Ch.107107. Amethyst and Garnet (7)

“Hyaaah?! Seohyun, w-wait a second!!”

“Bine, hehe… good. Bine…”

“Seohyun, why are you suddenly—hyah?! W-water’s coming in! I’m going to drink water!!”

Seohyun suddenly pounced on me.

Just because of one thing I said…!

Why is she acting like this all of a sudden…!

“Bine… thank you… Ah, so squishy…”

“W-what are you touching…!”

“Your cheeks. Why are they so squishy…?”

“No, Arin’s are more… No. That’s not the issue here! L-let me go already!!”

I was wrong.

This is messed up.

No, this is a disaster.

No words can properly explain this.

What’s happening, I really… why, why…?

Seohyun won’t let me go, and keeps squishing my cheeks.

“Let me gooo!”

“Just a little more… this feels so goood…”

“Seohyun…! Ugh…”

I can’t be too harsh with her.

Today’s incident was partly my fault.

I should apologize for what I did to Seohyun earlier.

But in this atmosphere, I can’t apologize.

Is she going to keep doing this the whole time we’re in the bath…?

“Alright. I’ll let you go. But…”

Seohyun released my cheeks.

“But what do you mea—hieek?!”

She lifted me up from where I was sitting, turned me around, and pulled me into a tight embrace.

When she carried me earlier, at least it was just her arms touching me, and I was the only one naked, so even though it was embarrassing…

Of course, it was my fault for removing the towel, if that counts as a fault…

Anyway, now Seohyun is also in the bath with me…

Really, why is she…

This is even more embarrassing than being hugged and washed by Yuri yesterday.

…

Thoughts keep piling up.

All these strange thoughts keep overlapping…

Making my embarrassment multiply.

“Instead, can I hold you like this?”

“You’re already hugging me…! Why are you asking for permission now…!”

“But… yesterday Yuri unnie was bragging all about it. So. It made my stomach hurt, you know?”

“…What? Yu—no, the unemployed one was bragging? About what…?”

“That she got to hug you a lot while being with you.”

“…Don’t you dislike that kind of thing?”

Seohyun hugged me tighter and denied it.

“No. Umm… I just don’t do it with people I don’t know or don’t like? That’s natural, isn’t it…?”

“With Arin…”

“Hmm…? I did get hit once when I told her to get off because it was annoying.”

“…What?”

“Yeah. Hehe… so squishy. Can I knead your tummy a bit?”

“Would that be okay…?”

Seohyun started rubbing my stomach all over.

“Please don’t touch me…? Let’s just warm up and get out…”

“Okay. But, it’s really worth bragging about… This is the first time I’ve had such a pleasant bath.”

When I stopped her from rubbing my stomach, Seohyun’s hands naturally moved to my head.

“Really… I’ve always been envious of your hair whenever I see you.”

“…My hair? Isn’t it just inconvenient? That’s how I feel. Eli won’t let me cut it.”

“Hmm…? Then after that…”

“You know. When I was in prison and then outside.”

“…Oh.”

People.

It was people this time too.

Going to a hair salon. Everything.

And not just that.

“Is that something to get so gloomy about?”

“No… just now.”

“Not that. I’m a monster.”

“Yeah. So…”

“So my hair grows back quickly. Just like how my body recovers quickly. And maybe it consumes energy accordingly. After cutting my hair, I get hungrier than usual. That’s why I don’t cut it.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No. I should be more sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things at the lake earlier.”

“…No, I should have been more careful.”

“…Let’s just say it’s my fault. It wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t there anyway.”

“If I hadn’t taken you out, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Seohyun. We’re not competing over who’s more at fault. And if going out was the problem… well, it’s probably more my fault for not wearing a disguise. Though, even without a disguise, I was fine outside before, but something was different this time.”

“…It’s my fault.”

Seohyun blamed herself while playing with my hair.

But I don’t think it’s her fault at all.

“It’s my fault. I said things like ‘I’d rather die’ or ‘eternal sleep’ there, and that’s why you’re in this state now.”

“…No.”

“What do you mean, no? What do I need to do to bring back the original Seohyun?”

“The original me…?”

“The one who would beat me up like crazy, you know? That magical girl was only you.”

“…”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to throw me in the water? That you wanted to drop me?”

“That’s…”

“Well. When your strength properly returns. Let’s have a proper match then. Of course, I’ll win.”

“…No, you won’t.”

“Seohyun. No matter what, you don’t even come close to my level. Even with 20 magical girls like you, you couldn’t win… Hmm. In perfect condition, I could handle 20 easily.”

“You just hesitated, didn’t you?”

