If You Do This in the Bath and in Bed, I'm in Trouble

I had just lowered myself into the warm bath, letting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the day's fatigue melt away. For a brief moment, peace washed over me as the weariness rinsed off my skin—until I felt a strange, soft, yet searing-hot sensation press against my back.

"Eheheh... Master... I've got you..."

"Flügel...? When did you get in?"

Being ambushed by warmth at my most defenseless moment startled me, though oddly enough, it also put me at ease.

"I possess an authority akin to Dimensional Shift—the power to interfere with space itself."

"Interfere with... space...?"

"All four of us can control the flow of time and space, you see. That's why we can wield authorities like Time Stop or Teleportation."

"Authority...? What exactly is an authority?"

"Hmm... when you master an ability to its absolute limit, it becomes what we call an authority. If an ability is merely a technique for reinforcing your body or manipulating phenomena, then an authority is something that temporarily rewrites or redefines the laws of the world itself."

"So that's why you're getting so... familiar with me right now?"

"Yep~ See? I'm clinging to your back like this~"

I could feel the warmth of her body against mine, so I asked another question to keep my mind off it.

"Flügel, there's something I want to ask."

"Yes, please go ahead."

"Manas... has anyone among you ever ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠awakened one?"

"...No. A Manas isn't simply an ability gaining a self—it's an authority gaining a self. That's precisely why it's called an unknown realm that no one, anywhere, has ever truly understood."

Flügel subtly tightened her embrace around me. A warm, soft, yielding sensation pressed against my whole body. Don't tell me...

"You... you're not wearing anything right now, are you...?"

"We're inside a bath, Master. Swimwear would be a breach of etiquette."

I couldn't see her face, but I was certain Flügel was smiling.

"Unlike all the other beings out there, you're devoid of emotion, Master. So I'm simply teaching you the concept of 'love' in the most efficient way I know. Keep resisting like that, though... and I really might just end up eating you right up~?"

"...Stop it."

"You're so curious about Manas, yet why is it that only your emotions are dead inside...?"

Flügel squeezed me even tighter, but this time there was more wistfulness than lust in the gesture.

"I finally understand, down to my bones, why Lucia felt such fear toward you—and at the same time such pity, such heartbreak."

Her grip loosened a little. But I still couldn't bring myself to move. I simply froze there.

"Master, look at me."

I turned around, and Flügel gently placed her hand on my cheek, gazing deep into my eyes for a long moment.

"Why... why did someone as pure as you... have to suffer a tragedy like this...?"

Clear tears spilled from her eyes.

"Why... are you crying...?"

I reached up to wipe them away, but my fingertips were trembling. Not out of sadness—it was something I couldn't even explain to myself. She had glimpsed my past, and that past was so wretched it had driven even her to weep. Some incomprehensible revulsion stirred inside me at the thought.

"Master... that scar... how could...!"

She couldn't even finish her sentence, sobbing harder at the sight of the scar across my chest.

"Even ordinary humans have scars, you know. Ones anyone can see at a glance, and I'm just as norma—"

I was still talking when she cut me off and pulled me into her arms.

"Please... don't say another word..."

A warm, soft, pliant sensation pressed against my cheek. But as I was now, I struggled to fully understand why she was doing any of this.

Was this what they called 'sorrow'—crying on someone else's behalf?

A strange sense of comfort settled over me, until I belatedly realized that she wasn't wearing a single thread.

My brain overloaded. Just like with Peace, heat rushed to the tip of my nose before blood began streaming out.

"L-Love... and Peace..."

"Huh...? M-Master?! No—if you pass out here...!"

That was the moment Peace came bursting into the bathroom looking for Flügel—and walked straight into the scene.

"Flügel! Don't tell me you picked the very moment Master was bathing to—...!"

When Peace saw me slumped in Flügel's arms, hemorrhaging blood, the last thread of her sanity snapped.

"Master!! Snap out of it!!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The air around Peace churned violently, gathering into a raging current.

"Flügel, you...! How dare you seduce Master like this—no, push him until he actually collapses?!"

"It's a misunderstanding, Peace! I swear—oh my... if Master falls unconscious in my arms like this... eheheh..."

Flügel tried to explain herself, but midway through, she looked down at me nestled in her embrace and broke into an utterly depraved smile instead. At that point, Yuzuru—who had just finished the dishes—came walking into the bathroom as well.

"GYAAAH! As a teacher who's supposed to be educating students, I absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of impure cross-species fraternization!!"

In the end, Flügel was dragged out of the bathroom by Peace and Yuzuru, and thanks to them, I was granted a moment to catch my breath.

I finished washing up and climbed into bed—only to find the mattress bulging suspiciously under the covers. Someone had infiltrated. Well, as long as they didn't bother me, it didn't matter. I switched on the fan to chase away the heat and drifted straight off to sleep.

