THE ONSEN TRAIL
Written by DavidN, 2021

"Time to come out, Katie!"

"Yee-eesh!" The surface of the small square pool went up like a waterspout as the brown-tinged mouse rocketed out of it. A few small chunks of ice rattled together at its sides as she practically vaulted over the side back on to the safety of the tiles. Shuddering, she gradually got to her feet, her striking green hair dripping as she held her hands hugged across her body. As the nude mouse approached, Fran shuffled aside, letting her join her in the red light under the heat bulb.

"Come on - get yourself warmed up..." The pink rabbit gently put her hands on her mouse friend's shoulders, holding her until she stopped shaking. "Cinn and Bunn told me this was really good for your muscles - we'll feel the benefits in a couple of days..."

"Well, I'm not going in there again unless I get superpowers or something!" Katie shivered despite the heat under the ceiling lamp as she glanced back across at the square ice bath. "What happened to coming to a hot spring for the heat..."

The pink rabbit stepped away from the warmth of the bulb and across the blue mosaic-tiled room with a little hesitation, patting at her own exposed fur to check she had dried. Taking her brush from the counter next to the large sink, she picked it up and grabbed a bunch of her chin-length hair. Reaching behind her head as she ran the brush through it, she tucked strands of hair behind her long lop ears.

"Okay..." the mouse breathed as she stopped shivering under the heat of the lamp. "Quick, where are our towels?"

"Uh..." Fran looked back at the counter, then her brow furrowed. She turned to check behind her on the lip of the pool, then glanced at the hook over the door with similar towelless results. "I'm... sure I put them right here when we came in..."

"Ugh..." Katie groaned as the rabbit crouched to look under the counter. "She's done it again, hasn't she?"

"Sam. Yeah, I bet she has. How did she even open the door without us noticing?" Fran sighed, straightening up again. "Well, at least it wasn't right off us when we were outside this time." She moved towards the door and offered her elbow to her mouse friend. "Suppose we're walking back to the lockers like this... shall we?"

Katie's eyes flicked to the frosted glass of the door. "Could you... do you mind fetching me a towel?" she asked. "I'm, uh... going to dry a bit more first..."

"Sure," Fran said without hesitation. "I'll be right back..."

She tugged the door of the ice bath room open and stepped out into the humid air of the women's shower room, then turned towards the locker area. With the warm feeling of the carpet very welcome on her bare toes, she hesitated at the corner, leaning around it tucked close to the wall to check the room first. She ducked back as an equally naked bright yellow rabbit came around the corner the other way then stepped aside with a glance and a smile as she headed for the showers. 

Fran stepped fully into the room, which was otherwise deserted on the weekday morning. She frowned as she looked along the benches and countertops, seeing no discarded towels in sight - even the cart for the used ones near the exit to the main corridor was absent. With a groan, she turned around and stepped quickly back to the door she had emerged from, then opened it a crack as she poked her head inside.

"Hey - no towels but it's okay, nobody's here. C'mon, quick..."

"You sure?" After a moment of hesitation, the mouse flicked the heat lamp off and slipped through the door, clasping one hand across her chest and the other between her legs as she looked nervously around despite Fran's assurance. She peeked around the corner into the changing area, then tiptoed her way over the short expanse of tile before breaking into a strange rapid shuffle across the carpet to their lockers.

Fran followed her more calmly, though slightly aware of her exposure as she crossed the open area of the locker room towards the nook where they had got changed earlier. Katie practically bounced on her heels as she turned to watch her, glancing between Fran and the passage that led from the onsen's common area into the changing room.

"Come on, Fran, at least you're all dry! Why did I have to wear a white top today..."

Fran's eyes flicked down for a moment at Katie's shapely figure barely concealed behind her hands, silently agreeing that putting light fabric against her wasn't going to help her much.

"Okay - we'll get you back under the heat lamp. For now, let's just get our clothes..." she said as she rubbed her forehead. The mouse girl in front of her nodded, then turned to reach up to the lock she'd hung over the locker handle when they had come in.

Fran swallowed then knelt down to undo her own combination lock, muttering under her breath as she thought about what she was going to say to Sam. As she clicked the lock open she heard Katie wince behind her - Fran's stomach dropped as she realized what that might mean, but wriggled the lock off the handle and flung her own locker open to confirm her fears...

"Yeah. Empty," she sighed, getting up and turning around. "Yours too?"

"Worse!" Katie wailed, her mouth hanging open as she presented a sheet of paper to Fran. Curiously, she took it and held it in front of herself - the note had been printed with an ornate blue border and was written in an elegant typeface.

"I don't believe this..." she gaped as she skimmed the sheet, then read the note out loud. "Welcome to Sam's treasure hunt, where you're seeking a prize but you've already got the booty!" She rolled her eyes, then tilted the sheet for Katie to see as she squirmed in beside her. "Hope you enjoyed your first ice bath! Your second clue is in the same room, but in a different place."

Her eyes went down to the bottom of the sheet, where a crude stick figure of a mouse was drawn, cackling as she ran across the page with a bundle of clothes held above her head. She let go of the paper as she groaned, letting Katie pull it towards her.

"I swear, the effort she puts into these things..." Fran rolled her eyes as Katie scanned the page frantically, as if searching for some other revelation that would bring their clothes back. "What does she mean, the same room but different?"

