“Hmm…”
When Kaila opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the ceiling of the infirmary.
As she pondered why she was lying on the infirmary bed, she soon recalled her last memory.
It was the memory of being pushed to the floor of the clubroom by Luke, who was startled when she accidentally bit her ear.
Could it be that she fainted immediately?
“Ugh.”
Recalling that memory caused a slight sting in her back, making her give up on trying to move.
“Well, it seems you’re coming to your senses now.”
As Kaila regained consciousness, Luke appeared as he drew back the curtain.
“Oh, it’s you, Luke.”
Luke looked quite apologetic as he brought a small chair and sat beside Kaila.
“I’m really sorry. You bit your ear all of a sudden, and I was so surprised that it was a reflex.”
Indeed, it seemed that Kaila’s memory was not wrong.
“I did some treatment, but how are you feeling?”
At Luke’s words, Kaila attempted to move her waist, only to let out another groan as the pain hit her.
It wasn’t severe enough to completely immobilize her, just a level of muscle soreness that was enough to sap her will to move.
“Hmm… Ouch, it still hurts. Am I bruised or something?”
“Ahem. You’re being a bit dramatic.”
“No, the clubroom floor was incredibly hard!”
Kaila thought.
While it was her own fault for biting impulsively at the twitching ear, wasn’t it too much to push someone down to the point of fainting?
“Just like last time, why are your hands so rough for a girl? Can’t you just lightly mess around without hitting me like that?”
Kaila complained.
Previously, she had worried about Luke when she thought he might be sick, only to be knocked out by a playful hit.
Fortunately, she didn’t have any bumps or bruises, but it still hurt.
Luke, listening to Kaila’s grumbling, had no particular response.
He was also aware that he had reacted overly.
“…Well, I do feel sorry about that part…”
True, Kaila had crossed the line, but Luke also acknowledged internally that there was no need to push her down in that situation.
There had to be many more gentlemanly ways to deal with Kaila.
First, there could have been a conversation, or if not, a gentle push to get her upright would have sufficed.
If that didn’t work, he could have used Sleep.
This was partly due to the unfamiliar itch he felt in his ears clouding his judgment.
Luke’s original body was so insensitive that even Kaila or Renie’s gentle teasing barely registered, so the intense sensation of this body stood out.
It was a type of disconnect caused by the extraordinary sensitivity of this body compared to past memories.
The fact that he could feel sensations that should be imperceptible was quite confusing for Luke.
“Still, you shouldn’t bite someone’s ear without warning. In the first place, I never said it was okay to bite my ear, did I? You’re the one who provoked me first, so that’s your fault.”
“…Hmm.”
As Luke’s words were also valid, Kaila was at a loss for a comeback.
After a moment of silence that followed,
Luke broke the silence and spoke first.
“Anyway, now that I see you’re awake, I should get going. It’s already past school dismissal time.”
Past dismissal time? Could it really be that two hours had already passed?
Kaila quickly checked the clock hanging in the infirmary and was taken aback.
Indeed, two hours had gone by.
Then Kaila raised her voice, sounding aggrieved.
“What? I didn’t even get to pet you properly! Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”
Luke tilted his head in confusion.
“I did wake you up.”
“What?”
Kaila suddenly remembered, murmuring, “Kaila, wake up,” and in her sleep, she had mumbled, “Mmm, no. Five more minutes…”
‘Though the bed did feel incredibly cozy…’
Thanks to Luke using a little divine power to heal Kaila’s back, both her body and mind had found a great sense of calm, and that feeling was so refreshing and pleasant that she didn’t want to get out of bed.
As a result, Kaila’s mental and physical state was exceptionally clear and refreshing, aside from the slight muscle soreness in her back and waist.
“But… that’s still unfair.”
However, it was unfair to her regardless.
She wanted to pet Luke’s tail…
That fluffy tail was undoubtedly warm, soft, and squishy.
The texture would surely be incomparable to any doll in this world.
