Ch.47Chapter 47. Beau…ty..(2)

“Ugh……”

The bathroom stall door swung open with a thud as Cuss emerged with an unpleasant expression, walking awkwardly.

Dressed in gym clothes from head to toe, Cuss looked at herself in the mirror.

No matter how she looked, the tentacle wasn’t visible.

“This is so uncomfortable……”

She sighed while gingerly touching her hip area.

Currently, the tentacle was wrapped around her pelvis in a complete circle.

Thankfully, Jinsoo had prepared something with a wider waistband, which was fortunate.

At least it wasn’t visible from the outside.

However, having the tentacle wrapped and fixed in place was extremely uncomfortable, making even walking feel awkward.

“Cuss! You’re still not out? Everyone’s waiting.”

“……?!”

When the door suddenly burst open, Cuss jumped in surprise.

Could someone have caught her adjusting the tentacle?

Just as she was worrying about this……

‘That little human already knows!’

She remembered that Alice had seen under her skirt on the day of the entrance ceremony.

So at least in front of Alice, she could relax.

With that thought, Cuss felt herself calming down.

“What’s wrong?”

“Actually…… that thing you saw before. It’s making me really uncomfortable.”

“Ah.”

Alice nodded immediately in understanding.

Since it had been visible below her thighs, it must have been quite large underwear.

It would certainly be uncomfortable to wear shorts over that.

‘Wait? Then……’

Alice barely managed to hold back her laughter.

Her mischievous side activated, and a brilliant idea came to mind.

“Then how about…”

“Hmm?”

“Why not just take it off?”

“……?!”

Remove the tentacle?

She thought only vicious humans like Jinsoo would have such terrifying ideas.

To hear such words from the little human she believed to be innocent.

Cuss’s face turned pale from the shock of this pure madness and the feeling of betrayal.

“Ah…… hahaha…… I’m joking, Cuss. Just joking.”

“Joking……?”

“Yes. I wasn’t serious.”

“Not serious……”

“Yes, yes! Of course!”

When Cuss started to tear up, Alice had no choice but to take back her words in panic.

‘Going without underwear is definitely not an option.’

Wearing pants without underwear.

Alice had only meant it as a joke.

“Are you ready? Shall we go now?”

“Yes…… okay.”

Cuss took Alice’s outstretched hand and awkwardly walked out of the bathroom.

Though uncomfortable, it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t adapt at all.

After walking down the corridor for a while, Cuss’s gait became less suspicious-looking.

“Now that Cuss is here, shall we begin? We’ll start with some light warm-ups. We’ll do exercises in pairs…… Cuss. And Tom?”

“Teacher, there are two Toms here.”

“Ah, Tom Prime.”

“Yes.”

When the confused homeroom teacher stammered, Tom finally raised his hand.

Cuss, also bewildered, thought she should raise her hand too since her name was called, so she slowly lifted it.

“I’ve paired you two together. Everyone else can choose their own partners~”

“Ugh.”

Tom glared at Cuss with a distorted expression.

Cuss, equally displeased, turned her head away.

What grudge did this human boy have against her to keep acting this way?

She wanted to avoid him if possible.

“Teacher.”

“What is it, Cuss? By the way, you can’t change partners.”

“It’s not that. I’m just very uncomfortable moving today.”

“Ah……”

The homeroom teacher immediately understood what Cuss meant.

She was on her period.

In that case, it was right to be accommodating.

‘I see. She needs to wear a pad. That’s why going without underwear isn’t an option……’

Meanwhile, Alice nodded to herself in understanding.

“Then you can sit out today’s class. Would you like to sit over there and watch? If sitting is uncomfortable, you can stand.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Hey! Are you running away, Cuss?”

Cuss stopped in her tracks as she was trudging toward the bench.

She had just heard something she couldn’t ignore from behind.

What? Running away?

I’ve faced humans with terrifying weapons that breathe fire, she thought.

Although I lost.

Still, saying I’m running away was ridiculous.

“Who’s running away?”

“You, of course. Are you afraid of doing exercises with me? Afraid people will find out your athletic skills are terrible despite your mountain-like size?”

“……”

Tom was now spouting whatever came to mind without even knowing what he was saying.

In truth, that wasn’t important.

He understood that Cuss’s reason for wanting to skip class had nothing to do with him.

But what mattered most was making Cuss look like a coward and himself a victor—a mental victory.

“Teacher. I’ll participate.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“This exercise thing or whatever. I’ll beat Tom at it.”

Finally, Cuss turned around with a grave expression and slowly walked toward Tom.

It didn’t matter that her body condition was poor due to her period or whatever.

Though it was awkward to move with the tentacle wrapped around her pelvis, that was fine too.

The smug expression on the little human’s face as he stood arrogantly.

She felt she needed to crush his pride to feel better.

“Exercises aren’t a competitive activity……”

But the teacher’s words were already falling on deaf ears.

*

“Alright, everyone. Sit facing your partner. Stretch your legs and put your soles together, then hold hands~”

After some complications, the PE class finally began.

