Ch.38Chapter 38

“Hmm…”

I hummed a little tune.

When I first saw the chat room, I was clueless and confused, wondering what on earth they were talking about. Was it all about pajamas? I had to tilt my head in confusion. But now I could join the conversation without feeling left out.

It was convenient that I could hear what was being said when I pressed the voice message button with a click, and it felt like I was actually chatting with everyone in the room.

I tapped the buttons playfully, and whenever it was my turn to speak, I’d say something too.

Honestly, it felt a bit awkward talking to a screen since it wasn’t a phone call, but after doing it a few times, it started to feel quite comfortable.

[Come to think of it, can’t we have a pajama party?]

When Sera sent that voice message, I blankly looked over at the Professor.

I had been lying on the sofa listening absentmindedly, and the Professor turned to look at me after hearing that. Our eyes met briefly, and the Professor gave me a bitter smile.

Since I couldn’t leave the Professor’s side except within the Academy, it would obviously be difficult. That expression was clearly the answer.

It was disappointing. I pouted and thought for a while.

I considered having it here, but soon shook my head. While I didn’t mind living with the Professor, the students probably wouldn’t be thrilled about coming to the Professor’s home.

Without any good ideas, I quickly sent a message saying it wouldn’t work. Disappointed voices came back in response. As I kept holding my phone, the Professor glanced at the time and spoke to me.

“Ourr, time to wash up.”

“Ah, yes. Just a moment.”

I finished typing on my phone, then tossed it onto the sofa with a chuckle.

Just being able to chat with someone was fun and made me happy, bringing an involuntary smile to my face.

I went into the bathroom with the Professor. My eyes caught the duck toy the Professor had given me. I accepted it when it was given to me, but the yellow duck had been neglected since I never played with it.

On a whim, I reached for it. As I turned it around, examining it carefully from different angles, the Professor tilted her head behind me.

“Ourr, do you want to take a bath? Should I warm up the water?”

“…No, I was just looking at it.”

“I’ll warm up the water for you.”

The Professor must have thought I wanted to play with the duck toy, because she immediately started filling the tub. The sound of warm water pouring down hit my ears.

“Then we should clean you thoroughly before getting in the tub, right?”

I turned my head at the Professor’s voice. I was fine with the shower, but my eyes widened when I saw the exfoliating towel.

“Uh, uhh?”

“Ourr, stay still. Shh.”

I tried to back away hesitantly, but there was no escaping the Professor’s grasp.

When I panicked and didn’t know what to do, the Professor held me tight while trying to calm me down.

“You need to be clean for your friends to like you. If you’re dirty, kids won’t approach you, right?”

“Well… that’s true, but that’s…”

Maybe because my body had weakened, I’d become sensitive to even the slightest stimulation. Just looking at that towel reminded me of the stinging sensation I’d felt before, making me shudder.

This was a no-win situation with no escape. I let out a small groan, regretting why I’d touched the duck in the first place.

“First, you need to sit down.”

“Yesss…”

I mumbled as I crouched down on the small chair. As I hunched over with my eyes slightly closed, water began to dampen my head as usual.

Since my hair reached down to my buttocks, it took quite a while just to wet it all.

After soaking it for a long time, shampooing, and rinsing again.

“Wow, it’s always so fluffy no matter when I touch it.”

“Ahaha…”

“It’s okay. You like it when I touch your hair, don’t you?”

“I don’t dislike it.”

Even now, as the Professor was touching my hair, I couldn’t help but smile because it felt strangely good. I thought that if I were human, I might have closed my eyes and dozed off.

The way she massaged my scalp while rinsing my hair made me feel like I was in heaven.

Thinking my hair was sufficiently neat, the Professor wrung it out and flipped it over my shoulders. I blankly grabbed the long hair that had been flipped over my shoulders.

“Eh?”

“Hold it. Now I need to wash you.”

“Ah, aah…”

I let out a small groan, realizing that time had come. The Professor sprayed warm water on my back, then stopped and scrubbed hard with the exfoliating towel.

“Hiyaak!?”

“Ourr, stay still. I need to scrub you once in a while.”

“Ah, it hurts…”

“I’ll finish quickly. Our Ourr is so good. So good.”

