The First Egg
The thought of having to lay something was revolting.
The fact that something was growing inside my body only to push its way out filled me with a maddening disgust.
Somewhere unfamiliar, a round mass gradually tried to force its way through flesh, twisting my entire body with pain.
As the round egg was shoved outward and slimy fluid spilled with it, the thin little moans that tore free grated on my nerves.
And the fact that I was exposing every bit of this to none other than Jihoo made the shame almost unbearable.
If only it had been a period—how much better that would have been. No, I hated periods, but at least they would have been preferable, right?
After awakening I had received a basic sex-ed briefing at the Association’s affiliated hospital, and as an adult I possessed a decent amount of knowledge of my own. I never would have needed to bare everything to Jihoo like this.
I didn’t know the details, but compared to laying an egg it would have hurt far less and been far less humiliating.
Above all, a period wouldn’t have spent ages sliding back and forth inside me, churning my guts into chaos.
I don’t want to lay it.
No—just come out already.
No, I hate this.
The unpleasant sense of volume filling me from within made my body tense of its own accord.
I bit down hard on my lip and forced back the scream that tried to burst free.
My eyes, which had been streaming tears for what felt like forever, stung fiercely.
I resented the tail that shot upright every time the egg tried to emerge. And the way my body jerked and trembled when the egg ultimately failed to come out and was shoved back inside only made me angrier.
If it never came out, would this awful feeling last forever?
“Relax. You’ll hurt yourself.”
At the quiet signal of his voice, the strength drained from my body as if something had snapped.
It wasn’t because of Jihoo’s words. My exhausted body had simply given out at that exact moment.
The timing just happened to match—yet my body seemed to think otherwise.
Squelch… Thud.
“Ah… ahh—!”
As the tension left me, the thing that had tormented me for so long finally slipped free. Even while my body slumped limply against his and I gasped for breath, tasting liberation at last, I forced my head up, trying to look at his face.
Through slightly blurred vision, Jihoo’s face looking down at me felt different from usual.
Was it gratitude that he was here? It seemed a little more than that.
A little… yes. Similar to the feeling I used to get from Mom.
A sense of relief that he was protecting me, and the faintest thread of reliability.
Maybe that was why.
“Wait here and rest inside. I’ll make a quick call and come right back.”
When he tried to leave me alone behind the partition to make a short phone call—
“…Don’t wanna. Don’t go.”
My voice, cracked and hoarse from screaming and crying for so long, clung to him in a plea.
I’m scared to be alone.
“It’s scary to look at… I don’t wanna look inside there…”
I was terrified of facing alone the thing I had just laid.
So.
So stay right here beside me like this. Friend. Please.
“Please don’t go…”
I seized his clothes again and held on tight.
He stared down at me blankly for a moment, then let out a sigh and laid his hand over the back of mine.
“Okay. Okay, so let go of this first.”
“But… but…”
If I let go, he’ll leave.
He’ll turn around and walk out, leaving the weird one here by herself.
Like a child throwing a tantrum, the strength refused to leave the hand gripping his clothes.
“…It keeps showing.”
“…?”
“Every time you move, the inside shows.”
Ah.
“If you understand, cover yourself with something—anything.”
Only after hearing Jihoo’s words did I finally realize what state I was in, and my face burned.
As the heat in my head cooled a little, coherent thought returned.
The pathetic way I had clung to him just now flooded me with shame; I couldn’t lift my head.
I ducked low, trying to hide my flaming face.
“…Shit.”
“Hoo… calmed down a bit?”
“Yeah…”
I released the fistful of Jihoo’s clothes I had been clutching as if I would never let go, and let him gently push me behind the partition curtain.
The moment I sat on the bed I yanked the blanket toward me and covered myself.
“…Covered.”
My voice came out small and trembling.
Right away the curtain rattled open and Jihoo poked his face through.
His gaze swept the area around the bed as if searching for something.
“What are you doing…?”
“Checking whether there was any bleeding, just in case.”
“W-why would you look for that?!”
At his words I yanked the blanket higher without thinking and curled up inside it, pulling both legs tight against my body.
“…Sheesh. Looking at you like that, you’re fine.”
Jihoo sighed, pulled the curtain all the way open, and stepped up to the bedside.
Without so much as a glance at me sitting on the edge of the bed, he reached out and picked something up.
A large, round white egg with a few yellow speckles, still faintly steaming.
“Here.”
“W-why are you giving me this?! Don’t hold it either!”
When Jihoo thrust the egg toward me I flinched and burrowed deeper into the blanket.