"I mean..." Katie looked up from the page, then glanced over at the exit of the locker room. "There must be an ice bath in the boys' locker room as well..."

"Ugh." Fran grimaced, but nodded. "You're right. I'm going to get her for this..." She leaned back against the lockers with a sigh.

"C'mon, then, let's go!" Katie said, beckoning with one hand as she clasped the other across herself again, peeking out from their nook.

"What, are we actually doing this?" Fran asked. "You can hide in the showers while I sort this out if you want..."

Katie shook her head, then came back and grasped Fran's wrist to encourage her forward. "I'm not letting you get caught naked alone in here... let's just get it over with!" Fran nodded, smiling a little to acknowledge Katie's determination, and then accepted her tugging encouragement as they both walked through the staggered corridor that led out of the women's locker rooms.

They stood uncertainly in the archway that led back to the main corridor - the entrance to the other locker rooms was several feet away straight across the passageway from them, but the front entrance with its cafe area and reception desk was only a short walk to their left. Fran was trying to decide whether to make a dash for it when Katie squeezed past her and leaned slowly out into the corridor.

"It's really quiet," she said over her shoulder. "There's one guy at the reception desk, and someone sitting in the cafe, and that's all..."

Fran nodded, and crouched down to lean out and sneak a look herself. There was a light blue-furred mouse facing away from them in the seating area - she was wearing dark glasses and a red and black tracksuit, and looked like she was absorbed in reading something on the tablet computer propped up in front of her. Further away, the receptionist who would usually have a clear view of the corridor was trying his best to soothe the temper of an annoyed-looking goose. As she watched, he suddenly ducked under the desk to get something.

Fran bolted forwards in a sprint, half-aware of Katie squeaking behind her at the sudden movement. The corridor was a blur as she raced across it, barely skidding to a halt before slamming into the wall just inside the male changing room archway. Breathing out heavily, she straightened up and turned back to face Katie, who was standing forlornly in the opposite doorway, covering between her legs with the small sheet.

"I'll check if anyone's here!" Fran mouthed to the mouse, who nodded. "If he looks away again just run for it!"

Quickly, Fran scampered into the unfamiliar changing room, relieved as she immediately saw it was deserted. Her gaze went from the benches to the tops of the lockers to everywhere else in the room, but even here, there were no stray towels in sight.

"Seriously?" she said under her breath, then turned and dashed back out. "Nobody here, come on!" she hissed across the corridor to Katie.

The mouse had retreated into the corner of the archway. As she nodded, she pressed herself more tightly to the wall with both her hands clasping the paper between her legs then slowly turned to poke her head around the corner, looking like a spy in an action film. As the receptionist opened a folder and laid it on the desk to look up whatever the goose was after, she sprang forwards, immediately slipped on the puddle her dripping fur had left and crashed to the floor in the middle of the corridor.

Fran winced at the impact, then just had time to glance back at reception before dashing out from her cover and grabbing for Katie. Taking her by the wrists, she leaned back and scrabbled her feet against the floor as she dragged the dazed mouse smoothly across the width of the passageway.

She thumped back against the wall and panted, the fur on the back of her neck standing up as she waited to hear an exclamation of surprise, but it never came. Gradually, Katie stood up, rubbing the side of one breast that had taken most of the impact.

"Are you okay?" Fran asked.

"Yeah, thanks... I hope that doesn't bruise..." the naked mouse answered. Shaking herself out, a determined look returned to her face and she walked into the changing room, leaving Fran to catch up.

"Here it is!" Katie whispered back to Fran as she rounded the corner. She approached the door to the ice bath and pressed her nose against it, tenting her hands over her eyes in a useless attempt to look through the frosted glass. Fran sidled up beside her, feeling a tiny bit less exposed when facing the wall but not to the point where it was at all reassuring. Eventually, Katie's hand moved to the doorhandle and she gently put her other hand on the door, turning the handle silently and opening the door a crack to peek inside.

From behind her, Fran saw the naked mouse's shoulders sag as she breathed out, then followed her as she slipped into the room. This one was very similar to the room they had been relaxing in minutes before, mirrored with the blue tiling forming a different mosaic pattern in the wall. Trying to shrug off the uncanny nervous thrill of being somewhere she shouldn't, Fran looked rapidly around searching for an out of place sheet of paper or anything that might be the clue they were meant to find. Her gaze finally went to the surface of the pool, which was completely still - nobody had been in here for a while.

"There!" Katie gasped, looking in the same direction Fran was and pointing at the cold water's surface. Taking a step forward, she finally saw another blue-bordered sheet of paper, this one laminated and lying at the bottom of the waist-deep water under a decorative stone. After staring down at it, the girls looked up from the water and caught each other's gaze.

"Okay, can we reach it without going in?" Fran asked. She looked over her shoulder searching for anything long and thin - her eyes alighted on a towel rod, wondering if she could take it off the wall without damaging it.

"I'll go - I'm wetter anyway..." Katie suddenly spoke up from behind her, and Fran turned back to her.

"You sure? There must be something we can use..."

"No, we need to get out of here quick!" The flustered mouse sat on the edge of the pool then swivelled herself around as she tucked her legs up, her toes hovering above the surface of the water. Fran watched silently as she took a deep breath, then dropped her toes in and pushed herself off the edge.

