A Touch Like Feathers
"Hahk."
The moment I woke, a shallow moan slipped from my lips.
I forced my limp body upright, and the first things that met my eyes were my tangled hair and disheveled clothes.
As sleep drained from my mind, the memories of last night began to surface one by one.
"Nngh?!.. Feels good.... so gooood.. hiiik?!"
"Hgieeeit?! Nngguuuh!!!"
"Nnghoot!!?!!!!"
Pop—
Something burst inside my overheated head. My face flushed scarlet, and steam rose in thin wisps above my hair.
I... I've lost my mind....
Shame pinned my gaze to the floor. I couldn't lift my head.
I had never imagined I would cry out with moans like that.
"Uugh..."
Having once lived as a man made last night's memories hit me with crushing force.
The image of myself writhing beneath Athena, screaming in ecstasy.
Didn't I look exactly like a beast that had lost all reason to pleasure?
I... it did feel good, though..
At first, I refused to call it pleasure at all.
But the sensation that had been pure aversion gradually turned sweet as time passed, and by the middle—when Athena mercilessly ravaged my stomach—I felt myself coming apart under a dizzying pleasure that clawed through my skull.
Even so. Even knowing that.
To think I had screamed like that...
I... is this body just unusually sensitive..?
Until now, I had never once experienced pleasure in this body.
Even after transmigrating, I had never touched myself, and yesterday was, without question, the first time anything had stirred physical desire in me.
That it had felt so intense anyway was almost impossible to believe.
"Uugh... so embarrassing.."
I was far too ashamed to face Athena.
What must she have thought, watching me like that?
She might have decided I was a woman with no dignity.
She might even have thought I was cheap, and her affection for me could have cooled.
...I don't want that..
I didn't want to drift away from Athena.
I wanted to stay by her side for the rest of my life—never abandoned, only loved.
The one small mercy was this: somewhere in my memory, I still held the image of Athena enjoying the sounds I made.
So the things I feared probably wouldn't come to pass.
....
Still, I needed to keep myself from surrendering my reason to pleasure the way I had last night.
"Get a grip, Hera. You're not an animal."
I made that vow—that from now on, even if it happened again, I would hold on to my mind—and tried to push myself up from the bed.
Until I felt something between my legs.
"...Huh?"
My lower half. More precisely, a cold, damp sensation around my underwear.
I carefully brought my hand to my panties and touched them.
"Uh...?"
Soaked through.
Wet enough that dunking them in water and wringing them out wouldn't have looked any different.
With trembling hands, careful not to wake Mari, I eased the blanket aside.
There, beneath my legs, was a large wet stain.
"...Uh?... Uuhh?"
For a moment, my mind went completely blank.
W... what is this..?
D... did Mari wet the bed in her sleep?
Or did someone spill water by accident?
Haha.. Mari, really.. you're still just a little kid, huh..?
I scrambled through every possible explanation, desperate to escape reality.
But the sheet soaked right along with my underwear proved, beyond any doubt, that I was the one responsible.
"......."
I should just die.
You're a disgrace as a human being, Hera.
To wet the bed at your age.
And right next to your daughter, no less.
Self-loathing climbed through me in exponential leaps.
"Mmngh..."
"Hiiik..!"
Mari stirred beside me.
I jolted and yanked the blanket away in a flash.
I absolutely could not let Mari see this evidence.
A mother who wets the bed in her sleep. The moment Mari found out, I truly wouldn't have the will to keep living.
When I ripped the blanket off all at once, Mari's body flipped over on top of it.
"Uweh?"
And just like that, she woke up.
"..Mom?"
She looked at me with a puzzled expression. I hastily shoved the blanket behind my back.
"Ah.. ahaha.. Mari, you're awake..?"
"....?"
Narrowing her eyes, she studied me with open suspicion. Then something seemed to click, and a mischievous little smile curved her lips as she came closer.
"Mom. Blanket. Why are you hiding it behind you?"
My heart plummeted at her words.
"Uh.. th.. that's.."
Cold sweat slid down the back of my neck, but I kept my face steady and scrambled for an excuse.
"The blanket looked really dusty.. so I was going to wash it...!"
"Mm.. okay?"
She nestled into my arms without further suspicion. Relief washed through me—it seemed I'd gotten away with it.
