When the Mood Is Just Right
When you've had chocolate and you're in a good mood and the atmosphere is right—
Even setting aside the still-damp skin and hair that hadn't quite finished drying…
I almost lost myself staring.
But I couldn't just keep sitting there soaking in the view, so I stood up in a hurry.
"…Ahem. I need to wash up too, so if you're tired, don't wait for me. Go sleep in the bedroom next door first."
I figured I could just crash here.
There was a cot of sorts, after all.
Erina, however, seemed to have other ideas. "I'm not sleepy…" she murmured, turning her head slightly and avoiding my eyes.
And then, from beyond the glass window that opened onto the yard, a sudden sound.
Myaang—
"—Ah. Sol."
"Kyaaaa! What's this cat? Is it yours, Professor?!"
Originally it had seemed like a stray that lived around the house…
But not long after Kyle moved in, it had started coming and going like the place belonged to it, and ended up living here with him…
"Yeah. Looks like it was out in the yard until just now and came inside."
Erina plopped down on the floor and stretched both arms out, making a path for the little creature to climb—and Sol hopped right into them without a second's hesitation.
"So cuuute—! A cheese tabby, the coloring is so pretty!"
Orange covering its back while the underside of its belly was painted in an exquisite white—the way those two colors met was so delicately balanced it was almost uncanny.
Even to my eyes, it was a cat pretty enough to make you pause.
"It is pretty."
Nestled in Erina's arms without a hint of protest, Sol let her stroke its back and purred leisurely, so sweetly that she piled on another compliment.
"It's so well-behaved? Accepting my touch this readily even though we just met today—it's so sweet."
"Mm… yeah. It does seem more like a dog-cat type."
"It really does."
Actually, more than that, Sol was a little… how to put it.
Almost more human than cat, maybe.
It had its moments, sure, but overall it barely acted like a cat at all.
It didn't seem particularly curious—when I came home after work it rarely showed interest or tried to follow me in. It never knocked things over or made a mess, and it seemed to know what was dangerous and what wasn't.
That said, it wasn't that it kept people at a distance either.
It didn't bite or show hostility.
Just the feeling of watching people from a careful step away?
And it wasn't even an old cat.
Its appearance didn't look aged or sickly—at most about a year old, with that fresh, young look.
Anyway, things like shoving doors and windows open with its paws had long since become so ordinary I no longer found them surprising.
More than anything else—
It seemed to understand human speech.
"Ah—!"
Huh?
While she was still playing with Sol, Erina suddenly cried out.
"What? What's wrong?"
I wondered what the sudden shout was about—until I followed where her finger pointed.
"That."
"Ah."
I'd left it out so she could help herself while I went to wash up.
And Erina, still playing with Sol, was still taking pieces out one by one and eating them.
Though she seemed so focused on the cat she hadn't managed many.
"…Is it that good?"
She was eating it with such pure bliss.
"Yeees… it's so good."
The box I'd left in a corner of the living room.
Erina had taken out the chocolate inside, tasted it, and was now cupping both cheeks with her hands, wearing the happiest expression I'd seen from her all day.
"…Yeah. As long as it's good."
"This chocolate has so much pistachio filling inside—the sweet-and-salty is amazing."
"Mm. It does have that flavor."
That sweet-salty-sweet-salty explosion filling your mouth definitely made it worth eating.
"Um, but… is it okay if I eat this?"
"Well, I was going to stick it in the pantry of my personal lab soon anyway."
Kyle had probably bought it for exactly that purpose.
Anyway, it was getting late. I needed to put her to bed soon.
"Erina? It's about time you should sleep—"
If I was going to send her back to the academy safely tomorrow, she couldn't stay up forever. I was about to tell her as much—
When Erina cut me off.
"Um, Professor."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for saving me today."
"…Ah? Sure. It must have been really scary, but… I hope you can shake it all off and get through today okay."