"Waaaagh!" Katie gave another shriek as she plunged into the water, a few drops of it spattering on to Fran's face. Before she could blink, Katie had kicked the stone off the paper and leapt back out of the cold pool in a whirlwind of movement, dashing across the tiles to turn the heat lamp on. "Cold cold cold cold cold..."

With a glance over her shoulder at the shivering mouse, Fran watched the paper float to the top and grabbed it as it bobbed on the rippling surface. Shaking the cold water off it, she moved over to the mouse as she hugged herself, then held the paper out so Katie could lean in to read it as well.

"Where people like to play with balls..." she paused and sighed, "...your next clue's taped on to the wall."

"Somewhere in the playing courts downstairs?" Katie suggested. "Let's go back and hide somewhere, quick..."

"Are you sure you don't want to warm up a bit longer?" the rabbit asked.

"Yeah - I'm fine," Katie replied quickly as she flicked the switch off. "Everywhere in this place feels warm after going in that thing..."

The girls crept out of the ice bath room, hurrying back towards the changing room entrance together. Fran had just put one foot on the carpeted floor when their ears pricked at the squeak of hinges. Freezing in place, they watched as there was movement from the door that led to the pool at the far side of the changing room.

"Someone's coming!" Katie hissed, and the next thing Fran knew she was being shoved frantically back around the corner into the tiled area. In a flurry, the mouse pushed open the first door they came to, dragged Fran inside and slammed the door shut.

Fran got her bearings again as she looked around the steam-filled room, her eyes eventually landing on Katie who was standing with her back to the door, arms and legs splayed frantically across it as she panted heavily. Gradually, her fearful expression melted into relief.

"Phewf. Sorry," the mouse girl apologized as she stepped away from the glass door, dragging the back of her arm across her forehead.

"It's okay - you did great..." Fran replied, choosing not to comment on the view their chaser might have got from outside with Katie pressing herself back against the glass. She had occasionally been in the steam room in the girls' changing area, but it definitely wasn't one of her favourite treatments - she was beginning to sweat as well from the humid heat emanating from the square fountain in the centre of the room, where streams of water poured elegantly on to hot rocks to produce the thick mist that filled the whole space. "Quick, let's get behind here..."

The two of them crouched down behind the fountain on the opposite side from the door, their eyes peeking out just above the rocks. Fran tried to keep her breath steady, wrinkling her nose at the uncomfortable heat of the air, and then winced as she heard the door they had come through squeak open - they'd managed to hide in their unwitting pursuer's destination.

She and Katie pressed themselves further down behind the fountain, then Fran slowly stretched her neck out to look around the corner, preparing to shuffle round in whichever way the male didn't move. The mouse wriggled in beside her to see as well - Fran glanced up at her big worried eyes then back at the outline barely visible through the steam. She blushed and ducked back a bit as he dropped his swimming trunks then hooked them on to his toe, and tossed them into his hand to hang them up. The two of them stared anxiously as he stretched up and turned himself slowly around, but Fran suddenly gasped and smiled as the vague shape of his tail and messy hair became visible through the mist.

"It's Evan!" she whispered up into Katie's ear. Realizing what she was saying, she gently put a hand over the staring mouse's eyes. "I'll go over and explain - you stay down here..."

The mouse nodded, not making a move to take Fran's hand away. "But you're still..."

"Katie, what do you think boyfriends are for - he's seen me naked. It's fine..."

Relieved, Fran straightened up, rubbing the back of her thighs and trying to shake out the tightness from all the crouching. The otter was now seated on the bench opposite their hiding place, his eyes closed with a satisfied smile on his face as he basked in the swirls of steam. Slowly, Fran crept towards him, and tried to get his attention without startling him.

"Hey. Hey, Evan..."

"Wh..." The otter boy opened his eyes and looked up suddenly. "Oh! Er... hi, bunnybum..."

"Shh!" Fran frantically waved him down with her hands, her face getting even hotter as she glaced back at Katie's hiding place.

Evan's confused gaze rapidly dropped down from her face, then he looked back at her again with his jaw hanging open slightly. "Uh... what are you doing in here?"

Fran sighed, then sat down beside him and explained the last ten minutes to him. At first he looked confused, then incredulous, then grinned widely as she told him about them fleeing into the steam room.

"Come on, be serious about this!" Fran hissed. "Or..." She glanced downwards and then gestured at her chest. "Or this is the last time you'll be seeing these for a long time..."

"Oh - uh, yeah. Sorry." He cleared his throat. "Lucky she did this when nobody's usually here - I just left the pool, it's totally empty."

"Good. Katie's behind there," she pointed at the fountain. Once again, Katie popped up behind the square arrangement in the center of the room, giving a lopsided sheepish grin and a wave as the stunned otter nodded at her in greeting. "We're gonna go back to our locker room and hide - can you get your clothes on and play Sam's stupid game for us? What does this clue mean?"

Evan looked down at the sheet of paper as she pushed it into his hands. "Oh. She must mean the squash court downstairs." He rubbed the back of his neck, still looking like he was trying to hold back a laugh. "Yeah, I'll find your stuff," he agreed.

"All right." Fran stood up and tugged his trunks off the hook beside him. "Put these on, then close your eyes."

"What, why?"

