Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Hot Spring Christmas Part 3 of 4

   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, please drop by my home page at:
/~emitsuruta/

   When I went back to Japan last Christmas, my cousin Namie and I went on
a trip to some hot spring inns in the Izu peninsula, a rustic vacation area
southwest from Tokyo.  As I wrote about, we visited two hot springs on the
first day, Shuuzenji and Yugashima, and took a little dip in each.  I was
looking forward to seeing the other hot springs my boyfriend Ryosuke had
booked for us.  It's too bad he couldn't come, but it was kind of fun
exploring with Namie too.  She's a sweet girl, quite cute, although shyer
than I am.  We were having fun though.

   The next morning, Namie and I took a bus south to Dogashima, where we
had reservations at the Dogashima Komatsu View Hotel.  It was a really nice
place, one of the fanciest hotels I've stayed in.  The inside was brightly
lit, and everything looked so new.  I knew it must be expensive, but I
guess my boyfriend Ryosuke picked it out as a kind of treat.  He prefers
plain bed and breakfasts, but I thought it was nice of him to choose a
place as swanky as this.  It's nice to be pampered sometimes.  Namie is
more of a tomboy, but I'm sure she appreciates these things too.

   When we walked in, the front desk clerk brightened right up.

   "Oh my my my.  What have we here?  Two lovely young ladies coming to
stay with us?"

   "Yes, I believe we have a reservation," I told him, smiling.

   "With your parents?" he asked looking down at the register.

   "No, no.  Just us two."

   "How old are you?  High school?"

   Namie and I both laughed.  I still look pretty young I guess, but Namie
was married for heaven's sake.  Probably he was just trying to butter us
up, but even so, it was kind of nice.

   "No, no.  I'm in college, and Namie works."

   "Oh, I'm sorry.  It's just you both look so young and perky!"

   We both laughed again.  Not many guys have called me perky!  He gave us
our keys, and told us,

   "If there's anything else I can do for you, just let me know."

   I giggled, but soon, we headed out to find our room.  In the elevator,
there was a sign telling where all the baths are.

   "It looks like none of them are co-ed," Namie noted.  That was a bit
weird because Ryosuke always picks out inns with co-ed baths, so we can go
in together.  Why did he choose this place?  The sign said that for women,
there was one big indoor bath upstairs, and two outdoor baths out behind
the hotel, one right on the beach.

   We soon found our room, and set down our luggage.  The room was tatami,
the traditional Japanese style, but everything looked so new.  I was kind
of excited.  I wanted to go try the outdoor baths first while it was still
daylight out.  Namie looked at me, a bit suspicious after my antics at the
last two springs.

   "Relax!  It'll just be women this time," I told her.  To get to these
baths, you had to go past the reception desk, out the front entrance, and
then walk around the building to the back.  There were change rooms out
there, so we kept our coats on, and took our stuff with us.  Unlike the
last place we stayed, we saw a whole bunch of guests in the halls and in
the lobby.  Out back though, there didn't seem to me be much of anyone
around.  I guess it still was pretty cold out, so people were using the
indoor baths.  We were pretty far south though, so it was a lot warmer than
Kamakura, where my family lives.

   The first bath was sort of half way down the cliff.  We decided to take
a look around before going in.  Just at the exit to the change rooms, there
was a winding stairway leading down to the other bath.  There was a
beautiful view of the ocean stretching out in front of us and a little tree
covered island not far off shore.

   "Wow!" Namie exclaimed.  It was so beautiful.  Off to the left and
right, you could see the roads heading north and south along the coast, and
behind us, just above, there were trees blocking the view from our hotel.
Namie looked at me kind of nervously.  She gestured toward this
multi-storey hotel just off to the left.

   "Do you suppose they can see us?"

   "No," I said, trying to reassure her.  It was fairly close though.

   We followed the stairs down further, and soon found the other bath.  As
I suspected, there was no one there.  It was kind of shaded under this
overhang with a wooden fence on the far side, but it was right on the
ocean. There were a couple of fishing boats anchored out in the inlet. 
Namie scrunched up her face.  I looked out straining to see.

   "There's no one on the boats," I announced.  "Fishermen must use them in
the summer."

   Namie squinted out at them, and she couldn't see anyone either.  It was
a beautiful day out really - not a cloud in the sky.

   The change rooms were up by the other bath, so we walked back up.  I
looked around again at the roads and the other hotel, a little bit worried
that someone might be watching.  Namie looked worried too, but I mused that
it should be OK.  Actually, I wasn't so sure, but anyway, I wanted to try.
I went into the change room, and got undressed.  Namie soon caught up, and
started changing too.  I smiled at her, happy to try another bath.