"Zzz..."

In my sleep, I felt movement stirring within the bed. It wasn't just the blanket billowing—a warm, living heat was burrowing between my legs.

When I woke the next morning, my body felt languid and oddly pillowy. It was Peace's tail. Whoever had groomed it, the fur practically gleamed with a silken luster.

"...Peace? Why are you next to me...?"

"Mmm... Master...? Did you sleep well? Ah, this was meant to keep Flügel from getting close to you, and it just sort of..."

"Don't tell me..."

"Oh, no, nothing like that! You... you kept holding my tail in your sleep and looked so comfortable that I... I couldn't help myself..."

Thankfully, it seemed I hadn't done anything untoward to her in my sleep.

"...Your tail was incredibly soft, though. Are high-ranking spirits even soft to the tail?"

"Fox tails are just naturally wonderfully soft. Mine's the same as a fox beastkin's, after all..."

"I see..."

I'd assumed she was in pajamas, but I'd overlooked one crucial detail. She'd at least thrown on my T-shirt to cover the essentials, but even so, her state of dress was lethal to any man.

"...Peace, maybe you should pull the shirt down a little..."

"Ah—! I'm sorry! I slept too deeply...!"

As Peace scrambled to fix her rumpled clothes, the morning sun caught her, making her look so impossibly beautiful it was almost unreal.

Today was the weekend we'd set aside to buy clothes for Peace and Flügel. The two of them needed everyday wear.

"You're not seriously planning to lend them my gym clothes, are you?"

"Otonashi, it would take at least five of your shirts just to hide those two figures..."

One mental image of their bodies and I understood immediately. Even Peace, drowning in my T-shirt, couldn't hide her curves.

"See you later~"

"Otonashi? What are you talking about. You're coming too. You wear the same thing every single day."

"That's an efficient lifestyle choi—"

"Spare me. Peace, Flügel! Grab him and hold on tight so he can't run off!"

At Yuzuru's signal, Flügel seized one of my arms and Peace clamped down on the other. I was in physical bondage with no hope of escape.

"Now then! Otonashi, today's shopping is my treat! In exchange, you do whatever I say, got it?"

Faced with an atmosphere I couldn't refuse, I sighed and nodded. And so the four of us set off for the department store together.

The moment we arrived at the department store, an unfamiliar atmosphere washed over me.

"There are so many people. Master, this is my first time seeing this many gathered in one place."

Flügel looked around with wide, curious eyes, while Peace, terrified of getting lost in the crowd, refused to let go of the hem of my shirt.

Perhaps because of the girls' striking looks, I could feel the gazes of passersby drilling into our little group.

"Excuse us. They're with me."

When I stepped forward and apologized politely, the curious stares dispersed somewhat. But Peace was still clutching the tail of my T-shirt in a white-knuckled grip, hemmed in by all these strangers.

"It's okay, Peace. Just follow me."

Just then, Yuzuru spotted us from across the floor and came over.

"Sorry, I thought you were keeping up just fine... Anyway, let's start at the underwear section."

The underwear section was treacherous territory for a man. A bare stretch of fabric was one thing, but mannequins displaying the goods in all their shameless glory was another—it was, frankly, a little embarrassing.

I quickly gathered up my own picks and dropped them in the basket. The girls would need extra time for their sizing measurements, I figured. With Yuzuru there to help them, it should be fine.

Meanwhile, my feet carried me toward the pet section.

There they were—those little rat-like creatures called guinea pigs. Every time I saw them, memories of the orphanage came flooding back.

If they were still alive, were they looking for me right now? Or had they forgotten me and gone on to live happy lives? I wished I could hear even a scrap of news about how they were doing.

Much the same happened when I drifted over to the pet fish tank, where something called a goldfish swam in glittering orange.

"Shinichi! They said these goldfish can only survive with an air filter!"

"I know that already, Soma."

"No, no—the Director told me it's the mistake all first-time owners make!"

"Shiro, seriously, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three repeat the exact same conversation every time. Otonashi, what do you think?"

"Me? ...I think you're all right, in your own way."

Losing myself in old memories like this now and then—maybe that, too, was one of those ordinary things a human being was allowed to do.

I was still sunk deep in nostalgia and bittersweet longing when a text arrived saying the girls had finished their shopping. Time to rejoin them.

While the girls were being measured for Flügel and Peace's sizes, Yuzuru suffered an unexpected cultural shock at the state of modern underwear design.

"Good grief... this is really what they mean by 'minimal fabric'? And why on earth does it cost this much?"

Yuzuru clutched the back of her neck again and again as she listened to the shop clerk's explanations—while right beside her, Flügel calmly picked out underwear with a breezy "As long as Master likes it, that's all that matters, no?" leaving her even more flustered than before.