Chapter 46 : Achoo!

Although there was a light mishap in the middle, I successfully finished my bath.

As I soaked my body in the warm water, my skin became extremely soft and smooth.

It feels like my body is twice as soft as usual, which I like.

Baths are truly the best.

Even after carefully scrubbing everywhere and getting out, my body still feels warm.

I wonder if it’s because my body is like that of a child, and heat doesn’t escape as easily.

Since it’s soft and smooth, and also warm, I naturally end up touching my body here and there.

When I pull on my cheeks with my hands, they stretch out just like cheese, stretching out.

My chewy belly makes a “chop-chop” sound when I pat it, and it’s fun.

Now I understand what Nunu Unnie meant when she said it was irresistible.

Just touching it feels so good because it’s so soft.

It feels like I’m touching a liquid monster or something.

It’s quite strange but also a pleasant… hard-to-describe feeling.

Waaaaa-

My hair is too long to dry with the tiny hair dryer in the bathhouse, so I decided to just turn on the big fan in my room and spin around to dry it.

You know, the big fans you find in places like taekwondo dojos.

Anyway, I spent time jumping around, flapping my hands and feet, and spinning around in my room.

Yay!

Hmm?

While I was doing that, something small wriggling in the corner of the room caught my eye.

When I looked closely… it was an ant.

The same ant I met when I first came to the command center!

“Hello, little ant. Long time no see. How have you been?”

The ant, who had been nibbling on a piece of bread in the corner while wriggling its antennae, looked up.

It… must have looked up, right?

It’s so small, I can’t even see it clearly.

The ant wriggled its antennae and seemed to express excitement.

I wasn’t too fond of bugs at first… but for some reason, this one seems cute since I’ve been seeing it.

I wonder what it’s been up to.

With such a tiny body, it probably hasn’t gone far, so it must have been living near my room.

I’m curious.

-Thunk

“Hey, hey?”

The ant, who had been wriggling its antennae, dropped the piece of bread it was holding and crawled toward me.

Why is it doing that all of a sudden?

“Ant?”

I felt like I needed to step back, so I lightly took a step back, but the ant picked up the piece of bread from the floor and threw it at me.

The ant repeated this a few times, then crawled up my arm and onto my shoulder.

“What’s going on, ant?”

The ant kept climbing up and eventually reached my shoulder.

What is this… Oh, wait, could it be?

“Ant, why didn’t you tell me? Did you really want to climb onto my shoulder?”

The ant wriggled its antennae after hearing my words.

Is it agreeing or disagreeing?

It seems like it’s shaking its head as if it’s saying no…

“Ow!”

I leaned in to see what the ant was up to, and it bit my nose before running away.

Why is it doing that all of a sudden… Ouch.

Wait a second.

Could it be?

“Ant, are you mad because I left you alone?”

As I gently rubbed my stinging nose, I called out to the ant.

It seemed to jump happily as if confirming my suspicion.

Can ants jump?… Anyway, I set that thought aside and reached out my hand to the ant again.

The ant, who had been shaking its head, grabbed the piece of bread and climbed onto my palm.

“Ah, that tickles.”

Then, just like how a cat kneads, the ant scratched my palm with its antennae.

It was like it was saying, “I’ll let it go this time~,” and I almost laughed without realizing it.

It’s so cute.

At this point, I think I could keep it as a pet.

It understands me well.

No, wait.

Ants are my friends, not pets.

“By the way, what time is it… Huh, it’s later than I thought.

It’s probably time for things to be over, right?”

I checked my phone to see the time, and sure enough, time had passed.

There were messages from Bada and Luka.

I thought I’d finish quickly, but it seems like I spent more time just floating around lazily than I expected.

I should check the messages quickly and return to the command center.

Bada
“Starting the Churu diet. Day 1!”

Bada’s profile with a cute cat picture and a mysterious status message.

Below that, there was the number of messages Bada had sent.

But why does it say 300+?

Is there some kind of error?

I scratched my cheek and pressed the chat room.

An overwhelming wave of messages flooded my phone.

“Maru, where did you go?”

“Maru, where did you go?”

“We finished cleaning, where did you go?”

“Let’s play together.”

“Maru, is something wrong?”