"Cause Katie's going to come out. We'll guide you to the changing room entrance and split off from there, okay?"

"Okay!" Evan followed Fran's directions, obviously hesitant to close his eyes, but respectfully kept them shut as Katie finally straightened up and joined Fran. The two girls took one of Evan's hands each and they left the room in their awkward chain, the rabbit and mouse still glancing around furtively as they returned to the carpeted area and got back to the locker room entrance.

"Okay. Thanks, Evan - give us a minute to get out..." Fran leaned over to kiss the otter on the cheek then turned to follow Katie back through the staggered entrance. In front of her, the mouse crept towards the corner, poked her head out and let out a bizarre noise somewhere between laughter and despair.

Fran joined her, putting her hands on the mouse's shoulders as she leaned round as well. "I don't believe this..." she sighed, seeing the black and yellow tape announcing "CLEANING - PLEASE WAIT" across it.

"What happened?" Evan asked, tilting his head around with his eyes still closed as if it could help.

"Changing room's closed. We're borrowing your clothes - maybe we'll find a better place to hide," Fran announced. "Where's your locker?"

"Uh, I can't remember the number - it's in the top corner, it has my lock on it - you know, the long guitar-shaped one..."

Painstakingly, Fran navigated Evan around the locker room, Katie clinging on to his other hand. Eventually, she saw Evan's lock and with his direction, spun the numbers to get it open.

"Okay, we've got..." Fran started, feeling a new sense of relief at the sight of a locker that actually had clothes in it. "A T-shirt... jeans, socks and underwear..." She picked them out of the recess and dropped them on the bench as she counted them off. "No towel?"

"Ah... no, sorry," Evan said apologetically. "Usually I just dry myself in the freshener..." With his eyes still shut, he pointed vaguely back towards the tiled area, at the showers that had heated fans installed for quickly drying wet fur.

"Urfff..." Fran winced. "And your sports tape is in here as well..." She took out the half-finished roll of black fabric tape and set it down on top of the small pile of clothes.

"It's not much..." Katie observed.

"We'll make it work." Fran furrowed her brows as she picked through the pile, separating them into three groups. "Okay. Katie, T-shirt for you." She handed the black top over her shoulder to the mouse. Katie grabbed it gratefully, then hastily pulled it over her head.

"Evan... you get your underwear back on and turn around while I sort the two of us out," she continued. "You've only got one part to cover - these just about look like they could be shorts..." The otter nodded, and bent down to replace his trunks with the underwear, hopping a little as he turned around mid-stoop.

"Uh, problem..." Katie called from behind Fran, and the rabbit turned to look. The bottomless mouse was trying unsuccessfully to tug the black top down around her substantial chest, the already tight T-shirt on Evan looking absurd on her with the hem dangling comically away from her tummy.

"Okay... yeah, that's not going to work," Fran admitted. "I'll take the T-shirt - you see if you can squeeze into these jeans..."

Fran accepted the T-shirt from Katie and pulled it over her own head, smiling as she felt it fitting convincingly around her smaller breasts with the bottom hanging down to her hips. Across from her, Katie had the jeans around her feet and was holding them at her thighs, swivelling from side to side as she attempted to pull them up over her backside.

Fran leaned forward and helped tug Evan's jeans up a little for Katie, grimacing as she realized it was one of the skinniest pairs he owned. Eventually, with Katie hopping up and down while pulling on them, they were barely able to squeeze her in with the waistband of the jeans firmly wedged at hip height. With the front button impossible to fasten, Fran knelt down to pull the front zip up for her, very carefully using the back of her hand to keep her friend's fur out of the way as the mouse whimpered and stared at the ceiling. After rolling each leg up a few times to account for Katie's shorter legs, she stepped back to look at the result.

"Okay, those are never coming off now..." she said. Katie looked down at her hips forcibly crammed into the straining jeans, holding her breath in a futile attempt to make them thinner.

"That's great, but what about these?" the mouse asked, indicating her chest. Her eyes widened as Fran picked up the athletic tape.

"Uh..." Katie hesitated, her eyes flitting between the roll of tape and down at her breasts, instinctively clasping her hands over her nipples. "Is that... gonna hurt...?"

Fran glanced back at the bench. "We'll use his socks as a guard."

"You'll what?" Evan spoke up, almost looking over his shoulder but quickly moving his head back as he caught Fran's eye.

"No - this'll work..." Katie said, swivelling herself forward in an attempt at a walk and gesturing for the tape. She tore two strips off the end and held them up with the adhesive side away from her breasts as Fran hooked the end of the tape under Katie's arm and wound it round. Fran pushed the tape gently on to Katie's fur as she walked around her, and the mouse folded the improvised nipple guards over it then stretched her arms into the air, looking down doubtfully as the rabbit made a couple of laps.

All too soon, Fran reached the end of the tape, and stuck the last of it on to Katie's back. She walked around to her front as Katie stood nervously, waiting for the rabbit's assessment.

Fran looked at the improvised top for a moment, tilting her head. "Evan, you can look now - does she look okay?"

The otter turned back around and looked the voluptuous brown-tinged mouse up and down. "Oh... wow," he stammered, his eyes flitting between the tight jeans sitting very low on her hips and the scant couple of rows of tape that supported her breasts. "I mean, uh - yeah, that'll work," he nodded, slowly shifting one foot to half-cross his legs.

