Massage
The next morning, contrary to my worries that my condition would hit rock bottom, my body felt unexpectedly refreshed. Not only was my head clear — the chronic fatigue I'd been carrying for nearly a month had improved dramatically as well.
I didn't want to think it was because I'd masturbated to my heart's content and finally worked off all that built-up lust. No — it was probably the massage Teacher Yohan had given me that had done the trick.
When he'd suddenly offered to massage me, I'd been a little unsure what to make of it. But if the effects were this good, maybe I ought to be the one asking him for it next time.
I rolled my shoulders a few times, checking over my body, then got ready for school.
Once that high-spec physique had recovered its condition, it wasted no time putting its performance back on display. Lately I'd been so unfocused in class that most days I could barely manage to scrape together notes — but with my head this clear, I found myself able to concentrate properly again.
Eileen's body wasn't just physically gifted; her mind was exceptionally sharp as well. As long as I could actually focus on the lesson, memorization and comprehension came automatically.
Thanks to that, I could set aside some of my anxiety about grades. My sparring scores were scraping the bottom of the barrel, so I needed high marks in other areas — and overcoming this slump in condition was genuinely welcome news.
Time passed, and before I knew it the afternoon had arrived. Right after lunch, when the students were starting to fight off drowsiness — the first period of the afternoon was sparring class.
To put it more precisely, one of the practical subjects built primarily around sparring evaluations.
It wasn't a class I particularly liked. Part of it was my poor grades, but the bigger barrier was simply having to fight other students. For a modern person whose entire history of conflict amounted to a handful of verbal arguments carefully kept within the bounds of the law as a child, being told out of nowhere to start throwing punches was no small ask.
My conscience, already filed down into sharp triangular edges by years of moral education, spun furiously every time I tried to hit someone — jabbing its corners into my chest and filling me with hesitation and doubt.
And if I'd been weak, that would have been one thing — but this body was anything but weak. I wasn't joking. One slip in controlling my strength, one genuine blow, and killing someone would have been trivial. My entire body was a lethal weapon.
The original Eileen, who'd been born with this body, seemed to have managed that kind of power control with ease. I couldn't.
Of course, the Academy had all sorts of safeguards in place for emergencies, so fretting about it was probably pointless to begin with…
"Eileen. Cattley. Step forward."
While I was lost in those scattered thoughts, my turn arrived. The teacher's call rang out clearly.
I took my place in the Sparring Arena, facing my opponent.
"Looking forward to it."
"Yeah. Same here."
We exchanged a light handshake, then settled into our ready stances.
My opponent, Cattley, was a girl whose strengths lay in agile movement and exceptional reflexes. There were assessments that her raw power was a bit lacking, but she consistently maintained top-tier grades. This wasn't going to be an easy fight.
And yet, for all that worry, the sparring match ended almost anticlimactically.
"Eileen wins."
The result was my victory.
I looked down at the fallen Cattley with dazed eyes.
She hadn't been the kind of opponent I should have finished this easily.
Was this the payoff from being in such good condition since morning?
I quietly replayed the match in my head. No matter how I looked at it, there really hadn't been much to it. Cattley had closed the distance with that quick, nimble movement of hers, and I'd timed it perfectly and struck her jaw — thud.
Hit square on the chin, Cattley had gone down without even putting up a fight.
Normally there would have been a moment of hesitation before the strike, dragging the match out longer… but today, somehow, that hesitation felt a little thinner.
As long as the hesitation was gone, Eileen's Intuition would tell me exactly how to fight — so sparring grades weren't really something I needed to worry about. If I could just maintain this state through the midterms, at least…
Why had this sudden psychological shift happened? Nothing particular came to mind. The only thing I could think of was the ongoing counseling care I'd been receiving from Teacher Yohan…
Was it because of yesterday's massage? Maybe the fatigue lifting and my head clearing had let me take things a little more easily.
After school, once every last obligation of the day was finished, I made my way to the Infirmary as usual.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
I knocked and stepped inside, and Teacher Yohan greeted me at once with that warm, familiar manner of his.
As always, that familiar scent drifted over me, and I twitched my nose a few times out of habit.
Sniff, sniff.
No matter how many times I smelled it, it was a fragrance that put my heart at ease. I could feel the tension melting out of my tightly wound muscles. He'd said it was a scent specially blended for counseling sessions. Being able to make something like this — Teacher really was capable, wasn't he?
Then again, was there a single incompetent staff member at the Academy?
"Your expression looks much better today. Did something good happen?"
"Ah, yes… I got a good result in sparring class today. My condition was solid all day, and that fatigue I always feel was lighter too. I think it might have been thanks to the massage I got yesterday."
"Is that so?"
Yohan nodded with his usual composure. That gentle smile put me at ease. Whether it was the scent or Teacher himself, I couldn't say — but at some point the Infirmary had become a more comfortable place than my own room. Maybe that was why I kept falling asleep during counseling every day.
Listening to me, Yohan suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up.
