That Special Day (5)
When she suddenly grabbed me and shoved me into the locker, I wondered what on earth she thought she was doing—but the moment I heard the door open not long after, a chill ran straight down my spine.
I hadn’t sensed a thing, yet her hearing really was that sharp. Beastkin, through and through, I suppose.
Whoever stood outside now was almost certainly one of Stephania’s people. No one else had any reason to come here.
If anyone else might show up it would be someone from the Church, but they hadn’t even caught a single lead on her until the protagonist stepped in, so that was out of the question.
Besides, whoever it was out there, Hoyeon herself clearly didn’t want our relationship discovered by anyone else.
Stuck in that awkward crouch waiting for the visitor to leave, I suddenly realized something.
I’d been so completely focused on the sounds outside that I hadn’t noticed—we were touching everywhere.
Her chest against mine, looking far fuller up close than it ever had at a distance. Breath brushing the nape of my neck. Limbs soft beyond belief after the strength she’d just displayed.
And her tail, constantly grazing a very precarious place.
The locker was cramped to begin with, and the slightest movement might alert whoever was outside, so I stayed frozen solid. But I was a man, and there were some things I simply couldn’t control.
Please, not now—I sang the national anthem in my head, dragged up memories of military service and office life, anything, but the stimulation was far too strong.
…She was soft, not a single ab in sight. I fretted over whether Hoyeon would realize exactly what was pressing against her, but there was no clever escape.
All I could do was desperately hope it would subside while replaying my entire life story. My fervent prayers must have worked; it went down. But since contact had already been made, the victory felt rather hollow.
Was she embarrassed? Or still wearing that deadly serious expression with her ears perked? If there’d been even a sliver of light I might somehow have checked, but unfortunately there wasn’t a single hole—pitch-black darkness.
And that sweet scent stabbing my nose left my thoughts spinning in every direction.
A honey-like fragrance, the kind that made you want to keep breathing it in. Frankly, the sort of scent you’d want to bury your nose in.
Of course, given who she was, I couldn’t. I really wished she weren’t the child of those two.
Even while calling me a friend she had no sense of a friend’s proper distance.
No—she didn’t seem to know the distance between men and women either. To the point I wondered whether she’d truly never had a single friend in her life, she seemed completely ignorant of how to treat people.
The difference in how she treated everyone else versus me, whom she recognized as a friend, and the strange behavior she’d shown today—there were so many odd points.
Constantly demanding physical contact, casually granting requests even while claiming we were friends, suddenly apologizing to me out of nowhere…
Perhaps she had no awareness of her own position, nor even of being a woman. Hoyeon seemed that defenseless, that utterly naive.
But I couldn’t make a move. She had to be the one who approached. If I schemed and failed, I wouldn’t be able to handle the fallout.
And separate from winning her heart, I still needed her parents’ recognition as well—so nothing was easy, I thought.
Of course, easier than stopping the invasion and facing the Star Rain…
…
Want to rest?
I didn’t know. I knew perfectly well how dangerous the situation was, yet the contradictory urge to stay pressed against her a little longer kept rising anyway.
Fortunately the person outside left before long, so I never completely lost self-control.
“…Gone?”
“…Yeah. Seems so.”
Opening the locker and stepping out, my head finally started working again. Being sealed in that narrow space must have scrambled my brains a little.
Hoyeon looked stifled too; she’d stripped off her outer garment and was fanning herself nonstop. Her face was flushed from the heat, and more than anything, her shirt was soaked with sweat and nearly transparent.
It was black.
Deep breath. Deep breath. Inside I hadn’t been able to see, so I could still claim it was something else—but if she noticed now it would be the end of me for sure.
“…S-sorry for suddenly dragging you into the locker without a word… But there was no time!”
“No, it’s nothing. You didn’t have bad intentions, so it’s fine.”
If it hadn’t truly been her, I wouldn’t even have reached the main event of Part One—I’d have been murdered.
I was the one who ought to be grateful.
“…By the way… was it stuffy…?”
“…Why do you ask?”
Don’t tell me.
“You… rubbed your leg against my stomach. I was curious how stuffy you must have been to do that.”
