Ch.161161. Bath Resumed (4)

“Sis…?”

“Arin, where should I even begin to explain…?”

“Do you prefer bigger ones, sis…? I guess… I need to grow my body…”

“No, Arin!? What are you talking about…!”

Arin started pondering while touching her own body.

Then, after comparing the angry Seohyun and Hyewon.

She sighed.

“Seohyun unnie… hang in there. It’ll be tough, but… I’ll cheer for you.”

“Arin…? What are you saying…?”

“Bine unnie likes them big… I could try my best, but…”

“Hey!”

“Seohyun unnie… if you want to change Bine unnie’s preferences… it’ll be hard…”

“What are you saying! Hey! I’m not sm… I’m not that small!!!”

“Not that small… sigh.”

“Hey!”

What on earth are those two going on about?

“No! What are you two talking about…!”

“Huh…? Doesn’t Bine unnie prefer bigger ones?”

“What are you saying! Why would I talk about such things! Arin…! You’re too young to be thinking about such things…!”

“But… I want to look my best for you, unnie. If I could have bigger breasts too…”

“Arin! You’re too young to see such things! Too young to think about such things!”

“Huh…? But isn’t this around the time when some girls start developing…? Even my friends are…”

“Arin, these thoughts are still too early for you. You should be living a more wholesome and enjoyable life…”

“Kids talk about these things too, you know. Like… whose chest is starting to grow. Who’s already started their period…”

“Arin! D-don’t t-talk about such th-things…!”

“But… it’s natural, isn’t it? Kids grow up, you know…? This is exactly the age when secondary sexual characteristics begin…”

“…Oh.”

I really didn’t expect to hear such talk from Arin.

Blanc, who was behind me, joined in.

“That’s right. Isn’t this just normal girl talk? This much is fine.”

“What…?”

“Shall we see how much our Bine has grown?”

“…Don’t do that. Don’t raise your hand! Don’t! Blanc! Blanc!!”

As her hand started creeping up again,

Just when I thought I might need to struggle,

“Ah… I won’t. You told me not to, so would I? I’m just kidding, kidding.”

“Huff, huff… I, I… I thought I was going to get molested again, you perverted… magical girl…”

“Come on. I said I won’t.”

Arin, who was watching us, said.

“…That’s not fair, unnie.”

She puffed her cheeks while looking at me.

Even though she’s angry while being held by those two, it’s not that scary.

But it seems like her anger isn’t directed at me… but at Blanc.

“Arin…?”

“Tch… but still… still…”

Arin is mumbling something.

I can’t hear it clearly.

The people on the opposite side…

“Hehehe…”

“Y-you crazy woman…! Stop, stop… please, okay? W-what are you trying to do…! Didn’t you, didn’t you get it all out earlier? Didn’t you…! Please, please…! Yuri-nim, Yuri-nim, please, please, hey, don’t move your hand, no, don’t…! Kyaa, kyaaak?!?!”

She’s trying to do what Blanc almost did but stopped…

“A-A-Arin shouldn’t see such things…! Seohyun…! What are you doing! Quickly, take Arin…!”

“It’s not a big deal… I’m just touching her chest…”

“…Ellis is pitiful too. Bine unnie, have you ever seen Ellis growing up…?”

“Ellis has always been in that state, right…? I don’t remember her growing taller or… her body shape changing compared to back then. Well… naturally, since both Ellis and I have monster bodies…?”

“…Then Bine unnie won’t grow either, I guess.”

“…That’s right, for now.”

“Then… sigh… if I grow, people might give me strange looks, saying I’m dragging around a child as I please. Then perhaps it’s better not to grow. No, wait, nobody says anything when Yunseul unnie drags you around, right? Would I be within Bine unnie’s strike zone if I just grew to Yunseul unnie’s size? Then maybe I only need to grow that much? Is that it…”

“Um… Arin…?”

Arin was mumbling something, but the water was too noisy for me to hear.

But…

Judging by Seohyun and Hyewon’s reactions…

“Arin…?”

“…I think I need to have a genuine conversation with you unnies. When this is all over, let’s have a deep talk…?”

“Um… did you hear?”

“I can hear everything. Unless my ears are blocked.”

“…Hyewon unnie.”

“Seohyun, don’t you think Arin needs a bit of… braking?”

“Yes… a little.”

“B-but…! Unnies…! H-honestly…!? Mmph, mmmph?!?!”

Seohyun and Hyewon hugged Arin tighter and covered her mouth with their hands.

Her voice couldn’t form words and just leaked out.

…

But, are they still doing sexual harassment and molestation over there…?

“…Please, please…”

“Hehehe…”

Yes.

It seems Ellis has given up, and Yuri… seems excited.

“Yuri…?”

