Late at night.
I quietly opened the front door and stepped inside. Even though I had reported everything that happened over the phone without hiding a single detail, I couldn't help but feel like I was walking on eggshells.
"You're back. I told you to be home before the day changed, and you arrive well past eleven."
"Ahaha..."
Nagisa, who greeted me in the hallway, took my handbag and helped me out of my coat.
"I think it would be best for you to go wash up. Don't just shower today; I've already drawn a bath, so you can go right in."
"Nagisa-chan, don't tell me this was the reason you bought those bath bombs you never use?"
"Fufu. Perhaps it was. And remember, until the party tomorrow evening, you are all mine. Especially since you have a sin to atone for today... I won't let you go for a single moment."
Gulp.
She was smiling as she spoke, but there was a somewhat chilling look in Nagisa's eyes that made me nod my head before I even realized it. Despite having confessed everything, what I had done was no different from committing a mutually acknowledged affair.
I entered the bathroom, untied my hair, and lightly washed my face. After neatly placing my discarded clothes and underwear far from the tub, I decided to reward my body, which had suffered from the cold, with some warmth.
I said I'd suffered, but I hadn't really felt the cold much since I'd been stuck to Hina's side all day. Still, there was nothing quite like hot water to completely relax the body.
The pink foam rising from the bath bomb was captivating.
I rarely soaked in a tub, so it felt a bit awkward, but as I leaned back, the fatigue in my body and mind seemed to melt away completely.
I should really thank Nagisa for her thoughtfulness—
*Click.*
Should I...?
"Ugh, Nagisa-chan?!"
Had she left all her clothes outside? As if shy about her exposed body, Nagisa used a towel to cover her front. Even so, with a certain confident stride, she approached the tub and slowly submerged herself in the water.
"I told you, didn't I? That I wouldn't let you go for a single moment..."
Yet, she couldn't help but feel shy. Nagisa, sitting opposite me, sank up to her neck in the water and subtly averted her gaze. I wondered if something was bothering her, but then I realized the problem was me.
Though they couldn't compare to Rio's paradise, my breasts were of a size that wouldn't be shamed anywhere, and they were floating slightly on the surface of the water. How could she not be conscious of them?
Thanks to that, I felt a blush creep up my own cheeks and gently pressed them down with my hands. For some reason, Nagisa gulped and suddenly rose, moving toward me. I reflexively closed my eyes at the blatant sight of her naked form.
"Mika-ssi, if you don't open your eyes... I'll gobble you right up, you know?"
At her dignified yet alluring voice, spoken right in front of me, I slowly opened my eyes. Thankfully, all I could see was Nagisa's crimson face as she sat straddling my lap. I tried my best to ignore the soft, full sensation against my chest.
"Hey, Nagisa-chan... we're, um..."
"You talk too much for someone who's done wrong. The future I envisioned wasn't like this... but, I've started to think that as long as I'm with you, it might be okay. If this is a habit you can't fix, then I will monopolize more of your love than anyone else and share more of your firsts. That is what I have decided, Mika-ssi."
For the first time, Nagisa's lips touched my forehead, the place from which I always kissed others. Then, she kissed the bridge of my nose, both my cheeks, and finally my lips, before moving fearlessly downward.
Her lips traveled down my jawline and began a triumphant march onto my neck. At the same moment, her hand, which had been tracing its way down my back, reached the base of my wings.
"Hngh...!"
For the first time since possessing this body, a foreign sensation I had never once felt shot through my entire system. It was so stimulating that my toes curled involuntarily.
"Nagisa-chan, wait a seco—"
"...I had a faint suspicion, but. Mika-ssi, you truly are a blank canvas. So very pure."
*Mwah.*
Nagisa's lips branded an indelible mark on my neck. The Tea Party uniform would cover some of it, but it would be impossible to hide this—
"Chaste."
*Mwah.*
A little closer to the center of my neck, Nagisa's breath tickled my sensitized skin. I was sure my arms were covered in goosebumps.
"A clean canvas..."
*Mwah...*
"Heup..."
Nagisa latched onto the hollow of my throat, sucking for a long moment. She buried her face there in silence, taking several deep breaths. The way she caressed my wings while avoiding the skin where they met my back was excruciatingly stimulating.
"Fufu. You know, I'm starting to think you might be even purer than Atsuko-yang."
"Wha-what do you mean by that..."
"I thought it was strange how clumsy your kisses were... Since you came into this body, you've never once looked at us with sexual eyes, have you, Mika-ssi? Not even your own... not even Mika-ssi's body."
"That's, well... it felt like I was committing a sin, so I couldn't help it..."
