*
Fortunately enough, their lodgings had such a facility. Technology had improved enough that businesses had equipment such as heaters and coffee machines, though it was still quite expensive for normal households to have them. The soft sprinkling noises of distant waters caused the surface of the water to bubble and form miniature waves.
"Fuah~ this place is great! " (Karell)
"...? Have you never gone to a hot spring before?" (Barius)
At a little distance away, she kept her damp towel tightly pressed onto her own body out of a fear that she would drop it. Despite there being only girls there... No... Nevermind the original gender of her ego, Kaori was a guy. Kaede felt that boundaries were necessary so as to not disrupt the present relationships that they all had. She wanted to hide that Kaori was a guy from Karell as... Well, it wasn't public information and Kaede wouldn't want it to end up becoming public due to her.
"...? What's with her?" (Karell)
She laid her arms on her sides, supported by the edges of the heated pool set up. Karell had her guard completely down as her expression seemed to be in bliss. She was taking in the sensation of the warmth enveloping her all at once, one could argue to her nuclear attack would grant a similar experience but this alternative was objectively less destructive...
"Uhm... She has her own circumstances...
Hey! It's fine you know? My towel is on!" (Barius)
Kaede peeked over by rotating where she faced a little, it looked like a small animal was glancing over looking for any predators, it was a little cute. She turned back around and raised her body a little, as if psyching herself up to get over some huge obstacle. Then at a snail's pace, she waddled over to where they were and sat next to them at the edge of the pool.
"Fuhn~" (Kaede)
She exhaled more than usual to force her nerves to calm down under the nigh intolerable heat. She wanted to leave immediately out of the awkwardness, but she also wanted to take her time with the heated bath. Holding one arm to her tummy to keep the towel on, she sat with her knees high and close to her chest. She held out her right arm in front of her, as if inspecting her own body.
She noted that her arm skin seemed really supple and smooth despite it presumably being in an augmented state. She couldn't count how many times it had gotten scratched by stray debris, or how many times an enemy pulverised or tore it off. How many time she lost her arms and had to wait for them to grow back. Her hair was tied up, revealing her sparkling nap and back.
A few strands of loose hair hung around, sticking to her damp cheek. The length of her eyelashes seemed especially long with the water droplets hanging on its ends. She looked to be lost in her own world as she gazed at her healthy skin. It wasn't exactly as if she smiled all the time, but it was all the more apparent in this moment that her lips didn't particularly curved back in amusement.
"..." (Kaede)
*smack!*
Collision of skin and against skin... A soft pair of hands had tapped her outstretched right hand. She was so immersed in her arm that she didn't notice... Karell got close. When she looked over to inquire the source of this new stimuli, she was greeted with a mischievous smile that seemed to burst with satisfaction with her own joke. 'Well, she's cute so she's forgiven.' Was the line of thought that Kaede believed she went with, but she was simply grateful to her for dispelling the swkward atmosphere.
" So how was the training?" (Karell)
She directed with a cheeky smile, shamelessly asking while suggesting something else. Kaede shifted her gaze to the ceiling instead of taking heed to it, occasionally moving her body around to make sure the water's heat spread equally. She could feel her own hot breath escaping her lips, it might seem that the heat was gradually posing a danger to her body, but magical girls were actually quite the resilient beings.
"... It was my loss. We usually like to train by sparring with each other, it was a remnant from our student days." (Kaede)
"Huh?! You went to the same school?" (Karell)
Looking perplexed, Barius couldn't hold herself from clarifying. The conversation had begun to steer into a weird place everytime Karell starts to voice out.
"... It was the mandatory education, as long as were within the appropriate age range, they would provide the normal education lessons we were supposed tog et before The Great Disaster, at the same time they would also have us participate in the curriculum for the magical girl license. " (Barius)
Most people awakened into magical girls after The Great Disaster, as if the entirety of humanity acted as a single organism and increased the number of magical girls after sensing danger like an immune response. It was safe for Karell to assume that whatever Barius was talking about actually happened after The Great Disaster.
"hmm... I see... It's just that, I've never attended such a thing. I told them that I had... Something more significant to do. They simply gave me the license and let me do as I pleased after checking my background." (Karell)
"... So there are these kinds of magical girls as well... " (Kaede)
It meant that Karell had gotten to this point and amassed this much strength through the sheer effort of her own determination and self learning. There was nobody to teach her about the concepts of magic that were scribed into words. The most probable reason that she could get this strong was that she could identify and resonate with magic quite well, to the point that she could do it based on instinct. All in all, a natural talent.
Kaede had mixed feelings about it. She was practically the opposite, given 2 skills and a well trained body from the start. Despite the constant fighting, not once has she fallen to exhaustion and impeded herself due to physical limit. No matter how much she bent it, stretched it or broke it, she had practically abused it and it still worked fine. Perhaps it wasn't an apt way to measure it, since magical girls hardly get exhausted or perform less than expected from a stiff body, but there was no questioning the abundance of moments when she had moved by muscle memory and survived attacks that way.
