Chapter 19 : Touching the tail!

I really thought I was going to die.

“Maru, do you want to drink a banana milk?”

“Yes.”

After Nunu found out that I don’t have much tolerance, she kept teasing me with risky jokes, and I almost passed out a few times.

Now that I think about it, I think I actually passed out for real in the middle of it.

Slurp, slurp.

But still, the milk after a bath was so delicious that it completely washed away the fatigue from the bath.

This banana milk, similar to pudding, is sweet and smooth, making it taste great.

I’ll ask the commander to buy me some later.

“Maru, your hair is so soft. We used the same shampoo and conditioner, but why is there such a difference?”

As I was savoring the smooth taste of the banana milk, Nunu praised my hair while gently running her hand through it.

Ah, Nunu is sitting behind me and drying my hair.

I was going to do it myself, but it was taking too long, so I asked for help.

Now that I have nothing to do, I am standing in front of a large fan with my mouth open, going “Waaahhh-“.

Hehe. It’s fun.

…What? This is a bathhouse rule.

It’s so much fun listening to my voice echoing in the fan breeze.

“Waaahhh-“

“Now that your hair is dry… let me put some lotion on your face.”

Eh, I don’t need it.

Sitting in front of the fan with a pleasant smile, just letting the wind blow on me, Nunu dipped some lotion on her hand and started massaging my face.

The cold lotion meeting my warm skin feels strange.

It feels weird.

“Wow, your skin feels like a baby’s.”

“Ugh… uhh.”

Nunu’s touch feels like she’s not just massaging to apply lotion, but somehow it feels like she’s satisfying some personal desire.

Nunu is touching my face recklessly, as if thinking, “When else would I get to touch it?”

She’s touching my cheeks, under my chin, and even the area below my ears. It feels weird, almost like dough being kneaded.

If I keep getting kneaded like this and then go back into the bathhouse, won’t I turn into crispy on the outside and soft on the inside bread?

Soft Maru bread.

I’m feeling hungry just thinking about bread. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven’t eaten anything except the banana milk today.

I should ask Bada later if there’s anything to eat.

“Hehe, so chewy…”

No matter whether I touch my hungry stomach or not, Nunu is very focused on massaging my face.

Judging by Nunu’s tone, I guess I’ll be in this situation for a while.

Sigh.

Such is my fate.

Anyway, I successfully finished my bath.

Wait, was it really successful? Anyway, I finished my bath and came out.

Nunu said she’d dry her hair inside. She forgot to dry her hair because she was busy touching me.

But it didn’t take long because of the time spent sitting in front of the fan.

When I came outside, I saw Bada sitting down and drinking chocolate milk, with the commander sitting beside her.

Bada’s previously gloomy expression had disappeared, and she was smiling gently.

Nom, nom.

“Bada, is it delicious?”

“Yes!”

It seems both of them finished their baths quite a while ago.

As for the commander, that’s fine, but when did Bada go into the bath?

“Maru, why did you come out so late?”

Bada spotted me coming out and waved her hand with a big smile.

When I looked closer, her tail near her butt was also swaying. It looked soft and smooth.

I waved my hand back at her, and her smile reached the sky.

Then she patted the seat beside her, signaling me to sit next to her.

“That scary Nunu… is she still inside?”

As I sat beside Bada, she immediately started trembling and asked. Her tail, which was gently swaying a moment ago, was now drooping.

…It seems Bada is really scared of Nunu.

Of course, her first impression wasn’t great, but she seems to be overreacting with fear.

Come to think of it, Nunu also seems unusually cautious around Bada.

Maybe it’s because she’s a cat-person and Bada’s a dog-person. They’re natural opposites.

“Yeah, she’s still inside drying her hair.”

“Thank goodness…”

As soon as Bada heard that Nunu hadn’t come out yet, she sighed in relief.

Her tail started swaying gently again, and her fluffy ears near her head twitched.

They twitched, twitching.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but those ears look soft and squishy, just like pudding.

I want to touch them.

“Um, can I touch your tail?”

“Huh? Of course! If it’s Maru, it’s fine.”

Oh, really?

Aren’t animal tails usually a sensitive spot that you shouldn’t touch randomly?

