Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Hot Springs Day Two

   By Emi Tsuruta

   Note: this is one in a series of posts about my life.  If you'd like to
know more about my friends and me, drop by my home page at:
/~emitsuruta/

   It was a long drive, but finally mid-afternoon, my boyfriend, Ryosuke
and I arrived in Itou city at the inn where we were supposed to be staying.
It was really beautiful - on a tree-covered hilltop, a new building but
with a traditional Japanese design.  We took some pictures of the valley,
and eventually checked in.  There didn't seem to be anyone around though.
We rang the bell, but it took a long time before a woman in kimono
appeared. She apologized, and explained that not too many people arrive on
a Monday in September (Japan is like that.  On weekdays, everyone's
working).

   There weren't many cars in the parking lot either, so Ryosuke asked
where everyone was.  She said that the few guests who were staying that
night had probably gone out sightseeing.  Our room wasn't ready yet, but
she suggested we try out the hot spring baths.  She said something like,

   "There shouldn't be anyone around, so you'll have them all to
yourselves." I gave her this blank look, wondering if she somehow knew what
we were planning.  Ryosuke just smiled.  So much for taking things slow. 
She gave us a towel and a yukata each, pointed which way we should go, and
then disappeared back inside.

   The entrance to the baths was just around the side of the building. 
There was no real changing room at all, but there were some empty baskets
on shelves for our clothes and some small lockers for valuables.  Behind
us, there was a small bath hut which blocked the view from the town further
down the hill.  On our left was just a line of trees going up the side of
the mountain.  It was pretty steep I guess, but I kept wondering if there
was anyone in the woods who might be watching.  I'd been pretty brave at
that last inn, but for some reason, I felt more skittish with Ryosuke here.
I kind of hesitated for a long time, but he finally convinced me it would
be OK.  I stripped out of my clothes, getting a little thrill, and hopped
into the jacuzzi just inside the entrance.

   Ryosuke got this big grin on his face.  He loves it when I get naked
outdoors.  He stripped out of his clothes, and brought a hip sack and towel
with him.  The water was pretty hot though, so we didn't stay there long. I
got out, and went to put on my yukata, but Ryosuke stopped me.

   "No, Emi, don't do that.  There's no one around.  Just use your towel."

   I kind of guessed that he might say something like that.  This was like
the whole reason we'd decided to come to these hot springs, to get out in
the fresh air, and fool around a bit.  Still, I was worried.  This was a
popular inn, and there were bound to be people around.  I hope Ryosuke
doesn't get out of hand.  I picked up my towel, but it was so small, not
much bigger than a wash cloth.

   "I think you're supposed to wear the yukata," I objected.

   "She didn't say anything like that.  She said there's no one around,
almost as if she wanted us to make ourselves at home."

   That had sounded kind of suspicious to me too.  It was a co-ed bath, and
so they must get couples all the time.  What kind of a place is this?

   "Do you think they have guys working here who peek out at the guests?" I
asked looking around.

   "There's no one here.  Stop worrying so much." He got out of the
jacuzzi, and his you know what was sticking straight up.

   "You seem to be enjoying this," I noted, trying not to smile.  He leaned
over, and gave me a swat on my bare bottom.  I just giggled, and ran away.
It did feel good to be frolicking around in the buff.  It was such a
beautiful day out, bright and sunny.  Once I stepped around the corner
though, suddenly the whole town came into view.

   "Oh my god!" I gasped.  It was kind of scary.  Surely there must be tons
of people down there.  Could they see us?  Ryosuke came up behind me, and
peeked over my shoulder at the town below.

   "It's alright.  They can't see.  We're too far away."

   I didn't feel so sure.  We were pretty high up, but maybe someone was
watching with binoculars.  He pushed me to go ahead.  I carefully stepped
from stone to stone, feeling distinctly self-conscious about my nudity. 
When I turned around, I noticed that Ryosuke seemed to have a bigger towel
than me.  He had wrapped his around his waist.

   "Hey, no fair."

   "Trade?"

