12. I'm Not Even Mentally Prepared—What Do You Mean I Have to Lay Eggs? (4)
In front of the open door, Yun Ha-ram was waiting with Albatross.
I didn't think she'd actually come. Ah, damn, I hadn't even changed out of my pajamas....
Having to greet them looking like this, my tail feathers shot straight up.
"Peregrine, your image is a little different from when you're all neatly dressed, isn't it?"
"Sorry, if you give me a second, I'll change right away...."
"No, stay as you are! You're still recovering, after all. And, this."
Yun Ha-ram shoved Albatross forward from behind, where she'd been fidgeting.
She seemed to be holding a box with a bunch of things in it....
When I tried to look and see what was inside, Albatross quickly thrust both hands holding the box toward me.
"Um, uh. Peregrine..., please, take this."
"Huh? Albatross, what is this?"
"I prepared a few things you might need. And, congratulations on getting through it safely...!"
Is that really something to be congratulated for?
The person it happened to isn't exactly happy about it. Actually, after it was over, I was in so much pain I passed out.
"Since you've got tail feathers on your head now..., wings will be along soon too."
"Eep...?! Why are you suddenly touching me?!"
"When tail feathers first grow in, that reaction is just so cute, you know."
Yun Ha-ram smoothly reached out and began stroking the tail feathers on top of my head.
From the tip of the feathers, which trembled at her touch, a shiver ran through me.
At the unfamiliar tickling, I straightened my back rigidly and grabbed Yun Ha-ram's hand.
"C-could you please stop?!"
"Hm? But you'll need to be petted often to get used to it."
"No...! I'll groom them myself! It felt seriously weird just now!"
"Hmm. So you're saying you'll leave it to your Partner? Fine. If the two of you are going to get close, your Partner will end up petting you pretty often anyway."
"What are you talking about?!"
"A Partner taming a Magical Girl usually goes like this──."
"Ah. Aaah. Ah──! I have no idea what you mean...!"
She just said that if we wanted to get close, we'd end up petting each other often.
So. She's saying that if I let Park Won's hands touch me, we'll get close.
As if that'll happen.
"First, come inside..., and let's put that conversation off for later!"
I mumbled my words and, as a quick fix, pulled both of them inside by the hands.
Me, getting tamed by Park Won's hands—there's a limit to nonsense.
I'm scared I'll end up dreaming about it.
After a brief flurry of chaotic conversation, the four of us sat in the living room with the bag in front of us.
The problem was that the items that came out of the bag were a sight to behold.
"...."
"Um, uh. It's really not anything weird, Peregrine...."
"Why is there gel in here, Albatross?"
I shook the plastic container of gel and began interrogating Albatross and Yun Ha-ram.
What it's for, where it goes. I wasn't going to think too deeply about it.
But I did need to at least pin down what they were thinking when they brought this.
"Because if you have it, it can make it hurt less...?"
"Explain."
"Um! Just so you don't misunderstand...!"
"Explain──!!!"
Squawk.
When I rapped the table with the container in my hand, Albatross immediately shrank back in front of me.
"You say something too, Partner! Th-this..., this stuff..., do people really use it...? During the Egg-Laying Season...?"
"Of course."
Ugh. So that's how it is. People really do use it.
What a helpful piece of information.
"They really use it. It's better to use it."
"N-no. No..., no! Why, why...?! Why?!"
"Curious about the reason?"
"Do you think I asked because I actually wanted to know...!"
"She's probably used it too. Isn't that right, Albatross?"
"No?!"
When I whipped my head around to look, Albatross was silent.
"N-no...?"
Albatross was keeping her mouth shut.
She was turning her gaze away with all her might, fervently focused only on dodging the answer.
When I turned my sights on Yun Ha-ram, she likewise averted her head and just twitched her lips.
"You'll really need it, Peregrine. It's nothing to be embarrassed about at all...."
"I'm the one it happened to, and no matter how I try to get past it, it's embarrassing.... The use is way too obvious!"
"We haven't actually said what it's for yet...."
"What else could it be?!"
My face was burning for no good reason. My tail feathers were trembling cluelessly too.
I've never used anything like this before, you know....
Wouldn't just giving me a normal heating pad or some medicine be enough?
"Hey, don't get worked up. Just accept it."
"Partner, even you...."
"I wasn't sure if I should say this."
"Ugh..., what are you trying to say. Now I'm worried too...."
"Do you know how big the egg that came out of you was?"
Hrk.
I hadn't even thought about it. Yesterday I was out of it, and you blindfolded me in the first place.
Now that I think about it, yeah. How big was the egg?
Yesterday really hurt. If I had to roughly estimate....
"Th-this much...?"
I quietly curled my fingers in front of Park Won to gauge the size.
About this much, right? Even at this size, thinking about it going in and coming out, it seems like it would hurt.
In the first place, there's no way this small body could handle something like that....
Wait.
Park Won, why are you shaking your head.
"This much."
Park Won raised his fist toward me.
What am I supposed to do with this.
"Roughly this much."
"You're joking, right?"