In that brief instant every possible thought flashed through my mind. When she said “leg,” I assumed she was speaking euphemistically and half-considered declaring myself her slave on the spot—but the words that followed made it clear she genuinely thought it had been a leg.
Was it all right to be this defenseless? Before I could even like her as a character, I was worried about her as a person.
If she thought for even a second she would realize what had been pressing against her stomach—had she never received sex education?
Never mind what she’d learned instead of something so important; the real question was whether it was safe to leave her like this.
Falling for a single word of “friend” was one thing, but being completely ignorant about sex as well? If even one guy with ulterior motives approached her calling himself a friend, this entire continent would be finished.
Moreover, continuing to deceive her pricked my conscience. How long was I going to keep lying while calling her a friend? When Hoyeon was thinking of me this much…
A voice like that seemed to echo from inside my chest.
Maybe it would be better to tell the truth right now, prepared to get slapped across both cheeks.
Since it was between friends, I could just ask her not to tell her parents. Seeing how completely she melted at the word “friend,” it seemed worth the attempt.
Our relationship might cool a little, but if I kept approaching her steadily as a friend she would eventually open her heart again… or so I told myself.
I steeled my resolve and decided to spill everything. Whether a kick came flying, or a fist, or curses, or pure contempt—I would take it gladly.
“…It wasn’t stuffy. But I’ll apologize in advance. That wasn’t a leg.”
“Don’t tell me it was an arm?!”
Please, Hoyeon. Figure it out. I really don’t want to say that word with my own mouth.
“Not an arm either… Anyway, I’m truly sorry.”
Hoyeon pondered for a moment, then seemed to finally understand.
“…Ah… uh… Aaaah…”
Thank goodness—at least she knew a man’s body. Why was I relieved about something like this? It felt a little ridiculous, but I still had to finish the job.
“…I’m not trying to make excuses. That… I can’t control it. We were touching in all sorts of places.”
If I was going to come clean, then all of it. I didn’t want to hide anything in a messy half-measure. Better to spill everything at once and settle it cleanly between us—that was easier for me.
One thing I’d learned dealing with women before falling into the novel: if you hide it, they find out somehow. So vomit it all in one go.
Hoyeon was flushed, but by now her face had gone almost tomato-red as she hung her head low.
I’d expected a fist or a slap first. At this rate we might stand here for hours.
And if someone from Stephania’s side showed up again it would be dangerous, so even knowing I was in no position to speak, I had to say something.
“Ah… Uuuh…”
“…Sorry. I’ll properly apologize later, so for now let’s get out. Someone else might come, right?”
She seemed to agree, answering, though she didn’t look entirely lucid.
“That… is true… Yeah.”
I held out my hand for her to take. She still wore a bashful blush, but I couldn’t simply wait for her forever.
“Not holding this time?”
“No… It’s fine. Just let’s go.”
It didn’t show outwardly, but was I disliked after all? Still, I had no regrets. With this incident as a trigger she would surely be a little more careful from now on.
“Shall we.”
The walk back was awkward. It felt as if we were merely heading in the same direction with no intention of drawing closer or speaking.
The new distance was good, yet at the same time I felt a little sad that it had opened so abruptly.
With nothing particular to do until dinner, I looked over Stephania’s plans but reaped no real harvest.
Someone still at baby level in magic like me could never hope to understand the schemes of Stephania, who could reasonably dream of becoming a great mage.
And thinking of Hoyeon made it impossible to focus anyway. The sensation, the scent—they still felt close enough to grasp.
Probably a full size larger than it looked.
More than that—a leg? Honestly I hadn’t thought it was that impressive. My body had changed a little after receiving various benefits upon falling into the novel, but it hadn’t transformed that drastically.
As I wandered through idle thoughts, dinner time arrived before I knew it. Sauntering out into the hallway, I found Hoyeon waiting in front of her door.
She still looked unresolved; no need to poke a sleeping hornet’s nest. Thinking tonight’s dinner would be alone, I started toward the cafeteria—and she moved to follow me.
