—Mochi, take off your clothes.
The order was simple, but her tone was serious, making it clear it wasn't a joke. Mochi felt her face heat up with embarrassment.
She untied the ribbon holding her inn robe with hands that trembled slightly. She took a deep breath to calm her heart, then let the fabric fall to the floor. She was left in her underwear. Internally, she sighed in relief: she had chosen a nice set—not too flashy—that made her feel a little more confident.
Even so, her face burned a deep red. She had shared baths with Haruka before, but this time it felt different. Seeing Haruka sitting there, completely still, watching her with such intensity only made her nerves worse.
—Haruka… if you keep looking at me like that, I won't be able to take off the rest— she stammered, bringing her hands up to cover her face.
Haruka quickly averted her gaze. Mochi thought she had seen fire on her cheeks. Her elven ears had turned red.
—I'm sorry —Haruka murmured, letting the apology slip out—. If you want, you can keep your underwear on.
—When you're ready, lie face down on the futon.
Mochi obeyed, carefully lowering herself onto the futon, resting her forehead on her hands while glancing over her shoulder at Haruka's figure as she knelt beside her. Haruka carefully opened one of the blue bottles she had prepared and dampened her palms with a small amount of liquid.
—This liquid is similar to what we use to preserve anomaly cores —Haruka explained softly—. It helps preserve and conduct ether. Today we'll use it to make the ether flow more easily. I want you to feel your internal ether reservoir.
—I… —Mochi swallowed—. How do I do that?
—Close your eyes —Haruka instructed—. Breathe slowly. Think of this as a massage. I'm going to inject a small current of my ether. You just focus on how it moves inside you and try to guide it with your intention.
Haruka's hands made contact with Mochi's back.
It was just a light touch… but the effect was immediate.
—Ahn…! —Mochi pressed her lips together and covered her mouth in a desperate attempt to hold back the sound. Her already flushed face grew even brighter, as if it had turned into the red light of a traffic signal.
She hadn't expected the massage to feel like this. It caught her completely off guard, like a bolt of lightning running from the back of her neck all the way to the tip of her tail.
—I'll continue —Haruka said calmly, completely focused—. Mochi, concentrate on feeling the ether inside you. Since it isn't yours, it will be easier to perceive. Just try to move it within your body… and you'll notice how it naturally gathers in one place.
Haruka's hand brushed Mochi's nape again as she firmly placed her palms on her bare back. Mochi let out a small, restrained moan:
—Mmn…!
—Relax —Haruka whispered, her voice as soft as the incense filling the room—. Imagine the ether as warm water flowing inside you. Don't force it. Just… let it flow.
Mochi closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, counting to three to calm herself. At first, she only felt a pleasant tingling on her skin. But then, as if something inside her awakened, she felt the flow.
Haruka's ether.
She felt it enter through her back, slide down her spine in a warm, gentle motion, melt into her chest, descend through her abdomen… until it reached lower, where it began to gather and pulse.
—Do you feel it? —Haruka asked, repeating the process with precise control.
—Nnh…! I feel it gathering in one place.
—Good. Now direct all the ether there.
Mochi obeyed. Clumsy at first—until, slowly, all the ether Haruka had injected into her gathered into a single point.
—Very good —Haruka murmured—. You did it. Can you tell which area of your body it ended up accumulating in?
—Yes… —Mochi said as she pushed herself up slightly on the futon, her face still burning. She placed a hand over her lower abdomen, just below her navel—. Here.
Haruka nodded proudly, a gentle smile on her lips.
—Exactly. In women, ether concentrates and is stored in the uterus. In men, on the other hand, it is stored in the heart. Each has its advantages… and its disadvantages as well.
—Disadvantages? What kind of disadvantages are there? —Mochi asked, her breathing unsteady—not so much out of curiosity, but rather with the hope that Haruka's explanation would be long enough to give her time to recover.
—The disadvantages… well —Haruka began in her professional tone, not noticing that Mochi was internally begging her to keep talking—. As I was saying: the place where ether is stored is called the ethereal palace. In men, it's located in the heart; this allows them to distribute ether very quickly throughout the body, granting them great explosiveness and the ability to release large amounts in an instant.
—In our case, the ethereal palace is in the uterus. That means the ether takes a bit longer to travel up to the heart, so we can't generate as much power all at once… but in exchange, our storage capacity is greater. The space is wider and safer, allowing us to handle much more ether than a man.
—Uh-huh… yes… yes, of course… —Mochi nodded automatically, thinking please keep talking more, please…
But Haruka softly clapped her hands, abruptly closing the explanation.
—Alright, that's enough theory. It's time for the main part. Now that you're aware of your ethereal palace, I'm going to inject a large amount of ether all at once. It won't increase its size—humans can't do that by absorbing external ether—but it will help you firmly imprint the sensation. Lie back down.