"Hmph." Fran sighed. "All right - I think we can all make it to the courts like this, we'll take the long way round to avoid the exercise room." She tugged Evan's T-shirt down and tried to stretch it to her thighs, wishing it were even slightly longer.

"You could have my swim trunks if you like..." Evan offered, noticing her struggling. "They're still wet, though..."

"They'll do. Thanks." Fran quickly took them and hopped into them, stretching them around her hips. She winced at the feeling of the tight material against her fur, the back of them doing very little to conceal any of her bottom. Strange though it felt, she was grateful at least for the loose pouch that offered some coverage at the front.

"Okay. Let's go," Evan nodded. He leaned around the corner to the main corridor then waved the two girls on as he saw it was deserted.

The three friends walked awkwardly down the corridor away from the reception area, Fran trying her best to walk naturally as if she weren't wearing a set of barely adequate mismatched clothes. In front of her, Katie had her fingers hooked through the belt loops of Evan's jeans, desperately trying to keep them up as she half-walked, half-hopped forward. Together, they made their way down the stairs to the basement area with the playing courts, and Fran felt a smile coming to her face for the first time in a while as things began to go their way. But she grimaced again as she heard sounds cutting through the deserted space - she recognized the steady thump and thwack noises of a frantic squash game in progress.

As they arrived at the wooden door to the court, Evan took a peek through the small window set into it, then looked back at the girls.

"It's okay - looks like they're almost finished," he said. "We can probably just wait here..."

He leaned against the wall between the two girls and the three of them stood awkwardly, listening to the noise from the court and glancing nervously around towards the stairs and doors where people might be watching. Katie glanced down at her breasts and tried to tuck the loosening end of the tape surrounding them in place, the adhesive not performing at its best against her slightly damp fur.

After a couple of minutes the noises stopped. Evan leaned around to look through the window again and smiled, putting his hand on Fran's shoulder and stepping back as he saw the players putting their racquets back into the rack near the door. All of them held their breath as the door squeaked open, Fran half-consciously tugging the T-shirt down harder as a ferret and cheetah came through.

"Sorry we kept you waiting!" the panting cheetah said as his partner headed away toward the stairs. Fran's stomach dropped as he looked directly at them with a smile, politely holding the door open.

"Oh - uh, thanks," she said quickly, then scooted around him and dashed through the door with her hands stretching the T-shirt firmly down at the front and back. Katie followed as quickly as she could with her bizarre stiff shuffle, and Evan blushed as the cheetah gave him a nod and a grin as he passed by.

"There it is," Fran pointed at the corkboard next to the door as it swung shut behind them, where the clue was pinned up next to various announcements and tournament signups. "It says... 'Do you like watching swimmers? Go and see the ones who never leave their pool.'"

The three of them looked at each other for a few moments. "The koi pond?" Katie suggested.

"Yeah!" Evan agreed, pointing enthusiastically at her. "You know, if it weren't for the naked thing, this would be pretty fun..."

"Shh." Fran pinched her forehead. "How are we going to get to the corner of the garden?! It's miles away from the doors..."

"Well..." Evan spoke up again, then hesitated. "You... could get there by going through the mud pit..."

"The whuh?" Katie's eyes widened as she shuddered visibly. She was now clasping what was left of the tape at her chest herself, one loop of it hanging loose around her waist.

"Have you never tried it?" Evan asked, surprised. "They put it in a month ago... the beaver twins are in there all the time, they say it's great for your fur."

"Cinn and Bunn have said a couple of things today that haven't worked out great for us," grumbled Katie, then her eyes widened. "Wait... are they in on this? Is that why they were so keen on having us try the ice bath?"

"I bet it is," Fran nodded. "So that's two more people we need to have a serious talk with soon..."

"Where do we go, Evan?" Katie asked, looking past him at the noticeboard where a small fire exit map was tacked up.

"It's right at the end," Evan said, pointing. "The other stairs will get us right to it - I'll make sure nobody's up there..."

He hurried out of the door and immediately leapt backwards, nearly toppling the two girls behind him over as he slammed it shut again. Wordlessly, he peered through the window and Fran and Katie squeezed in to see - the older mouse that Fran had seen in the reception area was making her way down the stairs opposite the ones they had come down by. As she alighted, she glanced towards their door through her dark glasses and they all ducked in unison - after a few moments, Fran straightened up again, but the mouse had vanished.

"She was probably heading to the yoga room down there," Evan pointed at the corridor off to their left. "Quick, let's go..."

The trio made their way out of the court and to the opposite stairs, the girls staying behind as Evan crept up ahead of them in a furtive crouch. Poking the top of his head above the border of the stairwell, he looked carefully to his left and right. Slowly, he stretched his arm out behind him, scooped his hand forward then closed his fist and waved it firmly up and down.

"He was up past midnight playing Covert Squadron..." Fran sighed, guessing as to the meaning of the gesture and starting up the steps. Katie crept up keeping close behind her, and Evan beckoned them past him, pointing at the corridor to the right.

