Ch.159159. Bath Resumed (2)

“W-why are you suddenly putting emotion into it…? W-why…?”

“No… I knew it. Thinking about it, I already knew. I’m just so angry that I had to remember it again?”

“Y-yes…? W-what…! Ow, that hurts…!”

“What does it matter? You’re the one who asked me to be rough with you, right?”

“T-that’s…!”

It’s the truth, so I have nothing to say.

It’s true that I did say it was okay to be rough with me…

But, but…

To put this much emotion into it…?

“Some people need their hair dried gently with low heat for a long time so it doesn’t get damaged. Hmm? And then squeezing out this much treatment, spreading it all over, waiting for it to absorb, and then waiting even longer, right?”

“T-that’s because you can just transform and be done with it… I-isn’t it because of your magical power…?”

“Magical power…? Ah, magical power’s influence…? But you’re like this even when your magic is restricted by the necklace, aren’t you…?”

“T-that’s because I’m not human, so that’s why…! Ow, it hurts…! Let me go!”

“Hooh… So being a monster lets you do that kind of thing? I didn’t know… Maybe I should become a monster too?”

“D-don’t say such things so carelessly!”

No matter what, a magical girl becoming a monster is absurd.

“Why not? Couldn’t I become a monster if I were corrupted like Sister Yuri?”

“T-that’s different…! It’s different! Ugh… it hurts…”

“Huff. Fine… I get it. I won’t gain anything by tormenting you further here. Right?”

“Y-you already know that…”

“You want more of a massage?”

“I-I’m sorry…?”

This is strange.

I’m sure I’m not wearing the necklace yet. Why did I feel pain…?

There wasn’t even a hint that she was using magic…?

“Sigh. Alright… Let’s wring out all the water… I’ll tie your hair up.”

“…You’re going to tie my hair?”

“Hmm…? Aren’t you going into the bath?”

“…Didn’t we leave our hair untied in the bathtub?”

“The bathtub is just for us, so it doesn’t matter. But… in a public bath like this, it’s proper manners to tie up your hair so it doesn’t touch the water. At times like this, I envy Hyewon’s bob cut…”

“…I understand. Then, the hair tie.”

“Hmm? I said I’ll tie it for you. Come here.”

“…Haah.”

I reluctantly surrendered my hair to Blanc.

Swish, swish.

Water drips from my wet hair.

The water running down my shoulders feels ticklish.

So very.

So very much.

And the touch that occasionally brushes against my shoulders or back.

Makes my body twitch, twitch.

It’s embarrassing to be caught like this.

I don’t want her to know that her touch gives me strange feelings…

While I was thinking these thoughts, my hair was already tied up and lifted.

“There… How is it?”

“…It feels somewhat empty. The wind…”

“Have you never tied it up before?”

“…Ellie never tied my hair up like this… Exposing my neck like this… It’s been a while.”

“You’ve never even had twintails?”

“That’s why I said it’s been a while… Anyway, I’ve never exposed it so openly…”

“I see. Well… that’s understandable? Now then, shall I scrub your back?”

“Ah, um… y-yes…?”

“Yes. Turn your back to me.”

Normally, you’d use a shower towel when showering.

But there are no shower towels here, only disposable shower sponges.

Applying body wash, creating lather.

And then, with slippery hands.

“…I-I’ll do it my-eep…”

“Stay still. How can a child be so ticklish?”

“T-that’s… because of you…”

“What are you saying?”

Not roughly, but gently.

Blanc scrubs my back.

The soft sponge slowly strokes down my back.

And Blanc’s hand touches places the sponge doesn’t reach…

It’s so soft.

Without realizing it, I might make strange sounds.

I focus, focus again.

Trying my hardest not to be conscious of it.

Trying not to extend my awareness to her touch.

Wishing time would pass quickly.

But.

If she’s scrubbing my back… why is her hand coming to the front…?

“E-excuse me…! I-I’ll do the rest myself…!”

“…Tch.”

Surprisingly, Blanc silently handed me the sponge.

I think I heard a strange sound.

Maybe it was the sound of water stopping from the shower next to us.

It’s a water-saving type, so the water stops if you don’t press the button.

Yes, except for the parts I couldn’t reach because my arms were too short, I cleaned the rest myself.

Then, I turned on the water to rinse off the bubbles.

Why… does it feel cool?

It should be the same temperature as before.

This water feeling cool…

Must be my imagination.

“Vine, will you scrub my back now?”

Blanc, who had finished washing her hair and put it up while I was washing my body, asked.

“…Yes.”

Since she had done it for me, I had no choice but to agree.

Hearing my affirmation, Blanc smiled and sat in front of me.

The sponge I was using… not that one, but another.

There was definitely a new one here…?

“Did you see another sponge that was here…? I’m sure I brought one.”

“…Don’t tell me it was that yellow one?”

The sponge I brought was already opened and being used by Hyewon.

There are no other sponges…?

“Blanc…? Did you perhaps not bring one…?”

“I forgot…?”

“J-just a moment. I’ll quickly get one…”

“Let’s just use that one. You might catch a cold if you go out in the draft.”

“But…”

How could I use what I’ve been washing myself with to wash Blanc?

