The Whereabouts of the Green Juice
I had just stepped through the warp connected to the school when Amy greeted me warmly.
"Did you have a good day?"
"Yeees~."
Whenever we came back from school, Amy would always welcome the three of us by asking if we'd had a good day. Normally I would have answered energetically, but after using up so much stamina messing around in the swimming pool, my voice came out weak and drained.
In the end, Sharona never showed up again. She was probably busy taking care of the students who had collapsed earlier. After playing to our hearts' content in the pool and taking photos, we had no choice but to change clothes and head back once the promised time arrived.
"Did something happen? You look exhausted."
Amy pulled me into a hug. It must have looked strange to see me, who usually answered so vigorously, sounding so listless. I wrapped my arms around Amy's neck and let out a small laugh.
"It's nothing. I just played so much that I'm tired now."
"You played hard enough to get this tired?"
I nodded at Amy's question. If I sat down on a soft chair after eating a snack, I might just pass out right there. Still nestled in Amy's arms, I began telling her everything that had happened at school today. Well, everything except the parts Shine had told me not to mention.
"Today Shine, Rain, and I joined a club activity... So, a club activity is basically..."
"Really? Was the club activity fun?"
Amy reacted to every single thing I said. Seeing her eyes sparkle as she focused on my story made me even more excited, and I started chattering away.
"In the end we joined the swimming club. Oh, and there's this friend named Appleton who's in the photography club..."
While listening to my story, Amy gently stroked my back. Her touch made sleepiness wash over me in waves. I held back a long yawn and kept moving my mouth, trying to describe everything I'd experienced so vividly that Amy could picture it all.
"That's pretty much it. So we came back a little late."
"Sounds like you had fun."
I answered Amy and slipped out of her embrace. Shine also gave Amy a brief summary. It was shorter than mine, but the way she neatly listed the day's events in chronological order made Amy smile softly as she stroked Shine's hair.
After hearing both my story and Shine's, Amy turned to Rain to get a more detailed account. She began waving a giant King Wiggly jelly in front of Rain. Then Rain would gulp loudly and spill every single thing that had happened that day to Amy. Once Amy was satisfied with Rain's report, she handed over the King Wiggly jelly, and Rain would snatch it up and devour it in one big bite. Watching Rain stuff the huge, long jelly into her mouth and chew happily, she looked incredibly content.
"So. You took photos?"
At Amy's question, I exchanged a glance with Shine. She gave a small smile and nodded. There were definitely some weird pictures that had been taken. If Amy saw them, we'd be in for a huge scolding today. But contrary to my worries, Shine simply handed Amy her phone and showed her the photos.
"These are the pictures you took today?"
"Yeah."
Amy examined the photos with no particular change in expression at first, but a gentle smile gradually bloomed on her face. I tilted my head in confusion at her soft, smiling eyes.
Before we came back here, we had definitely checked the photos stored in Appleton's camera. I clearly remembered seeing multiple shots of embarrassing poses that made me want to die from shame, along with several images that zoomed in strangely on certain parts. Since Shine had taken all of them, her phone should have had the exact same pictures.
"Hey Shine, could you send these photos to me too?"
"Sure."
Shine took her phone back and began transferring every photo stored on it, just as Amy had asked. I walked over carefully and rested my head on Shine's shoulder. My gaze was fixed on her phone screen. Her small, white fingers busily tapped across the display. She smoothly swiped through the photos. And what appeared on the screen was completely normal. There were no strange images at all.
The scene before warm-up started. The middle stages of warm-up. And right after warm-up ended. There was nothing like my armpits being fully exposed or Shine groping my thighs. It all looked perfectly ordinary. Just cute girls diligently doing their warm-up exercises or happily playing in the water at the pool. I turned to look at Shine, wondering what on earth was going on. She was smiling mysteriously as she sent the photos.
After all the pictures had been sent, we headed to the office. In the center of the office was a large sofa that was usually used as Rain's bed for her afternoon naps. But right now, Victor was sitting there. Arms crossed, face heavily scrunched up, foot tapping restlessly against the floor. He looked extremely anxious. The moment he spotted us, he shot up from his seat.