"But near the end of yesterday's session, your condition suddenly took a turn for the worse, didn't it? I was so worried I couldn't stop thinking about you all day. How's the fever? Are you feeling any better?"
"Ah, that…"
Right. After the massage was over, just as we were about to part ways, a fever had suddenly risen and my body had gone hot.
And then I'd gone straight back to my room and masturbated like a madwoman.
Thinking about it now, it almost felt like I'd gone into heat. I still had no idea why it had happened that way.
In any case, it was an awkward subject to bring up with Teacher as-is, so I glossed over it and hurriedly changed the topic.
"…I slept a bit and felt better after that. Um, more importantly — would it be possible to get another massage like yesterday?"
"A massage?"
"Yes. Once I tried it, it was surprisingly refreshing. Just like you said, my flexibility seemed to improve, and my head felt really clear. If it wouldn't be an imposition, I'd really like to receive it one more time… would that be all right?"
"No, no. Of course it's all right. If you're asking me like that, I should do it for you. Then — would you lie down on the bed over there, same as yesterday?"
It was clear that yesterday's massage had had some meaningful effect on the sparring result.
Or rather — even if it hadn't, it didn't matter. The massage had felt good, and it had genuinely seemed to reduce my fatigue.
And setting all those reasons aside, somehow I had the feeling that I absolutely had to get a massage again… and that was why I'd made the request.
On top of that, today I also felt the urge to receive an even more effective massage than the one I'd gotten yesterday.
Following Teacher's instructions, I lay down on the bed and asked a question.
"Um… yesterday you said that for a proper massage, I'd need to take my clothes off, right? Could you do it that way today?"
"I could… but are you sure? Between a man and a woman, that sort of thing can be a little embarrassing. I'm being careful about it. You might be better off going to a professional masseuse — they could match you with someone of the same gender, too."
"It's fine. More than that, when you do it, Teacher, it feels more trustworthy and reassuring… Ah, but I don't need to take off my underwear too, right?"
"You don't have to go that far."
At Yohan's firm assurance, I nodded and began undressing piece by piece.
Rustle, rustle.
The soft sound of fabric sliding over bare skin filled the quiet room.
Yohan rested his chin in his hand and watched me steadily.
…Is he not going to step out?
Normally people left the room when someone was changing, didn't they? Having him stare at me like that felt a little strange.
Though I'd end up showing him my underwear-clad body during the massage anyway.
Why did I feel embarrassed over something so minor?
Still, if I made a fuss about something this small, I'd just look like the weird one.
No — I was a man on the inside anyway… so if it was just one guy showing his body to another, it wasn't anything to be that embarrassed about, right? Thinking of it that way made it a little better.
I finished undressing, folded my clothes neatly in a corner, and lay down on the bed. Just like yesterday, Teacher arranged pillows and towels into a support so my chest could rest comfortably.
I settled face-down so my back was exposed. Yohan stepped away briefly and returned with something that looked like a cylindrical lotion bottle. I tilted my head in curiosity.
"What's that?"
"Massage oil. I'm going to apply this to your body — is that all right?"
"Uh… it's fine, but… this is getting pretty serious, isn't it?"
"If we're going to do a proper massage, we might as well do it thoroughly. Applying this will promote blood circulation and help loosen up any contracted muscles."
Honestly, I didn't understand any of the benefits even when I heard them. I just took Teacher's word for it.
In truth, things like this felt a bit like the skull-water of legend. The way Master Wonhyo had drunk from a skull and found it refreshing simply because he believed it was water — maybe this only felt effective because I believed it was, and any real measurable benefit was hard to come by.
In any case, with my consent, Teacher Yohan began spreading the oil across my back.
"May I undo the hook here? Your undergarments might get wet otherwise."
"Ah — yes. Yes, please."
The moment my permission was given, Yohan unhooked my bra without hesitation. The way he undid it so easily with one hand was anything but amateurish.
Wait — looking at this carefully, he seemed more practiced at unhooking bras than I was. Just how many times had he done this?
Well, with looks like his, if he put his mind to it he could probably go through women as he pleased. I'd thought it was strange that he hadn't so much as blinked when I undressed — turns out he was just used to women.
Eileen's face and body were on a level that put ordinary women to shame. To stay that calm while looking at a figure like this… just how many women would you have to meet?
I'd always thought of him as a thoroughly proper person. This was an unexpected side of him.
He unhooked the bra, tucked it down beneath my chest, and continued applying the oil.
Slick… slap…
A strangely sticky, faintly indecent sound tickled my ears.
The oil was slightly cool, and every time his hands touched me my back twitched and shuddered on reflex.
"Nnh… haah…"
"Are you all right? Tell me if it's too cold."
"I-I'm fine. Please keep going."
It didn't feel bad.
No — if anything, it leaned toward the good side.
Every time Teacher's hands made contact, my body kept twitching and trembling for some strange reason. It feels good when Teacher touches me. I didn't know why, but that was how it felt.