   I felt a bit nervous when I walked out naked to the entrance.  We ended
up crouching down, so that the people on the highway or in the other hotel
wouldn't notice us.  There were extendible shower heads on the deck, so we
quickly showered off, and rushed to get in the bath.  It was deliciously
warm.  After we'd soaked there for a while, I said,

   "Let's go down to the other bath."

   I got out, and headed over to the stairs naked, but Namie bawked.

   "W-w-where do you think you're going?"

   OK, maybe it was a bit crazy to stand out here naked.  There were all
these cars going by on the highway, and out here they could probably see
me. I was too excited to worry about that though.  I was here to have fun!

   "Come on!  Let's go," I said, motioning for her to follow.  She wasn't
about to do anything quite so crazy.  I took the rubber band off my wrist,
and tied my wet hair back in a ponytail.  I looked over at the hotel
wondering if they could see me.  I felt so charged up.  I just love running
around naked outside.

   Namie finally got out of the bath, and wrapped her towel around her.

   "Aren't you going to bring your towel?" she asked anxiously.  I glanced
at it, but I didn't really want to cover up.  This was too much fun.

   "That's OK.  Just leave it," I giggled.

   Namie gave me a dirty look, but anyway, she followed me down the stairs.
I was actually kind of proud of myself for being so daring.  There were
hundreds of people driving by, and who knows how many more in the hotel. 
Even so, I felt nervous.  There were high bamboo fences, so no one could
see us most of the way down, but we couldn't really see where we were going
till we got to the bottom.  When I first stepped out, I felt this sudden
rush of embarrassment.  The fishing boats were still there, and we could
hear men's voices.  I suddenly realized that the fence along the left side
was all that was separating us from the men's bath.  Even worse, the posts
of the fence were spaced a bit apart from each other, so you could see
through.

   Namie took off her towel, and slid into the water.  I knew I should
probably hide too, but I was wondering who all was in the men's bath. 
Namie kept gesturing for me to get down, but I waded into the pool, and
padded over towards the fence.  There were men there, three that I could
see, maybe in their thirties.  They were sitting deep in the water, so all
I could see was their heads, but they looked pretty handsome.  Suddenly,
they stopped talking, and looked over this way.  I hid in the water
wondering if they'd seen me.  Namie glared at me, angry.

   "Hello," one's voice rang out.  "Is there anybody over there?" They had
seen us.  I felt a shiver run up my spine as our eyes met.  Namie was
gesturing for me to keep quiet, but I couldn't hold back my curiosity.

   "Hello," I called back, my voice cracking from nervousness.  "How's the
water over there?"

   "Nice and warm," one called back.  "Would you like to come over, and
join us?"

   Namie shook her head no.  I thought the whole situation was kind of
funny though - all five us sitting here in the nude.  I decided to tease
them a bit.

   "I don't know.  The woman's bath is nice enough.  Is that one any
better?"

   "Why don't you come over, and find out?"

   Who knows if they were serious, but anyway, Namie was having a complete
bird, so I let it go.

   "Maybe next time," I said.

   "Or we could come over there?" The one who talked the most stood up, and
waded over to get his towel.  I could see his rear end, quite muscular. 
Namie was starting to freak out, so I moved back from the fence, and got
ready to get out too.

   "No, no.  Don't bother." I got up out of the bath, motioning to Namie
that we should go.  The three of them were desperately trying to get a look
at me through the slats.  I was getting all excited, but anyway, once Namie
got her towel on, we made a dash for it back up the stairs.  I don't think
they were really planning on coming over, but it was probably better not to
risk it.  Once Namie caught up, she yelled at me for teasing them,

   "What on earth were you doing?  There were right there."

   "Relax.  I don't think they could see, really," I told her.

   She let out a nervous laugh, clearly not believing me.  After that bit
of excitement, we got dressed, and headed up to our room for supper.  It
was a delicious seafood dinner - real crab, sashimi and mountain
vegetables. After supper, we lay around relaxing for a while.  It was
getting cooler by then, so I suggested we go check out the indoor bath. 
She eyed me suspiciously, and agreed in the end.

   "OK, but no funny stuff," she scolded me.  I just smiled.

   We got in the elevator, and headed up to the baths.  They were on the
top floor among the penthouse suites.  There was a woman sitting behind a
counter at the entrance, and she gave us keys for the lockers and fresh
towels.  The locker room was really large and filled with people.  There
were quite a few mothers and daughters running around naked and even a few
young boys.  I was kind of shocked actually.  I'd gotten so used to the
States where you almost never see boys in the girls changing room.  In
Japan, no one seems to care much where children go.