When I curled up and groaned in pain, the Professor eased up a bit and continued scrubbing my back. I frowned at the vibrating sensation of being scrubbed.

I knew that before getting into the tub, you needed to clean your body thoroughly, but the problem was that I always hesitated when the time came.

I wondered if my body would become less sensitive when I grew bigger. Right now, I was too weak to these things. With such thoughts, I endured the pain.

“Uuugh… ung, aah…”

“Almost done. It’s okay.”

“B-but you’ve only done my back so far…”

When I protested at the Professor’s obvious lie, she gasped.

“Ourr really does have a sensitive body. If your back hurts this much already, how will we finish washing you?”

“I-I’ll endure it…”

“The duck is waiting to play with you too.”

I didn’t care about that, but I let it slide. I knew that although baths were annoying at first, once you finished, you felt so good you didn’t want to get out, so I didn’t want to miss it.

After finishing my back, it was time for my arms. Every time the Professor grabbed my arm and scrubbed, I was filled with silent screams.

I’m dying. I’m dying…! My skin is peeling off…!

As I opened my mouth and struggled, the Professor showed me my arm.

“Look, doesn’t it seem cleaner?”

“It looks the same to me…”

“Really? But dirt comes off when I scrub.”

The Professor scrubbed vigorously, then grabbed my other hand when she thought there was nothing more to remove.

It felt like an eternity was passing. The areas where the exfoliating towel had passed left a burning sensation, as if fire had swept through. When I let out a choked “Uwa” from the hot pain, the Professor stopped.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“…I-is it over now?”

“No, we still need to do the front. Let’s rinse you once and put your hair back.”

“……”

I wondered when this would end. Of course, we’d done my back and arms, so it would be strange not to do my front and legs, but I wasn’t sure if I could endure it.

Splash. I closed my eyes and endured as water sprayed from my head. Only when the Professor wiped away the water droplets on my eyelids with her hand could I open my eyes again.

The Professor’s expression occupied a corner of my brightening vision. It was always that expression. I could tell by the corners of her mouth twitching, unable to contain her delight at seeing something cute.

I stared at the Professor’s expression with narrowed eyes.

“Our Ourr, let’s endure a little more, okay?”

“…Yesss.”

When I nodded, the Professor nodded approvingly and flipped my hair back again. My hair was so long it touched the floor. It bothered me a bit, but I turned my head, knowing the Professor would rinse it again.

As the Professor placed her hand on my waist, I straightened my back, slightly tense. After swallowing hard, the exfoliating towel in the Professor’s hand approached my stomach.

It looked like a green monster trying to eat away at my body, making me even more tense. Despite the water splashing around, my mouth felt completely dry.

“…uh, uhit? Hik, w-wait… wait a moment…!”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

I couldn’t help but cry out at the sensation of the towel brushing against my stomach. Unlike before, it wasn’t pain but a ticklish feeling that I deemed unbearable.

When I grabbed the Professor’s arm and groaned “Uuu,” she looked at me with a troubled expression.

“I-it tickles…”

Having barely stopped being ticklish, I looked up at the Professor with a tearful expression. The Professor apologized and hugged me.

But she didn’t let it slide so easily.

“Should we take a short break?”

“Not doing it at all… seems like an option too…”

“No, we need to clean you thoroughly before getting in the tub, right?”

The Professor said that and brought the exfoliating towel back. As the act resumed, I let out a high-pitched groan while enduring the Professor’s touch.

When it finally ended, I blankly stared at my reddened skin. Submerging myself in the bathtub up to my lips, I blew out bubbles, and the Professor patted my head from behind.

The cheerful duck floating in front of me swam away, pushed by the air bubbles I created. Whenever the duck tried to drift away from me, I grabbed it and placed it back in front of me.

The Professor, who had joined me in the tub, saw this and smiled wryly.

“But it feels good to be clean, doesn’t it?”

“…Just okay.”

“Don’t hate the Professor too much, okay?”

“I don’t hate you.”

After grumbling, I put my mouth back in the water and blew more bubbles.

I hate the duck. The duck seemed to share my sentiment as it tried to drift away from me on the bubbles. Feeling oddly resentful, I grabbed the duck and squeezed it tight.

Squeak.

The duck in my hand let out its dying scream.