[h2][center][u][b]Route 112[/b][/u][/center][/h2]

"Head for the giant steaming volcano," Keoni repeated the advice they'd been given by the tourist centre. "Well it's certainly hard to miss, isn't it?" Sirocco ducked his head in agreement. He'd been flying for two hours, with a short break Keoni practically had to force him to take. Only the sight of the desert had persuaded Sirocco to stay down long enough to rest, listening to his fellow Flygon in the sandstorm. But now they were finally almost there. Keoni, if he sat up in the saddle, could already see Lavaridge Town. Asuna had been right about the hot springs. It seemed every house had one. He'd have to put a little effort into finding her house.

Crouching back down, he noticed a convoy travelling towards town. "Wonder what that is." Keoni rubbed Sirocco's flank. Despite the flygon's unusual stamina for his size, he could tell he was getting tired. "Head for that open square," He told Sirocco. "That seems large enough to land in." Acknowledging with another duck of his head, Sirocco pushed on. Keoni found himself with time to think, now that the destination was in sight. He had told Asuna he was coming today, right? Maybe he should have called her from Lilycove. It could be awkward if he just showed up randomly right?

Thankfully, Sirocco touched down shortly after, and saved Keoni the trouble of heading any further down that line. A scream and a flail of red hair knocked him over and ruined any other thoughts he might have had. "I was so scared! I didn't know if you were coming on foot and going through Mauville and getting caught in the blast and getting hurt and then I have to see you in hospital and that would be a horrible way to meet my grandparents. Hello, Sirocco. And you should have told me you were safe and that you were flying here and I didn't have to worry about you and I'm so glad you're safe!"

Keoni coughed, and gently put his arms around the woman with her face buried in his chest. "I missed you too, Asuna." He levered Sirocco's pokeball out and returned the tired pokemon. Well aware of the looks he was getting, he looked down at her. "Can I get up now?" She shook her head with a muffled refusal. "Wouldn't you rather have me trapped like this in a hot spring bath?" Her head popped up, brown eyes wide and lips in a rapidly spreading smile. Her face was narrow and sprinkled with freckles, as if she'd been sneezed on by a gastrodon. Her hair was bright red, and even though it was loose, spread out wildly from her head like a cloud.

"I told you I'd show you the family onsen, didn't I?" She kneeled back, letting him get up. "But first you have to meet my grandfather, and my grandmom, and you can see how big Keni's getting." He stood, dusting himself off as she explained, "Keni's the Litten you gave me. I don't know if she's evolved into a..."

"Torracat," Keoni supplied.

Asuna grabbed his hand and started almost pulling him along the streets, continuing with her chatter. "Yes. I don't know if she's evolved, but she is getting really big, and she wanders around a lot so she might have evolved when I wasn't looking and come back and I don't know if a Torracat is really different to a Litten or just bigger. So you'll have to tell me if she's evolved and what I have to do if she starts coughing up bigger fireballs..." Keoni pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It was one of the few ways he knew to quiet her down, and by far the most satisfying.

"What are you doing with my granddaughter?!" A cloud of mist billowed out from one of the nearby houses, and Keoni looked up to see an old man with a cane frowning at him as a Torkoal blew smoke. Keoni was suddenly very aware that his hands weren't quite on her hips anymore. Despite his tan, he started to blush like a schoolboy.

Asuna, her hands on his chest and a small smile on her face, defused the situation. "Grandpa, this is Keoni. The boy from Alola. I like him and you should be nice to him. He also kisses really well." She kissed him again, a quick peck. "And he's [i]nice[/i]."

"Sir," Keoni greeted the old man with a deep bow. Or he would have, if Asuna pressed against him had given him enough space to move. The movement was really more of an extended nod. "Keoni Mahiki, sir." The old man regarded him with some suspicion, likely because Asuna had started gently walking fingers up Keoni's chest, despite his attempts to look serious. 

