When we stepped out of the corridor, the evening light was shining over the academy garden.
From afar came the laughter of students and the sound of carriage wheels.
It was such a peaceful scene that the clash from moments ago felt like a lie.
I curled up atop Elysia’s head.
‘Today really was long.’
In the morning, I had become a spectacle in the classroom.
At the training ground, I had gotten tangled up with Richard.
At lunchtime, I had become a popular familiar.
In the afternoon, we had gotten the absurd result of a resonance rate of 86.
And after school, we had even been attacked without permission.
‘Is this really how the first day at the academy is supposed to go?’
No matter how I thought about it, it was far from an ordinary life.
But Elysia’s steps had become a little steadier than before.
She was still confused.
But she had not run away.
The sword that had only ever blocked had, for the first time, advanced toward an opponent.
That alone made today meaningful.
I closed my eyes.
‘Well, it wasn’t bad.’
The only problem was that Richard would become even more troublesome.
That guy would not forget what happened today.
And neither would I.
The insult toward Elysia.
The attack directed at me.
The attitude of shifting responsibility onto others.
I intended to remember it all.
‘Next time, I’ll have to deal with it more quietly.’
The moment I thought that, Elysia spoke in a very small voice.
“Haku.”
I only moved my ears.
“Tomorrow too… will you stay on top of my head?”
I opened my eyes for a moment.
Elysia’s emotions faintly reached me.
Embarrassment.
Hesitation.
And a very small expectation.
I closed my eyes and flicked my tail once.
Fine.
Can’t be helped.
Elysia smiled faintly.
That smile mingled with the evening light.
I curled up again atop her head.
A quiet academy life was already out of the question.
But at the very least.
This spot on top of her head did not seem too bad for the time being.
And so Elysia and I took a carriage back to the mansion.
The road from the academy to the mansion was quiet.
Outside the window, the evening light had settled in long streaks,
and only the sound of the carriage wheels passing over the stone road rang out at regular intervals.
I was curled up on Elysia’s lap.
Today had been long.
Truly long.
‘Is this really how the first day at the academy is supposed to go?’
Classes.
Training.
Richard.
A resonance rate of 86.
The after-school attack.
And Elysia’s sword.
Too many things had happened in a single day.
To be honest, my mind was more tired than my body.
Elysia did not say much either.
She gazed out the window and, every now and then, carefully stroked my back.
There were no words, but her touch was gentle.
Faint emotions came through her fingertips.
Apology.
Gratitude.
And a small unease that had not yet subsided.
With my eyes closed, I lightly moved the tip of my tail.
‘I said it’s fine.’
Of course, it did not reach her as words.
But Elysia saw the movement of my tail and smiled very faintly.
After the carriage arrived at the mansion, we went straight up to Elysia’s room.
Unlike in the morning, the room was filled with warm light.
The neatly made bed, the sword stand by the wall, the textbooks piled on the desk.
And even the thin curtains hanging by the window.
I leaped onto the bed and flopped down.
‘It’s over.’
Now I rest.
No matter what, I rest.
There must not be any more incidents today.
The moment I thought that, Elysia looked down at me.
“Haku.”
I only twitched my ears.
“Kkiing.”
What?
Elysia hesitated for a moment, then said with an extremely serious expression,
“Let’s wash together.”
I opened my eyes.
“……”
Wait.
What did she just say?
“You worked hard today too. You walked on the training ground floor, and you must have gotten a lot of dust on you.”
“Kkiing?”
No, I’m fine.
I’m really fine.
Since I’m in the body of a fox cub, my fur is a little disheveled, but that much I can take care of myself.
I can straighten it out with spiritual power, or just shake myself off a few times.
There’s no need to wash.
Absolutely none.
I slowly raised myself.
Then I took one step back toward the edge of the bed.
Elysia blinked when she saw me.
“Haku?”
“Kkiing.”
I do not need to wash.
I am a clean fox.
Probably.
I quickly tried to jump down from the bed.
But Elysia’s hands were faster.
“Ah, no.”
Whoosh.
Just like that, I was caught in Elysia’s arms.
“Kkiing!?”
‘I’ve been caught.’
Elysia held me carefully, but with enough strength to make it clear she would absolutely not let go.
“You went through so much today because of me. You got hit with an eraser, and it was dangerous at the training ground, and after school too…”
Her voice grew a little quieter.
“So I’ll wash you.”
‘That is not comfort. That is a crisis.’
I tried desperately to escape.
But the body of a fox cub was small, and Elysia’s arms were more stable than I had expected.
If I tried to break free with force, I could have done it,
but then I would really become a strange familiar.
In the end, I was dragged to the bathroom while held in Elysia’s arms.
The bathroom was already filled with warm steam.
White marble flooring, softly glowing magic lamps, and steam rising from a large bathtub.
A few bath herbs with a mild scent floated on the surface of the water.
The moment I saw that scene, my body instinctively stiffened.
‘Danger.’
This place is a battlefield.
More dangerous than the training ground.
It might be even more dangerous than Richard.
Elysia set me down for a moment on a soft towel.
“Wait here for a moment.”
The instant I heard those words, I prepared to escape.
But the door was closed.
The window was high.
The bathroom floor was wet, so there was a chance my paws would slip.
‘Damn it. The terrain is unfavorable.’
While I was calculating an escape route, Elysia began changing her clothes.
I immediately turned around.
Then I covered my eyes with both front paws.
‘Do not look.’
Absolutely do not look.
I am a man.
Right now, I am a fox cub, but my mind is that of a man.
I must not forget that fact.
