"So how does this place work?" Nick asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like is there room service, or is there a restaurant, or what?"

"Yes," Sumire answered with a smile.

"Huh?" Nick looked at his translator.

"You're going to see customer service taken to a whole new level here, Nick-san," Sumire told him.

"Well, it's definitely a beautiful suite," he said, looking around.

They walked around, admiring the rooms, the craftsmanship of the scrolls and floors, and the view. And what Nick had assumed was a "hot tub" was actually a huge, sunken, natural pool of hot water that filled directly from the hot springs and opened to the outdoors.

"Wow, excuse the fuck out of the me," he said in an awed voice. "This place is spectacular."

"And we have 'Mr. Burns' to thank for all of this, you should know," Sumire said with a chuckle.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Nick asked, turning to look at her.

"Well, here's what happened, near as I can figure," Sumire said, gesturing at a chair in the small seating nook next to the veranda. Hot tea was already laid out and waiting for them, along with some snacks to tide them over while they waited for their dinner.

"All this was arranged through the studio, of course," Sumire said, gesturing to the gorgeous suite, the sunken pool, the view.

Nick unwrapped a rice cracker as he nodded.

"So then 'Mr. Burns' filled out the requisition forms, and he definitely put that he was a man," Sumire said as she grabbed an osembei for herself. "Mrs. Yamada? The nice lady from the front desk? She showed me the paper, and it said that S. Burns-san was a man for sure, I saw it with my own two eyes. And S. Burns-san also was the person who asked the studio to upgrade you to this super deluxe suite because you were an American and might not necessarily be used to the rustic conditions out here in the countryside of rural Japan."

Sumire took a sip of her tea.

"You're kidding!" Nick set his cup down and stared at Sumire. "That girl we just met lied on the app and said she was a man so she could share this suite with me? And she pulled the 'spoiled American' card to get this luxury suite for us to share for the duration of the shoot? With the ginormous sunken hot tub and everything?"

Sumire nodded.

"So she planned a whole seduction thing, huh?" Nick said, winking at Sumire. "With the sunken hot pool, sharing a suite and all? I'm surprised there isn't a heart-shaped bed."

"And you just snaked it out from under her and gave her place to me," Sumire finished with a tiny grin that Nick found absolutely adorable. "So now she's somewhere in one of those smaller buildings downstream sharing a tiny room with some girl she's never met. And not only that, but she thought she had this plum job of being your translator for the next five months, of spending every waking moment with you, which would basically be an all access pass to every part of the shoot and the set. Or if you went out to party or whatever, too, I bet?" Sumire took another drink of tea and shook her head. "God, Nick-san, she must be furious. And she must hate me." She hoisted her tea. "Thanks so much."

Nick looked concerned. "I guess I did kind of fuck up her plans. You think she might try to get revenge on you or something? Should I get her booted from the shoot?"

Sumire looked at Nick, shocked.

"No! That would be so mean!" She lowered her voice, though there was no one to hear her. "Besides, could you do that?"

Nick grinned at her. "You're such a rube, Mimi-chan. I'm the star, I can do pretty much anything."

Just then there was a knock at their door.

"Oh, must be dinner."

"Omachidosama!" a cheerful voice called, which translated roughly to "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Two women came in and set out their dinner on the low table with a quickness and efficiency that bespoke years of practice. There were many small plates and bowls of sauces and dips, beautifully prepared plates of fish and tempura. They bowed and left Nick and Sumire to their meal.

"Whoa," Nick said, impressed again. "This looks amazing! Let's eat."
So the two young people fell to with gusto, not even talking for the first few minutes. Nick noticed Sumire sighed a couple of times, and smiled.
"Enjoying your food?" he asked when he heard her sigh for the third time.
"Yeah, why?"
"No reason," he assured her.
She gave him a narrow-eyed look, but let it go.
Nick looked around. "I don't see any beds," he remarked. "Where do we sleep?"
Sumire smiled as she swallowed her fish. "After we finish eating, they'll come clear all this away, and take the table and all that. Then they'll get the bedding out of those closets right there, which are called oshi-ire, and lay them out for us, probably with some nice, Japanese, kimono style pajamas. Then, in the morning, they'll lay out our breakfast in that little room over there, and clean all of this up after we're gone, and get the room ready for dinner again." She looked at Nick to see his reaction.
He stared at her. "And they're going to do that every day?"

Sumire nodded.

"The whole five months we're here?"

She nodded again.

"And we'r not supposed to tip them?"

She shook her head.

"Wow." Nick shook his head in amazement. "You're right, that is customer service on a whole other level, isn't it?"

"'Mr. Burns' really arranged a sweet deal for herself, didn't she?" Sumire remarked with a smile.

Nick stared at his friend.

"What?" Sumire stared back.

"Nothing, it's just, you aren't usually snarky, that's all. This is quite a change for you, you know?"

Sumire shrugged. "I guess so. Should I be embarrassed? Or ashamed? I guess I'm not being very nice, huh? I just can't believe the--the balls on some people, you know?"

Nick, who was taking a drink, nearly snarfed his water at her word choice.

"It's just so rude, you know?" She looked at Nick, quietly indignant. "I mean, she might as well hit you over the head with a rock. She's trying to take away your choices, to force you into a relationship with her, or at the very least, sex with her. I don't understand it, that's all."