Fran slipped around the corner and immediately saw the mud room door, with a large warning sign about washing feet before leaving. She opened the door carefully, wrinkling her nose at the warm air and earthy smell, and her eyes widened at the scene in front of her. The room was arranged as a U-shaped tiled floor with a set of steps on either side leading down into the mudbath in the middle. Rather than the unpleasant soily mass she had anxiously been picturing, the pool was filled with a smooth, thick but not entirely disgusting-looking light gray substance. Where the pool met the outer wall, a heavy plastic curtain was draped across the thick surface, with the pool continuing outdoors.

Realizing she was standing in the way, Fran stepped forwards as the others came in, Katie staring with wide eyes and one hand over her mouth, the other still engaged supporting the few slivers of tape that remained clinging to her chest.

"Oh my... god, what’s in this stuff?" she gasped, staring at the expanse of smooth mud.

"Zinc, magnesium and essential oils, it says here," Evan said, reading from a sign on the wall. "And they mix it with mineral w..."

"Okay, okay..." Katie interrupted him. "And this is the best way to get outside?"

"I... think so," he replied. "The pond's right there, opposite the end of the mud pool."

"All right," Fran said, trying to think through their options. "We'll go outside in case Sam's put our stuff there - Evan, you find her and get them back if she's put them anywhere else!"

"Got it." Evan half-turned to the door, then glanced down at himself in realization. "Uh, do you think I could have my clothes back...?"

Fran looked at herself and Katie's mismatched outfits. "Okay," she agreed. "Turn around again..."

Evan did so, and Katie gratefully abandoned the rest of the tape with a long exhale. Fran moved to assist the mouse as she grabbed the jeans by the pockets, straining as she tried to force them downward. Fran joined in, holding on at the back and succeeding in pulling them off her hips on the third try. As Katie hurriedly peeled them down her legs, Fran took Evan's shirt off and put it over his head. As he popped out again, she stretched around and gave him a kiss.

"Thanks for the help," she said, handing his trunks back. "When I get hold of Sam..."

"I'll sort things out," he nodded. "Do you need help getting in?"

"I think I've got it..." Fran took a breath and then put one foot into the pool, her fur bristling at the feeling of the stuff slipping between her toes. Slowly she put her weight on her submerged foot, holding on to the rubber-gripped surface of the handrail as she gradually eased herself in.

"At least it's warm!" she observed. "It's like, uh, dipping into... pancake batter or something..."

She hovered her arms at shoulder height to keep her hands out of the pool, unsure if the comparison had done much to encourage Katie. Stepping off the last stair, she looked down at the mud which had swallowed her up to just above her hips, a ring of opaque grey mud clinging to her fur just above the surface. She gasped at the bizarre feeling as she pushed against the thick stuff to walk unsteadily through it.

"I might be able to just go and get it myself, Katie..." she said, slowly turning around to face her.

"No, I'm coming in - even being in this stuff is better than standing around here naked!" the mouse replied. She walked down the first step and yeeped as her toes went under the surface. "God, and I thought the ice bath was the worst thing I'd be in today..."

"It'll keep you covered," Evan tried to encourage her, still staring stoically at the wall. "It'll be like, uh... a full body censor bar..."

"Ugh..." the mouse groaned, but moved forward again, her foot feeling around under the surface for the next step. Suddenly there was a crash from behind her and she squeaked and stumbled forward. She shrieked as she glopped into the mud, landing in a kneeling position with the stuff up to her shoulders. She scrabbled her hands in front of her and stretched her neck back to keep her head above the surface, and Fran put her hands up to defend herself as a heavy ripple of the grey slime rolled towards her, twitching as it slapped against her tummy.

"You okay?" Evan asked from above.

"Yeah, we're fine - go and get Sam!" Fran insisted. Evan took off back through the door and she turned to help Katie up.

"What was that?!" the mouse whispered frantically, eeping as she got into a standing position, painted from her neck down in a smooth layer of grey.

"It was just a broom or something falling down in the closet," Fran shook her head, pointing at the door nearby with a cleaning symbol on it. "Come on, let's hurry up..."

"Yeah," Katie said. "Oh... I guess Evan could have just gone out and got the clue for us before he left..."

"Wh...!" Fran spun around to the door, physically flinching as the realization of the obvious solution crashed over her. "Ugh. Okay, too late now," she said, shaking her head. "Let's just get it and get out of this stuff..."

Katie nodded and made for the plastic curtain that divided the indoor and outdoor sections of the pool, bouncing in a strange walk through the pool and scooping her hands in front of her to help her progress. Fran followed the mouse as she pushed her way through the curtain then put her hand up to catch it as it flapped back, flinching as the slightly cooler air of the outdoor section of the onsen reminded her of her nudity. Another reminder came as she heard the faint chatter of voices from the other end of the garden area - at their sound she dipped forward and wriggled down, glancing left and right as she made sure her chest was concealed under the gloopy surface.

"I see it!" She looked up again as Katie whispered back to her, one hand on the lip of the mud pool as she pointed her finger across the garden area at the fenced-in koi pond several metres away across the grass. A fluttering sheet of paper, recognizable even from their current position as one of Sam's clues, was impaled on a hook supporting a plant on the pond's edge.

Still hovering her hands above the surface as she wriggled her way through the smooth grey slime, Fran moved to catch up with her. "Maybe I can run across quickly..." she muttered to herself. She stretched forward to look past a conveniently placed statue that was blocking them from being seen from most of the rest of the garden, but cringed as she saw a group of workers from the spa having their lunch at a picnic bench - only five of them, but still the most people they had seen around the building that day.