   I tried to picture how he'd look with my little washcloth of a towel,
but I decided it would probably be better if he wasn't flashing his schlong
all over.  I felt embarrassed of course.  I just thought it would be worse
if people saw him than me.

   I walked up the hill to the next bath, shivering a bit from the cool
mountain breeze.  When I turned around, I could see practically the whole
town.  It was so weird standing here naked with so many people down below.
I covered my behind with my hand, but that didn't help much.  I quickly
darted into the next little bath hut.  When Ryosuke came in, he was
grinning from ear to ear.

   "This is so cool!" he gushed.  I sunk deep into the bath to hide, but to
tell you the truth, I was pretty excited too.  Out of the side of the hut,
you could see the deep green of the forest.  I stood up, and looked down to
see how far down it was, but then suddenly Ryosuke grabbed my hips, and
kissed me on the cheek of my backside.  I sunk back into the water to hide,
and just gazed over at him.  I knew he wanted to make love, but I didn't
want to rush into it.  I finally talked him into exploring the other baths
first.

   Up at the top of the hill, it looked like a Roman plaza with all these
fountains spread out over a huge area.  It all seemed too out in the open
for me.  I padded along the warm concrete deck in my bare feet, across the
back of the inn, till I found a couple more baths on the other side.  They
had curtains over the entrance so at least they'd be more private.  I went
into the far one, but I suddenly realized, it was completely open on the
side facing down the hill.  We could see the parking lot and the road we
came in on.  I hid way at the back trying to stay out of view, but when
Ryosuke came in, he loved it.

   "Wow!  This is so cool.  It's like an exhibitionist paradise.  Oh what
did I do with my camera?  I must have left it in the car."

   I looked at him, my eyes glazing over.  If he wanted to take pictures,
why didn't he bring it with him in the first place?

   "Could you go get it?" he asked cheerfully.

   "You want me to go all the way back round..."

   "No, there's stairs right here.  The car is right there," he said
pointing to it.

   "I can't go down there like this.  Someone will see me!"

   "I'll be watching you the whole time.  If you get in trouble, I'll come
down, and bail you out."

   This was like way too much.  I mean maybe it was all right to walk
around the baths with just a hand towel, but the parking lot was a
different story.  I stared down at it, trying to see if there were any
staff there.  It seemed pretty quiet, but I was still worried someone might
come out, and see me.

   "I don't know..."

   He took out the car keys, and held them out.

   "It's in the glove compartment." He dangled the keys in front of me,
until I finally took them.  I thought of going back around to get my
clothes, but he was probably right that it would be easier to go straight
down.  For all we knew, there might be people in the baths by now.  Oh why
did I have to leave my yukata back there?

   "Are you sure you don't want to..."

   "No, no, you do it.  It'll be fine.  Don't worry."

   That's easy for him to say.  I held the towel close over my pussy, and
went over to the curtain at the entrance to this bath.  I kept kicking
myself for leaving my yukata on the other side.  What was I thinking?

   I stood there listening.  I could hear the wind and the flow of water,
but not much else.  There were some trees next to the stairs on the way
down, but you could sort of see the parking lot through them.  I just stood
there for the longest time, trying to get up my nerve.  Finally, I took a
deep breath, and went out and down the stairs.  I was so excited I couldn't
stop shaking.  It was broad daylight out for heaven's sake.  As I stepped
out into the parking lot, I was so aroused I could hardly think straight.

   I ran over to the car, and quickly got in.  The vinyl of the seats felt
hot on my bare behind.  It was so weird sitting in the front seat of
Ryosuke's dad's car stark naked.  My hands were shaking as I opened the
glove compartment, but the camera wasn't there!

   I turned around to check the back seat, but then I saw someone coming. I
scrunched down as far as I could in the seat.  I didn't get a good look,
but I guess it must have been one of the guys on staff or something.  I
just sat there covering my breasts with my hands, hoping he hadn't seen me.
Why did I ever let Ryosuke talk me into this?  My naked body was still all
wet and glistening in the bright sunlight.  I held my breath, and waited.