“I’m remembering what Ellis did to me in Bine’s… this is just a little revenge… can you let this slide…? I won’t talk about what she did when she came to Eden’s private room uninvited…”

“…Just don’t cross the line.”

Really, this is ridiculous.

In this small bath.

Honestly… at this point, the fact that we’re all in our natural state doesn’t matter anymore.

The situation is too… well.

“How about it, Bine? This is everyday life for girls. It’s not that strange, right?”

“No…? It is strange… there’s no way they would touch chests like that…”

“Hmm… that might be going a bit too far. But isn’t this level of skinship allowed between girls? Like… hugging like this…”

“Ugh… I had just forgotten about it. Why…”

“Right. Shall we sit somewhere quieter? There’s an open-air bath outside. Let’s go there.”

“…Why does the association have something like that?”

“Why not? It’s nice to have.”

After saying that, Blanc picked me up like a princess.

“W-wait a moment…! In this state…! E-everything is visible…!”

“We’ve already seen everything, so what’s the problem?”

“N-no…! That and this are different…! T-this position…!”

“Alright, I’ll cover you a bit. Come on. Everyone’s behind us, so it’s fine.”

“Uuu… really… will you just put me down…”

“No.”

“Ugh…”

It’s fortunate that no one is looking this way, even though I’m being carried in such an embarrassing position.

B-but… her hand…

Her hand is almost touching.

There…

Whether she knows this embarrassment or not, the night air licks my body coldly.

Blanc puts me down right in front of the bath, as if to prevent my body from cooling in that cold wind.

“Now… shall we go in? It’s cold.”

“…Do we really have to do this?”

“Yes. Let’s go in first.”

“…If you’re going to be like you were earlier once we’re in, I won’t go in.”

“Is it not okay to be like that? It’s cold, isn’t it? It’s nice to be together, right?”

“More than the cold… my mental state…”

“Ah… alright. But I might not be able to hold back?”

“What do you mean by not being able to hold back, Blanc…?”

“Come in quickly, it’s cold.”

Avoiding my question, Blanc goes in first.

Sigh…

What else could it be?

In the end… she’s saying she’ll make me hers again.

I look at Blanc, exasperated.

But she just ignores me and lies back, leaning against the edge.

…Now that I see it like this,

I didn’t notice when I was with her, but it’s quite apparent.

“Come in quickly. You’ll catch a cold?”

“You wouldn’t let me go out earlier because I might catch a cold. But a place like this…”

“Ahem. Tsk. Should I grab you again?”

“Yes. Let’s go in.”

Why does that threat actually work?

Some fear working in my heart made me move…

I quietly entered the bath and warmed my body.

The water warmly heated my body, which had cooled from being outside for a bit.

The happiness from the contrasting sensations of cold wind and warm water was greater than I expected.

“Ahh…”

“Nice, isn’t it?”

“…Was everything Blanc did to me earlier just for this?”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t say you were ‘done to,’ would I?”

“From my perspective, I was. Arbitrarily…”

“Since I enjoyed it, it wasn’t something ‘done to you.'”

“You’re so unreasonable. I don’t think you were like this before.”

“Well… I’m human too. I can change in various ways.”

“…But you don’t.”

“Hm?”

“Since I’m the one saying it, that’s the truth.”

“Well… is that so?”

“Yes. It is.”

“But… after what you did. Maybe I’ve become unreasonable too?”

“…That’s somewhat true.”

“Right?”

Sigh.

…If that’s my fault.

Yes, it’s something I have to bear.

“There’s that expression again.”

“…Pardon?”

“That expression that says you did everything wrong, so you have to bear it all.”

“I really can’t lie to you.”

“Now you really won’t be able to. Since I’ve been deceived once.”

“…Well, I understand. It’s my fault… after all.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s a fault. It was probably the situation you had to choose in that circumstance.”

“…Well, is that so?”

“I understand. I do understand.”

“I won’t ask for forgiveness. I’m not that shameless.”

“It’s not something I can give forgiveness for anyway.”

“…Is that so?”

“I’m not the victim, am I? It’s the magical girl collective, including me.”

“Sigh…”

“Don’t think too complexly. This operation… let’s make sure it succeeds, and then go back together to think about what comes after.”

“Isn’t that just passing the buck?”

“Yes, it’s passing the buck. Placing such a burden on our future selves. But… sometimes that’s the best choice.”

“Is that so.”

For a while, we didn’t look at each other.

We just watched the night sky visible through the gaps in the roof and walls, and the gentle flow of the open-air bath illuminated by a soft white light.

After such a conversation, I started organizing my random thoughts.

Well…

Considering my life, they weren’t really random matters, but if I could call them random thoughts, then they were random thoughts.

My chest was warm, and my head was cold.