Hank entered Rio's bedroom to find her supplicating herself before him, performing the deepest shin bow she could manage. She stayed on her knees with her face to the floor long after he'd seen enough.

"Get up, he said, but she refused.

"Goshujin," she said to the floor. "I beg for mercy."

He gave up on forcing her to stand and headed for her walk-in bathtub. "If you want forgiveness," he said as he opened the door to the tub, "make a pot of coffee."

He fiddled with the water jets and temperature knobs as he filled the tub. It was a bit short for his long limbs, but its depth and the built-in seat were nice. He relaxed by hanging one leg out the tub while lowering his nose to the water. When he resurfaced, he was rewarded by the smell of coffee brewing.

After playing with the some of the bath items he found around the tub, Hank dozed for a bit. He awoke to find Rio standing a respectful distance away while performing a motionless saikeirei bow. She had put on a pink and yellow Lolita kimono with lacy organza trim, held shut by a giant orange sash. A huge image of Hello Kittycat was plastered on its left side. She had her hair piled high on her head, using a rainbow of clips and ribbons.

Hank tensed due to his vulnerable posture, as he sat in nearly a meter of sudsy warm water. He relaxed when he noticed Rio holding two steaming mugs of coffee, one in each of her hands.

"Extra sugar, cream and an ice cube," she said with her eyes to the floor, adding, "Hai?" after a pause. She presented his mug with her arm straight out, bowing her head lower than her hand.

Hank rose to a more seated position and assessed Rio's odd behavior. "Yes," he said. "Dōmo. That is right."

"Hai," Rio repeated. She walked towards him while bowing repeatedly, taking tiny steps like a geisha. She reached over him to place his mug on a ledge along the far side of the tub and then put hers on a table beside him, near his shoulder.

With her hands tucked in the sleeves of her kimono, she backed out of the room while still bowing. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Master. I will return."

Hank rolled his eyes. "I like crabby Rio better," he muttered to himself.

"Hai," she said, making him jump, as she now stood directly behind him.

Rio placed an oak bucket holding warm warm and two body brushes on the table by her coffee. Lowering herself to her knees, she arranged the little tubes of soap and lotion that sat on the table. She then rose up to reach over Hank and retrieve his coffee from the ledge. After handing it to him, she waited for him to take a drink before sipping some of hers.

She let her kimono open up during these maneuvers to show him she was naked underneath. With his nose having been down her kimono several times, his manhood responded appropriately. Fortunately, the depth of the water kept it from bobbing around on the surface.

Rio, however, did not once make a living performing sōpu sōpu without knowing how to keep her guest aroused. She reached over Hank's body again and placed her mug on the ledge next to his, giving him another good look down her kimono. Afterwards, she opened it fully and then closed it, as if it needed adjusting. She gave her crotch and breasts a good rubdown while doing so, for her pleasure as well as his.

Settling into her work, she chose a fat tube of clear liquid soap. After rolling up her sleeves, she squeezed a huge glob of the soap into one hand, until it ran thick between her fingers. After putting down the tube, she lathered both her arms with soap up to her elbows. Then using her hands and forearms, she coated Hank's chest with the stuff, slickening him until he shined. She lifted each of his arms from the water and lathered them from their pits to his fingertips, taking her sweet time. Afterwards she reached into the tub and, with more globs of soap from the tube, pulled out and lathered his legs. Her fingers lingered between them, where the touch of her hand was most needed.

When Rio was certain Hank was satisfied with the state of arousal she had delivered, she rose up and stood before him. She again leaned over him as he sat in the tub, this time making him take hold of the orange sash on her kimono. He unwrapped her as she twirled, shaking off the kimono once it had been opened and letting it fall to the floor. Now naked, she took the tube of clear soap and held it high above her head, squeezing it with both hands. The soap ran in rivulets down her breasts and over each of her nipples, falling onto Hank's chest. She placed that tube in the bucket and chose one that was tangerine colored and heavily scented. After squeezing gobs of that soap onto her chest, she lathered her entire body, until she was covered in white.

Between the fruity scent of Rio and the fresh brewed coffee, the bathroom smelled like Heaven. She rinsed her hands in the bucket and took a big slug from her mug.

"Would you like me to warm yours?" she asked, posing to let him admire her.

Hank blinked, his brain already fried. "My coffee," he said once he realized what she had asked. "No, Honey Cup. But thank you."

Rio bowed very deep. "Hai," she said to the floor.

She worked the controls for the tub until the center half of the ledge became a waterfall, spilling forth warm water. He marveled under its flow as she slipped into the tub, kneeling between his legs while he remained on the seat. Each of them moved with caution to keep the tub from overflowing until they found the perfect position, with his penis between her breasts.

She resumed her duties, scrubbing his rod with her tits and hands. She lathered up again with more soap from the tubes on the table, making sure his meat pressed against her pussy whenever she reached for one.