Is it different because she’s a beast-person?

…I don’t know. Since she says it’s fine, I guess it’s okay.

“Okay, I’ll touch it.”

I carefully extended my hand toward her swaying tail.

Rustle, rustle.

Even just brushing against her tail fur, I could feel its softness. Wow, how soft is this?

I can’t resist.

Ehh!

Hee?!

Did I grab it too hard? I think I heard a strange sound.

But seriously, this is really soft. It’s so soft that I almost want to cuddle with it and sleep.

I wish I had a fluffy tail like this too. Then I could fall asleep happily while hugging it every night.

If possible, I’d prefer to have a lion tail. It’s the most courageous and masculine animal.

I’m the king of the beasts, Lion Maru! Roar.

“Heh… this is nice. It’s soft and warm.”

“Ah, I see. I’m glad…”

I noticed Bada’s cat ears twitching.

Those would definitely feel soft to the touch as well.

Swoosh, swoosh.

“Ma, Maru?!”

“Ah.”

Oh, it seems I was unconsciously stroking Bada.

Caught off guard by the sudden patting, Bada looked down, embarrassed.

…This reaction is kind of cute. Is this why people like stroking things?

I think I get what Nunu meant about animal therapy.

Touching such a soft and pleasant tail and ears—how could anyone not feel happy?

…Though the problem with Nunu’s case is that the target is me.

— You’ve got a message!

While I was not only touching Bada’s tail but also rubbing my cheek against it, I heard an alert sound from the side.

Strictly speaking, the sound was coming from the phone in Bada’s pocket.

“Commander? It’s a message from the Commander?”

“Huh? From the Commander?”

Since it was in her pocket, I couldn’t see the contents clearly… but I could tell that the sender was the Commander.

Not our Commander standing next to the coffee machine, but the Commander from Sector E headquarters.

“Wait a second, I’ll check.”

Because of that, I stopped touching her tail and watched Bada curiously, wondering what kind of message it was.

I wanted to keep playing with it a little longer. What a shame.

“Sorry for being late. The Sector C headquarters will be visiting regarding monster handling, so please take care of it. The related documents are in my desk drawer.”

“…Are you kidding me?”

Why would you send this now?

Isn’t this way too late?

“Hehe, the Commander’s been forgetting things a lot lately. Still, it’s lucky they sent it now.”

Bada smiled and said that since the bath was over, we should head back to the meeting room to discuss the request.

“But… Nunu… hasn’t come out yet?”

What’s with calling her Nunu-nim? That sounds a bit weird. It’s not even ‘Nunim’…

…If I call Nunu ‘Nunim,’ would it become ‘Nununim’? That sounds like the perfect material for a pun.

I’ll have to try using it later.

“Maybe drying her hair is taking longer than expected.”

“I see.”

A brief silence followed.

“Uh, Maru.”

“Hm?”

“… “

What? Why isn’t she saying anything?

I tilted my head, wondering why Bada wasn’t following up after calling me.

Ah.

Upon closer inspection, I saw Bada’s swaying tail resting neatly on my knee.

That could only mean one thing.

“Hehe, nice.”

“… “

So, until Nunu came out, I just sat there enjoying the fluffy softness of Bada’s tail.

When I glanced at Bada, her cheeks were slightly flushed.

She must have been feeling pretty hot after soaking in the bath for so long.

Anyway, after a short while of petting, Nunu finally emerged from the bath, all fresh and clean—
bringing my little healing time to an end.

As for the Commander… He showed up holding a coffee cup after stepping out of the nearby smoking room.

I guess I’ll have to give him a scolding later.

How could he even think about smoking when there’s a kid around? Disgraceful.

Not me.

I mean Bada.

Even if she’s taller and looks older than me, she’s technically a kid.

Let’s go with that.

…Anyway, once we were all clean, we put on some fresh clothes and headed back to the meeting room.

This time, I took the initiative and held hands with both Bada and Nunu.

I intended for them to grow closer, but… for some reason, they both just smiled at me instead of at each other.

“Ma… Maru. What about me…?”

Thanks to that, only the poor Commander was left out.

—Go quit smoking first, old man.