#[[it's a tactical stink :') so he can blend in with the mountain beasts ]]

[whirling-fangs]

A little twitch shook Inosuke's frame at the weight of her glare, before he remembered that she was just some human. There was no way she could do him any actual harm... right?

He cast her a confused glance, a little baffled at how excited she seemed to be about the onsen. Sure, the warm water felt nice, but Inosuke would much rather remain dry and on firm ground. Not to mention how weak and numb he remembered feeling after his first soak in the warm bath... a state that would get him killed instantly up on his mountain.

"Of course. Please, finish your snacks, and follow me to the bathroom." The old lady replied with yet another bow. While Haruko looked away for a second, Hisa was suddenly waiting by the door, at the other end of the room.

Inosuke was busy licking the crumbs off his palms as Haruko's suggestion reached his ears. He offered her a glare in response, licking faster so he could grumble his reply.

"Hah? What's it got to do with being clean? It's not like I begged her to let us stay! I could just leave you here and go sleep in the forest!"

He absentmindedly gathered some more crumbs from the ground, his gaze catching sight of the grandma patiently waiting across the room. She seemed to be looking in their direction, yet Inosuke couldn't feel the weight of her gaze at all. What if he did something to anger her? Would he be able to feel her attack coming?

He couldn't risk it. Inosuke grumpily snatched the clothes from the ground and leapt to his feet, with a spin on his heels to cast Haruko an accusing glare.

"FINE! I'll take a bath and go to that onsen thing! But if we get attacked again and I'm too warm and fuzzy to fight, then don't blame me!!"

Haruko chuckled at Inosuke's indignant reaction. Boy, was it easy to tick him off. She almost had to restrain herself from giving him a pat on his head to calm him down.

"Right. Respecting her powers," she said, taking another rice cake, and then casting him a poisonous glare. "And don't call me moron, boar-head."

She could see his point, though, the old lady was preatty good at sneaking around... So much that, when she reappeared all of a sudden, even Haruko got startled, almost chocking on her mouthful.

She recovered as soon as the word onsen was mentioned, though.

"Onsen?!" She gasped as if she had been just offered a billion yens. "You have onsens here?!" And with that she whirled her head at Inosuke, as if mutely asking him 'why didn't you tell me sooner?!'. Seriously, why did the boy act so resetful about coming here? This place was like a paradise compared to what they had just been though!

"Oh, it would be perfect," she sighed dreamily. "I'm still all sore from that horrible fight..."

With that she threw the last piece of rice cake in her mouth, patted her hands clean and promptly stood up, taking the clean clothes the old lady had just offered.

"Would it be ok to take a bath right away?" She asked politely. "I can still smell the disgusting scent of that monster on me from when he grabbed me..." She shivered of disgust and shook her head. "Once clean, I'd love to spend some time in the onsen if that's ok... Hey!" She called, whirling her head at Inosuke with a reprimanding look. "You should wash yourself too, you know? You're all muddy, and you should wear something decent," she added, giving the torn clothes she had lent him a mortified look. "This lady is so sweet offering us to stay, the least we can do is be nice, clean guests!"