   Finally, it was quiet again.  I checked the backseat again, and then
quietly got out crouching down next to the car to hide.  My senses were all
on fire.  I was beginning to feel an orgasm coming on.  Stay calm here.  I
wanted to run back to the bath, but I decided to quickly check the trunk. I
didn't want to have to come back.

   The trunk of the car was right in plain view of the whole parking lot
and the road.  I peeked around the edge to make double sure the guy had
gone, and then I quickly scurried around to the trunk.  I was such a
nervous wreck that I couldn't get the key in.  I flipped the towel up onto
my shoulder, and tried with both hands.  While I was standing there buck
naked, I heard the sound of a car driving by on the road further down the
hill.  I tensed, and felt this wave of emotion welling up inside me.  Maybe
they hadn't seen me, but it was getting me all excited.  I was coming
pretty close to the edge.  I took in a deep breath, and tried to
concentrate.

   I finally got the trunk open, but the camera wasn't there either.  I
slammed it shut, and ran back up the stairs almost dropping my hand towel
on the way.  Ryosuke was holding the camera in his hands, and taking
pictures of me as I ran up!

   "Sorry, it was in my bag," he grinned.  I couldn't believe it!  He'd
tricked me into going down there naked!  I jumped into the bath, and
started splashing him over and over.  He put down the camera, and came
after me.  I ran away, but he caught me from behind.  I couldn't stop
laughing.  He pulled my hips closer to him, sliding his penis between my
legs from the back.

   I was so horny by then.  I leaned forward, trying to show him where my
slit was.  He didn't slide it in immediately, but fingered me while he
rooted around in his bag for his condoms.  It felt good, the way he was
touching me.  I couldn't believe we were going to do it right out here in
the open in view of the parking lot and the road.  I was so excited though,
maybe the most I've ever been.

   Eventually, he got a condom on.  I bent way forward again, and braced to
take him.  It felt so good as he pushed it in.  Soon, he was humping away
like an animal in heat.  I was in heaven, just so totally into it.  I
spread my legs further apart to pull him in even deeper.  It's kind of hard
to describe what happened, because I was so far gone, I didn't know what I
was doing.  He pounded away, and the next thing I knew this most delicious
orgasm rocked my body.  Wave after wave of wondrous pleasure.  It's like my
orgasms have been getting stronger and stronger each time.  The whole time
I was in Japan, we were both so horny it wasn't even funny.

   I was still careening upwards when Ryosuke blew, and pulled out.  I
collapsed into the warm water, peering around, in a bit of a daze I guess.
My mind was so filled with sex it was like there wasn't room for anything
else.

   Slowly I began to come back down to earth.  Ryosuke looked pretty far
gone too, drained after his feral onslaught.  I was glad he was happy.  It
was kind of special.

   We both cleaned up, dipping these basins they had into the spring. 
Ryosuke seemed calmer now, but I was still kind of horny.  It takes me a
long time to come down sometimes.

   Once we were ready, we climbed back up towards where we'd first come in.
I was worried about walking around naked on the sunny deck, but Ryosuke
motioned that we should try the Roman plaza baths.  It was so out in the
open, but I guess as long as we were here, it made sense.  I was kind of
afraid, but I finally gave in.

   Once we got in, a couple came out on the deck dressed in yukatas.  The
man was a bit older (a university prof?) and the woman younger (his
lover?). The man came right over to the big bath where we were bathing, but
Ryosuke shielded me with his body.  The man obviously was trying to get a
look at my naked body, but Ryosuke faced him grimly.

   "Oh, you're in there already.  OK, we'll just go to another bath," the
man said smiling.  I knew something like this was bound to happen.  I was
so relieved when they finally left.  The woman seemed quite amused that we
were out here in the nude with no sign of our yukatas.  She didn't even
seem offended by her lover's curiosity.  Maybe she wanted to get a peek
herself.