Beyond the steam came the sound of fabric brushing.
I squeezed my eyes shut with all my might.
‘I am a stone. I am a furry stone. I see nothing.’
And then.
A small droplet of water fell onto the tip of my nose from the wet floor.
“Sniff.”
Reflexively, my head lifted slightly.
It was truly only for an instant.
My eyelids rose halfway.
And I saw.
Elysia standing amid the steam.
I could not see anything in detail.
Rather, it was hazy.
The warm steam and the light of the magic lamps overlapped, so only her silhouette emerged softly.
But that single instant was enough.
Her neat, upright posture.
Her balanced body, honed through training.
The elegance of a noble young lady, and the firmness unique to someone who wielded a sword, coexisting in one figure.
I froze on the spot.
‘…I saw it.’
I had seen it.
If it had been me in my previous life, I might have collapsed with a nosebleed.
No, at the very least, I would have slammed my head into the wall and willingly knocked myself unconscious.
But my current body was that of a fox cub.
My nose did not bleed.
My heart did not pound madly like it had when I was human.
Instead.
Only my mind went blank.
“Haku?”
Elysia looked down at me.
I stared vacantly ahead.
“Kkii…”
Even my voice would not come out properly.
‘I saw nothing.’
No.
I saw it.
‘Do not remember it.’
I already remembered it.
‘Forget it.’
I don’t think I can.
After that, time flowed strangely.
Elysia carefully lifted me up, and warm water seeped between my fur.
I could not resist at all.
No, I did not have the presence of mind to do so.
Warm water soaked my back and belly, and gentle hands rubbed my fur.
Elysia kept speaking to me softly so I would not be startled.
“It’s all right. The water isn’t too hot, is it?”
“Just bear with it a little.”
“You really worked hard today.”
I did not answer.
I simply sat there in a daze.
“Kkiing…”
Every now and then, a strange cry escaped me.
‘Who am I?’
Haku.
‘Where is this?’
The bathroom.
‘Why did it turn out like this?’
I don’t know.
I really don’t know.
A short while later, before I knew it, the bath was over.
After Elysia dried her hair and body first, she placed me on top of a large towel.
Then she began drying me in earnest.
“Stay still, Haku.”
I stayed still.
I no longer had the strength to resist.
Elysia wrapped my body in the towel and carefully pressed the moisture out of my fur.
As she did, my wet fur was flattened here and there, revealing a body that looked much smaller than usual.
Elysia froze for an instant.
“…Haku.”
I weakly raised my head.
“You’re smaller than I thought.”
‘Don’t say that.’
Normally, my fur made me look round and fluffy,
but once I was wet, it seemed my body looked even smaller.
Elysia’s gaze became strangely soft.
“Cute.”
‘I told you not to.’
I wanted to cover my face with my front paws.
But I was wrapped in the towel, so it was difficult to move.
With an expression like she was holding back laughter, Elysia turned on the magic drying device at a low setting.
A warm breeze blew gently.
Whoooom.
My damp fur began to dry little by little.
At first, the fur that had been flattened slowly puffed up.
Starting from my back.
The nape of my neck.
My tail.
And even around my cheeks.
“……”
Elysia’s hand stopped.
I blinked.
Why did she stop?
I looked toward the mirror.
And I realized.
My fur had puffed up to twice its usual size.
A silver-pink ball of cotton.
No, rather than a fox, I was a ball of fur.
“Haku…”
Elysia said in a very small voice.
Her voice was trembling.
It was the voice of someone holding back laughter.
“You’re too…”
She could not finish her sentence.
I glared at her.
As majestically as I could.
But in the mirror, I was a tiny bundle of fluff whose entire body had puffed up from being wet and then dried.
There was no majesty at all.
Not even a little.
In the end, Elysia turned her head away and shook her shoulders.
Then she wrapped me in the towel again and held me in her arms.
This time, she held me truly carefully.
“Still, you’re clean now.”
I did not answer.
I simply half-closed my eyes.
My body was warm.
My fur was fluffy.
And strangely, I felt sleepy.
It felt as if the fatigue that had built up throughout the day was rushing over me all at once along with the warmth of the bath.
Holding me in her arms, Elysia left the bathroom and returned to her room.
On the bed, a fresh towel and a small blanket had been prepared.
She set me down on them and dried behind my ears and the tip of my tail one last time.
“All done.”
I lay there, limp.
“Kkiing…”
I’m tired.
Really tired.
Bathing was scarier than Richard.
Elysia sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at me.
“Thank you for staying by my side all day today.”
At those words, I opened my eyes slightly.
Elysia’s expression was gentle.
It was not the composed and tense face she had shown at the academy.
It was a slightly more honest face, one revealed only in the room of her mansion, in a space where no one else was present.
Tired.
Relieved.
And somehow, a face that trusted me.
I looked at her for a moment, then moved my tail slightly.
“Kkiing.”
It’s nothing.
That was what I wanted to say.
Elysia probably did not understand all of it, but she seemed to sense at least a little.
She carefully reached out and stroked my head once.
“Good night, Haku.”
I closed my eyes.
If it had been me in my previous life, I might have been unable to sleep all night because of that one instant I had seen in the bathroom.
But this body was that of a fox cub.
Warm.
Fluffy.
Sleepy.
‘…Still, starting tomorrow, I absolutely won’t wash together with her again.’
That was the last vow I made.
Of course, I had no way of knowing whether that vow would be kept.
Elysia’s hand brushed over my back once more.
In the end, unable to think of anything at all, I slowly drifted off to sleep on the warm blanket.