As she stepped out of the small train station, the layer of snow covering everything but the roads around them crunched and creaked under Eva’s boots, the morning air barely warm enough that her breath wasn’t visible. Catching sight of a nearby clock, she let out an annoyed sigh, before turning to Kurt, who just stepped out behind her.

“It’s gonna be a few minutes until they come to pick us up.”

Looking at the time he smirked before replying, “you didn’t expect on time to actually mean on time hm?”

She gave a quick nod. “Yeah, I mean what train isn’t at least 5 minutes late?”

“Most japanese ones.” He shot back before leaning back against the station’s wall. “So I guess we just wait?”

“Unless you have a better idea.” Eva replied with a shrug, shoving her gloved hands into her coat’s pockets.

With Kurt shaking his head, they began their wait. And while it really was just a couple of minutes, the winter chill around them made it feel much longer to Eva.

Soon enough, an old looking taxi pulled up before them. Eva wasn’t too sure how old it was exactly, but it reminded her more of images from history class than any kind of car she’d seen on TV. As it came to a complete stop, the passenger side doors both opened, and a young looking woman clad in a rather odd looking attire stepped out. It almost looked like she’d tugged up the lower part of a kimono for some reason, while she was wearing a long heavy looking skirt under it, with a wide scarf covering her neck and shoulders.

“Greetings, Lady Mayer and Lord Wagner, if you would please get comfortable inside, I shall take care of your luggage.” The woman said as she already moved to grab the two suitcases the duo had with them.

“Thank you.” Eva said with a short appreciative nod as she slid inside, moving all the way behind the driver seat to make room for Kurt. Who followed suit quickly and closed the door after himself to keep out as much of the cold winter air as possible. A pair of thuds followed by the sound of the trunk being slammed closed informed the pair their stuff had been loaded as well and only a few seconds later the assistant got back into the vehicle, and after she closed the door next to her, the car began to move once more.

They soon left the town behind them and were driving through a serene looking winter landscape with all the hills and mountains around them covered in white.

About 15 minutes later they had finished a long drawn out turn that led them into a small valley that ran roughly parallel to the town they had left. As they passed the mountains and reached the valley proper, they saw a large body of water near its center, steam rising from its surface in thick white clouds.

The road followed a small stream that seemed to originate from it. Once they were at the closest the road seemed to get to the steaming lake, the car pulled into a small parking lot that seemed connected to a pair of trails going up the mountain.

“We will need to walk the rest of the way, if you would kindly follow me.” The lady in the front informed the two Germans before they all got out of the car. She quickly gathered their luggage, before leading them away. Instead of leading them up one of the trails as Eva had expected, she led them across the road and towards a small wooden pier that had been hidden from view by some rocks and snow laden bushes.

When they reached the end of it, Eva was about to ask what next, when a procession of ghostly, pale blue balls of fire marched their way from the center of the lake, a ghostly bridge appearing in their wake while the far shore of the lake seemed to grow further and further away. Once the bridge connected to the pier, an ancient looking castle shimmered into existence in the middle of the enlarged lake, roofed walkways leading into the lake itself on each side.

Not giving them much time to take in the spectacle, the assistant was already moving before the castle had fully materialized, forcing Eva and Kurt to hastily catch up. Behind the front gates was a large garden with a few wooden walkways connecting a handful of buildings, and the roofed walkways attached to, and leading through, the walls with the main building towards the back of the whole structure.

Standing what seemed to be half a dozen stories tall, it excuded an air of ages past as well as luxury. It reminded Eva less of Osaka castle, and more the few images of traditional Onsen resorts she had seen, just scaled up to fill half the space inside the walls of this massive structure. On both sides were large balconies, though screens made from thin slats of bamboo hanging from above concealed what might be on them.

“To the left is our mixed bathing area, while the path to the right will split into male and female areas.” Their guide informed them, as they walked over the central wooden path. “You will be provided footwear by us, please wear them instead of any shoes you might have brought while inside the premises unless you want to leave on a day trip.”

Both Eva and Kurt just gave a quick nod as they reached the end of the path.

The entrance was flanked by a pair of teenage girls with horns parting their hair. With the red skinned one clad in a blue Kimono the blue skinned one wore a red one, which with their gray Obi matching the walls flanking the building made for a very striking image. They gave a deep bow as the assistant led the two guests inside.

In the small lobby-like area there were a few raised platforms covered in tatami and each holding a low table and a desk manned by a bored looking young man. Seeing the assistant step up, he quickly took a pair of keys from the wall behind him and handed them over, before giving the new guests a bow and sitting back down.

The lady that had collected them from the train station then led them to a small side room, where they all exchanged their shoes for the provided slippers, locking the boots away in a small locker matching the tag attached to the keys.

They then ascended two flights of stairs, and walked down a small corridor, before the woman unlocked the door to their room and led them inside.

The main room mainly consisted of a large room filled with tatami mat flooring and a table at the center holding a small bowl of fruit and two piles of cloth. The wall to their right was mostly taken up by what Eva by now recognised as a closet built into it. On the left an open sliding door revealed a small bathroom, while in front of them was a pair of massive sliding doors made of wood and thick paper.

After putting away the two suitcases in the closet on the right, the assistant slid open the large doors to reveal a massive balcony, half again the size of the room. Most of which was taken up by a wooden bathtub and a pair of comfortable looking outdoor chairs. From the wall, a pair of wooden chutes went up to the ceiling above the tub.

“If you wished to take a bath in private.” The lady began to explain, “Just pull on these ropes, then water will flow down into the bath.” As she carefully pulled down both ropes from where they’d been secured, Eva noticed the small wooden plates, with the Kanji for ‘Cold’, and ‘hot water’ burned into them. “When you want to consume your midday meal, let the desk know. You will have the choice of eating it with other guests in the reception hall, or in your room. Dinner will be served shortly after the eight hour in your room. If you wish to make other arrangements, inform us at least two hours ahead of time.”

With one final bow she left the two of them alone, closing the door behind her. While Eva just stood there taking in their accommodation, Kurt quickly moved over to the two piles of clothes, and with a mischievous glint in his eyes picked up the Yukata on the pile topped by a slip of parchment with Eva’s name.

“Look, they have fox sized Yukata.” He said with a wide grin as he held up the small garment for her to see.

Eva was about to groan in response, before she noticed the amount of clothing left in her pile still was as big as Kurts. Stepping closer, she realized with relief they had also provided her a human sized one.