25 A Date?

With Ayla's interest piqued, she left the tavern before the waiter could return with the heavy drink she ordered, due to wanting to learn more about that tournament. The only problem was that none of the samurai within the tavern had the things she wanted to learn, so she went for a better option by asking someone who worked for an influential clan, Naruse Masa.

Once again, sending out her senses in search of her and finding her aura within a building not too far away.

As soon as she arrived at the building, she assumed it was a branch of the Sakura Inn, as the sign above it had the same words as well as the similar structure of the building.

Ayla entered the inn, finding a young woman inside who told her the price of staying per night and led her to her room, similar to how the elderly woman did so.

After Ayla got settled in her room, she left it and walked through the corridors of the inn to where Masa's room was and knocked. "Can I come in?"

"Give me a few minutes."

After a few minutes of waiting, Masa said Ayla could come in, so Ayla slid the door open and entered.

Seeing Ayla enter, Masa was a little surprised. "Ayla, why are you here? You should do the thing you want to do."

Ayla sat on the bed next to Masa. "I would like to participate in the warrior tournament."

"Are you sure? The tournament will last at least a month, maybe even two."

"I'm sure." Ayla said with sincerity.

Masa turned to face Ayla. "I'll agree to wait for you as well as give you all the information I have, but that's only if you go on a date with me." Her face flushed, showing her embarrassment.

Ayla was a bit shocked but didn't display it, as she thought that Masa was bold for asking, but since she wanted to participate in this tournament and still needed Masa to be her driver, she said, "Sure, but only one date."

Masa smiled happily with a tint of blush on her cheeks and said, "That's good enough for me."

In Ayla's head, she could hear Cynthia pout, but Ayla just ignored it, as she had no obligation to only be with Cynthia, as she wasn't her lover.

Masa stood up in front of Ayla and grabbed her hand, pulling her up with her. 'Ayla's as light as a feather.' She thought.

Then, Masa led Ayla to the other sliding door that led to a deck, which they walked along, reaching a beautiful courtyard, stepping down onto the paved sidewalk, they walked along it until they reached a large open-air hot spring that was much bigger than the one Ayla dipped into when she was in Riranai.

Assuming that Masa wanted to bathe together, she took off her kimono, as Masa's face flushed red, seeing Ayla's flawless body, prompting her heartbeat to increase.

After taking off her kimono, Ayla took off her undergarments and set them to the side, along with her kimono , where they wouldn't get wet. She tied her hair into a bun, as the minerals within the hot spring weren't good for her hair.

Ayla dipped her foot in, finding that the water was lukewarm as she climbed the rest of the way in and sat down.

Meanwhile, Masa fell into a daze upon seeing Ayla's flawless figure, which Ayla noticed as she hadn't even taken off her yakuta yet.

"Are you going to get in?"

Hearing Ayla's words, Masa was able to break out of her daze. "Yeah."

She took off her yakuta and undergarments and placed them next to Ayla's before climbing into the hot spring, and sat across from Ayla, as she wouldn't be able to relax if she was that close to Ayla.

Every time Masa took a look at Ayla, her face flushed red, as she tried to avoid eye contact, which Ayla thought was funny.

…

After a half hour of dipping in the hot spring, they decided to get out and get dressed, which Masa did so by looking in a different direction as they changed.

Until now, they hadn't talked much as Masa was constantly getting embarrassed, but it was still a fun time as they got to relax and laugh, at least for Ayla.

After getting dressed, they walked back to Masa's room, stopping outside of it, where Masa turned to face Ayla and said, "I need to get changed, since we're going to tour through the city. Can you wait outside while I put on my kimono?"

Seeing that Masa was embarrassed while saying this, Ayla said. "Sure."

"Thanks." After saying what she wanted, Masa entered her room and closed the sliding door, trying to hurry up as she didn't want Ayla to have to wait too long.

A few minutes later, Masa slid open the sliding door, wearing a white and pink floral kimono with a happy smile.

"Let's go." As they left her room, Masa grabbed Ayla's hand and closed the sliding door behind them, heading for the inn's lobby, stepping onto the stone-paved road and leaving the Sakura Inn.

They walked along the road until they reached a large kimono store, located not that far away from the Sakura inn. Thus, they walked over there.

This store that sold kimonos solely for women didn't do much business since the majority of the local customers were samurai. There was just them and the proprietress in the store as she walked in.

The shop was well-decorated, but they didn't come here to admire the decorations of the shop but instead to shop for kimonos, so Masa dragged Ayla along with her as she wanted to pick out a kimono for Ayla.

Ayla looked through the many kimonos, seeing some that were pink and white, like the kimono Masa wore, but she didn't like those, so she looked at the darker colored ones.

Ayla's attention was attracted by a gorgeous red kimono with white floral patterns, along with a red kimono with black floral patterns, so she picked them along with many others she liked, while Masa helped, picking a few of her own as well.

As soon as they got all they wanted, they went up to the reception desk, paid for the kimonos, costing 560 kan, and left the shop, wearing a new kimono with beautiful smiles on their faces.