Even if paradoxically, she was putting her body in danger by trying to act like Kaori, trying to act like a hero, her body was also saving her all the time.
"... Yeah, as the year went on, the so called authoritative forces got more lax on the integration of stray magical girls. It might have been the war with the demons that caused them to underestimate them or entirely prioritise the war over them." (Barius)
Kaede searched her memories as deeply as possible in order not to miss out on anything too important.
"... Yeah, I wouldn't know. I was picked up nearly at the start of the year in the post-Great Disaster era. " (Kaede)
"Haa~ enough about that dreary stuff. Isn't there something more important that you guys want to talk about?" (Karell)
Kaede drew a blank, casting an innocuous gaze at Karell which she noticed. Barius faced her for a moment with her usual disinterested expression before craning her neck back away. Kaede lowered her body further into the water, submerging her lips under the water as if to wet them while her thoughts dug further into her memories. Karell killed those people out of revenge didn't she? To be honest, she couldn't ever forgive herself for allowing all of those innocents to die, she had truly been a foolish little girl.
She felt as if she had been playing around the entire journey, and finally encountering someone remotely dangerous, she had messed up. Now she had to even put up with pretending to be Karell's ally, it sickened her a lot but this was to prevent more casualties from appearing. Then what should she do? She was undoubtedly weak, she wanted to use Karell. That was due to the sheer danger posed by the environment here, that she would even stoop to using her former enemy.
Compassion? What's that? If possible, Kaede would take her neck right now while she was defenseless, but it was unwise... And it felt weird to violate her trust after coming this far. Even if she was tolerating Karell this far, a bit of it still felt too real to her. The interactions, the makeshift friendships born in this short time. If ideally possible, she would like to challenge her to a Duel once again... Then absolutely tear her head off.
Perhaps she was simply being a sore loser, and being a magical girl had made her a little numb from integrity and respect, that she would rather dwell on the negativity and be vindictive to make herself feel better. Then... She can postpone her decision. It's not as if Karell would run away anytime soon. Maybe... Just maybe there was a little chance...
"Could you tell us more about yourself? What led to... That massacre perhaps?" (Kaede)
"... I've told you already... It was just revenge. We lived in the same village, abused by traditions from the past. Eventually my best friend died due to such a primitive reason, for that...
I believe that is why I awakened as a magical girl. That's why I didn't bother with some bullshit license. They told me I could continue my revenge as long as I swear allegiance to the Sanctuary when the time comes... That I wouldn't run and that I would be on the side of the Sanctuary should there be any war. " (Karell)
Kaede thought about it, wrapped her head around it, really tried to give it a chance. There was no doubt that there were some innocents caught up in that. But there is also no doubt that Karell was an important asset to the Sanctuary. Now that she had achieved her ambition, she was pretty much a soldier. No matter what, she couldn't really find an answer to any of it.
"Hey Barius. You should treat it as my head feeling unwell but... How have I been getting by so far? What do I do now?" (Kaede)
She knows the answer to it herself, but she still asks Barius anyway. Was it out of desperation? Anxiety? Was there anything wrong with asking...? What kind of face was she making right now? She could feel her cheeks tensed up, her lips drooping. What kind of pathetic expression was she showing her friends? In the end, she understood that she was weak. Maybe a little should be fine.
"Hmpf, hell if I know. As far as I know, you always moved to your own rhythm. No one could decipher something that chaotic." (Barius)
Her voice was smooth and soothing akin to the chimes of a bell, it provided a cooling solace that withstood the searing heat of the pool. Under the burnt wood ceiling reminiscent of autumn leaves, the steam wafting off the pool were like fluffy clouds that hid the unknown. It gave off a mystical feeling as if the answers to all the questions in the universe was hidden under its white translucent mass.
Was Kaori really that carefree? It was... A straight answer for once. One of the concerns that she had held for a long while... Was not knowing how Kaori was like. Every word from her friends painted her a saint. Something more relatable... Like being carefree was an easier description to work with. Kaori was aloof but she held her values closely to her heart. She wanted to thank Barius here, but she knew she couldn't.
She resumed staring blankly into the air. A single light bulb shone in the corner of the room, the walls and ceiling seemed to be made of processed wood. It looked like a modern inn no matter how anyone looked at it, the textures were smooth and the pillars at the corners looked sturdy. A lot was invested into this one hotel, having lived in the buildings that were built after The Great Disaster, it would be harder to have not notice the difference in quality between this hotel and the average building.
"Mrrr.... What did you guys do to have fun?" (Karell)
Her soft groans of displeasure spread to where Kaede was sitting. Barius sat inbetween them... Well, Karell moved around periodically so this was only true for her resting position.
" Fun.... Fun.... Maybe sparring?" (Kaede)
"...?!" (Karell)