Ch.197197. The Beginning, First Day, Embarrassment

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, Vine?”

“Is there a reason we need to be this close when the bathtub is so spacious?”

“Because it’s warm?”

After washing my hair, tying it up, and soaking in the water…

But the place I’m sitting is right in front of Blanc.

Even worse, my head against Blanc, my body against Blanc…

Of course, I’m only showing my back, but still.

The fact that I’ve given my body like this is really…

What kind of lovers would give their body on the first day?

Well, I did give my body before we became lovers.

But shouldn’t things be a little different now that we’re lovers…? If we’ve established a new relationship as lovers, shouldn’t we redefine the boundaries accordingly?

But Blanc doesn’t seem to care about such things.

No, rather, because we’re lovers now, she’s trying to be even bolder, and I’m the one stopping her.

The only compromise I managed was allowing her arms to embrace me a little higher.

…I gave permission on the condition that she wouldn’t move them.

That seems to have been my mistake.

“Um… Blanc, your hands…”

“What about my hands?”

“Well… even if you promised to stay still…”

“What’s the big deal? We’ve already seen everything there is to see, and we’ve crossed the final barrier of becoming lovers.”

“B-but the wall of my heart still remains. Please consider that…”

“…You still need to consider it?”

“W-well…”

“I’m fine with everything. Didn’t you tell Arin earlier? That you wouldn’t stop her from coming in. Isn’t it a bit unfair to put up such walls against me? Especially when I’m the first one.”

Blanc whispered next to my ear.

The warmth of the steam rising from the bathtub and the ticklish sound traveling through my ear from Blanc’s mouth so close…

“Ugh… w-well…”

“Your first one.”

“T-that’s… oww… it tickles…”

“Ticklish? Did you feel something?”

“W-what are you saying…”

My cheeks felt so hot that the water seemed cold in comparison.

Blanc pulled my slightly hunched upper body to lean against her.

“There. It might not be as soft as Yuri’s, but it’s still cushiony, right? Comfortable?”

“H-hieek…”

“It’s okay. It’s all yours. You can do whatever you want with it. No, I’d actually like you to. I would never stop Vine from coming in; I’d welcome it.”

“T-that’s not going to happen…”

“But still, I’m your girlfriend. Aren’t you going to touch me? Is that what you want from your lover?”

“I-I wouldn’t have such strange thoughts…”

“We’re lovers, aren’t we? I feel like you touched my body more when we were enemies.”

“T-that’s… we’ve only been lovers for a few hours. We were enemies for years… isn’t that natural?”

“Come on. We’ve been together for so long. So, are you really not going to touch me?”

“Why would I…”

“I’m your girlfriend, aren’t I?”

“B-Blanc…! S-suddenly saying such things…!”

“Ah… sorry. Was that too much?”

Finally, Blanc, who had been pressuring me, seemed to back off a bit.

“Y-yes…”

“Hmm… but you know.”

Just as I was starting to feel relieved.

She suddenly leaned against my shoulder.

“I’ve really been holding back a lot.”

“Y-yes…?”

“I told you that I only recently started feeling love for you, right? But since that day, I’ve been holding back. That embarrassment in the public bath. I actually started thinking that it would be okay if we were lovers. So…”

As if she can’t hold back anymore.

As if she’s a magical girl with the perfect opportunity to reform a villain.

Is this what a predator says while looking at its prey right before devouring it?

“Right now… if you’d just give me permission.”

“I-I wouldn’t give permission…!”

“I’ve really, really held back so much.”

“N-no…”

“Really?”

“…A-at least not today. Not here, not now…! P-people might hear us…”

“Ah…”

“S-so please give me a little time to think…”

“I just want you to understand that I’ve held back a lot. And that I might not be able to hold back anymore.”

“H-how can someone who calls herself a magical girl of justice… h-how…”

“What’s the big deal? I already bought your body, didn’t I? That day.”

That day.

The day Blanc bought me from that shack.

…The day I was going to sell my spring but ended up being sold to Blanc instead.

Come to think of it… does that mean I’ve already sold my spring to Blanc…?

No, no…

“Y-you perverted magical girl…”

“That’s right.”

“The worst magical girl…”

“Hmm… do you really think so?”

