A Night for Two (3)
Yuri's demeanor was nothing like usual.
She didn't look like the ice-cold guild master of Flame—just a woman who'd had too much to drink. Then again, she'd knocked back three bottles of vodka as if they were water, so getting drunk was only to be expected.
Even an Awakened would get drunk if they didn't burn the alcohol off with mana.
A regular person would've been out cold.
That was why color had risen in a face that was usually so pale. And the atmosphere around her had shifted again from even a moment before.
Unlike when she'd been proudly reciting her exploits, the sight of Yuri fallen silent under a rising flush of drink was beautiful.
Her snow-white hair hung loosely down. And that look of hers, made vivid rather than dulled by the alcohol, was less beautiful than it was alluring.
I found myself watching her face without meaning to. It felt as if she'd put a spell on me.
A snow woman...
After Yuri and I had opened our hearts to each other, she'd told me something.
Yuri's mother. In that hometown of hers in Japan, there was a legend of a snow woman.
But the stories about her mother, the fact that Yuri had been trained to hunt from childhood and had developed a middle-aged man's tastes—none of it had been in the original.
The original Si-woo, like the Si-woo of this world, had been devoted to Min-ah and Min-ah alone. In the original, Yuri—who would go on to join the Snowfield Knights—had been nothing more than a rival.
So none of Yuri's personal history that I knew had ever been mentioned in the original. And the reason I knew it anyway was because Yuri had told me about herself, directly, and only me.
Yuri isn't the type to go around sharing her private history.
The hunting training she'd mentioned a little while ago was the same.
I'd fallen for her so much more deeply after learning about the unhappy past hidden behind the perfect aristocratic young lady, the student council president.
Yuri's true self, her inner heart, was far more fragile than you'd expect. Fragile enough that she was starved for affection.
Which meant I was the man who knew Yuri's secrets best. That specialness had always made me happy.
And now...
Yuri, radiating an atmosphere utterly unlike her usual self, suddenly took my hand. Then she laced her fingers through mine.
"Hah..."
We were sitting side by side. Thanks to the barrier Yuri had cast over the shelter, even the wind outside was silent.
Which meant I could hear even the sound of her breathing, right there beside me. Maybe because she'd drunk so much, her breath sounded rather labored.
And that breathing made it impossible for me to stay as calm as I usually was.
I keep being aware of her. Of Yuri.
A yokai of exquisite beauty that bewitched anyone who looked upon her—a snow woman. It felt as if I were alone with one.
Though for a yokai, Yuri's face and the nape of her neck were flushed red, making her look entirely human. No—that only made her more captivating.
If she was human, I could touch her. I could feel her warmth. Even Yuri, the ice mage. Even now, warmth radiated from the hand I was holding.
What am I thinking...
I shook my head, steeling myself, and tried to quietly unlace our fingers. If this went on, it would be dangerous.
And that was when Yuri spoke.
"Min-su. I... I want to take a bath."
The words threw me.
A bath?
There were campgrounds with shower facilities, of course. But this was a mountain shelter high up in the peaks. Naturally there was no running water—barely even a toilet.
The interior was just wooden platforms built on two levels. There was no way there'd be a shower or a bathtub.
"I sweated so much training with you, Min-su. I feel sticky. I won't be able to sleep like this... I want to wash up!"
She said it in a wheedling tone I never would have imagined from the usual Yuri.
Is this an order from my superior?
Thinking about it, Yuri in the Eins days had been quite high-handed with me. Student council president, a queen who reigned over the cadets. She'd been performing that role herself.
But this was somewhat different. It was almost like she was acting cute. No—more than that... it was a tone meant to seduce me.
"There's no shower here, is there?"
I said that first, turning my gaze away from her. Sitting side by side, Yuri cast a strangely lingering look my way.
A bath...
I was a young man in my prime. So I couldn't help the images that flickered unbidden through my mind.
Is this another one of her drunk habits?
If so, it was a truly lethal one. The only man who could resist that snow woman's temptation would have to be gay.
I'd unlaced our fingers, but Yuri kept kneading and playing with my hand. The atmosphere in the shelter was growing stranger by the moment.
Whether it was the alcohol or the mini brazier burning at full blaze, beads of sweat had gathered on Yuri's forehead and the nape of her neck.
Her silver-white hair clung to that sweat, and the effect was strangely affecting. At the same time, she kept seeking my eyes, and I had no choice but to look away in a hurry.
Yuri answered my remark about there being no shower.
"You're right. But what should I do? You came at me so aggressively today, Min-su... I got so hot I sweated a lot. I really have to wash."
The implication in her words was extremely awkward, but she wasn't wrong. I really had thrown everything I had at her, all to calibrate Wind Cutter.
There's no way out of this.
In the end, I gave in to what she wanted.
On the relatively wide wooden platform on the shelter's first floor, the two of us sat down.
No—Yuri brought over a small chair and sat on that, while I fetched a large pot left in the shelter and sat down beside her.
"I'd love to sink into a tub of warm water, but that's impossible, isn't it. So I'll at least have to wipe off the sweat I worked up because of you, Min-su."
If there'd been anything resembling a bathtub, we might actually have been able to manage a bath. Yuri could fill it with snow or ice using her frost magic, I'd melt it into water, and then boil it with a flame spell.
But of course there was no such thing. So Yuri decided to wet a towel from her backpack with warm water and wipe herself down.
