cause, that was unknown.
Shiki slowly sat down in the pool, laid the young girl's body flat in the water, and then wrapped her arms around the upper part of the girl's body, leaning against the edge.
"Ugh... let me go already..."
"No, you are much more comfortable to hold than a pillow." Shiki said quite unreasonably.
But even though she said that, Ayaka didn't feel uncomfortable anywhere. On the contrary, she felt somewhat... comfortable being held like this in the hot spring?
Ayaka lay in Shiki's arms, not moving a muscle, her face flushed red, looking just like a large doll.
Ten minutes later...
"You can... let me go now, right? Soaking for too long is bad for the body..."
Ayaka said softly, and Shiki loosened her arms upon hearing this.
"That's true. It's such a pity."
Opportunities to hug the young girl like this were few and far between, because they weren't old enough yet, and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control herself when sharing a bed with the young girl.
Although girls wouldn't get pregnant with each other, as mentioned before, she was a Archon, so who knew if something like that might happen?
"What's so pitiable about it?"
Ayaka said angrily. Goodness, if she wanted to hug her, she could just say so directly; why make it seem like she wouldn't let her!
"Uh... I meant the opportunity to soak in the hot spring together." Shiki quickly corrected herself upon seeing this, and sure enough, Ayaka's expression improved significantly after hearing that.
"Hmph! That's more like it!"
With a cold snort, Ayaka wiped the water droplets off her body with a bath towel and then changed into the light yukata that had been prepared in advance.
Her hair was wrapped up with a towel, forming a bulge.
After all, the longer the hair, the harder it is to dry. For short hair like Shiki's, it wouldn't take half an hour to dry with careful wiping, but for Ayaka, she would have to wait an additional two hours on top of that.
One must know, there are no hair dryers in this world.
Originally, Ayaka hadn't intended to let her hair get wet, which was why she had pinned it into a bun.
But after Shiki messed with her, it got completely soaked by the spring water. Plus, since it was their own hot spring, there was no need to be so particular, so after Shiki let go, she simply washed her hair.
Shiki also wiped the water off her body, but she soon discovered an awkward problem.
"Uh... is there no yukata for me?"
"No!"
Shiki: "..."
It's over, I'm done for!
'It's fine, it's fine, I still have my original...'
"Where are my clothes!?"
Shiki looked at the empty basket, dumbfounded. Where were the clothes she had taken off before getting into the hot spring?
Could it be that the maid took them away? But even if you take them, why leave behind her hairpins, earrings, and other accessories?
Shiki hurriedly wrapped the bath towel around herself, planning to find a maid later to get a yukata.
Ayaka saw through Shiki's intention and said helplessly, "Wait, I'll go get you one."
With that, she dried her little feet, stepped into her geta, and clattered out of the bathroom.
Seeing this, Shiki simply sat on the ledge by the hot spring's edge. It seemed Ayaka really did care for her.
Five minutes later...
Ayaka returned with clothes—a white yukata printed with red spider lilies, though for some reason, the lilies were dyed gray.
"Phew, that's much better. By the way, what time is it now?" Shiki asked after putting on the yukata.
"Don't worry, it's only half past ten. It's still a long way until midnight!"
"Perfect timing to grab a late-night snack in Inazuma City then. Ayaka, want to come along?"
"I'd like to, but my hair isn't dry yet!"
Ayaka pointed to her hair, still wrapped in a towel, making her look like an Arab.
Of course, there were no Arabs in Teyvat, and her hair not drying was indeed a problem.
"..."
Shiki stared thoughtfully at the towel on the girl's head.
Electrical energy could be converted into thermal energy, but how to do it was the key issue.
Perhaps, simple motion could generate heat?
Thinking this, Shiki controlled the electro element to flow rapidly between her index and middle fingers. Using her fingers as conductors, the temperature of those two fingers soon became hotter than the hot spring.
"Ayaka, let your hair down. I just thought of a way to dry it quickly."
"How are you going to dry it?" Ayaka asked while loosening her hair.
"With electricity, of course!"
Shiki extended her index and middle fingers to pinch a strand of hair, and immediately, a wisp of steam rose from it.
*Sizzle*—
"Huh? What's going on?"
Ayaka couldn't quite understand. Why did pinching with fingers Vaporize the moisture in her hair?
"I used the electro element to heat my fingers. It's a shame I don't control the anemo element, otherwise I could just blow the heat directly onto your hair."
A hairdryer worked on a similar principle—heating inside and then blowing air. But right now, she only had the heating function, much like a curling iron.
But now Shiki couldn't make physical contact with Ayaka, as that would conduct electricity.
"Just a moment, it'll be done soon."
After saying that, Shiki used the electro element to heat her entire palm, then picked up a section of hair and smoothed it down.
*Sizzle*—
Steam rose from it again. Although this section of hair still had some residual moisture, it was much better than before.
Shiki estimated that one more pass like this would dry the strand completely.
Hearing the girl's words, Ayaka felt deep confusion. Could the electro element really generate heat?
"Heating? Isn't that something only the pyro element can do?"
Many details from that dream had been forgotten, including the simple common sense that electricity could generate heat.
"Of course not. The pyro element is just the most direct manifestation. The electro element can also generate heat, though it's more troublesome."
"Otherwise, why do bodies get charred after being struck by lightning?" Shiki said.
"It's because lightning itself carries immense energy. When this energy moves rapidly through a body, it generates heat."
"It's like how a person's body temperature rises slightly during intense exercise."
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