"You're later than usual."
Amy gave a small laugh at Victor's appearance. Victor's scowl only deepened at her laughter. Rain let out a strange chuckle at the sight of him and spoke up.
"Victor. Don't tell me you were worried about us?"
"I wasn't worried about you."
"What? Why am I the exception?"
Rain raised her voice in protest at Victor's reply. I slowly walked over to Victor, who was now arguing with Rain, and took his hand. It was something I could only do with him, since the usual sense of rejection I felt toward men didn't apply to Victor.
"Were you worried about me and Shine?"
Victor looked down at the hand I was holding. The tips of his ears turned slightly red.
"Thank you."
I gave him a small smile. Victor cleared his throat, abruptly pulled his hand away, and returned to his seat. Rain seemed thoroughly annoyed by his reaction and climbed onto his desk, scattering everything on it. Her small body hopping around made her look exactly like a little kid.
"Jeff."
"Yeah?"
Shine, who had been standing beside Amy, came over to me and asked in a quiet voice.
"Are you okay?"
"About what?"
"Earlier. You held Victor's hand."
"Yeah. It didn't bother me at all?"
I answered Shine and moved the hand that had held Victor's, testing it. It really felt fine.
"That's strange..."
Shine didn't answer my question. She simply tilted her head silently before gently stroking my cheek. Shine and I went to our seats and took off the bags we'd been carrying on our backs. The large dinosaur bag contained many things, but there were specific items that needed to be taken out. The first was the huge dinosaur water bottle. It was the one Amy filled with green juice every day. Lately it always ended up in Appleton's mouth, so I hadn't been able to taste the juice at all. Shine also placed her water bottle on her desk. Whenever we left the bottles out like this, Amy would somehow take them away, wash them clean, and when we had school or training, she'd fill them with green juice and put them in the fridge.
"You emptied them completely again today?"
Amy said as she looked at the empty dinosaur water bottles. Shine nodded with a confident expression, and I answered with a similarly confident look.
"Yes!"
"Did it taste good?"
"Yes!"
"Was it the same as usual?"
"Yes...!"
Amy's questions felt oddly pointed. She was definitely smiling. But her eyes weren't smiling at all. Only the corners of her mouth were slightly lifted, which made it seem like she was smiling. I watched Amy's expression carefully and closed my mouth. Something was wrong. Shine must have sensed the atmosphere too, because she hugged her dinosaur bottle tightly with an anxious look on her face.
"Rain."
"Ah! Yes!"
Rain answered Amy's call. She had been playing tag with Victor, but she seemed to sense something from Amy's unusual expression and clutched her head.
"Jeff and Shine drank all the healthy drinks I made for them, right?"
"Y-yeah. That's right."
"Really?"
"Really..."
But Amy didn't seem to believe Rain's answer. Her sharp gaze swept over us. Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, Victor stopped tidying his desk and slipped out of the office.
"Alright. Jeff? Shine? What flavor did the juice I made today taste like?"
Amy stood up, gently smoothing her pink hair. I licked my lips at her question and met Shine's eyes.
Do you know what it tasted like?
She seemed to understand the meaning in my gaze, but since she hadn't tasted today's green juice either, she didn't know the answer.
"Jeff? Shine? Why aren't you answering?"
I swallowed dryly. Amy's large shadow slowly approached and swallowed both Shine and me. She looked so enormous that I subtly turned my gaze away. It was hard to meet Amy's eyes.
"Um... it, it was delicious?"
"I'm asking what flavor it was, Jeff."
"Well..."
"I know you two don't like drinking it, so I've been trying different flavors..."
Strength drained from Amy's voice. Feeling cold sweat run down my back, I slowly began sliding off my chair. Just a little more, just a tiny bit more, and I could get off the chair and hide under the desk. I moved as slowly as possible, trying not to let Amy notice. But it seemed I couldn't fool her eyes. As I stealthily slid down, Amy's large palm landed on top of my head.