“No. Attacking someone who was sleeping, making them flustered, and then winning doesn’t count, originally.”

“Whatever.”

“Oh my, you. Don’t tell me you’ve been bragging about defeating me when I was in my worst condition with 20 people?”

“…A loss is still a loss, right?”

“Me at my worst. Not the true me.”

“A win is still a win. Right, Bine?”

“No. I can’t accept that. Let’s have a rematch when both of us are in optimal condition. How about it?”

The hand stroking my hair gradually becomes rougher.

After touching my hair, Seohyun places her hand on my shoulder.

Now she’s gripping my shoulder tightly.

“Fine. You promised, okay? Haah, really. This kid?”

“Pfft. Yes, I’ll go easy on you. Even being more careful than I was with Arin, I’ll still win against you.”

Back to her original self with that competitive spirit.

Back to her original energetic self.

That expression and energy.

“Whatever. I’ll win.”

“Well. That’s just what you think.”

“Hey.”

“What? Haah. Now I have one more annoying thing to do. If I resume training with Arin. As an add-on after that. As I felt when I fought with Blanc last time. You’re not at my level, you know.”

“What…? Hey, you really!”

“Good. That’s the look. Passion fool.”

“…Another nickname?”

“Don’t like ‘Red Hair’? Should I call you ‘Fool’? Or ‘Hot-blooded Fool’?”

“Hey! Why do you always…!”

“Fine. If that’s what you prefer, Seohyun. I’ll call you by that nickname from now on.”

“Ugh… my nickname just got worse…”

“Well. I gave a new nickname to the crybaby last time too.”

“Ugh… Bine, you really…”

It was fortunate that she could return to her original self with just this bath.

Of course, I had to be thoroughly kneaded as much as Seohyun was angry.

Fool.

* * *

“Phew. We stayed too long. It’s because of you, Seohyun.”

“What? It’s because of you.”

“Well, so. Are you going to book movie tickets before we go?”

“Hmm… no. Wait… aren’t you hungry? We were running around and all that happened.”

“I’m fine, but is there somewhere you’d like to go?”

“Umm… just a moment.”

Seohyun stared intently at her smartphone, seemingly looking for a good restaurant.

“…I need to make a quick call. I got a text asking for help with the investigation about that crazy person from earlier.”

“…Prison food wasn’t that bad, you know.”

“Hey. Don’t say that. I’m going to tell Yunseul unnie and the Association President about the person who harassed you. I’ll make sure you don’t experience something like that again.”

“But it’s true. Prison food was okay. I thought my taste had changed to that of an elementary school kid. When you’re hungry, you’ll eat anything, right?”

“Hey.”

With that one word, Seohyun returned to her room.

Well, whatever…

I don’t particularly want that person to be punished.

I was a villain.

If that person was a victim, then they were just taking justified revenge. That’s what I think.

And I consider it my karma.

That kind of thing.

I gave up on that sort of thing a long time ago.

It’s not like reporting it would make any difference anyway.

Even though I did gather coins for a payphone in that shantytown and reported it when I couldn’t stand it anymore.

They just let him go, and I changed my routes later because I was afraid of getting beaten up again.

That man. Drunk and treating me like some…

I thought he saw me as a punching bag.

The police just let him sleep it off and then released him with a warning because he was drunk.

…

Because I was a villain.

Those police, really.

After that, even if I got beaten up or had things stolen, I never bothered reporting it to the police.

Sigh.

Well, not just the police, the prison guards were problematic too.

This is why I think this country is.

Seohyun’s call is taking a long time.

I’m just sitting on the sofa, swinging my legs back and forth.

Why is it taking so long just because a villain fell into the water?

Ah, a magical girl was watching this.

So the police are pretending to care, pretending to be generous.

That could take a while. Yes, if that’s the case.

Who knew the difference between one magical girl and one villain would be this big.

Disgusting country.

“…Bine? What are you thinking about with that expression?”

“…Blanc.”

Blanc approached me as I was sitting.

“Seohyun is having a serious phone call. I kind of understand what happened.”

“Well… I wasn’t really thinking about that incident. And I don’t have any particular expression.”

“You, your expressions are all visible. You know that.”

“…Ha. Really, Blanc. Today is Seohyun’s day. Not yours.”

“While Seohyun is on the phone… no, am I not even allowed to talk to you?”

“Well… that’s not it.”

“Then talk to me a bit. I’m bored.”

“Get permission from Seohyun first. Today is her day, isn’t it?”

“Whatever, you’re bored too.”

…

Damn it.

This is why I can’t stand Blanc.

“Looks like I was right.”

“I don’t like you, Blanc.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

Blanc answered with a smiling face.

Really.

This is so annoying.