In this world of swords and magic, after all…
Things like this would only be the beginning.
Especially at an academy where they trained for exactly that.
But setting that aside—if you really thought about it…
Erina had basically saved her own life herself today.
This was a little awkward.
I didn't deserve this much gratitude.
"Today I really… received help from you that I can't fully put into words…"
"No, no. I didn't do anything that great. I just did what I should as a professor protecting my students. Don't take it so much to heart."
"But Professor, you've already saved my life twice, you know?"
So we're counting that old incident too.
But that was that, and…
"That's… well, you're my student, and I do have a track record as a Holy Knight, for what it's worth. So I shouldn't say this, but things like this will happen a lot more from now on—you don't need to be so grateful."
Still, I thought I understood.
She'd face plenty more of this going forward, but that was then. For now, this was only her first time going through it.
It was her first, so while it wasn't quite something to celebrate, she probably just wanted to express something somehow.
So I'd been about to accept a simple thank-you, at least—
"But… alright. If you really must convey your gratitude, I'll accept it just this once."
"So about that… Professor?"
"Yeah. Go on, Erina."
"Today, I want to give you my first… to you."
What?
What did I just hear?
I felt my head go blank.
"Um… Erina? I'm not sure what you're talking about all of a sudden…"
"I mean, this isn't about the purification or the service I've been doing for you lately."
"No…"
Did Erina even understand what she was saying right now?
"Right after the semester started, I overheard some adults whispering while walking around campus. They said you like women, Professor."
"…Ah."
Damn it.
My reputation. Is this really okay as is?
No—setting that aside—
"Of course, from everything I've seen of you, Professor, you're not the type to care about that at all, but…"
Still, Erina kept going.
"Because of what you did for me today—my life, after the previous time, once more, the second time you saved me… this much is—"
"No, Erina. Hey, calm down a bit, okay?"
"Please stop brushing me off?!"
"Is that 'first' thing you're talking about… that… what was it? Something you saw in that magazine you mentioned before?"
"…Yes. What about it?"
Aargh—that magazine…
This is driving me insane for real.
"Anyway, please accept it!"
"Erina… doing things impulsively like that isn't goo— mmpf!"
Myaang!
Out of nowhere, Sol launched itself from the desk and slapped onto my face with a wet thwap.
Hey, Sol—this isn't like you at all.
"…Sol. Oppa's talking right now, so go wait outside for a bit."
Myaang—
But Sol had zero intention of leaving Erina's arms, where I'd transferred it from my face.
"Nyaao—"
It just stayed snuggled in, docilely accepting pets.
"Professor? Just because you say that doesn't mean a cat will understand…"
"Huh. That's weird."
Normally when I said something, it would perk up and act on it right away.
It understood so well I'd always laughed it off as a romance-fantasy-world thing—but today?
But that wasn't important right now, so I set it aside.
"Anyway, Erina… to finish what I was saying earlier—um, right. I don't know what you saw in that magazine, but doing things impulsively—"
"It's fine! Because it's you, Professor!!"
What.
Erina pressed on without missing a beat.
"There's no way giving my first to someone like you could be a bad thing, right?"
"No—"
Why does she trust me this much.
"Erina. Think carefully. You're a student, and I'm a teacher… no, a professor. Do you think a relationship like this is right?"
"But… I've already heard that argument. And even so, you already let me do it back then, didn't you?"
"No, that was… still, that was at least… sigh. Since we skipped the main event, it was a bit of a gray area, but still within acceptable bounds, right?"
"…Professor, you know that excuse won't work…?"
"…Haa. Well, yeah, but… right. We've already seen everything there is to see of each other."
Yeah—at the point where I'd already stripped my student and even touched her chest, what more was there left to hold back on…
"…Alright."
"Kya!"
On one hand, a corner of my mind had already been shouting that if we'd come this far, I should just accept it.
But even so, there was still the teacher-student relationship…
That was why I'd been refusing all along.