"I understand. I truly do. And for me, it's not an unpleasant feeling. After all, it means that the first lines drawn on this clean canvas will all bloom from my fingertips into beautiful flowers."
Nagisa's wings spread out, enveloping me.
She pressed her nails into that same spot and scratched lightly, and a heated breath escaped my lips without my permission. This was, this was truly dangerous. Just as Nagisa said—
"For your information... I am in the same position, Mika-ssi."
—if this continued, I really might be devoured. Amid that sense of crisis, our 'first' bath continued. For ten minutes, then twenty. Only after a full thirty minutes had passed were we finally able to wash our hair.
***
Whether I should call it a relief or not, the calamity of being devoured by Nagisa in the bathtub did not occur. However, after being led to the bed wearing only a bathrobe, Nagisa left me for a moment and disappeared somewhere, saying she had something to get.
Come to think of it, the clock hands must have already struck twelve. My hair and wings were still not completely dry, but judging by the atmosphere, Nagisa had no intention of taking the time to leisurely dry them.
Was this really okay? I hadn't been able to resist at all in that situation, pinned down by the mood and unilaterally yielding my body, but now that the immediate crisis was over, my reason was gradually returning.
Through the gap in my bathrobe, I could see the marks Nagisa had left, red flowers blooming one by one. As Nagisa had said, I had never properly felt sexual stimulation in this body. You could say I had intentionally avoided it to some extent.
But, to be like this without even any direct stimulation...
I instinctively rubbed my thighs together and immediately regretted it. At this rate, the future of me being devoured by Nagisa tonight was a certainty. My body, having had a taste of Nagisa's touch, was now far stronger than my reason.
As all sorts of thoughts tangled in my head, the vanished Nagisa returned, holding something.
"Mika-ssi... did you know that the day changed while we were bathing?"
"I thought so. Yes, Merry—"
"Happy birthday, my love."
"—Christmas...?"
If it's possible to fall for someone you've already fallen for once, then I would have fallen helplessly for Nagisa's bright smile.
No, perhaps I've already fallen for her two, three times, and I'm the only one who doesn't know it.
I never really liked Christmas. I was non-religious, and because my birthday overlapped with it, the two presents others received were often lumped into one for me.
And that original birthday of mine was one of the few pieces of information Nagisa knew about me.
She had half-coaxed it out of me months ago, but I, the one who told her, had forgotten I had even done so. I had been so busy with all the things I had started and all the things that had happened.
It wasn't that I had forgotten my own birthday, but I had never imagined I would be celebrated like this by Nagisa. What's more, her thoughtfulness in subtly calling me by a term of endearment instead of my name to congratulate me... really. I didn't cry, but I felt my eyes grow a little hot.
"It's a special day that only the two of us can celebrate. Isn't it?"
"...It is. Yes, I never imagined I'd be wished a happy birthday like this. Thank you, Nagisa-chan."
"Would you like to open your gift?"
"...Yes."
I already knew that Nagisa had prepared a separate Christmas present for me. This one was truly a gift to celebrate my birthday, which only she knew.
As I carefully unwrapped the paper, Nagisa sat down on the edge of the bed next to me, so close that our legs were touching.
After tearing the wrapping paper and opening the box, the first thing I saw was a letter. Lifting it revealed a white scrunchie with a color scheme reminiscent of a lily, and a picture frame about the size of my two palms put together.
I picked up the frame and turned it over. It revealed a frame decorated with lilies and forget-me-nots, and a photo of Nagisa and me sitting on the subway, leaning our heads against each other. It was the only record of the moment closest to our first meeting.
"This... where on earth did you get this?"
"I gave a suitable reward to the cheeky student who first circulated the photo and received the original. Thinking back, I was truly pathetic that day. It's a little embarrassing to recall now."
"Ahaha... on that day, you were the second prettiest person I had ever seen in my life."
"Yes, as you've said before, the first would be your own reflection in the mirror. You weren't doted on like a princess by everyone for nothing, so I'm not particularly jealous."
"Hmph. What if I said that in terms of heart, you're prettier than anyone else in this world?"
"I would condemn you as a person who is dying to drive a nail into such a person's heart."
"...My apologies."
Having lost that round completely, I placed the gift box on the small table by the headboard. When I tried to open the letter, Nagisa suddenly snatched it from me and put it back in the box.
"You can read that later. Right now, I would prefer it if you focused on me, not the letter I wrote."
"...Okay."
As Nagisa brought her face close, our eyes locked, and I didn't dare push her away.
The end of the holy night was with the fresh taste of lemon-flavored toothpaste.
***