It's a Misunderstanding
I'd originally planned to head straight home that evening no matter what, but following Jihoo's mother's advice that there were all sorts of things to watch out for right after oviposition, I decided to impose on them for just one more day.
While I was staying the extra day, I was led by the hand into the master bedroom by Jihoo's mother for a simple second round of sex education.
Things like how it was best to avoid bathing right after oviposition. How during the oviposition period, one should avoid any strenuous activity.
Most of it was similar to the precautions one takes during a period, so none of it was particularly difficult. Still, since it was a different phenomenon from menstruation, there were plenty of additional points that needed special care.
For example, since you couldn't pinpoint the exact day the egg would come out, once you felt the egg in your belly you had to treat the following roughly two weeks as the oviposition period and take every precaution. During the oviposition period, the viscous oviposition fluid that helped the egg pass would often be secreted, so it was best to wear a sanitary pad. Abdominal pain during the oviposition period was perfectly normal, but if you felt a stabbing pain, or if blood or anything else mixed into the oviposition fluid, you were to contact them immediately.
"I'm still worried, after all…."
"If anything happens, I'll be sure to contact you right away."
I answered with a soft smile to Jihoo's mother, whose face was full of concern, telling her I would be fine.
Of course a vague anxiety was blooming inside me, but since it was something I would go through at most twice a year, there would be plenty of time to slowly get my head around it.
"So you'll be receiving basic education at the Association branch near your home?"
"Yes, that's the plan. I ended up staying away from home longer than I expected, too."
"I see…. Auntie thinks it would be better if Miri stayed here and received the education at headquarters before going."
To Jihoo's mother, who spoke while tightly holding my hand with a somewhat regretful look, I added that my mom would probably worry. She nodded, saying if that was the case, there was nothing to be done.
"Well then. In exchange, this auntie will contact the Association in advance for you."
"Contact them…?"
"Yes. Jihoo is affiliated with the Association, after all. So I have a few acquaintances there through him."
I was grateful for the help, but receiving too much special treatment felt a bit burdensome, so I had been thinking of carefully declining her offer.
"It's nothing special. The number of people who can take the basic education each week is limited, so I was thinking of asking them to contact me if a spot opens up. It would be troublesome if you couldn't take the course before the entrance exam, wouldn't it?"
Indeed, with only about three weeks left until the entrance exam, if I was unlucky I might not get the basic education at all and end up unable to take the exam itself.
"If it's something like that, I'll take you up on it."
"What's so difficult about it? It's just leaving a single text message."
Jihoo's mother smiled brightly as if satisfied with my answer, patted my shoulder with one hand, and with the other rapidly tapped out a text message somewhere on her smartphone.
Watching her, I felt a simultaneous sense of apology and gratitude that I couldn't quite place. No matter that I was the son of her friend and her son's close friend, I sometimes couldn't shake the feeling that I was receiving more kindness than I deserved.
"Well then. Go rest up properly now. Right after oviposition, recovery is the most important thing."
"Yes, I will."
"I'll put some extra effort into dinner. I'll prepare Miri's favorites."
Following the advice that the most important thing right after oviposition was to rest and recover, I returned straight to the room I was staying in and burrowed under the covers.
Ever since the change, curling up like this brought a strange sense of security, so I always found myself burrowing into the blankets without realizing it. Savoring the coziness of the thick blanket with my whole body, I tightly hugged my heavy yet plump tail.
"Hey. Why did I get so angry earlier?"
I murmured, stroking the tip of my tail that was gently swaying right in front of my eyes.
I'd just cracked the egg I'd laid, so it shouldn't have been something to scream and burst into tears over. Why had my chest ached so much back then? What had I been so dissatisfied about with people who were being this considerate of me? Even though when I was laying it I'd screamed that I hated it so much.
"…It feels a little empty."
I gently placed a hand on my lower belly, where the clumped-up feeling had now disappeared. Because of the egg I'd gone to the bathroom often, couldn't eat properly, and so on. There hadn't really been anything good about having an egg in my belly. But now that it was out, I felt a little empty.
At Jihoo's mother's words that an egg would form at most twice a year, I'd been happy thinking I wouldn't have to go through today's ordeal often. But now that I was alone like this, was I feeling a little lonely?
"I don't know. Right?"
But whether I pondered alone or muttered to my tail, no particular answer came. I just chalked it up to an emotional swing that had come from various reasons coinciding by chance, curled up tighter, and closed my eyes.
"Young Mistress. Please have dinner before you sleep."