Little by little we drew closer, and by the time we reached the cafeteria she was standing right beside me, just short of holding hands.
I considered speaking but saw no need to rush. Her fidgeting was plain as day.
Of course, since she was in princess mode the surroundings avoided her on their own, but knowing her true self I wasn’t particularly afraid.
After the meal, on the way back, she would speak first eventually.
Leisurely finishing dinner and walking back toward the dorms, she was the one who opened her mouth first.
Indeed—she really was easy.
“…So. About that. Regarding the… unpleasant incident earlier. I have given it some thought.”
Even though we were alone she was still in princess mode, which felt odd. Perhaps she was borrowing the princess appearance because she was too embarrassed to speak in her true form.
“I am listening, Lady Hoyeon.”
Whatever the reason, I had to match her rules. Beneath her when she was the princess. Only as friends when she showed her true self.
“…I was too hasty. Even though better places existed, I misjudged in the moment. Not considering that you are a man… was my mistake. You need not apologize. I am sorry…”
I had known she would come out like this. She truly seemed to have no awareness of her own position. Did she realize that if she wished it, this entire continent would burn?
Better if she didn’t know. Still, she looked so thoroughly dejected it was pitiful.
“No, please do not blame yourself too much. I also have my faults.”
“…Ugh.”
“Then how about this? Since we each have one fault, let us not reproach each other further. For it is a matter between friends.”
“A matter… between friends.”
I saw the princess mode nearly slip just then. She must have been quite happy.
“Originally, friends overlook each other’s faults and learn from mistakes together and so on.”
I felt a little underhanded, but nothing worked better on her, so I wanted this safety lock firmly in place.
Matters between friends stay between friends.
Whether the words took effect or not, before I knew it she was revealing her true form.
“Th…at’s right, between friends… that’s how it is…”
“Right. That’s what friends are.”
“…Then with this it’s settled…?”
“Yeah. Just don’t do it again from now on.”
Was her being easy to handle a blessing after all? I thought even her frequent sudden actions would be manageable. Of course I’d have to keep her close and watch over her.
And so we returned to the dorms and parted as if nothing had happened. She to her room, I to mine.
Somehow whenever I get involved with Hoyeon, only nerve-wracking things ever seem to happen.
…Like chests touching.
Indeed, today I would not be able to endure. I had restrained myself ever since arriving at the academy, but the events of the afternoon had been more than enough to awaken the nature that had been sleeping.
Even Hoyeon with her super senses wouldn’t be able to hear a thing.
After promising not to mention the daytime incident and stepping into my room, I felt light and free. Honestly, even if I were a man I wouldn’t have been able to endure being pressed tight against some pretty girl.
Moreover—a matter between friends. There was a ticklish resonance in my chest. Between friends. Between friends.
In my whole life I had never had anyone with whom I shared secrets; I never expected it would happen this way.
Recalling my promise with Dogeon, a smile rose unbidden.
With anything problematic neatly omitted, there was nothing left to write in the diary. But the saying “no news is good news” exists for a reason.
Just that it was mating season, but I spent it as usual. Writing something like that and about to sleep, I heard a bothersome sound.
A very regular, rhythmic sound.
It was definitely coming from Dogeon’s room, yet I couldn’t quite grasp what it was. Something rubbing, maybe…
…But why couldn’t I tear my ears away from this sound? Why was I pouring every scrap of my attention into a noise whose identity I didn’t even know?
Something I seemed to understand yet could not understand.
I couldn’t shake the feeling of something familiar yet strange. But I could not take my ears off it. Somehow my body even seemed to be heating up.
During mating season my body had never heated up like this before.
Groaning over an unknown sound was frustrating, yet going to confront Dogeon also felt wrong. After parting so amicably just now and wanting things to continue smoothly, it would be like pouring cold water over everything.
“…Hnn.”
Feeling my stomach draw taut for no reason, I decided I should sleep quickly. It was my first mating season away from home, so my body condition might simply be a little off.
The unknown sound stopped not long after—but why, a few seconds before it ended, had Dogeon called my name?
I thought about it until I fell asleep, yet I could not understand at all.
Should I ask tomorrow?