"Oh noooo..." Katie peeked out from behind Fran's head, her ears drooping. "Can we just wait 'til they're gone?"

"They don't look like they're moving any time soon..." Fran replied. She turned around to face Katie, briefly gasping at the sensation of the mud swirling around her. "Actually... now we’re covered in this stuff, maybe we could get you over there... you might be able to look like you’re not naked..."

"Hey, why me?" the mouse whispered back.

"‘Cause you’ve got long hair! Cover your boobs like Lady Godiva, watch..."

Fran reached forward and Katie wriggled closer to her, watching anxiously as her rabbit friend pulled a handful of her green hair forward over both her shoulders. As the rabbit nodded down at her she raised her hands up away from her front, letting Fran drop the mud-caked ends of her hair to slap against her breasts. She squeaked as Fran dipped her hands into the mud and gently smoothed the strands of hair down to make sure they stayed in place.

"There... instant bikini top," she announced, hopping back a little to give the mouse some space.

Katie spread her arms and looked down at herself. "You think it'll stop them noticing?" she asked.

"Uh... yeah, it'll work great," Fran said quickly. "Come on, let's get this over with - before anyone else comes out here..."

"Okay..." Katie replied unsurely, and turned to put her hands on the edge of the mud pool closest to the pond. She hopped up against the floor, her arms quaking as she slowly tried to pull herself upwards.

Fran sloshed over behind her to help, but hesitated unsure where to put her hands as the mouse began to wriggle her hips free of the mud. Ducking down, she vaguely nudged her shoulder against Katie's bare bottom, bracing her feet on the pool's base to push her up and on to the lip of the pool where she briefly lay panting in a spreading puddle of grey goo.

Katie glanced nervously to the occupied tables at the other end of the garden area, slowly getting up and hovering her hands awkwardly between covering herself up and keeping them out for balance. She finally stood and took a shaky step forward. Fran watched the nude mouse doing her best to stay casual as she stepped across the small strip of grass away from her, walking carefully so as not to slip as the slimy grey mud drizzled from along her tail. As she approached the pond she stretched forward to grab one of the fenceposts with one hand, the other held between her legs.

The rabbit cringed a little as the mouse carefully bent over the fence, her mud-plastered rear prominently in the air as she stretched and fumbled to reach the sheet of paper left pierced on the hook. Finally she grabbed it, tearing it off its mooring - turning back, she gasped as she caught a glimpse of the tables again and squeaked as she began sprinting back towards Fran.

"Katie, no--" Fran yelped before ducking and covering her head, a shadow flitting over her as the mouse took a flying leap and cannonballed back into the mud pool, a massive flower of the thick goo ballooning up around her splashdown point.

Fran kept her face down and her arm hooked over her head until the muddy rain spattered to a halt, then uncurled herself slowly. Next to her, an indistinct blob heaved out of the rippling grey goo, curtains of the stuff slithering away slowly and splotting back on to the pool's surface. Gradually, the outline of Katie's head was revealed, now entirely painted in mud with her hair plastered heavily to her head. Grimacing, she brought a hand to her face and blew out hard through her nose to clear it.

"Are you okay...?" Fran bobbed forward and used her clean hands to wipe the mud away from Katie's eyes. She blinked them open and nodded dazedly, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead as more slippery drips of the stuff crawled down from her hair.

"Where did the clue go?" she asked, twisting around to look for it. Fran struggled back towards the curtain leading inside and reached out to pick up the laminated piece of paper from where it was floating, holding it by two fingers and lifting it up as the mud trickled off it.

"Come on, quick..." The barely recognizable mouse nodded, still wiping at her face, and paddled herself forward. Together, they lifted the curtain and sighed with relief as they returned to the empty mudbath room.

"Hey, Fran..." Katie said as she looked around, "...how do we get out of here?"

Fran had just been worrying about the same thing - being coated in mud had worked well for Katie outside but it was going to have the opposite effect indoors. Suddenly her eyes alighted on the hose arrangement in the opposite corner from the door.

"There! We can wash ourselves down - take turns keeping lookout..." she pointed.

She bobbed over to the side of the slimy pool and took hold of the handrail carefully, the bumps helping her slippery hands to grip it. Slowly she pulled herself upwards, wriggling her hips to pull them out of the mud. She twitched at the sound and feel of the stuff crawling down her fur and dripping off her. Suddenly she squeaked and let go, splurging back into the pool as the door squeaked open in front of her.

"Oh - hello there!" It was the mouse they had caught glimpses of a couple of other times that day, now wearing a swimming cap tightly across her head but still in her tracksuit. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she continued in a cracked voice. She smiled and came closer, Fran trying to hide her cringe then ducking further back down into the gloop as she approached.

"Do you girls need help getting out?" she asked as she carefully lowered herself down, crouching next to the ladder out of the pool and offering a hand.

"Oh - y..." Fran almost reached out to her before realizing. "Ah... no, thanks. Actually I'd like to stay in a bit longer - what about you, Katie?" The mouse hesitated, then caught on, nodding rapidly and sending streaks of the grey stuff flying out from her hair and face. "Is it okay if we're in here with you?"

"Heh - you must really love this stuff," the lady continued with a grin. A lock of brown hair bounced out from under her swim cap and she hurriedly tucked it up again.