Now I just needed to wash the blan—
"It's okay. Mom's pee isn't dirty."
"........Eh?"
I doubted my own ears.
I told myself I must have misheard.
No—I had to have misheard.
But.
"Doesn't smell. Actually smells nice."
Mari's expression said she already knew everything. She looked like she was trying to comfort me.
"Uh...? Ma.. Mari..?"
"Still, Mom. So messy."
"Ah..?.. Eh..?"
I stared at her with shaking eyes. Mari only smiled at me, gentle and sweet.
No..?
Mari, please say it isn't true..
Please..
"Messy Mom who wets the bed. Still love you."
She stood up on the mattress, pulled my head into her chest, and cradled it warmly between both hands.
I could only hang there in her arms, staring blankly like someone whose soul had left their body.
I should die.
Just die.
Someone like me has no right to be a mother.
I couldn't even properly remember how I spent the hours after that.
I simply went around avoiding Mari's eyes, and before I knew it, night had fallen.
"You've looked depressed all day. Did something happen?"
Tonight, once again, I had come to Athena's bedroom.
I lay with my head resting on her lap while she stroked my hair.
"...Just.. I felt disgusted with myself.."
Her fingers brushed my lips now and then, and the flush in her face sent a strange little thrill through me.
"Don't tell me this is about last night?"
"....That too."
"Pfft."
Athena let out a soft snort of laughter, then spoke.
"You were beautiful."
"Mmnh..?"
"The way you moaned. It was beautiful."
"Uuhh...?"
Her bold praise set my face ablaze in an instant.
"W... what are you even saying.."
The words should have been nothing but mortifying. And yet somehow, they made me feel a little better.
Was it because Athena had called me beautiful..?
"So from now on, don't hold back. Keep letting me hear them."
With that, Athena lowered her face toward my lips.
I already knew, without a word, that she was coming in for a kiss.
I tilted my head up so she could reach me more comfortably, and welcomed her mouth with mine.
Chup— juuup—
The soft, wet sounds of our lips sucking at each other began to fill the room.
"Mmnh.. Athena.."
Not a rough kiss that stripped away reason—something languid, coaxing.
It felt as though she were treating me with real tenderness, and my heart fluttered for no good reason.
When I lifted my arms and wound them around her neck, Athena slipped her tongue inside as if announcing the real beginning, and once more our saliva began to mingle.
"Hyaahp... hnn.."
After swimming through my mouth for a long while, Athena's tongue slowly withdrew, as if satisfied.
She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, a sultry look on her face.
"Hera. Lie down on the bed like yesterday."
"....Mm."
I stretched out on the mattress exactly as I had the night before, and once again cold metal clicked shut over both my wrists.
"Nnh.."
The chill of the metal against my skin drew a shallow moan from me without thinking.
The same situation as last night.
Was she going to give me that dizzying sensation again?
It had felt good enough to make me lose my mind.
But I was hesitating.
I didn't want to pant and thrash like a beast the way I had yesterday.
After wrestling with myself for a long moment, I finally spoke to Athena, faltering.
"Um.. Athena.."
"Hm?"
She tilted her head, looking down at me.
"C.. could you maybe.. be a little gentler..?"
"....."
She gave no answer at all.
Afraid I might have upset her, I hurried to add more.
"I.. it wasn't that it felt bad..!.. I.. I was just too worn out.."
It was true—I'd spent the entire day with no strength left in my legs.
If she went at me as hard as yesterday, I probably wouldn't be able to leave the bed tomorrow.
Athena watched me in silence for a moment. Then she let out a quiet laugh and caught hold of my clothes, lifting them.
"Relax, Hera. Nothing you're worried about is going to happen tonight."
As she raised my clothes, everything was bared again—my pale legs, the undergarments covering my chest.
But unlike yesterday, a vivid red handprint still stood out clearly across my stomach.
"....."
Silence settled over the room for a while.
Wondering if something was wrong, I lifted my head to look at her. Athena was frowning hard, staring fixedly at my belly.
"...Athena?"
"......Hah."
As if something deeply displeased her, Athena clicked her tongue once, sharp and hard, then gently traced her fingers over my stomach.
"Nnh.."
"Hera. For a while, sleep with me."
"Uuhh..? L.. leaving Mari alone feels a little.."
"...Then the three of us sleep together."