   That night we spent a quiet but romantic evening in the inn, being
served a gorgeous supper in our room: sashimi, stew and a few local
delicacies.  The maid laid out our futons after supper, and we just lay
there, snuggling, and talked.  I told him a bit about my adventures in
Yugawara, and he seemed happy to hear I was getting more courageous.  I'd
been pretty daring this whole trip, but now in the safety of our room, I
felt a bit more embarrassed looking back.  I really should be more careful.

   The next day, we set out for Kuroneiwaburo in Hokkawa further down the
east coast of Izu.  It was a bit cooler out, so I put on my sweater and
jeans.  I was slipping back into my 'good girl' mode, regretting my
wildness of the last few days.  When the weather gets cooler, I usually
settle down more.

   Ryosuke told me a bit about Kuroneiwaburo on the way.  The brochures say
that you can see 'America' from the springs, but actually, what you see is
one of the Izu islands out in the Pacific.  The bath is right on the sea
shore at the base of this cliff.  It was a bit of a drive, but we left
early.  We stopped for lunch on the way, and made it there early afternoon.
We parked our car across the street from the spring, and walked over to
this little booth at the top of a ramp leading down to the very rocky
beach. It was a weird kind of place, probably the most out in the open bath
I've ever seen.

   We paid the man a few hundred yen each, and he gave us a towel and
yukata.  There was a sign at the entrance that said we weren't to get the
towels in the bath water.  I didn't like the sound of that.  They expect me
to bathe in the nude?  We walked down the ramp, and there was a group of
local men, fishermen I guess, sitting naked in the bath.  They all seemed
very excited to see me, but they weren't rude or anything.  I was a bit
scared though because all of them were staring at me.  Ryosuke started
talking to them.

   "How's the water today?"

   "Beautiful as always," one man said in a thick rural Shizuoka accent.

   "Do you mind if we join you?"

   "Not at all.  There's lots of room.  There's even another bath on the
other side of the ladies change room there."

   Once we'd talked to them for a while, they didn't seem quite so scary.
They were just normal guys, not so different from my classmates or
neighbors.  Even so, I didn't know if I wanted to bathe naked with a large
group of men I'd never even met before.  I thought about getting Ryosuke to
come with me to the other bath, but the problem was that one had no roof,
and you could see right down into it from the top of the hill above.  I
whispered to Ryosuke,

   "Maybe we'd better come back later," but he told me,

   "We've already paid.  Besides the place we're staying tonight is miles
from here.  This'll be our only chance."

   I looked at him nervously.  I'd kind of been hoping we could tone things
down.  He motioned for me to go into the ladies change room, and finally I
did.  It was built pretty solidly, so it would be hard to peek in from
outside.  The men's changing space was right out in the open.  I slowly
began pulling off my clothes, still wondering what I should do.  I finally
pulled on the yukata, and went back out.  Ryosuke had already got into the
pool with all the fishermen in it.

   "Do many girls come here?" I asked.

   "A few.  You're the prettiest we've seen in a while though," one man
said.  The other men nodded, and smiled.  I looked over at the other bath,
and then up at the top of the hill to see if anyone was watching.  At
least, this one had a roof.  I'd already seen them all naked, so I guess in
a way, it was only fair.  I turned my back to them, stripped off my yukata,
and got into the bath as quickly as I could.  It was boiling hot.  They
were in hysterics, all whistling and catcalling.  Ryosuke just smiled.  I
tried to hide behind him, but he kept moving around, so I swatted him on
the shoulder to get him to stay still.  Even hiding behind him, I still
felt horribly exposed.

   Once they'd all settled down again, we started talking about different
hot springs we'd been to.  They had a lot of stories to tell.  One man said
his class in high school went to a co-ed hot spring as a field trip, and he
bathed with the teachers and everyone.  I was so shocked.  I don't think
I'd want to go to a hot spring with my profs or my high school teachers
either.  Ryosuke and I told them about Yugawara, Itou and the other hot
springs we'd been to.  They all seemed impressed with how much I knew about
hot springs.  I guess with one so close by, they'd never much bothered to
go see other ones.