Following the teacher’s instructions, the children scattered around the gym held hands as directed.

However, for Cuss and Tom……

“Huh?”

“……?”

No matter how much they stretched their arms, their hands wouldn’t reach each other.

Cuss’s legs were far too long.

Even though the fairly flexible Tom bent his waist and tried his hardest, he couldn’t even reach Cuss’s calves.

Yet Cuss merely bent her waist slightly without properly extending her arms.

“Ha! I win the flexibility contest!”

“I’m just not in good condition today.”

“Sure, losers make excuses. I wonder what excuse you’ll come up with next time?”

“……”

There was almost an audible snap as Cuss’s patience broke.

Heated, she bent her waist fully and stretched out her hands.

Cuss’s upper body now formed a straight line with her lower body.

Her hands reached beyond her own feet, all the way to Tom’s thighs.

“Ack.”

Cuss’s face, with her head lowered, turned deathly pale.

Was it because of the sudden change in posture?

Something was gurgling and flowing out from below.

It was a sensation that could only be described as fucking terrible in human language.

Not understanding why Cuss was trembling while remaining bent over, Tom could only tilt his head in confusion.

“I…… I won……”

“Tch.”

Still, the magical cloth attached to her underwear would somehow handle it.

Trusting in the sanitary pad, Cuss slowly raised her head and grinned.

Seeing Tom’s annoyed face made the terrible sensation from earlier quite bearable.

“Now, while holding hands, one person pulls~”

“AAAAAAHHHHH!”

Along with the teacher’s command, a scream erupted from one side.

Tom’s upper and lower body were almost completely pressed together, trembling violently.

“Let gooooo!!!”

“Hmm?”

“Ugh……”

Cuss, who had been pulling Tom’s hands with all her might, let go in confusion.

Even after being released, Tom continued to roll around on the gym floor for a while, clutching the inside of his knees.

‘These two…… seem to have deeper issues than I thought.’

The homeroom teacher sighed deeply.

To prevent this from escalating into another adult problem, it was most important to restore the relationship between the two.

But the question was ‘how.’

Hopefully, they would get along better by cooperating during these exercises……

“Next, let’s stand back-to-back with our partners. We’ll link elbows and take turns lifting each other with our backs.”

“AAAHHHHH!”

“Haah……”

No sooner had the instruction been given than another scream echoed through the gym.

Experiencing 2G of gravity in an instant, Tom was suspended in the air, kicking his legs.

When Cuss casually put him back down with a thud, Tom turned around, panting.

A vicious look in his eyes suggested he would do exactly the same to her.

“Nnnnngh!”

“Hmm?”

“NNNNGGGHHH!”

“Hmmmm?”

But no matter how red Tom’s face turned from exertion, Cuss wouldn’t budge.

It was partly due to weight, but the height difference was also too great.

Cuss’s buttocks only reached Tom’s back, making it impossible for him to lift her no matter how hard he tried.

‘Weakling.’

When Cuss snickered, Tom pulled even harder.

His efforts looked somewhat pitiful and sad, making her consider giving him a break.

Cuss jumped slightly and leaned back.

“NNNNGGGHHH! I did it!”

Finally, Cuss lifted slightly off the ground.

It was only about 5 inches, but she was definitely off the ground.

“Huh?”

Tom’s face, which had lit up with joy, began to contort.

His center of gravity was starting to shift.

At this rate, he would throw Cuss forward, face-planting her into the ground.

As much as he disliked Cuss, he didn’t hate her enough to want to grind a girl’s face into the floor.

In a moment of panic, Tom made a decision.

He deliberately collapsed sideways, dropping Cuss as if throwing her.

THUD……!

“Ugh!”

“Cuss! Are you okay?”

Cuss rolled on the ground with a loud noise.

The teacher and the other children all gathered around in concern.

Fortunately, Cuss appeared to have only scraped her knee slightly with no other major injuries.

Tom exhaled a sigh of relief.

“It’s her, her fault! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

As attention turned to him, Tom immediately started making excuses out of guilt.

No one had even asked him anything.

Finding this annoying, the homeroom teacher approached Tom with her hands on her hips.

“Tom. But you did drop Cuss and cause her to get hurt.”

“Teacher, there are two Toms…”

“So shouldn’t you apologize?”

“Yes, yes! Apologize!”

When Alice chimed in, the other girls rallied to support Cuss.

Tom’s face instantly turned bright red as he looked down at Cuss.

Cuss, who always seemed so large, looked pitiful today.

-A politician must always win public support. Politics without public support is bound to collapse.

Recalling his father’s teaching, Tom gritted his teeth.

Yes. This is preliminary work to gain public support.

First, apologize to calm the agitated public, then work on isolating and driving out Cuss later.

So he just needed to close his eyes and say one thing.

“S…… s……”

Tom’s lips quivered as he struggled to speak.

It was just a matter of having a little courage.

Just putting aside his pride a little.

Just a little……

“S-screw you! You were the one who messed up first!”