Athena saying we should all share a bed.
I didn't know her reasons, but I couldn't see any real cause to refuse.
Well. The bed was enormous anyway.. space wouldn't be a problem.
And deep down, I'd been hoping Mari and Athena might grow a little closer. If anything, it sounded like a good idea.
"Mm.. okay."
Hearing my answer, Athena stroked my hair once, then set her hands on my body again.
Sliip—
"Nnh.."
The hand circling slowly over my stomach gradually drifted downward along my legs.
"Hnn.. that tickles.."
Athena's fingers glided lightly over my skin.
The ticklish sensation pulled a laugh out of me without permission.
She paid it no mind and kept stroking. Then she shaped her hand as if cupping something and began focusing on my thighs.
"Haah.."
Her touch moved like a fluttering feather.
Something about the way she handled me made my body grow steadily warmer.
This feels.. strange..
Athena's hands never stopped, sweeping over both thighs without pause.
The languid pleasure made my body grow more and more restless.
At last she lifted her hands from my thighs. With one arm she raised my waist, and with the other she began tapping lightly along my back.
The moment her fingers found my spine, my body gave a soft little jump.
With a touch that barely made contact, Athena's hand traveled slowly down my back toward my hips.
A damp heat gathered low in my belly, and a restless ache made me twist my legs together.
Every time my thighs rubbed, the friction of skin on skin sent little sparks of pleasure through me.
Then Athena shifted her attention to my arms.
With the same feather-light motions, her hand began to travel down them.
When she reached my underarms, she brushed her fingers back and forth as if tickling me.
"Nnh.. hnn.."
But by now her touch no longer felt ticklish at all. It only stoked the fire burning through my body higher.
"Ahn... A.. Athena.."
Those constant, barely-there caresses wound my body tighter and tighter.
Without meaning to, I looked up at Athena with eyes that begged for something more.
But Athena ignored my pleading gaze.
And so, for a full hour, she simply went on touching my body—slowly, thoroughly—passing the time.
"Hngh... haang... Athenaaa..."
It was unbearable.
I felt like I would go insane from the frustration.
My body, set endlessly ablaze by Athena's touch, was now demanding something deeper—as if it could not endure another second.
It was a strange feeling I'd never known before, one I couldn't put into words. All I knew was that I desperately wanted to release this heat her hands had so carefully piled up inside me.
But Athena still only caressed me lightly. She never did anything direct.
I wish she'd... press on my stomach...
Ordinarily the thought would have disgusted me.
But with reason fraying under this tormenting need, I no longer wanted to hold back.
I wanted her to crush my belly the way she had yesterday and finally relieve this unbearable pressure.
Saying it out loud, though, was too humiliating.
All I could do was lift my hips a little, offering up my stomach, and look at Athena again with those same desperate eyes.
"Hnn... Athena.. it's okay noww.."
She watched me in silence for a long time.
Then, at last, she moved in close.
Finally—she was going to pull me out of this scorching misery.
I.. I just have to hold back the moans..
As long as I didn't howl like a beast the way I had yesterday, it would be fine.
I clenched that resolve tight inside me, squeezed my eyes shut, and steeled myself to take whatever pleasure she gave.
But.
Click—
"That's enough, Hera. Let's go sleep together now."
"Uh......?"
What reached me was not the dizzying pleasure that would have blown everything away—only the freedom of my hands.
Caught completely off guard, I could only stare blankly at my wrists, now released from their restraints.
"You said you were worn out today. I have no intention of tormenting you. Come on."
Athena took my hand and led me toward my room.
I had no choice but to follow her in a daze.
Th... that's it...?
My body still burned with a frustration that felt ready to drive me mad.
If we stopped here, I was sure nothing would remain but a sticky, unfinished feeling.
"A.. Athena?"
"Hm?"
"Um... I..."
The pure, open look on Athena's face held no trace of any further intention.
"What is it, Hera?"
"Uh.. th.. that's.."
As I hesitated over the words, Athena yawned as if exhausted and spoke again.
"If it's nothing important, let's hurry. I'm unusually tired tonight."
Looking at her expression, I found I couldn't say another word.
"Y... yeah.."
And so, struggling to calm a body that felt ready to catch fire, I spent a night that was stifling, unfinished, and deeply unsatisfying.