“You laid it.”
“That’s exactly why! Stop holding it!”
It was mortifying.
I still couldn’t believe the freshly laid, faintly steaming egg had come out of my body.
That something smaller than an ostrich egg yet still enormous had emerged from my small frame—no wonder it had been so hard when it refused to come out for so long.
“Just hold it for now.”
“No! Absolutely not!”
“Damn it, you need it too!”
Seeing me thrash and refuse like I was having a fit, Jihoo frowned and forcibly shoved the egg into my arms.
Familiar warmth radiated from the egg now pressed against me.
“Stay like that. I’m going to call someone to bring clothes.”
“Uh… uh. Okay.”
At his words I nodded blankly and hugged the egg tight.
The gentle heat against my palms and belly brought a strange wave of relief.
I hugged the egg even harder.
As if hiding a precious treasure, I curled my arms and legs and rolled into a ball.
My tail quietly wound itself around my body as well.
“…Ah.”
The soft sound that escaped scattered between my lips.
My heart pounded wildly from the egg’s warmth.
Every thought of how disgusting and repulsive it had been until moments ago seemed to burn away in that heat and vanish.
“…Hello.”
While Jihoo was busy tapping away on his phone, I secretly greeted the egg in my arms.
Not long after Jihoo finished sending the message, Ryu Seorin appeared, opening the infirmary door with a small paper bag in hand.
“I have brought them.”
Does that woman wear her maid uniform even outside the mansion?
She had come all the way to the Hunter Academy dressed exactly as she worked at the estate.
“Then I’ll wait outside. Put them on and come out.”
“Huh? Th-that… okay.”
At Jihoo’s announcement that he would step out, I almost reached for him without thinking.
Ryu Seorin handed me the paper bag, bowed politely, and followed Jihoo out of the infirmary.
“…Just wait a second.”
I carefully set the egg on the bed, then hurriedly pulled out the bottoms and underwear from the bag and put them on.
After stuffing the wet clothes roughly back into the bag, I gathered the egg into my arms again and left the infirmary.
“Then the two of you may return home first. I shall remain behind to finish the cleanup.”
Leaving Ryu Seorin to handle the aftermath, Jihoo and I left the Academy and climbed into the car together.
We said nothing the entire ride home.
I awkwardly watched the scenery outside while continuously stroking the egg in my arms; Jihoo simply focused on driving.
Every so often our eyes met in the rearview mirror, and each time we hastily looked away.
The awkward silence lasted until we arrived home.
“Miri! Are you all right?”
When we opened the front door, Jihoo’s mother was waiting right there.
The same woman who always teased me by calling me “Sae-a” now spoke my real name with a worried expression unlike anything I had seen before.
“Y-yes. I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief. I’m sorry. Living with us… I never gave you any warning. I never imagined you would go through oviposition.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t know either.”
I forced a bright smile and gently took her hand.
“So this is your first egg.”
“…Yeah.”
“May I see it for a moment?”
I hesitated, then carefully placed the egg I had been cradling so carefully into her hands.
“Because it’s the first egg, it’s a little small after all.”
Small?
I thought I was going to die laying that thing… Does that mean later ones get bigger?
An uneasy premonition made me swallow hard.
This egg was already nearly the size of a small ostrich egg. Could something even larger really come out of my body?
I had thought I was dying just laying this one.
“The surface is clean, and the shape is lovely. And clearly a dragon’s… no, that isn’t right.”
While turning the egg this way and that and commenting on its condition, she suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
“You must be exhausted. Don’t just stand there—sit and wait. Auntie will take care of everything.”
At her slightly puzzling kindness I nodded blankly and let Jihoo lead me by the hand toward the dining table.
“Why the table? The sofa’s closer.”
“There’s a reason.”
He avoided answering and simply pushed me into a chair.
I stared blankly at Jihoo’s mother’s back as she carried the egg I had laid into the kitchen.
Was she going to rinse it for me? She took a small mixing bowl from the sink.
And then—
Crack.
“Huh?”
With a bright, cheerful sound she struck the egg against the rim of the mixing bowl and cracked it open.
I could only gape at the scene, mouth hanging open.
Sparkling yolk and white poured from the broken shell into the bowl.
My egg…?
“A-Aaaah!!!”
A sharp stab of pain lanced through my chest; I screamed and shot up from the chair.
“Miri?”
“Sae-a?”
Tears began to spill again from eyes that still stung from all the earlier crying.
“Th-the egg… it was my egg… hic…”
I wailed like a child, covering my face with both hands.