"Goshujin," she said with a smile. "Crabby Rio will return. Now she is Mizu Shōbai Girl, as you can plainly see."

She stood up and placed herself on display before turning her back to scissor one of his legs. After rubbing her soapy body up and down it, she straddled his other leg and did the same. Then turning to again face him, she lowered herself between his legs until the water was up to her chin. From there, she slid up his erection until their nipples met.

She spoke with her lips against his. "For as long as you want her, my sweet."

Bumbles determined the length of the bath by reminding the two lovebirds of the fact that he hadn't been walked yet today. Back in her room and wearing just panties, Rio laid out two outfits, side by side on her bed. When Hank entered the room while still in the nude, she held each outfit up by its hangar, seeking his approval. One was crisp and blue, a pencil skirt with a matching blazer that had black accents on the lapels. The other was more of a schoolgirl skirt; a dusty ginger red, billowy and inviting. It was paired with a flouncy white blouse that had ruffles running down its center.

"Which do you like?" she asked in earnest.

"I like them both," he said, sipping at his coffee.

Rio scolded with her eyes to the floor. "Goshujin."

He approached after placing his mug on her dresser. "I'm serious," he said. "You look gorgeous all the time. I mean, look at what I plan on wearing."

He gestured with his eyes at a pair of his signature brushed black denim jeans and a Persian blue cotton pullover. Rio could pay this no mind. She swooned as she inhaled, his scented body so close to hers, his manhood half-hard and inviting. He faced her and, with kindness, took the hangars from her hands to place the outfits back on the bed. Then filling his hands with her pantied butt cheeks, her scooped her warm mound towards him.

"Don't you ever wear jeans?" he asked as they kissed. "Or just a plain shirt or something?"

Her nipples hardened like stone as she played with fistfuls of his sandy mane. "I dress right for business hours," she said in a professional voice.

He released her after one more squeeze of her pantied butt. "Business hours?" he mocked, turning retrieve his coffee. "We're doing business together?"

She gawked at his gorgeous ass. "I take your training seriously."

He laughed. "You're training me?"

She put on the pencil skirt. "Hai. People want us dead. You are preventing that."

Hank couldn't deny the fact. He set his coffee back down on the dresser and held Rio by her hands, looking at the space between them.

"I'm so scared," he said in a calm voice. "That plane almost killed me. I mean, it should have killed me." He looked into her eyes. "It should have killed you!"

She smiled. "But it didn't. And do you know why? Because I heard your call. 'Rio-chan, come to me,' you said. 'Do not run away.'"

"Leanne was so helpful," he said to show humility. "When I told her what happened, she knew what to do."

"Hai. She is my rock. I love her very much."

"Did you get a hold of her?"

"Nanimonai. Nothing. Her phone is still off."

"Well, you left a message, so she'll know. She's bound to call eventually."

"I can't imagine life without her."

Hank wrapped Rio up in his arms. They squeezed each other hard, she topless and he still naked.

"Honey Cup…" he said before pausing.

"My sweet?" she whispered in his ear.

"I… I swear I saw her die."

Rio's response was shocking. "Hai. And I did too."

"The truck? You saw it kill her?"

"I didn't see it. I felt it. It was horrid."

They hugged in silence for a while. "What happened?" he asked.

"She was saved."

Hank pressed his head to Rio's temple. He tried reading her mind, but she Prevented him.

"By who?" he asked. "By you?"

She ran her hands up his back, to enjoy the feel of his muscles and the hair of his chest on her breasts. "No," she said. "It wasn't me."

He kissed her on the ear. "Was it me?" he asked into it, quiet as a mouse.

Rio sighed and massaged his shoulders. She then stepped back and returned to holding hands. In respect, she kept her eyes to the floor.

"There's a bushidō saying," she began. "When one man receives a wish, it's a miracle. When two receive one, they are blessed." She raised their four hands to her chin, and with them, raised her eyes to meet his. "But when three or more receive a wish, it is a gift from God."

"I don't understand."

"It doesn't translate well, you see. It means Leanne wasn't meant to die. Bad Reality Makers conspire against us, but others—good people like you and me—they knew her death was a wrong. And so you see, she was saved."

"Other Reality Makers? You and me?"

Rio cast her eyes down. "I don't think I am blessed."

Hank disagreed, but stayed on topic. "Well then. Who?"

She turned away and resumed getting dressed. "Hank-sama, I do not know. I am sorry. I don't. Why do you think it to not be you?"

Hank donned a pair of boxer briefs while Rio put on a chemise. "I don't think I'm blessed either," he said.

"Well, you are wrong. You are."

She put on the blue blazer and left the room to ready Bumbles for their walk. "And it was a miracle," she added, speaking so only the dog could hear. "You brought her back from the dead."