But if Erina's resolve was this firm…
Yeah. What the hell…
……
I took hold of both her arms below the shoulders so we were facing each other…
But what was I supposed to do first?
I had absolutely no idea.
I'm going crazy.
It wasn't like I usually went around chasing women, and as for that bastard Kyle…
Contrary to the rumors, no matter how hard I dug through his memories, there was nothing about fooling around with women.
What was I supposed to do here.
How long did we stay locked in that standoff, just staring into each other's eyes?
Sol, whom I'd set down from Erina's arms earlier, suddenly leapt up.
The jumping cat seemed to fly straight toward us—
"Hey, Sol! You little—!"
Its landing point was my back.
Then with all four paws it shoved me with everything it had and leapt again toward a nearby display cabinet.
"Kyaat!"
Thanks to Sol's unexpected added weight, my body tilted slightly toward Erina—and just like that, our lips crashed together.
The sensation of each other's mouths—the warmth and softness of someone else's lips.
Both Erina and I had our eyes blown wide open.
Well, since it's come to this…
Screw it!
As a man, I couldn't keep being dragged around by a girl forever—and a student at that.
So between those two lips that had simply been pressed together—
I pushed my tongue past Erina's lips.
"Mmpf…!"
Erina's eyes went even wider than before, more startled than ever.
It wasn't just lips meeting—our mouths were layered, and the tongue slipping out between them invaded Erina's mouth, ravaging its interior.
"Nngh…!"
Since I was the one pushing my tongue in—
My hand naturally caught the side of Erina's face so she wouldn't be pushed back, adjusting the angle as I pleased while I continued the kiss.
Inside her mouth, Erina's soft, warm tongue flailed helplessly, tangled and mixed with mine.
"Profes… haah…"
In the process, Erina's platinum-blonde hair rustled against my arm and clung to it.
"Mmpfh…"
The kiss went on longer than expected.
And as it did, the person receiving it naturally needed somewhere to lean.
Erina's hands slipped under my arms and wrapped around my back.
Soft.
As our bodies pressed together, the front of Erina's figure—which stood out remarkably—crushed against my torso, and that absurd plushness against my chest was a whole new sensation.
Anyway… I didn't take it as a rejection signal. With my free hand I pulled Erina even tighter against me and kissed her fiercely.
Not just exploring her mouth—sometimes pulling back briefly to catch a breath, but never stopping my pursuit of her lips.
Slurp.
Erina's lips weren't too thin—just the right amount of plump and glossy.
"Haa, haa… mm… mmpf…"
I lightly nipped and sucked them between my upper and lower lips while catching my breath, glancing at her expression—eyes still closed, clinging tightly to me, lost in the moment.
"Nngh… mm… mmmph… Professor… mm…"
I pulled back a little to look at her.
"Pwah…"
She was so beautiful.
"Haa… haa…"
Had I stared too hard?
"I-it's embarrassing…"
The way she averted her eyes in shyness was cute too.
"Weren't you the one who suggested this? You can't get embarrassed already."
What was she planning to do next.
"K-kissing… was… m-my first time."
"…Same here."
"…Really?"
"Yeah."
"You were pretty good for that…"
"…I'm an adult, after all."
I absolutely could not say it was because I'd watched a lot before getting transmigrated.
At the word "adult," Erina's eyes narrowed a little—then she pressed for the next step in a slightly playful tone.
"Hmm… so? What's next?"
Tsk.
This girl Erina… suddenly coming on strong.
"W-what do you mean what's next. Erina, you shouldn't tease an adult so carelessly."
"Ehehe… but Professor, while you're making that stern face,"
"And?"
"Your hard cock was poking me in the stomach the whole time we were kissing."
And with that, Erina giggled softly.
Ugh.
I felt my dignity as a professor get sliced down in an instant.
But it wasn't like I had nothing to say back.
"Erina. You. Your nipples are completely hard, you know."