   Anyway, Namie and I made our way through the crowded locker room, and
finally found our lockers.  A whole bunch of women and kids kept walking
past the end of the aisle or coming down our row.  I looked over at Namie,
and she looked a bit apprehensive about getting undressed in front of all
these people.  Still, half of them were naked.  I decided to go for it, and
started unbuttoning my jeans.

   Namie stood there for a while longer just looking around, and then
finally took off her sweater.  I pulled off my jeans and panties, and got a
little thrill as I squatted down to stuff them in my locker.  I don't know
why, but I always get a little excited being naked in public even if it is
only the women's change room.  I stood back up, and looked over at Namie.
She was still looking all around, seemingly even more nervous now that she
was down to her undies.  We stripped off our last bit of clothes, grabbed
our towels, and scurried off towards the baths.  I was impressed because
this time Namie just carried her towel in her hand without bothering to
cover up.

   There were a couple of different baths.  One was sort of like a swimming
pool with chairs on the deck for stretching out on.  The Japanese style
bath was gorgeous.  It seemed to be made of cypress, and the light from
outside reflected off the surface of the water making it look deep and
warm. We sat down on these plastic stools to shower off.  I tied my hair
back in a ponytail, rolled it into a bun, and then sprayed myself with the
extendible showerhead.  We both got all lathered up, and took turns
scrubbing each other's backs.

   For someone with such an innocent looking face, Namie has the kind of
body which must drive guys crazy.  Her breasts aren't huge, but they are
creamy and white and deliciously soft to the touch with cherry blossom pink
nipples.  The tan lines on her cute little rear add an air of naughtiness
too.  And she has a surprising amount of fluffy black pubic hair.  I didn't
touch her pussy, but I did kind of run a finger down the crack of her butt.
It was kind of fun seeing her squeal.  When we were finally rinsed off, we
headed over to the big Japanese bath.

   Just behind the bath was a huge picture window looking out over the
ocean.  All the other women were staying away from the window, but I was
curious to see what was out there.  I moved closer.  On the far left, you
could see the highway with all these cars going by.  Namie grabbed my arm,
and tried to pull me back away from the window, but I still wanted to see.
I went right up to the window, and stood there peering out at the cars.  I
could just barely make out the drivers' heads and shoulders, and I wondered
if they could see me standing up here naked.  I was starting to get all
excited.

   "Emi!  What are you doing?  Get away from there," Namie whispered.

   "No, no, come here.  I want to show you."

   She looked at me obviously horrified at the idea of standing in the
window, but she finally got out of the bath, and came up to stand next to
me.  She covered her mouth when she saw how many cars there were heading
this way up the highway.

   "Isn't this great?" I beamed, positively thrilled.  I put my hands on my
hips not covering my body at all.  Suddenly though, one of the cars started
slowing down, and then made a u-turn.

   "Oh no.  He saw us," Namie shrieked.  We both ran back, and got in the
bath.  We looked at each other for a moment, and then broke out laughing.
We were perfectly safe up here on the top floor of the hotel.

   Soon we got out of that bath, and went around to take a look at the
other ones.  The big swimming pool was kind of cool.  The other baths were
just made of small tiles, sort of like a sento.

   "I think I like the cypress one best," I said.  We headed back there,
but it was getting time for supper.  We rinsed off one more time, and then
I headed for the change rooms with Namie close behind.  It was so weird
walking through the packed change room without any clothes on.  I saw the
same boy I saw earlier, and finally, figured out who he reminded me of.

   "Do you see that boy?" I said excitedly pointing him out to Namie.  She
turned to look as I fanned my heated body with my towel.  "Doesn't he look
like Hideki's best friend?" Hideki is Namie's younger brother.  This boy
was of course much younger, maybe 11 or 12, but they really did look alike.

   "Hiroyasu, you mean?" she asked.

   "I guess.  No one ever told me his name."

   We both stared at the boy - he was naked too - until he noticed us
watching him.

   "Yeah, I guess," she laughed.  I put my wet towel into the locker, and
pulled out a fresh one.  Namie seemed more comfortable being naked now for
some reason.  She took out some moisturizer, and sprayed her skin with it.
"Here.  Do you want some?" she asked.  I took it from her, and sprayed a
bit on my own breasts.  "Feels nice, huh?"