Nick put his glass down and looked at his friend. "You're right, and I understand what you're saying. It's just very different from how most of the world thinks, that's all." He nodded. "The world would be a better place if more people were like you, Mimi-chan."

It had grown dark while they were eating, and cooled off a little. They'd been considering going for a walk, but decided to wait until the next day, when they could see where they were going. The local village was supposed to be very picturesque.

"So how about we hop in the pool?" Nick suggested. "We've spent the last few days on planes, trains, in cars, and on boats, you know? A nice, long, soak, some wine, then early to bed? Sound good?"

Sumire bit her lip.

"What?"

"I'm not super relaxed being in front of people in a bathing suit," Sumire said apologetically. "I know it's dumb--"

"No, no, not dumb, don't say that," Nick began, wishing he'd thought before speaking. "You can wear a shirt over your suit? Would that work?"

Sumire shook her head. "No, I don't want to do that. I don't want to keep being weird, especially in front of you, you know? I know you're not looking at me like that, I know you don't want to hurt me or anything, so I should just try, I think."

Nick looked at her. "Okay, if you're sure. And it's pretty dark in there, if that makes a difference. All I want to do is have some wine and unwind, honest."

"I know that, Nick-san. I do." Sumire nodded. "Let's get in and unwind."

So they slid the shoji closed, changed, and met in the cool, dim room which contained the rocky pool from which steam rose in curling tendrils.

Sumire had of course seen Nick in swim trunks before, from his movies, and his modeling days. He was probably fifteen or twenty pounds heavier than when he'd walked the runways in Paris, but he was still very toned, with ripped abs and broad shoulders. If Sumire had been the kind of person who noticed those things, she would have seen that Nick was, with his long, sinewy legs and well-defined V-line, a smokin-hot guy.

But all she noticed was that her very good friend wasn't wearing very many clothes, and that it made her feel uncomfortable and unsettled.

She for her part was wearing a very modest one piece suit, meant to cover her body for swimming, and that was all. It made no concessions to vanity or beauty, there were no excess ruffles or sparkles anywhere, which suited her just fine.

None of that mattered to Nick, however. He saw her approaching the pool and smiled at how pretty she looked, at how he could finally see her hips, the narrowing of her waist, her small breasts, even her arms were exposed to him for the first time in his memory.

He carefully looked away before she noticed him looking at her, and only approached her with a glass of wine after she was submerged in the warm water up to her shoulders.

"Mm, thanks, Nick-san, this was a great idea," Sumire murmured, accepting the glass. She leaned out and pushed a button, which rolled the roof canopy back so they could see the stars.

After a few minutes, the same two women came to clear away dinner.

"Shitsurei shimasu! Please excuse us!" they called as they entered the suite. They slid the doors to the pool closed so Nick and Sumire would have privacy, and called out "Oyasuminasai!" or "Good night!" a few minutes later when they left.

"Every night?" Nick asked as he sipped his wine.

Sumire nodded.

"Amazing."

After a few minutes, Sumire spoke, sounding as quiet and relaxed as Nick had ever heard her. "So, tomorrow, we poke around the village, walk around, see what's what, do a whole lotta nothing, then the next day we go to the set, right? That's the plan?"

Nick nodded, eyes closed, leaning his head back against the cool stone. "Sounds like a plan, cutie."

Sumire laughed.

"What? You're laughing because I called you 'cutie'?"

"Not exactly."

"What, then?"

"In Japanese, the word for cucumber is 'kyu-ri,' which sounds a lot like 'cutie,' that's all. You know, because of that alveolar flap thing? How R and L sound kind of like a D?" Sumire, who also had her eyes closed, opened one and looked over at Nick. "So when you call me that, it sounds like you're calling me cucumber." She shrugged and closed her eye again.

Nick joined in her laughter. "That is funny," he agreed. "As long as you don't call me that, right?" he continued. "That would be funny in a whole different way."

This made Sumire laugh even louder.

They finally got out, enjoying the cool air after the hot water, and slid open the door to the main room, which was where Nick would be sleeping.

The table was indeed gone. Where it had been, thick bedding had been laid out. Shikibuton, which were the ones he would lie on, were covered by light, summer comforters, or kakebuton, which were turned down invitingly, all ready for Nick. A summer sleeping garment, or yukata, was folded on top of his pillow, for him to wear or not, as he chose.

"Oh, man, that looks so comfortable," Nick said. He looked over in the other room, where something similar was laid out for Sumire.

They both got changed into their yukata, which were cotton and very cool, and met in the bathroom to brush their teeth.

"I guess they get a lot of gaijin here," Sumire remarked after he rinsed her mouth.

"Why do you say that?"

"You're what, six foot three? I can't believe there are that many Japanese men your height around, but they have a yukata that fits you?" Sumira gestured at what he was wearing. "Anyway, it looks good on you, Nick-san. Oyasuminasai."

She unthinkingly leaned in and kissed his cheek, only realizing what she'd done as she leaned back, startled.

Nick blinked at her, reaching to touch his cheek where her soft lips had brushed against his skin.

"Um, I didn't--uh, I didn't mean--"

"Shh, oyasuminasai, Mimi-chan. Go to bed."