A groan of satisfaction escaped Akira's lips as she submerged her body in the warm water.
"That feels so good", she moaned as she closed her eyes.
They had been so busy with back-to-back jobs lately that they almost never had the time to relax and rest.
It had been almost two weeks since they had been working under Ren's command. Even after agreeing with her grandmother, Akira still found it hard to submit to Ren's orders at the beginning.
In almost anything that Ren would say, Akira had something to counter it. She knew it was her pride. But despite her continuous objections and obvious disapproval towards Ren, he was surprisingly very patient towards her, and it honestly caught her off guard.
Not only that, but as the days passed by and as they worked longer with Ren, Akira was starting to realize that Ren was not just pure talk. The guy really knew what he was doing.
They had been working tirelessly to gather more information and intel about Tomo Ogawa. Every day, they were taking turns to watch over Tomo Ogawa's mansion which they infiltrated days ago, hoping to find more clues and possible message from the man. They had also been privately investigating certain individuals who were perhaps connected to Tomo Ogawa.
The truth was that, if it had not been for Ren, they would not even know where to begin or what next steps to take. They were all astonished with his knowledge and way of thinking.
He might look goofy on the outside, but he was actually very clever and sharp-witted that it made Akira wonder whether his eccentric side was real or just a disguise to hide his true abilities and intentions.
Akira realized that her grandmother was right. Perhaps they really needed Ren. Perhaps he was really their hope to rival Tomo Ogawa's brains.
The more it registered to her just how capable Ren was, the more frustrated and the angrier she felt inside. She knew the reason behind it.
She did not like Ren from the very start. However, it was mainly because he was a stranger whom she could not trust, and his personality was too much for her. But the vexation she was feeling right now had nothing to do with these.
She was mad because deep inside, there was actually a hidden insecurity in her that she couldn't let anyone know about. Almost all her life, she questioned if she was worthy of her position, and despite her power, she felt that she was not really as good as their expectations of her.
She was afraid to fail. She was afraid that she would make a wrong decision. It was not only because of what she thought the people in their clan would say about her. But it was also because she was well aware that her actions and choices would have a huge impact on their entire clan. The lives, the future, and the safety of the entire Genji clan was in her hands. She couldn't afford to make a mistake.
Seeing how naturally good and skilled Ren was at his job, she couldn't help but feel threatened and scared. She knew it was only a temporary job for him. He was going to leave after he was done with his job. He was not going to stay with them forever also because he was not one of them. But she couldn't shake away the thought of him replacing her.
Ren had proven that even if he was just a mere human, he was more than capable to lead their group and even measure up to a man like Tomo Ogawa.
What would the other members of the Genji clan say about her?
"What's the matter?" Nao asked concernedly to Akira as she also got in the water. "You look troubled."
Akira shook her head. She did not realize that she was actually that obvious.
"It's nothing. I just feel tired", Akira lied. There was no way she was going to tell Nao the truth.
Nao, who was on the other side of the pool moved towards Akira. She wrapped her hands around Akira's waist then squeezed her tightly. Her actions caught Akira by surprise.
"W-what are you doing?!" Akira stammered as her face started to flush and heat up.
"You said you feel tired. I am giving you a power hug. It works every time on my husband", Nao rubbed her cheeks on Akira's chest like a clingy cat. She was smaller than Akira.
Akira squealed as she felt Nao's cheeks on her bare skin. It felt so weird and ticklish.
"Stop! Please stop!" Akira pleaded as she tried to push Nao away from her, but the older lady wouldn't budge. Akira couldn't really wrap her head around how between them, Nao acted more childish when in fact she was years older than her.
"Don't run away. I promise this will help you relax. I always do this on Sato."
Akira screwed her face in disgust and annoyance at the second mention of Nao's husband. She didn't want to hear any more information about the things that Nao would do to her husband. It was too much for Akira.
If it worked on Sato, she was certain that it wouldn't work on her.
"Nao, I swear, if you do not let go of me, I'll leave you to freeze to death here."
They might be currently in a hot spring, but Akira was confident it had no chance against her freezing abilities. She could freeze anything to negative degrees that only the direct burning flames of the sun could melt it away.
Nao quickly untangles her arms from Akira and raised her hands in defeat.
"Alright. I'll stop now", she said as she finally surrendered.
Akira let out a heavy and exasperated sigh. For all the years that she had been working with her squad, she still couldn't get used to the different kind of chaos her subordinates were. Brothers who were like a cat and dog, and a very liberated couple: it was surely a huge mess to handle for her.
"Are you allergic to human touch?" Nao suddenly asked.
"What? No", Akira replied with her brows furrowed.
"You always hate it when I would get touchy with you or anyone in particular."
"I do not hate it when grandma touches me", Akira defended.
"Oh, come on. When was the last time you hugged Aiko?"
"That's..." Akira trailed off. She was so confident at first but now she couldn't find the courage to answer.
When did she last hugged her grandmother? Was it days ago? Weeks ago? Months ago? No. It was none of them. The answer was years ago - it was a very long time ago.
It's not that she hated being touched or hugged by people. It was the intimacy that came with it. She used to be a clingy child. But after that incident when she was only fourteen years old, she started building up walls around her.
She refused to be hugged. She refused to be consoled because once she allowed herself to be that intimate to anyone, she was afraid that she would be vulnerable and just spill how she truly felt inside - that she was lonely, hurt and scared.
She couldn't afford to let that happen. She had to put up a tough act. She had to be strong. She couldn't show any weakness.
Up to this day, her grandmother remained to be the person she trusted the most, but even Aiko had noticed that something had changed in Akira.
"Fine. I don't like being hugged. What's so wrong about that? It's fine. Like I can still live without being hugged by people."
Nao guffawed at Akira's response, "You're funny Akira. Of course, you can live even if people do not hug you, but let me tell you, it won't be as satisfying. Hugs are magical and soothing, especially if they come from a special someone." Nao wrapped her arms around her as she closed her eyes, pretending that someone was hugging her.
"The warmth of that person's embrace is something that is incomparable. If it's just possible, you wouldn't want to let go. That's how I feel every time Sato holds me in his arms. Someday, I believe, you will find someone like that too."