episode_0018

“Praype… aren’t you perhaps hot?”

“It’s warm, I like it.”

No, I’m hot?

Just sitting together on the sofa, it was incredibly hot.

Especially my chest area.

Well, it wasn’t an emotional thing or my body heating up or anything like that.

It was just simply hot.

‘The posture is really uncomfortable too.’

We weren’t even sitting side by side on the sofa.

Having her completely snuggle into my arms like a comfort doll, with her back against my chest, was extremely uncomfortable.

But what if I said this posture was uncomfortable and asked to change it?

“I, I’m sorry… was it very uncomfortable? It’s something my mom used to do for me often before she passed away…. I’m really sorry.”

I got Tahlel-lah-ed and couldn’t escape.

Even if it’s a little uncomfortable, if this is comfortable and stabilizing for her, I should do it.

-Rustle.

Because the posture was uncomfortable, I started looking for the optimal position to become even slightly more comfortable.

Pulling my waist back slightly, leaning back to make it easy to rest my back, and then…

Lastly, my arm, just as Praype wanted.

“Ah… C, Counselor-ssi?”

“Ah, do you dislike physical contact? I thought this would be more stable.”

“No… I like it.”

I placed my arm over Praype’s stomach like a safety bar and pulled slightly.

I thought this would complete the most comfortable posture possible, and the warmth Praype was talking about would transfer well.

-Bulge. Bulge.

‘Her stomach is softer than I thought?’

I thought that since she was a magical girl, her body would be either stick-thin or muscular.

But when I touched it, it was soft, and something about the plushness felt like touching a marshmallow, which was unexpectedly fun.

-Thud.

Perhaps embarrassed by the touch, Praype’s flushed face touched my chest.

The top of her head came just below my nose.

As I naturally breathed, I smelled a certain scent.

‘Cherry?’

Praype’s body smelled of cherries.

The child is peach, Praype is cherry.

And I could form one hypothesis in my mind.

Maybe magical girls’ bodies smell of fruit instead of body odor.

I thought this hypothesis might be correct because.

I often meet various magical girls while working, and thinking back to how they always smelled of fruit, it might just be true.

‘Is it because, from the start, magical girls are beings who must receive hope and the love of all?’

It seems I had forgotten the concept of magical girls until now.

Girls who receive the love of all and protect the world.

Is that why magical girls generally possess looks that easily win people’s favor?

Perhaps it’s due to that influence that they smell of fruit.

A smelly magical girl… wouldn’t that be quite a turn-off?

-Slide.

-Thud.

-Rub-a-dub.

‘Huh?’

I frowned for a moment at the strange sensation coming from my lower body.

Just when I had found the optimal posture, Praype’s pelvis swayed, and she pressed even closer to me.

And the important thing wasn’t the posture, but.

“Um, Praype?”

“W-Why?!”

“That… could you pull your waist forward a bit?”

“Huh?”

“It’s, uh, touching.”

Because a slightly embarrassing area was touching.

Of course, I knew it was unavoidable since we were hugging, but as she moved, I had to stop her because of the unavoidable reaction.

“Ah, oh. Sorry. I’m sorry.”

Praype bowed her head deeply, seemingly understanding what I meant only then.

In turn, having nothing in particular to say, I was forced to keep my mouth shut.

The strangeness of two people, a man and a woman, pressed close together without saying anything.

In the silence, neither could speak first.

10 seconds. 30 seconds. 1 minute.

Just as I was feeling the passage of time subjectively and gasping in emptiness for a moment.

-Sting.

“Ugh.”

The shoulder that the child bit this morning started to hurt.

It wasn’t a big pain, but the sting made me naturally frown.

“This smell… it smells like blood, did you get hurt somewhere?”

“Ah, that.”

As expected of a magical girl.

Despite having gauze on my shoulder, I was surprised by her sense of smell which detected even a faint trace of bleeding.

However, Praype, who noticed my injury, didn’t seem willing to leave it be.

“Um, I know how to use recovery magic… would you perhaps like me to cast a spell on you?”

“No, it’s alright.”

Because if I treated it with magic, I didn’t know what the child might say.

However, Praype also seemed to have her own stubbornness.

Or perhaps she couldn’t tolerate the fact that the object of her dependence was hurt.

Instead of letting go when I said it was okay, she grabbed my arm and pushed me even harder.

As expected, the one being pushed back was me.

The situation of being overpowered even when she wasn’t in her magical girl state.

‘Does their physical strength come standard even without transforming?’

Pushed back like that, I was overpowered and had no choice but to show the injured area.

Yes, the kiss mark still remaining between my collarbone and neck, and the child’s bite mark.

Seeing the child’s mark, Praype was speechless for a moment.

No matter how much of a magical girl she was, seeing these two marks would make her think of only one thing.

Someone had been in a relationship with me.

Of course, this body has never actually been in such a relationship with the child or any other woman.

But since the marks on the body indicated such a thing, there was nothing I could say.

‘It feels unnecessarily awkward.’

Praype, who saw the kiss mark, also stopped and slowly started to move down from my body.

And she didn’t even use the magic I was worried about.

