Noble Lady (8)
Washing up is nice, but washing my hair is still a pain.
Having long hair only makes it worse.
Maybe I should cut it short like Faye? With hair that short, washing time would probably drop by more than half.
Every time I wash my hair, that thought creeps up on me.
But whenever I look in the mirror, I always end up deciding against it.
I like long hair more.
I've possessed the body of such a pretty girl, after all. It's only natural I'd want to style it to my own tastes.
Even if I didn't ask for this possession, I might as well enjoy what I can.
I sat down in front of the shower.
The chair in the hideout's bathroom was shaped like a 凹—something I'd seen plenty of times before.
When you sat on it, your crotch area was left completely exposed, so it didn't exactly feel great.
Still, better than nothing.
I started washing my hair by pouring water over it first.
…….
Lathering, scrubbing, untangling the knots… While I was wrestling with my long hair, I heard footsteps approaching.
"Luna. Still washing your hair?"
That voice—it's Theo.
For some reason, hearing Theo's voice made me a little irritated.
If I were still a guy, I wouldn't have to go through this much trouble just to wash my hair. That thought was probably what annoyed me. Just a guess, though.
Theo sat down on the chair next to mine and started washing up.
"There are plenty of other spots. Why wash here?"
"I just felt like washing here. Got a problem with that?"
"No… not really."
It felt a bit awkward, but with him acting so confident, I didn't have much to say.
If he wants to wash here, who am I to stop him? I'm not the owner of this bathroom anyway.
I'll just ignore it and focus on what I'm doing.
Ah. My hair's tangled again.
I wanted to just rake my fingers through and yank the knots out, but that would only hurt my scalp in the end.
I had to carefully pull the tangles apart, bit by bit.
This is such a hassle.
"……."
I could feel his gaze from beside me.
What is he doing instead of washing?
My mood was already sour from the tangled hair, so my words came out sharper than usual.
"What are you looking at?"
My tone was full of irritation.
It was the kind of voice that might've sounded like I was picking a fight if we weren't close.
Even I was a little startled by how I sounded, but Theo just grinned.
"I was just thinking it must be tough."
What? Is he trying to start something?
"Of course it's tough. So what, you offering to help?"
"Oh. That's not a bad idea. Want me to help?"
"Forget it. That'll just make things more complicated."
A guy wouldn't know the first thing about managing a woman's hair.
Men's and women's hair care are worlds apart.
Thanks to this being a fantasy world, it's still much simpler than back home. Doesn't make it any less difficult, though.
Right after possessing this body, I'd washed my hair the same sloppy way I did as a guy. The inn lady caught me and lectured me for nearly an hour.
Even after that, she kept grabbing me every day for a week, asking, "Did you wash properly today? Let me check." Seriously, lady. If you keep saying that, it sounds like I never wash at all. I was just washing like usual.
Anyway, it took me a long time to get used to proper hair care. And now Theo thinks he can help?
I couldn't picture a positive outcome.
But apparently, that wasn't what Theo meant.
"No. I wasn't talking about helping with your hair."
"Huh? Then what do you mean?"
His unexpected answer made me look up without thinking. My eyes met Theo's as he stared at me.
And then…
"I meant I'd help wash your body."
"You're going to wash your body after your hair anyway, right? So if I wash your body while you finish your hair, it'll be done faster."
"How about it? Can I wash you? If yes, just nod. …Hmm. That might not be convincing enough on its own. Is there anything else I can say?"
"Right. Remember that first day of training when my arms were too sore to wash? You helped me back then. Think of this as paying back that debt."
"That should do it. I'll ask again. Can I wash you? If yes, nod."
"Alright. Looks like we're ready. Then…"
….
…Ah!
"Ow…!"
I'd forgotten I was still in the middle of washing my hair.
I'd only opened my eyes for a second, but some of the suds had dripped down and were about to get in them.
Actually, it felt like they'd already gotten in a little…
My eyes, my eyes…!
I squeezed my eyes shut and turned on the shower to rinse the suds away.
Even after that, the tears wouldn't stop.
"Luna. Can I help a bit?"
Meanwhile, Theo was calmly asking something weird.
Help wash my body? Is that really important right now? My eyes are stinging like crazy.
Fortunately, a beastman's sturdy body recovers quickly.
I rinsed the suds off fast, and thanks to the tears streaming down, the pain faded in no time.
Whew. I thought I was done for.
The crisis had passed. I was letting my guard down when—
Squeeze.
"Eek?!"
Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed the inside of my thigh.
What? What?!
Startled, I grabbed the wrist that was touching my thigh. I didn't need to check whose hand it was—Theo's.
"Wh-what? This. Why did you touch me?"
Even if my thigh isn't exactly a private part, it's not somewhere just anyone can touch.
Despite being touched out of nowhere, I wasn't angry. I was so flustered that confusion outweighed any anger.
But Theo's reaction was more like he was the one surprised.
"What's wrong? If I'm going to wash you, I have to touch you."
"Wash me?"
"I said I'd help because you take forever to wash. You helped me wash before, and now I'm helping you. Don't you remember?"
"Uh…? Huh…?"
Did I? Was that a thing?
Uh… Now that I think about it slowly, maybe?
My mind's a bit fuzzy from the suds getting in my eyes, but I do feel like I heard something like that.
I sat back down.
"Fine. Then I'll leave it to you."
Unlike my hair, washing my body is simple—just lather, rinse, done.
If you go really deep into noble customs, they apparently apply all sorts of extra stuff and rinse and repeat, but that's got nothing to do with me.
I quietly left my body to Theo's hands.
"Ah. But don't grab me that hard again. You startled me."
"Sorry. It just felt so nice, I couldn't help it."
"Hehe. Well, that's true."
My thighs do feel pretty good to touch.
Should I say springy, or firm…? That sounds way too old-fashioned.
Sometimes even I touch them and marvel at how nice they feel.
We chatted like that while he washed me.
Finally, after finishing the long, tedious hair-washing and rinsing off the suds, it happened.
Theo's hand grabbed my chest.
"Eep."
My body flinched reflexively. It was the first time someone else's hand had touched me there, so I almost moved without thinking.
It's just washing, so there's no need to react strangely.
He started rubbing the suds in from the top of my chest.
Squish, squish.
It wasn't just applying suds and stopping—he kept kneading and touching my chest. Every time, I had to hold back the moans that threatened to escape.
…But why did I have to hold them back? It's just washing, so there's nothing weird about it.
I wasn't sure, but holding back felt like the right thing to do.
"Mm… hah, hahng… hnn… ngh…"
Still, when his large hands roughly kneaded my chest, it was hard to stay quiet.
I tried to hide the moans by making it sound like I was humming. This way, he won't notice. I'm so smart.
"Now that I'm touching them myself, your chest really is huge, Luna. How does it feel, having them this big?"
What? Is this sexual harassment? This has nothing to do with washing.
"I'm just curious. It's a favor, so answer me."
Sheesh, seriously. He's not a kid.
Still, I get it. It's natural to be curious.
Back when I was a guy, I would've wanted to ask if I had a busty girlfriend too.
Reality was, I didn't even have a girlfriend, let alone a busty one.
…Thinking about it makes me depressed for no reason.
Ah. So what was the question again?
Something about my chest? How it feels to have them big?
I thought about it while he kept kneading.
Recalling everything I'd experienced since possessing this body…
"It's nice."
"Huh? Really?"
—Squeeze.
"Ow."
His hand suddenly squeezed harder. Hard enough that "grab" was the right word.
Grabbing that hard hurts, you know.
Theo hadn't meant to, apparently—he loosened his grip the moment he heard my pained voice.
"Ah. Sorry, that was a bit unexpected."
"It hurts. Do that one more time and I'm not accepting your help anymore."
"Got it. Sorry."
"As long as you understand. So, unexpected?"
"I thought you'd say it was uncomfortable or not that great."
Huh?
Where did he hear that?
Even back in my old life, I'd heard similar things. That being big isn't necessarily good and just gets in the way.
Of course, I hadn't heard it directly—just picked it up from internet chatter.
But where did Theo hear it? There's no internet in this world.
Don't tell me he had a busty girlfriend?
My mood soured instantly.
I'd never even had a girlfriend in my entire life!
"Why'd you think that?"
Theo quickly answered after noticing the chill in my voice.
"Ah, I overheard some women at the inn talking about it once. I got curious if it was really like that, so I asked."
"Hmmm."
Really?
If that's the case, then sure. It's not impossible.
So he didn't have a busty girlfriend?
Thank goodness. I almost got upset.
If he'd had a busty girlfriend when I'd never even dated once, I would've been so jealous.
Ah. As a guy, obviously. That's only natural.
"I see. No more questions?"
"Huh? What's with you? You suddenly look happy."
"What are you talking about? It's not like that. I'm just bored while washing, so I figured we might as well talk."
Really.