—E-eh? R-right now? —Mochi swallowed, wanting to run away.
Even so, she obeyed. This time she lay on her back, breathing deeply and trembling slightly. Haruka soaked her hands again in the blue substance.
Haruka gently placed her hands on Mochi's lower abdomen.
—Alright, Mochi… get ready. I'm going to send a large amount of ether at once. The largest so far.
—H-Haruka, wait… wait a moment, okay? Wait! N-no, don't—!
But it was already too late.
—AAAAHHNN—!!
—
Minutes later
The room was silent.
A futon, two bowls of incense still smoldering, and at the back, a trembling bundle wrapped in a blanket.
—Mochi, please come out of there —Haruka pleaded for the fifth time—. I already told you, these things… happen. It's completely normal.
—Don't say "normal"! It's not! —Mochi shrieked from inside the cocoon.
Haruka knelt beside her, just as red, her usual composure completely shattered.
—I-it's true… maybe not that normal —she admitted, looking away—. But it's fine. Really. You don't need to be embarrassed.
—DON'T SAY THAT WOOOORD! —Mochi buried her face even deeper into her knees.
Several more minutes passed before Mochi finally managed to calm down. When she eventually emerged from the blanket, she sat on the futon with her knees pulled up, turning her back to Haruka, unable to look her in the face from sheer embarrassment.
—Haruka… is this training something all agents go through? —Mochi asked, her voice still trembling.
—No, not really. Nowadays it's no longer carried out. It's complex, and the requirements to perform it are difficult to meet.
—Ehhh? —Mochi turned her head sharply, surprised—. Then why did I have to go through something so embarrassing?
Haruka sighed, tucking a strand of her white hair behind her ear.
—Because it was necessary. It's the fastest way to strengthen you. In one month, there will be a test for all agents who wish to advance to rank 4. It will be a difficult… and dangerous exam. At your current level, it would be very risky for you. That's why I chose to use this method with both of you. And it was the right decision: you both responded exceptionally well.
The moment Haruka said "both," the atmosphere changed completely.
—With… both of us? —Mochi repeated, but her tone was no longer the usual one. It was colder—. So you used this same method with Miyu. I see. I'm glad Haruka enjoys giving that kind of massage to everyone.
Haruka blinked, confused. She had never seen Mochi angry at her before.
—Mochi, calm down, it was just—
—I don't need to calm down. I'm not angry. In fact, I'm perfectly fine.
Mochi stood up and walked out of the room before Haruka could stop her. Her tail was bristled, her ears stiff.
Mochi wandered the hallways aimlessly, her breathing fast, her chest tight.
She leaned against a wall, staring at a nearby window.
She wondered why she had acted that way. She didn't know. She didn't understand it. It was just training. Haruka was only trying to help—she wasn't at fault for anything. And yet… that annoying feeling was still there.
She approached the window. Outside, snow fell softly over the mountain.
That was when she saw it.
A female figure stepped out through the inn's main entrance: it was Rin, the owners' daughter. She was wearing only her work uniform—no coat, no scarf, nothing to protect her from the freezing night cold.
She walked calmly, as if the temperature didn't affect her at all.
—What…? —Mochi frowned. As a catsith, even sticking her nose out in that cold was torture. How could Rin walk around like that?
She quickly lost sight of her. Mochi stood there staring for a long moment, distracted, until she decided it was time to go back.
At last, she turned around and returned to the room.
When she opened the door, Miyu was already inside, kneeling on her futon and playing with her wagasa. She looked up, immediately noticing the heavy atmosphere.
—Sempai? …Is everything okay? —she asked, though her tone made it clear she knew something wasn't.
Mochi simply nodded without saying a word and slipped into her futon, turning her back to both Haruka and Miyu. Haruka didn't speak either; she stared up at the ceiling, her expression tense.
The three of them settled in silence, Miyu ending up in the middle, trapped in an atmosphere so dense it almost felt like it could be cut with a knife.
—
In the middle of the night, Mochi's eyes snapped open at the sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway. Voices mixed with the noise of doors opening.
Haruka woke as well, instantly alert. Miyu sat up more slowly, rubbing her eyes.
—What's going on out there…? —she murmured.
The three of them stepped out into the hallway. Several inn employees were running back and forth, flashlights in hand, clearly nervous.
—Excuse me! —Haruka stopped them—. What's going on?
The employees exchanged uneasy glances, unsure whether they should tell a guest what was happening, until one of them finally spoke.
—The owners' daughter… Rin… she's disappeared. We can't find her anywhere.
A chill ran down Mochi's spine.
She had seen her leave.
And now… she was missing.