   Most of them must have been in the boiling hot water for quite a while,
and slowly they started to get out, and sit on the edge.  They were nice
enough to cover up their privates with their towels, but you could tell
that they were excited about bathing with me.  One guy made a crack about
them being my fan club, and everyone laughed.  I began to feel hot too, and
then one man suggested we should walk down to the sea shore to cool off.

   I stayed in as long as I could bear, but I started to get dizzy and
lightheaded.  When I couldn't take it anymore, I suddenly stood straight
up. I had to get out of the bath.  They were all staring at me, open
mouthed as I waded over to the edge of the pool, and got out.  I picked up
my towel, and wrapped it around me, but they'd all gone quiet.  It seems my
naked body made quite the impression.

   I felt really embarrassed and nervous, so I went over to the edge of the
platform, and stepped down onto the rocky beach.  I wanted to get away from
there, so I carefully picked my way across toward the shore.  I glanced
over my shoulder, and above the roof, I could see the main road with all
these inns and stores on it.  A woman riding by on a bicycle looked down
this way straight at me.  There were another couple cars further down the
road.  I kept on going all the way to the shore, and then squatted down,
and splashed the cool water up onto my face.

   Ryosuke got out of the pool too, put on his towel, and came down after
me.

   "What are you doing?" he asked.

   "I don't know.  I just needed to get away, to calm down."

   He looked back at our new friends, and they were all watching us.

   "Seems like you've got some real fans now."

   I rolled my eyes.

   "Emi, if you want to go, that's alright.  We don't have to..."

   "No, I'm OK now.  It was the heat more than anything." I thought about
going into the sea for a swim, but I couldn't get up the nerve to take off
my towel.  Eventually, we walked back to the pool.  I put my yukata back
on, and pulled out my towel from underneath.  We sat around the pool, and
talked with them for a long time, till it started to get near supper time.
I looked the other way while they changed, and then we all said goodbye.  A
couple of them asked to shake my hand, so I let them.  I felt funny, sort
of like a celebrity or something.  They all seemed like pretty nice guys.

   Next, Ryosuke and I had to figure out what to do about supper too. 
Ryosuke put on his yukata, and went up to ask the guy in the booth, but it
seemed he'd gone to supper already.  I was getting a bit chilly, so I took
off my yukata, and got back in the bath.  Ryosuke came back down, and
smiled when he saw me.

   "You look right at home."

   I just laughed.  It felt good to be nude in the bath now that we had the
place to ourselves.

   "Here, let me take some pictures." He got some really nice ones of me
sitting on the edge of the pool with the ocean behind me.  My cheeks were
all red from the heat, but I was smiling anyway.  "Here, let's go over to
the other bath."

   I looked up the hill towards the entrance booth.  I could hear cars and
the sound of voices in the distance.  I felt exposed enough as it was,
sitting nude out in the open air with the ocean stretching out behind us.

   "Someone will see us." I looked back up the hill, and sure enough two
boys had stuck their heads out around the corner, and were looking down
this way.  I slipped back into the water, but they'd definitely seen me. 
Ryosuke ran up after them, and scared them away.

   As he came back down the hill, I kept watching over his shoulder to see
if they came back.  Ryosuke still wanted to go over to the other bath, but
I felt like I'd been seen by enough people already.  This was a beautiful
place, and it would be nice to take some more pictures, but there were just
too many people around.  I finally talked him into getting back dressed,
and going to supper.  We still had another day or two before we had to head
back to Tokyo.

   After supper, we went back to the bath for one last dip, but there were
still too many people around.  It was getting dark, and we had to head out
to the next inn, so we just went in for a little bit.  It was darker out,
so I didn't feel quite so vulnerable.  Just before we got changed, we got
one of the guys there to take a picture of the two of us in our yukatas by
the marker stone just as a memento.  Ryosuke looks so serious, but I was
kind of happy.  It had been a good day.

   I've still got a bit more, so I'll try to write again soon.

   Emi Tsuruta
/~emitsuruta