But she had squandered her chance to touch it because she couldn’t contain a moment of impulse.
Naturally, it was sad and disheartening.
“Could you let me pet it just once more? Just ten minutes, or even five minutes would be fine!”
Five minutes… Yes.
No matter how busy he was, he could surely spare five minutes.
For five minutes, he could just mess around with calculations for a new linking device he was working on.
In the end, Luke sighed and said,
“…Alright, I’ll give you one more chance. But just for petting, nothing more.”
“Really? Thank you so much! Should I tape my mouth shut to keep myself from biting this time?”
“…No, that would be a bit strange.”
That would indeed seem incredibly odd.
Luke then took out his phone and willingly extended his tail toward Kaila.
“Here, go ahead and pet it.”
“Thank you!”
As Luke’s tail was offered, Kaila carefully reached out, gently beginning to stroke it.
At that, a wonderful sensation of warmth and softness washed over her hand, making her smile involuntarily.
“Ahhh, it’s so soft. Just as I imagined!”
Joyfully caressing the tail, Kaila wore a happy expression.
With just this, it felt like the pain in her back would vanish instantly.
“You’re the best, Luke. Really!”
Luke’s reaction was as strange as ever.
“Is that so? I don’t really understand why…”
Luke didn’t understand why everyone was so obsessed with his tail.
Helena, Diana, and Pyris, everyone who had touched his tail had the same warm and cozy expression, which was just truly strange.
Then Kaila spoke up, as if to retort.
“You think it’s because it’s yours, but my tail is thin and rough, so it doesn’t feel this good to touch.”
“Is that so?”
Well, he usually took care of his tail as much as his hair.
Receiving compliments like that wasn’t a bad feeling at all.
While silently petting his tail, Kaila suddenly thought of something and asked Luke.
“By the way, Luke, you look pretty big. Did your chest grow or something?”
From down above, it hadn’t seemed that remarkable, but lying here in bed and looking up, she could perceive his size a bit better.
He had been said to be ten years old, but growing this much was quite rare.
Especially for a cat beastman.
“Hmm? Why do you suddenly ask that?”
But at Kaila’s unexpected comment, Luke considered whether he needed to confiscate his tail again, slightly furrowing his brows.
Seeing his reaction, Kaila responded with surprise.
“No, I was just curious! Normally, pure cat beastfolk don’t have large chests. Just look at me.”
According to Kaila, her chest wasn’t that big.
But that could simply be seen as a personal physical difference.
However, Kaila shook her head.
“No, in fact, I’m one of the bigger ones in my family. Understand? For someone like us, this is normal. It’s a characteristic.”
“Is that so?”
Well, Luke didn’t have much knowledge about the characteristics of beastfolk as he hadn’t studied it in depth.
“Right, this is all the result of evolution for agile movement.”
“But still, Kaila, you aren’t that agile, are you?”
“…That may be true… But! That’s because I don’t exercise!”
Anyway, let’s leave it at that.
“So, what’s the point you want to make? Was it just some random comment?”
“I’m just curious about how to get bigger.”
“What do you mean by how to get bigger…”
Luke thought for a moment.
He had never actually tried to grow his chest.
It just grew on its own.
Maybe most people were like that?
“…”
Even so, if he had to find a reason, it would probably be using divine power.
While healing Kaila’s back made his body grow slightly bigger, it was true that his chest also puffed up a little.
Maybe that was the reason Kaila suddenly noticed her chest had grown.
‘You have a good eye…’
He hadn’t felt any difference looking through clothes.
“…”
But attributing the change directly to divine power was still a stretch.
Because divine power has ‘no’ direct correlation with chest size; it merely disrupts the balance between his body’s mana and divine power, promoting growth.
If divine power had affected chest size, the saintly Renie would have had an absurdly large chest.
But her body was unmistakably that of a girl.
That was probably the limit of her growth.
Thus, the reason Luke’s body grew when he used divine power was merely because it was preordained to grow that way anyway.
Luke thought this and spoke up.