The old man tapped the Torkoal, which stopped hissing steam and turned around. "Well, you both better come inside. Asuna! He's staying in the guest room. No shenanigans." Asuna nodded, but her mischievious smile made Keoni wonder how strictly she would follow that decree. He mouthed the word 'shenanigans' at her, and she responded only by sticking out her tongue a little. "And get him to bath before he gets into the onsen!"

Asuna pulled Keoni indoors, leading him through a traditionally decorated home, with wooden floor and paper walls. He wished he had a little more time to examine the various curios on the walls, or even do more than wave kindly to Asuna's grandmother, but she had a mission in mind. "We sometimes have guests who come to visit the hot springs, but they're usually old people who think the heat heals their joints or pains or something, so I like it more that you're going to be sleeping in the guest room."

They finally came to a stop in a room on the ground floor near the back of the house. A kotetsu took up one corner of the space, a low bed the other, and a sliding door open to the back yard. Asuna had fallen silent, chewing on her lip and looking at him oddly, so he asked, "Can I let my Pokémon out? Is there a space for them?"

She nodded, stepping out into their garden. The hot springs were set back from the building, a few trees artfully arranged and trimmed as screens. Most of the area leading there was grass, but a small stone outcropping, the same orange-red as the volcano overhead, struck Keoni as the perfect place for Kathrine to nap.

Freeing them all from their confinement, Robin immediately flew up and perched in one of the trees, disturbing a few taillow. Katherine was a little clingier, intentionally coming between Asuna and her master, who she promptly began begging for a scratch. Keoni was occupied though, unstrapping the bags from.the sleeping Sirocco's saddle. "Later, Kathrine. Go find a spot, and I'll come find you later."

Asuna regarded Kathrine with almost the same expression the ninetales did her, and Keoni was only faintly surprised to hear the fox growling quietly as Asuna came to his side. "Sorry about her. I thought she would have gotten over that." Asuna smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek, drawing a soft bark from Kathrine.

They unpacked, and spent the rest of the day catching up. Asuna's grandparents turned out to be pleasant folks, especially happy when Keoni told them about his parents being rangers. "I trained in Almia, you know," her grandfather began, and a long discussion of ranger stories took over dinner. Finally, as the stars rose over the little valley, they bid her grandparents goodnight.

Asuna disappeared upstairs, and brought back two white towels. "Now we go to the onsen and I know it's not like your beach and your village adventures, but I think you'll like my onsen more, because..." She giggled, taking his hand and leading him to a small building near the pools. "Now go in a booth and wash properly all over before you get in, because an onsen isn't like a bath."

She headed into her own booth, and he did as he was told. After a good scrubbing, he reached for a towel and... "Asuna?" He called. Her face appeared at the door. "Can I have a towel?" She shook her head. "Why not?"

In answer, she opened the door completely. "Because you don't go into an onsen with a towel on, silly. The towel's for after, when we're walking back and my grandpa's watching." For once, Keoni hadn't heard a word. He was entirely distracted by her chest. Not that he hadn't seen those before. He'd grown up with older sisters, after all. But Asuna's were... "Hey!" She snapped her fingers. "Focus on what I'm telling you, not what I'm showing you."

"I was," Keoni, with difficulty, looked up at her eyes. He stood up, and it was her turn to be distracted by the eye candy. "I thought you said focus."

She grinned a feline grin. "You weren't saying anything with your voice, so it's okay when I do it. Now come and let's get in and play." She turned, and after a moment's contemplation, Keoni followed. "By that rock over there is the best place for sitting in the pool, you go sit on the ledge there and I'll join you and we can finish what you wanted to do on the beach."

Keoni put an arm around her waist. "That wasn't just me."

Asuna folded her arms. "And unless you want it to be only you now, you go sit on that ledge and I'll come sit on your lap and we can be distracted all we like and..." She kissed him deeply. "And I wanted to do this with you ever since I got on that plane. Now come on and let me do what I want to do with you."

He did as he was told. She did as she promised.