“A-a magical girl who touches and teases people’s bodies recklessly, who buys bodies… such a magical girl is indeed the worst, isn’t she…”

“But isn’t it a bit different if we’re in a relationship?”

“T-that’s…”

“If we’re lovers… isn’t it okay?”

“B-but! F-from the first day…! No, it’s not even the first day…! It hasn’t been long since I accepted your confession…”

“People these days don’t care about such things.”

“B-but… t-the atmosphere… I don’t like the b-bathroom…”

“Really? Sigh. Alright.”

Finally, she lifted her head from leaning on me and moved away.

Well, I was still leaning against Blanc, but still.

After finishing the bath where I was forcibly injected with embarrassment, I said a quick goodnight to the others and fled to my room.

Then, sitting alone on the bed.

My phone that I had left behind before going to Eden.

I suppose it could be considered the first gift I received from Blanc.

Actually, there was a pretext of avoiding tracking and avoiding contact,

But I also left it here to cut ties.

Arbitrarily, that is.

Saying I would turn back into an enemy. Betraying Blanc and Arin.

The city at night with its lights off is brighter than expected, illuminating this room quite well.

It’s partly because I’m a monster with good eyesight.

I get up from the bed and look outside.

The place that was my stage.

…The night sky full of memories with Blanc is very bright.

Yet, it’s the darkness surrounding it that makes us realize its brightness.

Blanc…

I sit on the windowsill and look outside.

The moon is bright.

The moon is really bright.

As if my worries are nothing. It’s peacefully illuminating the world.

I can’t ask the moon how to resolve such worries.

The moon wouldn’t tell me it’s nothing.

It wouldn’t speak to me at all.

Yet, what is this cozy feeling?

Despite being a different phase from the crescent moon I saw in the public bath, the moon brightly illuminating the city…

Is it saying it can embrace even me?

…What should I do then?

Should I accept it if Blanc says she can’t hold back and pounces on me?

Really.

Actually, thinking about this is truly meaningless.

I’ve already decided to accept it.

I just didn’t expect her to want to share physical love so soon.

…She said she’s been holding back.

How long has she been holding back?

If I think about it from Blanc’s perspective, she’s been holding back against others’ advances, holding back and holding back.

Is that how she’s come this far?

Blanc…

Should I say she’s stubborn?

A personality that needs to do what she wants right away.

I even know the personality she’s hiding.

Come to think of it.

I know things about Blanc that even she doesn’t know.

Why haven’t I been considering Blanc until now?

Is it because I’m too familiar with her, and I’ve made a mistake by falling into that familiarity?

To begin with, although I accepted their love amidst today’s sudden events.

Do I deserve their love? I can’t help but blame myself.

Do I love them too?

How foolish the question of whether I love them is…

Yes.

I felt it as soon as I recalled it.

As soon as I recalled the memory of accepting them, my face heated up, and I found myself unconsciously wiping my dry face.

I like them.

Is it okay for me to like them?

More than that.

Ugh.

Haah…

I really don’t know.

Should I just…

Leave it to them?

I don’t want to do that.

How do I resolve this contradiction?

.

I agonized over it all night.

But unable to find an answer, I tentatively concluded that it might be best to accept everything like Arin does, such an indecisive answer, and fell asleep.

Night is a time of confusion.

My muddled thoughts will surely be organized by tomorrow.

* * *

“Sister.”

“What is it, Arin?”

“I should be the first.”

“I’m sorry, but… I can’t allow that. I’ll let you be the first after me.”

“…Sister.”

“Yes?”

“If I defeat you, can I claim the first position?”

“Arin, what are you saying?”

“I just… I just couldn’t bear it anymore. I, I should be the first.”

“Arin. Vine doesn’t want us to fight, you know?”

“Tch… B-but… But…! I, I should be the first…”

“Is being first important? I think what’s important is being able to be with Vine.”

“T-then you should give up being first too…!”

This rebellious side of Arin was truly a first.

She was always an obedient child, but today she’s being particularly stubborn.

“Arin.”

“Sister.”

“I’ve waited for over ten years.”

“…The duration might be different, but my love is no less than yours.”

“Arin…”

“I’ll treat you as the first for now. For now… because I’m weak. But. If I defeat you, then I’ll be the first.”

With that, Arin stormed off to her room in anger.

If she’s going to be like this, I can’t back down.

I need to firmly establish…

Who is Vine’s first.