Horrified, I cautiously reached out with both hands.
I wrapped my small hands around Park Won's fist and slowly fumbled around it.
It was this big?
Something this size... came out of my body?
No. That's impossible.
There's no way something like this could go in..., no, could have come out.
"No way.... There's no way I laid something like this...? No, it doesn't make sense...?!"
"Accept it. This is why you need the gel."
"I-I have to push out something like this every cycle...?!"
"Don't be so embarrassed about it. Just think of it as oiling a weapon──."
"That's not the problem!!!"
No way.
I can't even get both hands all the way around this thing.
Huh. Why am I crying...?
"Peregrine...?"
"If s-something like this goes in. I mean..., it. It breaks you.... It definitely breaks you...?"
"Peregrine, you can't just say that out loud."
"It was something you'd have found out eventually."
I'm sure of it. It breaks you. It'll break you for sure.
This Magical Girl thing, I need to quit.
Otherwise, who knows what'll happen to my head or body....
"That's why you need the gel! Yes, I also, that! I use it often with Albatross! Let's agree not to be too embarrassed about it or interrogate each other, okay? Okay?!"
Her face turning red too, Yun Ha-ram wrapped her hands over mine as if to cover them. Like she was making a final plea, Yun Ha-ram's words suddenly sped up.
"That's right! Um, I. I've used it too..., my Partner helped me, and having it was much better! So it's okay...!"
Even Albatross piled on, spouting all kinds of nonsense and placing her hand on top.
I looked at this total disaster of a pervert all-star dream team and whimpered.
I hate all of you.
"Relax your expression."
"I hate you the most...."
"You've been through it once, so you know."
"Didn't you hear what I just said?! I said I hate you the most!"
"Hm."
"...."
Well, that's true.
Honestly, it hurt so much. I really almost passed out.
So, I mean. What was it....
"Still. For now..., leave it here."
"Yes...! Just take it for now. It might look a little weird, but you'll be better off having it."
It's a gift from guests who came all the way to visit, so I'm just accepting it. Just accepting....
I'm never using it. No matter what.
Never.
"Peregrine, ummm. There's also a normal heating pad you can wear on your stomach...."
"Albatross, do you really use this?"
"Well..., honestly, without it, it's hard to manage.... If you hold out, your body gets wrecked."
Ah, right. Magical Girls didn't have much of a choice.
In exchange for the power to fight Aberrations, you have to end up half-dead every cycle....
Who came up with a system like this?
"Um, should we change the subject?! Anyway. Park Won, you were a temporary Partner, right?"
"That's right."
"Has the duration been set?"
"Don't know. The contract says until this one can function as a Magical Girl."
"It'll be a shame once you get attached too, Peregrine. Park Won isn't a bad person."
While resting her chin on her hand and putting the items back in the box, Yun Ha-ram looked a little wistful.
This person is oddly strange too, but she doesn't seem like the type with no eye for people.
Still, I think you're wrong this time.
"No, he's completely bad.... Ugh."
"Completely bad...?"
"Anyway, he's a weird person. So I'm planning to keep him tied down."
If someone like this goes to another Magical Girl, who knows what he'll get up to.
I haven't seen anything noticeably bad yet, but....
Anyway, he's an ex-convict.
"Weren't you on bad terms with Park Won?"
"It's dedicated marking, I said. Dedicated marking. Keeping him next to me so he can't do anything improper to another Magical Girl."
"Hmmm."
"What Magical Girl would welcome a good-for-nothing Partner like this..., Yun Ha-ram. Your expression looks weird."
"No, it's nothing. It's just a little fascinating."
This woman, when she smiled just now, for a second she looked just like Park Won.
Meanwhile, the man in question, Park Won, hadn't said a single word the whole time....
"This is about you, Partner. Are you listening?"
"I'm listening."
"Say something, anything. What, don't you have anything you feel wronged about?"
Glaring at Park Won sitting next to me, I started poking his side with my toes.
Ex-convict. Good-for-nothing thug. Taciturn pink apron.
If you're really innocent, then go ahead and explain yourself.
You're not saying anything, so even I'm getting confused.
"Nothing."
"Eek...?!"
Suddenly, my ankle was caught by Park Won.
Park Won stared blankly for a moment, then began pressing the inside of my sole with his thumb──.
Why does it hurt this much?!
"Ah, aaah...! It hurts, it hurts! Partner, every time you do this, I hate you...! I'm not joking, ah! Ah...!"
"Pressing here after laying an egg helps, they say."
"I know that's a lie...!"
"It's not a lie."
"It's not getting better, it just hurts! Ah, eek?! It hurts...! Stop, stop...!"
I'm holding back my swearing because there are people here, but who just grabs someone else's foot like that.
Ah, ah. Aaahhh. Ugh!
"Really, seriously! I said it really hurts...?! Say something...!"
I flopped over and kept kicking Park Won with my other foot, but Park Won's acupressure went on for nearly five minutes.
"Doing that regularly will help too! It just hurts a bit...."
"Please be quiet, Yun Ha-ram...!"
Like I said, I hate all of you.