I do bear some of the responsibility, anyway.
Then the brazier's fire went out. I could have gone outside to gather wood, but Yuri still had the shelter sealed in a barrier, and I didn't think she'd let me leave.
Yuri spoke to me.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Which meant I had to make the warm water to wet her towel. Yuri started taking off the black stockings she'd been wearing.
It wasn't an indecent scene, but I quickly averted my eyes.
"What's the matter? Don't tell me you were imagining something improper, looking at me."
"I wasn't."
"Really? I'd be a little disappointed if you weren't thinking anything at all."
Yuri tossed out words the usual her never would have dreamed of saying. I thought I heard the sound of her laughing softly.
I must be imagining it.
Then Yuri said,
"Hmm. The water feels a little cold. Could you warm it up a bit more?"
I had no choice but to look at her again. The stockings had been set down beside the chair. And Yuri's snow-white legs were fully visible.
She had those legs crossed in a provocative pose. Then she shot me a sidelong glance.
"Just where are you looking?"
"Ah—nowhere."
I snapped back to my senses. Yuri really was acting strange tonight. This might be another nasty drunk habit of hers.
But it wasn't as if she were forcing some unreasonable labor on me. I kept as much composure as I could and reheated the water in the large pot.
The water, of course, was ice Yuri had made with a frost spell, melted down.
"Is this about right?"
"Yes, that's fine."
Yuri floated a towel in midair. It dipped into the pot, soaked through, then rose back into the air.
Then the towel began wringing itself out. All of it was Yuri's doing. Not a spell—pure mana manipulation.
She really... doesn't seem human.
It was mana control that would have stunned even other Awakened. I probably could have done something similar if my mana heart were normal.
Then Yuri started wiping her legs with the towel.
It was only wiping her legs with a towel. And yet the atmosphere was so strange I ended up turning my head away again.
"Oh my. What's the matter? You keep looking away. If you're that conscious of me, Min-su, it makes me feel strange too."
I couldn't come up with an excuse, so I just reheated the water in the pot with a flame spell.
"The water isn't too hot?"
"It's perfect. Not hot, not lukewarm—just warm. I can't take a proper bath, but this is good enough."
Then Yuri went on.
"Wait a moment. Could you stand behind me this time? I think I might be a little embarrassed too."
Yuri's voice was moist. Thinking of her usual businesslike tone, it was hard to believe she was the same person. But I didn't have time to dwell on that voice.
Yuri slipped off her shirt.
Silence filled the shelter.
No—I simply couldn't say a word. Yuri, though, seemed unbothered. While I had my head turned, I heard the sound of her setting her clothes down.
Then it seemed she was wiping herself with the towel again.
"Min-su. If you don't mind, could you heat the water again?"
"...Yes. Of course."
I understood now why she'd asked me to stand behind her. Yuri had removed everything from her upper body.
If I'd been in front of her—or even standing beside her—it would have been an extremely embarrassing scene. Of course, I was behind her, so I couldn't see the front. Thank God for that.
What on earth is Yuri thinking...
No—Yuri was wiping off her sweat with a towel as if it were nothing. If anything, I was the one being excessively conscious of her.
Keeping my eyes off her as much as possible, I reheated the water in the pot. The towel flew over again and soaked itself in the hot water.
Then, still wiping down her upper body, Yuri spoke to me.
"Min-su. Could you help me a little?"
"Y-yes? With what..."
The answer came out so tense I was embarrassed for myself. Yuri had her back to me, so I couldn't see her expression. I was grateful for that.
"I can't reach my back, that's why. Could you wipe it for me with the towel, Min-su?"
"Me?"
"That's right. There's no one else here, is there?"
I was trapped. If I refused here, I'd only be advertising how intensely aware of her I was.
In the end I started wiping Yuri's back, my gaze fixed anywhere but on her.
"Hah... it's warm. The towel feels nice..."
When the towel touched her back, Yuri made a small sound in her throat.
It might have been just because I was wiping a back that had been sticky with sweat. But right now, even that little sound was doing strange things to me.
No. Don't think about it.
And the moment I set the towel against her, I couldn't help seeing, no matter how hard I tried not to. That snow-white back flowing down from her smooth nape, and the curve of it.
In the end I kept my head turned away and reached out with only my hand to wipe her back.
"Haa... I feel like I can breathe again. It's all thanks to you, Min-su. Thank you."
"It was nothing. Really."
But even as I answered, I kept my head turned. If I accidentally pictured all of Yuri with her back to me, it would be a disaster.
And so Yuri's brief bath came to an end. I finally let out a sigh of relief. No—there was a part of me that felt something like regret, but I denied that feeling at once.
This is a little off, after all. Maybe it's because I used too much mana today.
Then Yuri, dressed again, spoke to me.
"Then would you like to wipe yourself down too, Min-su? You must have sweated."
"I'm... fine."
"Is that so? Well. That's probably for the best. I prefer it that way too."
The implication in those words was so ambiguous it made my mind go blank. So I had no choice but to come up with my own explanation for why Yuri was acting this way.
If the snow woman's blood really does run in her... maybe Yuri, loosened by drink, is giving off that aura.
That was how I explained my own state to myself—this version of me whose composure wouldn't hold, no matter how strangely. And by then it was already deep night, and the two of us lay down.
We each climbed into the sleeping bags we'd brought. I lay a considerable distance away from Yuri.
Then Yuri said, quietly,