   While I was toweling off, down at the end of our aisle, I noticed
'Hiroyasu' looking this way.  I was still naked, right out in the middle of
the aisle where he could see me, so I tried to pull the towel around me to
cover up, but I kept losing my grip.  I wrapped the towel around my waist,
finally managing to hide my pussy.  Only then did the boy look away. 
Figuring it was safe, I bent forward to dry off my legs, but then all of a
sudden, he was right there behind me.  I jumped back a bit frightened.  Had
he been examining my rear end as I leaned forward?  I hurried to pull the
towel around me, but I tied it too high, and you could still see my pussy.
I guess he'd seen us staring at him.  Was that why he came over?  What was
he doing in the girls' locker room anyway?  Surely he's old enough to
change on his own.

   He wasn't really looking at me though, and it turned out that his locker
was right next to ours.  He crouched down in front of me, and opened his
locker, not paying much attention to me anymore.  Namie hadn't even noticed
him.  She was just calmly getting dressed.  I realized I was probably
getting all upset over nothing.

   I took my towel off, and wiped my ears still feeling a bit jumpy with
this boy standing so close.  I finally put my towel back in the locker, and
took out my white cotton sports bra.  I kept looking down the aisle though
to see if anyone else was watching.  Namie had her panties on already, and
told me to hurry up.  I nodded obediently, and finally pulled my undies on
as another lady stopped at a locker across from us.  I looked down at the
boy as I straightened out my panties, but when I got out my t-shirt, he
headed back to the baths.  Maybe it was nothing, but it sure felt weird,
him hanging so close while we changed.

   Back in our room, our futons were laid out for us.  The room was warm -
a bit hot even, so I took off all my clothes, and lay down.

   "Aren't you going to put on your yukata?" Namie asked, undressing
herself.

   "It's too hot.  Don't you ever sleep in the nude?"

   "Not in a hotel!"

   "So you do sleep in the nude!"

   "I didn't say that!"

   "Yes, you did!

   "No, I didn't."

   "Well anyway, promise me you will tonight!"

   She gave me a strange look, but finally took off her underwear, and sat
down naked on her futon.

   "I feel silly."

   "It's better for your skin to sleep naked."

   Namie didn't seem convinced, but anyway she lay down on her back staring
up at the ceiling.  We lay there chatting for a while till I drifted off to
sleep.

   I woke up in the middle of the night with my mouth all dry.  I got up,
and flipped on the light, accidentally waking up Namie.

   "What?  What's wrong?" she asked drowsily.

   "Aren't you thirsty?" I asked.

   "I guess.  What time is it?"

   I dug out my watch.

   "3:30.  I'm just going to go see if I can find something to drink." I
picked up my key, and walked to the door, but all of a sudden Namie started
yelling excitedly.

   "Whoa!  Whoa!  Stop!"

   "What?"

   "You can't go out like that!"

   I looked down, finally realizing that I was naked.  Oops!  I knew I was
forgetting something.  Namie got up, threw my yukata at me, and pulled her
own on.

   "What are you doing?" I asked.

   "I'm not letting you go out there alone.  There's no telling what you
might do."

   I laughed, and pulled on my yukata.  I still think it would have been
fun wandering the halls naked.  I don't know why, but I just love doing
stuff like that when no one is around.

   We both slid on some slippers, and headed out.  The halls were so quiet.
There didn't seem to be any drink machines on our floor, so we ended up
going down to the lobby.  There was a light on in the office behind the
front desk, but we couldn't see or hear anyone.  We finally found a drink
machine, bought some barley tea, and sat down on the sofas near the picture
window that looked out over the dark ocean at the back.

   "So peaceful, isn't it?" I said.

   "Mmm," Namie nodded, smiling sleepily.  I glanced over at the front desk
again.

   "Do you suppose anyone is up?" I asked, curious.  It was eerily quiet. I
went over to the counter, and called softly, "Hello, is anyone there?"
There was no answer.  I thought I could hear someone snoring.  "The night
clerk must have fallen asleep."

   I walked over to the front entrance, and peered out.  It looked cold
outside, and I could kind of hear the wind whistling by.  I felt restless
though.  I wanted to do something.  I looked back at Namie wondering what
she was thinking.  I came back to the sofa, and sat back down.

   "Have you had a good time so far?" I asked, more awake now.

   "Uh-huh," she nodded.

   "You must think I'm pretty crazy, huh?"

   Namie looked at me for a moment, and then smiled.

   "Like I said, you seem a lot wilder than when we were younger.  Does
your mom know you do these things?"

   "Oh, don't you dare tell her!  She'd have a fit, I swear."

