Sunkissed

~Chapter 2: Bathtime Blues~

"Hoooeee!!!" Hurricane Sakura blew in through the bedroom door, slamming it shut behind her and throwing open her closet.

"Sakura! You almost got me killed!" Kero grumbled, not looking up from his video game. "What’s all the fuss about, anyway, that's important enough to almost ruin my game?"

Her muffled voice floated out from the closet. "I lost track of time! Syaoran-kun is going to be here in a few minutes – I'm cooking him dinner for his birthday – and I don’t have anything to wear!"

He glanced in her direction with a skeptical look. Judging from the amount of clothes currently flying out of her closet, Kero thought she had plenty to wear, but he figured it was safer to keep his opinions to himself in this case. He shook his head. Girls. He’d lived with one for six years now, and he still didn’t understand them.

Knowing quite well what was coming next, he saved his game and shut it down. With perfect timing, Sakura’s head popped out of the closet. "Kero, I need you to-"

"I’m already gone, don’t worry about me." He opened the window, letting in the balmy July air.

"Hoe?" Sakura watched him go with an expression of puzzlement. Well, that was easy. In fact, now that she thought about it, it had been a while since Kero had argued or complained about being sent to Tomoyo-chan’s for the night. I wonder wh- Her gaze fell on the clock.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

~~~

"You’re going to need a bath," Tomoyo declared to a sheepish Kero. She stood and dropped a paint-covered rag into a trash can. Kero groaned; baths had rarely been a pleasant experience for him. "Well," Tomoyo suggested, "you can always stay blue. It’s not a bad color on you."

She couldn’t quite stifle a giggle at the wide-eyed look of horror he gave her. He already looked rather comical, full-sized and half-covered in blue paint from head to tail. Somehow he had managed to knock a bottle of paint from the top of a cabinet with his tail, spilling it on himself and the floor. The wood floor wasn’t difficult to mop up, and they cleaned the guardian as best as they could, but he was still a sticky blue mess.

Tomoyo led him into the large bathing room connected to her bedroom, and started filling the bath. The room was done in sparkling blues and yellows, and the tub looked big enough to fit two of Kero comfortably. There were several sets of hooks lining the walls, and a cabinet in the corner near the door. "You will need to soak for a while; the paint is half dry already. Sit down for a moment before you get in, please." When he complied, she knelt in front of him on the tile. "Where is the clasp for this?" she asked, pointing at his neckpiece.

"I- I don’t know." Kero was dumbfounded.

Tomoyo’s eyebrows lifted in mild surprise. "Have you never taken your armor off before? Not even for a bath?"

Kero’s expression turned sour, and he shook his large head. "No, never needed to with the Bubble card. If Clow ever took it off, it was without my knowing."

"Nothing bad happens if you take it off, does it?"

"I hope not."

"Hmm. Okay, well, I guess we will just start your bath with them on. At least you didn’t have your wings out when it happened; that would have been an awful mess."

"This isn’t?" he growled, stepping into the deep tub with a splash.

Tomoyo flashed him one of her it’ll-be-okay smiles. "Just relax for a bit, and I’ll be right back. There’s paint underneath the armor pieces, so we need to take them off to get you clean. Maybe Eriol-kun will know what do about that armor; I’ll go send him an email."

"Yeah, sure, I’m not going anywhere." Kero sank into the warm water up to his chin and sulked.

"Cheer up, Kero-chan. You won’t be blue forever, I promise." She dropped a light kiss on the top of his nose and swept out of the room.

"I’d better not," he called after her. Yue would never let me live it down.

The warm water was relaxing, and Kero let his thoughts drift until Tomoyo returned, smiling triumphantly.

"I have wonderful news. Eriol-kun responded very quickly. He said that taking the armor off will not hurt you and explained how to remove the neckpiece." She grabbed the soap and a brush and set them within easy reach. Tucking the skirt of her green and white sundress under her knees so it didn't hang in the water, she knelt at the edge of the bath and beckoned Kero closer. His headpiece came off easily when she lifted it. She reached down under the water to unclasp the neckpiece and lost her balance. Kero caught her with his head before she fell in and pushed her back up.