The time of silence came once again.

This time, we maintained silence with a misunderstanding mixed in.

“Um…”

And this time too, it was she who broke the silence.

Unlike before, she seemed a little anxious.

Her trembling eyes and quickening breath.

With a face full of blush, she pushed her body and sat on the sofa.

-Thud.

Slowly, like a cat, Praype climbed onto my body.

Her long hair tickled my face.

“Um, perhaps, that… if you want to relieve your sexual desires, you can relieve them with, with me.”

“Huh?”

Once again, I felt like I was going crazy with embarrassment.

But her eyes were filled with sincerity.

‘Could it be that she’s anxious that I might go to another woman?’

Considering Praype, who suffers from dependence, this might be the only hypothesis.

To prevent the object of dependence from leaving.

Perhaps she thought she could satisfy the simplest desire, sexual desire, and keep me by her side.

“It’s alright. Praype, please cherish your body a bit more…”

“Is, is it because my body isn’t attractive?”

“That’s not it.”

Objectively speaking, Praype is an attractive woman.

Just the voluptuous body in front of my eyes, even more than the child’s, seemed enough to captivate various men.

But that’s not the problem.

From the start, I have no intention of being in a relationship with Praype.

First the child this morning, and now Praype.

What on earth is chastity to magical girls?

“P-Please don’t abandon me… I can fulfill anything you want…!”

Dependence and even delusion.

Her condition is too poor.

That’s why I felt I had to cut off this situation even more resolutely.

“Praype.”

“I, I’m a first-timer, but I can do well. Even if it hurts, I’ll endure it and do well, so…!”

“Praype.”

“If Counselor-ssi wants, I can transform right now and.”

“Praype!”

When I raised my voice a little, only then did she open her eyes wide and meet my gaze.

A little bit of moisture started to collect in her gentle-looking eyes.

“C-Could it be that I’m not attractive enough…?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then, why?”

“I don’t particularly like these physical relationships. So please get down.”

“……”

She also seemed to understand that I had no intention of doing it and obediently slowly got down.

However, the moisture that had started to collect in her eyes became even stronger.

Soon, she started to cry, shedding tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry… Were you upset…? P-Please, don’t abandon me…”

A bizarre situation where the person who had just been climbing on me was crying.

I patted her back and comforted her.

“Don’t say things like that.”

“But I’m only causing trouble for Counselor-ssi… If it goes on like this… really.”

“It’s alright for me.”

I put all my effort into soothing Praype somehow.

“P-Please hold my hand…”

“Okay.”

“Hug me.”

“Here, do as you please.”

In a way, it was like indulging a child’s tantrum.

But for Praype, who had affection deficiency and dependence, it was an absolutely necessary action.

Reassurance that I wouldn’t leave and warmth to drive away the loneliness.

This is the only prescription I, as a counselor, can give.

Seeing Praype gradually stabilizing, I felt relieved and hugged her tightly.

‘How long can I live like this?’

Right now, I might be able to manage her dependence to some extent.

But this shouldn’t repeat every day.

I’ll have to find a way to help her slowly break free from dependence.

“…Just let me stay like this a little longer.”

“Okay…”

However, I’m not sure when that day will come.

Maybe it will be like this until I graduate.

‘Still, let’s do our best now.’

I did my best in the present and prayed for Praype to get better.

***

After confirming that Praype was asleep, I briefly got out of bed.

When she’s asleep, she can’t even recognize a person, let alone be dependent, so it’s fair to say this is my only free time.

I left the master bedroom where the bed was and came out to the living room for a moment.

Then I took out my phone and checked it.

-!!!!

A phone notification from someone.

The name of the person who called was simple.

[Ai-chan]

It was Ai, my charge and currently my lover for a week.

“Hello?”

-Yes, it’s me, Oppa.

“Honey, is something wrong? I was surprised you suddenly called.”

I wasn’t used to my own tone, which was different from usual.

However, perhaps satisfied with how I sounded, she just seemed happy on the other end of the phone.

-Just, I wanted to see your face, Oppa~ Shall we video call?

“Uh, yeah…”

I turned on the living room light and pointed my phone at my face.

Soon after, Ai’s video call connected.

Only then could we see each other’s faces and talk.

Ai in her pajamas was more refreshing than I expected.

‘Ai doesn’t deactivate her magical girl state, does she?’

It was different from Praype, who stays in an off state at home.

-I just called because I wanted to see your face before bed, Oppa.

“Have a good night, honey.”

-Yawn, now that I’ve seen Oppa’s face, I think I can sleep well. And… say one more thing before we hang up.

“What thing?”

Ai smiled happily from the other side of the screen and said.

-Just say you love me.

To think the day I whispered love would become reality.

Awkwardly, I looked at my phone and whispered to Ai with the gentlest smile possible.

“I love you, honey.”

-Okay!! Then sleep well, Oppa~.

Just as the call ended, and I was about to turn off the living room light and go back.

-Thud.

The sound of the door opening suddenly.

When I turned around, the master bedroom door was slightly open.

‘Surely, Praype… didn’t hear, did she?’