"Eek."
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I, um. I really need to use the bathroom..."
"Is it so urgent that you can't even tell me what the juice you drank today tasted like?"
"W-well, you see..."
I was fidgeting and sweating coldly when something suddenly slipped between my armpits. My feet, which had been touching the ground, lifted into the air. As I stared blankly at the floor growing distant, my body was spun around and I found myself face-to-face with Amy.
"Hee... heehee~"
I had no choice but to smile brightly at her face. After all, there's that old saying about not spitting on a smiling face.
"Now. Jeff. Why don't you tell me quickly? You said you needed the bathroom urgently, right?"
"Uuuu..."
I flailed my arms and legs with all my might, but I couldn't escape from Amy's grasp. A white aura even began to ripple out from her hand. I swallowed dryly and answered.
"S-strawberry flavor?"
Amy smiled brightly at my answer and sat me down on the chair. Could it be? Was that the correct answer? I looked up at her with sparkling eyes, but she ignored my gaze and turned toward the office door. When she reached it, she took a small breath and activated the door's lock. With a soft click, the mechanism turned. Immediately after, white energy spread from her back like wings, covering the entire room.
"Jeff?"
"Yeees!"
I jumped up from my chair at Amy's call. A smile still lingered on her face. After hearing my answer, she slowly walked over and sat on the large sofa. Then she patted her thigh. It was clearly a gesture calling me over.
"Come here, Jeff."
I swallowed dryly and took a step back. It really was a summoning gesture. Was I about to get scolded? Was I? My back was already soaked with cold sweat. Trembling with fear, I watched Amy's expression. But she was smiling at me the same way she always did. It wasn't the face she made when she was about to punish us. Seeing Amy's smile somehow made me feel relieved. Almost as if in a trance, I walked toward her. Step by step, slowly approaching while glancing behind me. There, Shine was peeking out from under the desk with a confused look in her eyes. Why are you looking at me like that? It doesn't seem like Amy's going to scold us. See? Look, Shine.
I stopped right in front of Amy and smiled awkwardly, spreading my arms wide. When I stood like this, Amy would always reach out and hug me. Just like she was doing right now. Amy stretched out her arms as usual and pulled me into her embrace. In her soft, warm arms, I sent Shine a look that said, See? I'm not getting scolded. But Shine still didn't come out from under the desk. Just as I was about to call her name, her eyes suddenly widened. As if she'd witnessed something shocking, her large white pupils stared at me. At the same time, my body was flipped over.
"Ah-"
My vision turned downward, and Amy's thigh pressed against my stomach. At the same moment, the skirt I was wearing flipped up completely, exposing my bottom with only panties covering it.
"A-Amy?"
"Now. Jeff. I'll ask you one last time. What did the juice I made for you taste like?"
I quickly lifted my head. My white hair spilled forward, blocking my view.
"Ah, wait! Amy! Just a second!"
Only then did I realize the situation. This was the punishment position. The position for getting my butt thoroughly spanked. This was bad! Warning lights flashed in my head. But no matter how much I struggled, escaping from Amy's hold was nearly impossible. I sent desperate looks toward Rain and Shine asking for help, but both of them avoided my gaze and hid under their desks. Realizing I couldn't count on any rescue, I opened my mouth in a panic.
"Strawberry! Chocolate! Grape!"
"All wrong."
It seemed there was no correct answer after all. My last chance had vanished.
"Aah!"
When I let out a short scream, Amy patted my bottom and said,
"Jeff. Lying is a bad thing, isn't it?"
"Yeees~"
"But Jeff lied, didn't you?"
"Yeees..."
"Then what should we do?"
"I-I should be punished."
Amy let out a small sigh at my answer and placed her hand on my bottom. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the pain that was about to come.
"You did something wrong, right?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
The moment I answered Amy, a stinging pain shot through my backside.
Smack-!
Stars began to appear before my eyes. Tiny, twinkling little stars.