(cat crying emoji)

“I miss you, Maru…”

“Eeek.”

Most of the messages were just asking where I was.

Even when I scrolled down, it was the same.

“Just wanted to pet you one last time, where did you go?”

“We didn’t get to play much at the amusement park…”

“Let’s play together.”

“Come back.”

(cat crying emoji)

…Now that I think about it, I didn’t tell Bada I was leaving.

I should send a message so they don’t worry.

A survival report… or whatever it’s called?

(A fox emoji looking surprised)

(A cat emoji looking surprised)

It seemed like she had been holding her phone the whole time because the reply came instantly.

・Ah! I forgot to tell you because the Commander said we had to return quickly. I’m really sorry!

• No, it’s okay. But you could’ve at least left a text message. I was really worried.

(A crying cat emoji)

• Sorry, let’s meet up and play together later!

・Alright! I’ll ask the Commander if I can get an outing pass!

• You don’t have to go that far…

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

As I was texting Bada, a cold chill swept down my back.

…First, let’s put on some clothes.

‘Let’s see, what should I wear today…’

My closet was filled with various clothes.

A big oversized T-shirt. An extremely big oversized T-shirt. And just a regular oversized T-shirt.

Hmm, today I’ll go with the big oversized T-shirt.

I put on my signature oversized T-shirt. As always, it felt soft, and a cool breeze brushed against my body.

As expected, this is the most comfortable.

The best.

I also pulled out a pair of socks with a tiny fox printed on them. They were soft enough to slide across the floor.

‘Alright. Let’s go together, Ant!’

As I opened the door and shouted loudly, the ant that had been on my head twitched its antennae in response.

…When did it even climb up there again? If the light hadn’t reflected off my phone, I wouldn’t have noticed it.

-!

Alright, I’m heading out. You have to hold on tight so you don’t fall, okay?

The ant nodded while gripping onto a strand of my hair.

Since the ant was holding on, a few strands of my hair were sticking up. It kind of looked like a silly little ahoge.

Anyway, with the ant, who for some reason was pulling a Ratatouille on my head, I made my way to the command room.

And so, I arrived in front of the command room.

I made it, but… the voices coming from inside sounded a bit strange.

It wasn’t the Commander’s voice, nor was it Nunu’s.

‘Whose voice is that?’

Even as I pressed my face against the door, the soundproofing was too good—I could only hear muffled voices, unable to make out the conversation.

Wait a second. No way…

…Could it be that audit team or whatever the Commander mentioned has finally invaded?

If that’s the case, then maybe… inside that room right now, a bunch of buff, bald men are surrounding the Commander and forcing him to eat mint chocolate.

Or maybe they laid out pineapple pizza and hot pudding and are throwing a party.

I imagine the Commander shedding tears as he’s forced to eat soup with rice.

…Ugh, that’s horrifying.

I have to help him.

Bam!

I kicked open the command room door and barged in.

“Commander! Nunu! I’m here to save you—huh?”

…But, wait.

“Maru! It’s been a while! I came to play!”

A very familiar-looking cat girl instantly hugged me as I burst in and rubbed her cheeks against mine.

Bada?

Bada?

‘Wow, Maru got even softer!’

That wasn’t all. Looking past Bada’s vigorously wagging tail, I tilted my head upward…

“Hello.”

…A really tall wolf lady was standing there.

“Linne… sister?”

What in the world is going on?

Bada, I could understand, but even Linne is at our command center now?

“Maru! We’re part of the same command unit now! That means we can spend daily life together, go on missions, and be teammates!”

“U-Uh?”

…Bada is officially part of our command unit now?

Is this a dream?

Stretch.

“Ow.”

“Ah! Maru, why are you suddenly pulling your own cheeks?”

It hurts, so it’s not a dream. But what is happening?

‘Haha, Commander! Maru is super surprised! The surprise was a huge success.’

“I told you they’d love it. Was I right or was I right?”

While I stood there, still processing everything, I heard the cheerful laughter of Nunu and the Commander coming from the corner.

Ah.

So this was a surprise they planned to startle me.

What the heck. You really scared me. But still, Bada, and even Linne… I’m so happy—Ahchoo!

Ah, ahchoo! W-Why am I suddenly—ahchoo!