Grape (7)
Muscle aches woke me from sleep. After finishing my shower, I threw on my cheap suit and left the house. Even on the way to the company, my head was filled with worries about hypnosis. My plan was solid up to this point: slowly hypnotize Rapid in secret to get her hair, sell the hair for points on the fan site, use those points to read chats between Dr. 2-dong and the hypnotist to study hypnosis. But I couldn't just get Rapid's hair whenever I wanted it. And I couldn't see Rapid whenever I felt like it. She always stayed in Zone 0, the restricted area of A City. Sometimes she'd come out, and I'd have to pretend it was a coincidence to run into her. I couldn't hypnotize her in crowded places, so if she stuck to crowds, there'd be days when I just had to watch her until she went home. If the timing didn't line up, she might appear in Zone 4 while I was at work. She might even use spatial teleportation mid-stroll and vanish back to Zone 0. There was that one time she walked around Zone 4 with Ash. I didn't know yet how often they came out together, but if Ash was with her, hypnosis was impossible. This reality meant studying hypnosis would take even more time. It sucked, but there was no helping it.
But I didn't have to read those chats with Dr. 2-dong and the hypnotist to understand the Hypnosis App. If I didn't know, I could just go through trial and error. Keep using the app, and even without a manual or info, experience would teach me what worked and what didn't. And who to test it on to build that experience? No problem there—Grape was my team leader at the company, so I could use her. Experiment with different hypnoses, research the app myself, earn points on MaJinSa to read discussion threads and study. That was my plan sorted out.
"This station is Zone 10, Zone 10. No infected bodies detected on the current track. Passengers, please remain seated or grip the handrails tightly and wait a moment before disembarking."
Riding the subway, I was lost in thought in a much more comfortable car than my usual commute. Rush hour was always packed, but now it was spacious. It hadn't felt that bad at home, but after walking a bit, my lower back throbbed. I never imagined sex with Grape would hurt this much or last so long. I needed to see Grape soon and rest more when I got home. Arriving at the company with that in mind, I froze mid-step when I spotted her waiting out front, holding my bag. Even without her magical girl status, her standout looks drew stares from all around. Approaching slowly, she flinched when she saw me and greeted me hesitantly.
"Ah, h-hello... Aenger-ssi."
"Ah, yeah."
"I... organized your bag ahead of time."
"Thanks."
She flinched, avoiding eye contact as she carefully handed me the bag. As I reached for it, she grabbed my wrist. Her body trembled, and when she glanced up nervously, I saw her tense face.
"Um... c-can we... talk for a sec... do you have time?"
"...Yeah."
"Ah! Then just a moment, wait on the rooftop? Here, the key..."
The rooftop was locked to prepare for surprise Negative attacks or flying Kaiju. It opened briefly at lunch for smokers, but now it'd be empty—just me and Grape.
"I'll grab coffee, so don't go anywhere?"
Seeing her blush as she recalled yesterday, I swallowed hard, oddly tense, and nodded. I didn't smoke, but before Grape arrived on dispatch, the department head had dragged me up there a few times for "life lessons," so I knew the way without getting lost. On the rooftop, I sat on the bench under the awning that blocked the sunlight and waited for Grape. Moments later, she came up through the open door, locked it behind her, and handed me a coffee from the nearby cafe.
"Here, latte for you, right, Aenger-ssi?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Latte for me today too, same thing."
"Uh... yeah."
...So what now? Grape sipped her drink through the straw with a slightly sulky expression and sat next to me, leaving space for one person between us. Good that we were alone at least. I'd planned to hypnotize her right away, but I scanned the surroundings just in case. The awning hid us from nearby building windows. Partitions blocked smoke from the sides. She was right beside me—perfect spot to casually show the app.
"Um... Aenger-ssi..."
"Yeah."
"By any chance... no... haa..."
But I couldn't hypnotize her right away. As I prepped the app, she kept starting to speak, then sighing alone. She was trying to say something but kept cutting off—curious, but frustrating. She didn't seem hostile or aware of the hypnosis... not dangerous. Realizing that, I got curious why she'd called me up here. I put the hypnosis on hold, and after biting her lip repeatedly, she turned to me.
"You really won't tell anyone? Promise?"
"Yeah."
"N-not even for... anything in return?"
"Yeah."
Her head faced me, but her eyes avoided mine, glancing sideways while only her face turned. She kept parting her lips, licking her teeth with the tip of her tongue, and sighing. I was frustrated, but she seemed even more so.
"S-sex... sex is, um..."
"Yeah."
"Magical girls... can't have sex..."
"...And?"
What was she trying to say? We'd been up here a while, and all I'd heard was that magical girls can't have sex. Frustrating.
"I-I'm... Rank 6, so... Grape, you know."
"Yeah."
"Can't get caught... neither being a magical girl, nor the s-sex..."
"I said I'd keep it secret."
"Haaa..."
I couldn't take it anymore. Whatever she wanted to say, her hesitation made it hard to care. Deciding to ask what I was curious about, I turned the tables.
"Why's your magical girl name Grape?"
"Huh?"
"Why's it the same as your real name?"
She panicked at my sudden question, blushed, and answered blankly—probably blurting it out without thinking.
"Wh-when I awakened... the Defense Force asked for info, and it said 'magical girl name,' so I thought they wanted my name since I'm a magical girl, and..."
"You put your real name?"
"Yeah..."
"Didn't that seem weird?"
"Not at all... I was panicking right after awakening, the soldier even asked if it was really okay, but I didn't get what he meant then..."
...What an idiot. In my mind, the image of Team Leader Grape as meticulous, sharp, and efficient dropped a notch. I threw my next question at her.
"Why can't you have sex?"
"Huh?!"
"Why not? Don't magical girls date?"
If what she'd said before was true, magical girls could recover mana quickly through sex—specifically, converting semen inside them to mana. So sex should help magical girls. Recover mana fast after a fight, have sex, then fight again—shouldn't that be even better? She'd said it felt good, so if anything, it'd encourage more sex, not discourage it.
She panicked at my question, blushed unlike her usual sharp self, fidgeted like a shy girl, clasped her hands between her legs, and answered.
"D-dating... is okay, I think... but it could be dangerous..."
"Sure, dating's fine, but what about sex."
"Ah! Th-that's... the pleasure from converting semen to mana is too intense... Monster fluids build resistance, but human semen just gets worse... This is kinda secret info too... don't tell anyone."
"Secret info?"
"...Semen addiction."
Semen addiction... The word alone was lewd. But now I got it. Physical and mental resistance... Negatives could build slight resistance to pleasure, but not humans. And it only got worse—meaning repeated creampies amplified the pleasure from human sex. Listening to her, my gaze naturally drifted to her breasts, waist, hips.
...My dick got rock hard.