At the sound of someone waking me, I opened my eyes and, still hazy, fidgeted and poked just my face out from under the covers. I'd only meant to close my eyes for a bit, but it seemed I'd fallen asleep in the meantime. I hadn't been aware of it, but just as they'd said my body would be drained, I must have been quite exhausted from the oviposition.
"Are you feeling a little better?"
When I laboriously lifted my eyelids still heavy with sleep, Ryu Seorin was looking at me from beside the bed with a gentle smile. Seeing that Ryu Seorin, who'd said she'd clean up at the Academy infirmary and come back, had returned, it seemed I'd slept for quite a while.
"Mm…. A bit better."
"That's a relief. Then I'll take care of the bedding, so please go down first."
At her words, I stretched out long under the covers, yawned in my disheveled state, and got up from the bed. I'd been about to head straight out of the room when Ryu Seorin caught me and sat me down in front of the mirror. Only after simply wiping my face with a wet towel and tying my hair up into a single bun was I released and able to leave the room.
Each time my bare feet touched the cold marble floor, a pleasantly cool sensation came with a soft pattering sound.
"Hnn. Now it finally feels like my body. Right?"
Whether the oviposition had had some effect, along with becoming able to handle mana, moving my tail had become much easier. I could even wrap it around my leg like a snake now. Of course it was still awkward, like consciously breathing, but just being able to move it the way I wanted was satisfying enough.
For practice, I went down the stairs with my tail wrapped around my leg, and at the bottom I spotted Jihoo, who'd gone down first.
"Jihoo. You heading down too?"
"Yeah. Miri, is your body a bit better…."
At my call he turned his head and started asking about my condition, but the moment he saw me he swallowed his words like a mute. He was staring blankly at me…. more precisely, at my legs.
To think I'd experience a guy staring intently at my legs. Even if my outward appearance was female now, and I was wearing short shorts that fully exposed my pure white legs. Still, these were the legs of a guy he'd spent twenty years with as a man—did he really need to stare like that?
"Hey. Don't stare so creepily."
When I snapped at him, Jihoo finally seemed to come to his senses, flustered as he averted his gaze.
"No. It's not that…. Don't go around with your tail like that."
"Why? Seems like it'd be convenient when riding the bus."
If I did this, I wouldn't inconvenience other people, and with both hands free it'd be easy to hold onto the handrails or poles.
"Absolutely don't!"
But the moment he heard me, Jihoo's face twisted in an instant, and he suddenly raised his voice.
"Ah. Why are you suddenly yelling! Don't just tell me not to do it—give me a reason!"
"So…. that is…. it means…."
"What? I can't hear you."
Jihoo was saying something, but he was hesitating and muttering in a voice that trailed off, so I couldn't make out a single word.
"…It means you're into it."
"Speak up a little. I said I can't hear you."
"Ah, shit…. Wrapping your tail around your leg is a fucking vulgar meaning! It means 'let's go have a round right now'! Got it?"
"What…?"
What the hell did that mean?
"So. It's the same as this, you get it?!"
Looking frustrated, Jihoo made a circle with the index finger and thumb of one hand, then vigorously thrust the index finger of his other hand in and out of the hole.
…Fuck? This was the same as that?
"Hey! If it means that you should've said so right away! Why were you just staring? Aren't you gonna stop that?!"
"I was surprised! Surprised! So you hurry up and unwrap your tail from your leg!"
The moment I hurriedly tried to unwrap the tail coiled around my leg—
"Kids. Why aren't you coming down and staying there…. Oh my."
I felt a sense of déjà vu. Along with a chilly sensation that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, a familiar voice came from behind me. Behind us, Jihoo's mother was covering her mouth and making an unseemly smiling-with-her-eyes expression.
I was pretty sure something like this had happened on the first day of my awakening too.
"Oh my…. Shall I have dinner brought to your room? No, wait. Doing it right after oviposition will wear your bones down, kids."
"No. No. It's not. It's a misunderstanding."
I desperately shook my head as I unwrapped the tail from my leg, and Jihoo hastily undid his hand gesture and lowered his hands, but my words didn't seem to reach Jihoo's mother, who had already thoroughly misunderstood.
"Sure. When you're young you can be like that. Still, take it easy and enjoy yourselves. Mom will have someone bring you some potions."
"I said no!!!"
Seriously. No wonder she was friends with my mom. Why did they have to be so in sync even about stuff like this.
"Honey! Shall we go look at baby cribs tomorrow?"
Ah, for real!