"Are you okay Tomoyo?"

"Yes, I’m fine Kero-chan, thank you. But this isn’t going to work." She frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then grabbed the hem of her dress and lifted it over her head, pulling it off. Her panties came next, and she had hung both on a hook before Kero, stunned, managed to find his voice.

"Wh- wh- wha- What are you doing!"

"What does it look like, silly?" she asked, nonchalantly tying up her hair. "I’m getting in." Kero quickly turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut as he realized he had been looking, and she giggled. Poor Kero-chan. I can almost see him blushing under his fur. "How else am I supposed to wash you," she dropped lightly into the bath, "without falling in and ruining my dress?"

She was so matter-of-fact about it, and he found himself admitting she had a point. Both the tub and Kero were far too large for her to wash him effectively from outside of it, and he could hardly do it himself. Besides, it wasn’t as if he had never seen a naked girl. Sakura never seemed concerned about changing or bathing in front of him, and it had never bothered him. He just hadn't expected anyone else to be so casual about it.

He was thinking so hard, it startled him to feel her small hands slip under his neckpiece. He squinted open one eye, and decided that as long as she was okay with it, and she seemed to be, it was safe to open them. She fumbled around for the first catch and finally found it behind the large red gem. The second was hidden under the shoulder plates. Pulling it gently apart and over his head, she set on the tile next to its companion. He felt strange without his armor. I wonder if this is what it’s like to feel naked.

"There, much better," Tomoyo said, pleased. "The paint’s mostly off of it now, too; the pieces won’t be hard to clean." She turned back to Kero. "Now to get you clean." She moved around behind him, and started lathering soap into his back, starting at the base of his tail and working her way forward.

Kero relaxed, enjoying the feel of her hands and the brush as they worked the soap in and the paint out. By the time she reached his shoulders, his chin was resting on the edge of the tub, and his eyes were half-closed. This is the best bath I’ve ever had, he thought contentedly. Her hands on his shoulders brought a new level of sensation; having never removed his armor, he’d never been touched there. She was massaging soap into his shoulders and neck. It feels…nice. And…funny… He started wiggling as she scrubbed between his shoulders.

Tomoyo laughed in delight at this discovery. "Kero-chan, you’re ticklish!" She attacked, tickling between his shoulder blades mercilessly until he was laughing and begging her to stop. She only acquiesced because of the way the water was beginning to slosh out of the tub. Still laughing, she finished washing his neck and head, and hopped out of the tub.

"Come on out Kero-chan, I need to rinse you." He clambered out, pulling the plug on his way so the water would start draining. Tomoyo turned on the shower head and rinsed the soap out of his fur, then rinsed herself off. She grabbed two fluffy yellow towels from a nearby cabinet and wrapped one around herself. With the other she started drying Kero, soaking up most of the water from his fur. "Okay, can you wait for me in the bedroom? You can lay on the rug in front of the movie screen for now, and I’ll be right there."

"Okay." He headed into the bedroom.

Several minutes later, as he was starting to shiver, Tomoyo came rushing out of the bath looking very apologetic. "I’m sorry, Kero-chan! I couldn’t find the hair-dryer; one of the maids must have moved it."

She plugged it in to the wall and turned it on, and Kero felt the heavenly sensation of warm air blowing over him. Neither Clow nor Sakura had ever remembered to dry him properly after a bath. This is definitely the best bath I’ve ever had. He dozed while she dried, until she had him stand to get his underside. While she put the dryer away, she suggested he relax on his cushion, and she came back with another brush and started working it through his soft, clean fur. Blissfully he drifted off to sleep under her gentle ministrations. Best…bath…ever…

Tomoyo smiled at the sleeping guardian. It was fun pampering him, and she was pleased that he had enjoyed it so much. She slipped quietly from his side so as not to wake him, and went to get dressed for bed.

~*~