"What, the mud pit? Yeah, it feels amazing!" Katie exclaimed, acting to the best of her ability. She wrung each hand through the other and flicked the grey slime back into the pool then did her best to clear the stuff dripping in strings over her eyes.

"Yeah, I could stay in here all day," Fran agreed. She tried to stop herself wincing at the mud clinging to her hair from her sudden splashdown, heavy and wet against the back of her neck.

The woman grinned, then slowly stood back up. Fran smiled, her heart still thumping but believing she'd convinced her - then suddenly the mouse turned around to face away from the pool.

"Okay! You heard them!" she called.

"What?" Fran asked, following her gaze. The closet at the side of the room clicked open.

"WHAT?" Katie joined in, scrabbling at Fran and whirling her around to face her in a half-hug, pressing her chest against Fran's to hide them both. Cinn stepped around the closet door, followed closely by Bunn.

"Wh..." Fran began to repeat but faltered, the word seeming inadequate.

"Hmph," Cinn said with one hand on her hip, looking down at the mud-coated rabbit and mouse and then back across the pool. "All right. I guess you win."

"Free pastries for the rest of the month!" the mouse cackled in a familiar voice. Fran and Katie stood gaping in the mud, looking back and forth between the beavers and mouse talking over them.

"Just don't eat us out of business..." Bunn added.

"No promises!" the mouse grinned. She had removed her swim cap and was blinking her eyes, grinning as she looked down at them without the glasses. From down in the mud pit, Katie and Fran both suddenly saw past the different hairstyle and colouring, and noticed the tinges of gray around her eyes where the blue fur dye hadn't reached - the two of them realized who it was at exactly the same moment.

"Sam...!"

---

Katie, Fran and Cinn were seated on cushions around the large, low table in front of the spa's fireplace near the reception area. Both Fran and Katie were wrapped up in large fluffy bathrobes from the spa, their hair still wet after their long showers. Across from them, Cinn coughed awkwardly as she played with her phone - despite the welcome heat from the artificial flames, there was a definite frosty atmosphere hanging in the air.

"Cocoa for everyone!" Bunn announced, arriving from the direction of the cafe counter with a tray. She handed out the porcelain mugs carefully then put the tray down in the middle of the table with a heap of shortbread on a plate. Taking one, she sat down next to her sister.

"So... uh, yeah. Sorry about all of that," Cinn spoke up, fiddling with the handle of her cup.

"You're smirking!" Katie grumbled. She reached out and took a couple of biscuits from the plate anyway, handed one across to Fran and cupped her hands around her own mug. She snuggled down further into her dressing gown, bringing her cocoa in close.

"Okay, it's true - we made a bet with Sam that she couldn't get you into the mud pit naked," Bunn admitted. "And I'm going to say it - that might have been a teeny mistake," she continued, holding her hands up with her palms out towards them. "But we didn't know she'd set all this up! Who'd have thought she'd make up a whole treasure hunt and a disguise..."

"What do we always say? Never! Trust! Sam!" Fran responded, silently making the gesture of thumping her fist on the table with each word and accidentally smashing her shortbread to bits. She glanced down at it, then back at the beaver sisters. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Oh - she... made a strategic exit when you were in the showers," Cinn said. "Evan went after her - I think she knows she's got to lie low for a while after this..."

"Maybe somewhere like... space, for a while..." Katie sighed into her mug. Fran shuffled a bit closer to her and extended a hand into her lap.

"I'll tell you what," Bunn said, seeing the mouse's lingering upset. "To make it up to you, we'll go shopping together next weekend and you can both pick out a new outfit - Sam and I are paying."

"Huh. Thanks," Katie mumbled, still staring into her hot chocolate.

"And I'm gonna go one better..." Cinn added with a sly smile, "I'm gonna help you get your own back on her!"

This time, Katie looked up. Beside her, Fran sat up straight and leaned forward as well.

The beaver grinned over at them emerging a little from their fluffy cocoons. "I've wanted to do this for ages - we owe her one for that time we went to the beach and she swapped our swimsuits for those novelty melting ones too..."

"Now, that was a good one!" Bunn cackled.

"But this is gonna be something else..." Cinn smiled, then leaned across to Fran and Katie again. "You ever seen Cleanup Crew? The TV show?"

"No..." Fran replied, and turned to Katie who was shaking her head.

"Well, take a look at this." Bunn grabbed her tablet computer from the table and tapped it to wake it up, then flicked her fingers across the screen.

"It's a game show where kids can bring their teachers on and get back at them - you know..." Cinn explained as Bunn called up the video she was looking for. "Have you ever met Mathis? He comes in every Monday morning on a pastry run for his office at the studio, and I think he can pull some strings for us... what do you say we get them to put Sam into this?"

Bunn turned the tablet around and handed it across the table. She smiled as Fran and Katie huddled together over the screen, watching their expressions carefully. She smirked as their eyes both went wide at the view of the scene, then as the action played out and roaring cheers sounded from the tablet's speakers, the beaver sisters laughed together at the mouse and rabbit's shocked gasps.

"That's got to get her back for the mudbath, eh?" Bunn asked. Her smile became a wide grin as Fran and Katie looked at each other, their nervous smiles becoming a little more genuine at the encouragement. "Come on - what do you say?"