   "Don't worry.  I won't," Namie assured me.  She paused, and then went
on. "My mom still talks about that time you were running around our house
with no panties on.  She thought that was so funny!"

   "Yeah, your mom is a real hoot," I laughed.  "Why do you suppose she got
such a big thrill out of seeing me like that?  It was half her fault you
know, the first time."

   "I don't know.  She's always liked racy jokes.  Hideki too."

   "What about you?" I asked.  She laughed.

   "You've talked me into doing some pretty wild stuff this vacation."

   "So it's my fault, is it?  You know, there's something I've been meaning
to tell you," I told her.

   "What?"

   "Promise you won't get angry."

   Namie looked at me a bit worried, but finally said,

   "Yeah, OK."

   "Hideki and Hiroyasu were out in the backyard that day."

   "What day?"

   "You know.  The last time I was here.  We were over at your mom's house,
and I was trying on some of your old outfits."

   Namie stared at me for a moment, and then finally opened her mouth wide
in shock.  I guess it was the Christmas before.  Hideki had stormed in on
me while I was changing in their living room, but then we thought he'd gone
out.  We got to talking about Namie's sex life as a newlywed, and it
sounded like Ryoichi, her husband, needed a bit of a push to get things
started if you know what I mean.  I talked her into stripping and giving
her hubby a call, but unfortunately, Hideki had got his friend, and they
were spying on us.  They must have been so shocked to see Namie sitting on
the window sill naked.  "I swear I didn't know they were there at first!" I
bowed in apology.  Namie looked so upset she could hardly speak.  "Anyway,
it's OK.  It's OK.  Nothing happened after that, did it?"

   Namie shook her head.

   "Oh god.  Last time I saw Hiroyasu he kept staring at me.  I never even
imagined."

   "So he saw you naked.  It's no big deal."

   "Emi!  I don't know how you can take these things so lightly."

   "Well, think of all the people who've seen us this week: those tourists,
that guy on the bridge, the other man and his mistress, those men out
back."

   "No, but I mean, we're never going to see any of them again."

   "So what you're saying is it's alright to flash people as long as you
don't see the people again?"

   "That's not what I said."

   "Almost!" I sat up straight, and glanced over at the front desk.  We'd
been sitting here for quite a while, and no one had come along.  I was
feeling hot.  I reached down, and undid the belt of my yukata.

   "Emi!  What are you doing?"

   "I just want to cool off for a sec." I stood up, and pulled the yukata
off my shoulders letting it fall back onto the couch.  I was now standing
there naked in the front lobby of the hotel.  I smirked at Namie - who was
having a complete bird - and then walked over towards the front door. 
Namie got up, and grabbed my yukata, but I motioned for her to be quiet.  I
could still hear the snoring behind the front desk, but my heart was
pounding away.  I stepped down into the entranceway, and pushed open the
glass door.  The cool wind whipped around my naked flesh, getting me even
more excited.  I walked right out to the curb, getting high on the feeling
of being naked outdoors.  I suddenly glanced back at the hotel realizing
that some people could probably see me from their windows.  Namie was
standing at the front door with my yukata, desperately waving for me to
come back.

   I stood there basking in the cool breeze a moment more, but soon I heard
a car coming in the distance.  I turned to face its headlights getting even
more excited.  It raced by, a sports car of some sort, but then suddenly
hit the brakes.  The driver must have seen me!  Drat!  I ran back to Namie,
and took the yukata from her.  As we dashed past the front desk, we could
hear the clerk waking up.  Luckily, I managed to pull my yukata on, and
make it to the stairs before he saw us.

   "You are crazy!  Do you know that?" Namie puffed, coming up the stairs
behind me.

   "Says the girl whose brother's friend is lusting after!"

   She grabbed a hold of my belt.

   "Hey, what are you trying to do?  Strip me naked?"

   "Keep your voice down."

   I turned, and tried to pull off her belt, but soon we could hear the
clerk's footsteps in the stairwell below.  We dashed back to our room, and
raced in.

   "Wow!  That was amazing!" I shouted still on a high at having gotten
away with it.

   "Settle down, will you?"

   Outside in the hall, we could hear the clerk coming this way.  It
sounded like he had stopped in front of our door.  I doubted it was the
same guy we saw that afternoon, but then how did he know what room we were
in?  Namie and I froze, not even daring to breathe.  Soon, though he went
away.  I slowly managed to calm down, and then the two of us went back to
sleep.

   That next morning, we had to leave really early because we had a long
way to go to the next hot spring.  I'll tell you all about that next time.
   Emi Tsuruta /~emitsuruta/