“Well, I didn’t really make any effort. It just grew.”
“What? You made me wait just to tell me that?”
Kaila looked exceptionally disappointed hearing that Luke’s answer was little more than, “It just comes naturally.”
“Kaila, why are you so disappointed?”
At Luke’s question, Kaila burst out.
“You wouldn’t know! Hah, you’re only ten, you’re still going to grow, right? Ahh, I’m so jealous.”
Luke tilted his head.
“It’s just a matter of chest size. Having a big chest only brings disadvantages.”
“What are you talking about? If it’s big, then it’s good!”
Feeling the need to shatter Kaila’s fantasy about big breasts, Luke spoke up.
“Kaila, having big breasts is really useless in daily life. As you said, if your breasts are big, they get in the way when you move. It’s uncomfortable passing through narrow spaces, and even sitting can lead to shoulder aches. You can’t see your feet well when going up or down stairs, and sometimes you knock over cups on the table without meaning to. Is that all? Finding fitting underwear becomes a headache because they’re all so overtly designed that it’s uncomfortable to wear.”
Hearing Luke’s lengthy lecture on the inconveniences of having big breasts, Kaila blinked a few times before responding.
“…Uh, but you’re not that big yet, are you?”
Luke clearly had a bigger chest, but since he was at an age where his growth potential was endless, it wasn’t yet to the point where he felt greatly uncomfortable.
However, seeing him passionately speaking as if he’d experienced those troubles was rather strange.
“…Cough.”
The shortcomings mentioned earlier were just things that Luke had experienced while undergoing the side effects of divine power, and he couldn’t reveal the detailed reasons behind them. So he turned his gaze to his phone without providing a particular response.
With Luke falling silent, Kaila seemed to conclude he had heard this somewhere and murmured with discontent.
“Ugh… But still, I want to get bigger, even just a little.”
“Well, I hope you have blessings in your future.”
Responding moderately, Luke then heard what sounded like an eager remark about angels perking up his ears next.
“Ah, should I pray passionately to the angel to make my breasts grow? Just not too much, just as big as Luke, please.”
At that moment.
-SMACK-!
-WHOOSH!
The sensation of the tail slipping away from Kaila’s hand, and when she opened her eyes, Luke’s face was suddenly right in front of hers.
“Uh, uh?”
Startled by the sudden turn of events, Kaila couldn’t help but be taken aback.
The curtains separating the infirmary beds had closed, and Luke had firmly pressed down on the blanket, preventing her from rising.
With his other hand, he was stroking under his chin.
Kaila attempted to sit up in panic, but Luke stopped her by adding a bit more strength to his hand pressing the blanket.
“Shh, be still. It’s no use screaming; the health teacher is out of the room, and there’s no one passing by.”
This was an incredibly frightening situation for Kaila.
‘What, what’s happening? Why is Luke acting like this all of a sudden?’
It felt as if she was in a situation where she was being pounced on by Luke!
Kaila was confused.
Could it be that her playful antics had awakened something within Luke?
It was true that petting a beastman’s tail is a form of skinship that could be seen as more than just holding hands but less than a kiss; perhaps it had ignited Luke’s peculiar interest.
That implies that he might want to move on to the next stage, which is a kiss!
Kaila spoke up, feeling incredibly tense.
“L-Luke…? W-Why are you suddenly like this? If it’s because of the teasing I did, I’m sorry! Actually, I’m not interested in girls! B-but if it’s you, if we meet regularly someday, maybe—”
Luke interrupted Kaila as her words poured out rapidly.
“No, what did you just say, Kaila?”
“Uh, that we should meet regularly…?”
“No, before that.”
“Did I say that the skinship we did before was just a joke…?”
“No, no! Not that kind of talk!”
Luke shook his head and spoke in a frustrated manner.
“I meant that angel story you were just saying about your prayers. What does that even mean?”
“…?”
Kaila gave a bewildered expression.
Could it be that just talking about that would lead to this?
