The next morning, Shirayuki opened her eyes in a haze.
Her whole body ached. Before her sight could even focus, her sense of smell woke first, dragging her back to reality with the thick scent filling the room.
It was sweet.
Dizzyingly sweet, almost enough to drown in. Warm, heavy, and clinging as it curled through her nose.
What… exactly happened?
Her memories of last night were a complete blur. Aside from a sensation intense enough to melt her brain, Shirayuki could not remember much of anything.
She tried to sit up, but failed.
Then tried again.
Failed again.
Her body felt as if every last drop of strength had been wrung out of it. She could barely move.
Her mouth was dry. Shirayuki swallowed, slowly piecing together what had happened.
Ah. Right.
After the two of them went out on their date, Shirayuki had ended up spending the night with Chiya.
Maybe it was because she had been holding herself back for too long. The moment that fantasy became reality, she had stopped caring about anything else.
Her gaze drifted.
Her blurry vision gradually cleared.
Then Shirayuki saw the bedsheets. The floor. Even the table.
Everywhere, there were traces of her and Chiya.
Not only that, her chest and underarms still felt faintly sticky.
Was it sweat… or something else?
Unsteadily, Shirayuki lifted her arm and looked at the dewy traces that had not yet dried on her palm. She gave it a light sniff, then stuck out her small pink tongue and licked it.
"Mmh…"
Tasty.
A syrupy sweetness spread across her tongue, lingering in her mouth.
Turning over, Shirayuki looked at the man sleeping beside her. She reached out, wrapped her arm around his chest, and narrowed her eyes in bliss.
She liked Chiya's scent.
Chiya liked hers too.
They fit together perfectly. Two halves completing each other.
Several more hours passed before the two finally woke up.
Fujiwara Chiya rubbed his eyes. His body was just like Shirayuki's, so exhausted he could barely lift a finger.
But opposite that exhaustion was the deep satisfaction of a craving finally fulfilled.
He lowered his gaze.
There, nestled against him, was the white-haired girl.
His other half.
Their eyes met. Black and blue, like two gemstones brushing against one another, gorgeous and enchanting.
Shirayuki stretched out one long, slender leg and lightly hooked it around Fujiwara Chiya's waist.
Chiya lowered his head and kissed the elegant curve of Shirayuki's swan-like neck. The pleasant sensation made tears well up in her eyes.
From one becoming two, to two becoming one.
Their souls had instinctively longed to merge, resonating at the same frequency.
After half a day of rest, the two of them gradually recovered.
That feeling of their minds blending together was really…
Fujiwara Chiya could not even describe it.
It felt as if his entire consciousness had been blasted out of his body. The wish to become a girl and the sensations of being a man overlapped, then erupted between them all at once.
Until both of their minds melted away completely, evaporating into nothing, taking every unhappy thought with them.
Only then did they sink into a heavy sleep, and the night finally returned to silence.
Shirayuki struggled to sit up and brushed aside her sweat-damp bangs.
There was a strange, swollen feeling inside her.
Even though Shirayuki had long known Chiya was exceptionally gifted, still…
That really was something else.
As if he had been saving it up for ages.
You guy… was your desire always that strong?
Shirayuki lightly pinched the man's nose, a smile blooming on her face.
The maddening itch that had almost driven her to collapse had finally disappeared.
She stretched out one tender, lotus-white foot, hooked a jacket off the bed, and draped it over herself.
First, she needed a shower.
Right now, there was not a single clean part of her body. Every inch of her was covered in that dangerously alluring scent.
Ring ring ring—
A phone rang.
Fujiwara Chiya looked at the message.
It was from Rice Shower.
[Onii-sama, are you awake already? How is work going?]
There was even a cheerful smiling emoji at the end.
Chiya glanced at the completely bare Shirayuki, then replied:
[It's finished. I'll be back soon.]
[Okay! Rice will wait for Onii-sama to come back so we can eat breakfast together!]
[When I get back, let's go eat xiaolongbao.]
Putting down the phone, Fujiwara Chiya stretched.
Going out under the excuse of work just to spend the night with Shirayuki did make him feel a little guilty toward Rice Shower.
But occasionally, Fujiwara Chiya wanted to be selfish too.
He had given so much of his time to other people already.
So even if it meant telling a lie, he wanted to keep the night for himself.
The two entered the bathroom and rinsed themselves off.
Chiya gathered Shirayuki's silky hair in his hands, washing away the marks that had dried in it.
Speaking of which, Shirayuki's body really was incredible.
Even pain that intense had faded away in just a few minutes. When she woke up in the morning, she did not seem to be suffering much discomfort either.
Even setting aside the influence of their souls, from the perspective of a girl's body alone, Fujiwara Chiya could not find a single flaw in her.
Shirayuki took the showerhead.
Water flowed down her modest chest, traced the curve of her waist, then pattered onto the floor.
Her body did not feel abnormal in any serious way, but that lingering sensation still made it impossible for her to train today.
She should rest for half a day.
Shirayuki looked down at her beautiful stomach, flat and without even the slightest bit of excess fat.
Wait.
If we keep doing this…
I'm not going to get pregnant, am I?
Shirayuki suddenly realized the problem.
She was already a girl now.
And she had already decided to stay with Chiya for the rest of his life.
In that case, there was a very high chance.
No, not a chance.
She would definitely become a mother someday.
That left Shirayuki extremely conflicted.
She did not know whether she could become a proper mother. After all, her situation was far too special. She had only recently accepted the fact that she was a girl. Jumping straight from that to motherhood was a little too much for her to process.
If there really is a child in the future, can I play the role of a mother properly?
Should I tell that child about me?
Also, if there really is a baby, does this family count as a single-parent household or not?
A mountain of questions popped up in Shirayuki's head.
After thinking about it for a while, Shirayuki eventually gave up.
Future problems could wait for the future.
When the cart reached the mountain, there would be a road.
Rather than thinking about all that, she might as well focus on the present.
For example, the man behind her, who seemed to be waking up in more ways than one.
Seriously, there's no end to this, is there?
Shirayuki sighed, puffed out her cheeks, and silently complained about her own hopeless body.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
This was her.
Good or bad.
Gentleman or shameless pervert.
Warm water washed over their bodies.
Shirayuki braced one hand against the wall, closed her eyes, and turned her head to kiss the man behind her.
The water from the showerhead went pitter-patter, pitter-patter against the floor.
By the time Fujiwara Chiya returned, it was already close to ten in the morning.
Gold Ship, who had been squatting near Tracen's front gate poking at ants, immediately shouted when she saw them.
"They're back! They're back! I knew those two didn't run away!"
"Onii-sama!"
Rice Shower, hearing the commotion, ran out and rushed to the two of them.
"Welcome back, Onii-sama!"
"Mm. Sorry for making you wait, Rice. Let's go eat breakfast."
"It's already lunch, Trainer."
Gold Ship glanced at Shirayuki's slightly sluggish steps and raised an eyebrow.