Especially with such a flimsy sponge…

No, absolutely not.

I should definitely go get one…

“Just a moment… In front of here…”

“Vine. You shouldn’t go out while you’re wet.”

“But… how can I use what I’ve used…”

“That’s how it usually is, isn’t it? Soap is clean to begin with. What’s the big deal? Hurry up and scrub my back. Ah, I want to get into the warm bath soon and warm up my body~”

Blanc stretches exaggeratedly…

W-wait…

D-don’t raise your arms…!

You’re too obviously emphasizing that… that part…

I turned my eyes away, but…

On the other side, this time it’s Yuri stretching because she’s sleepy…?

Yuri…?

T-this is why…!

Women…! They’re not even being careful…!

“Yaaawn… Vine? Are you sick? Your face is all red…”

“N-no, I’m not!”

“If you’re not… are you embarrassed? Hey!”

“Ah, Sister!”

“Hehe… Let’s leave that teasing Yunseul behind and go in together?”

Yuri caught me in my confusion and pulled me right into.

Unlike Blanc, into her own voluptuous embrace.

“Kyah?!”

“Hehe… Don’t think about anything. Okay?”

“Sister! Why are you taking her away?!”

“Hehehe… First come, first served? Never let your guard down?”

“Sister!”

“Yuri… let me go… I still need to scrub her back…”

“Huh? You don’t need to. She’ll do it herself and come in anyway? Why don’t you come with me to the bath first and do something nice?”

“…I’ll stick with the less perverted of the two perverts. Let me go, please.”

“Tch… Then I’ll have to play with the other soft ones. Hmph. Boo.”

Yuri enters the bath with an annoyed yet smiling face.

…She made a splash as she went in, causing a commotion among the girls, but.

“T-then… I’ll scrub your back now.”

Because of the immediate problem at hand. I’m not exactly sure what’s happening.

A clean back without a single hair.

…If originally I was aiming for this back to attack.

Now…

Just her snow-white back, moist with water.

With each droplet that rolls down.

…A strange feeling.

This isn’t right.

“Ugh… I-I’ll do it now…”

“Yes. Please do?”

I place my hand on her back.

Warm and… soft.

That kind of feeling.

“Vine?”

“Ah, yes…”

I need to keep my mind straight.

This… this…

This isn’t strange.

I’m just washing her.

I’m… a woman.

Blanc is a woman too.

So. It shouldn’t matter at all.

Yes, in the past too.

Between men. Even with unknown older men.

‘Could you scrub my back? Haha.’ and offering their backs.

I remember scrubbing my father’s…? Or cousin’s…? back too.

So.

It’s like that.

It’s the same kind of thing.

This.

This is…

Swish, swish.

Silently, I apply soap to her back with the sponge.

The more I apply, the more tense my head becomes.

My head is getting hot.

…

Ugh, really.

Between women, between women…

This should feel natural.

Why can’t I feel that it’s natural?

In that persistent battle with myself, battle after battle after battle.

In the end, I did win, but.

“Haah… Phew… This should be enough… Q-quickly… finish up and come in…!”

It seems I had lost the battle with Blanc.

Without even properly putting away the sponge, I fled straight to the bath.

Everyone except Blanc and me had already entered the bath.

But…

Why were they all staring at us…?

Had they stopped talking at some point…?

Why is it so quiet…?

“Sister.”

“Y-y-yes…?”

“Later when we go out, I’ll be receiving it.”

“Arin…?!”

“For now… I’ll endure it.”

“E-endure what are you saying…! Arin is… Arin is not like that. Ugh…”

“Vine. You’ll do it for me too, right?”

“Ellie. You…”

“I’ll be looking forward to it?”

“Ellis. How can you think of Vine as a bath attendant?”

“What’s wrong with that? Family can do that for each other. Right, Vine? We’re like family, so that much is okay, right?”

“I-I guess so…?”

“Yes. Come here. Shall we have some intimate bonding as family?”

“Urgh…”

With their gazes so intense, I sank deeper into the hot water…

Then, I sensed someone entering beside me, and my shoulder was grabbed.

“Kyah?! Y-you startled me… B-Blanc…?”

“Vine. I told you it’s bad manners to submerge your hair in the bath, remember?”

“Ugh… B-but… Yuri and Ellie did it first…”

“What does it matter?”

With that, she sat me down on her lap.

…Really.

“Why… are you all so desperate to do this to me…?”

“Because you ran away?”

Seohyun’s single remark.

When I think about it that way…

Was I… in the wrong…?

“Ah, ugh…”

“What are you doing to our mentally vulnerable Vine?”

“Hmm… Well… But she did run away, didn’t she?”

“Still, that and this are different things.”

“Hmm… This won’t do. Ellie! Come here!”

“Eek!?”

The magical girl with pink hair, always laid-back, pulled the smaller Ellie into her embrace.

“Ahh… This is nice… This is truly healing…”

“Let go…!”

“It’s not as good as Vine, but… this is quite nice too?”

Just as I was placed on Blanc’s lap, Ellie was placed on Yuri’s lap.

The only one left is… Arin.

Even if you look at us with such fearful eyes…

We can’t protect you from the two predators behind us.

Sorry, Arin.