"Hmm-hmm..."
I hummed a little tune.
When I first saw the chat window, I was clueless and confused, wondering what on earth they were talking about. Was it all about pajamas? I had to tilt my head in confusion. But now I could join the conversation without feeling left out.
When I pressed the voice message button with a tap, I could hear what they were saying, which made communication easier and gave me the feeling of chatting together in the same room.
I pressed the buttons cheerfully, and when it was my turn to speak, I'd say something too.
Honestly, it felt a bit awkward talking to a screen when it wasn't even a phone call, but after doing it a few times, it started to feel quite comfortable.
[Come to think of it, can't we have a pajama party?]
After Sera sent that voice message, I blankly looked over at the Professor.
I had been lying on the sofa listening absentmindedly, and the Professor turned to look at me after hearing that. Our eyes met briefly, and the Professor gave me a bitter smile.
Since I couldn't leave the Professor's side except when inside the Academy, it would obviously be difficult. That expression was clearly the answer.
I felt disappointed. I pouted and thought for a while.
I considered having it here, but soon shook my head. While I didn't mind since I lived with the Professor, the students probably wouldn't be thrilled about coming to the Professor's home.
Without any good ideas, I quickly sent a message saying it wouldn't work. Disappointed voices came back in response. As I kept holding my phone, the Professor glanced at the time and spoke to me.
"Urr, time to wash up."
"Ah, yes. Just a moment."
I was still tapping on my phone, but then tossed it onto the sofa with a chuckle.
Just being able to chat with someone was fun and made me happy, causing me to smile involuntarily.
I went into the bathroom with the Professor. I noticed the duck toy the Professor had given me. I'd accepted it when it was given to me, but the yellow duck had been neglected since I never played with it.
On a whim, I reached for it. As I turned it around, examining it carefully from different angles, the Professor tilted their head behind me.
"Urr, do you want to take a bath? Should I warm up the water?"
"...No, I was just looking at it."
"I'll warm up the water anyway."
The Professor must have thought I wanted to play with the duck toy, because they immediately started filling the tub. The sound of warm water pouring in hit my ears.
"Then we should get you clean before getting in the tub, right?"
I turned my head at the Professor's voice. I was fine with the shower, but when I saw the exfoliating towel, my eyes widened.
"Uh, what?"
"Urr, stay still. Come here."
I tried to back away hesitantly, but there was no escaping the Professor's grasp.
When I panicked and didn't know what to do, the Professor held me firmly while trying to calm me down.
"You need to be clean for your friends to like you. If you're dirty, kids won't approach you, right?"
"Well... that's true, but that's..."
Maybe because my body had weakened, but I'd become sensitive to even the slightest stimulation. Just looking at that towel reminded me of the stinging sensation I'd felt before, making me shudder.
This was a no-win situation with no escape. I let out a small groan, regretting why I'd touched the duck in the first place.
"First, you need to sit down."
"Okay..."
I muttered as I crouched down on the small chair. With my back hunched and eyes slightly closed, water began to dampen my hair as usual.
Since my hair reached down to my buttocks, just getting it all wet took quite some time.
After thoroughly wetting it, shampooing, and rinsing again.
"Wow, it's always so fluffy no matter when I touch it."
"Ahaha..."
"It's okay. You like having your hair touched, don't you?"
"I don't dislike it."
Even now as the Professor was touching my hair, it felt strangely good, making me smile involuntarily. I thought that if I were human, I might have closed my eyes and dozed off.
The feeling of my scalp being massaged while rinsing my hair gave me a heavenly sensation.
Thinking my hair was sufficiently neat, the Professor wrung it out and flipped it forward. I blankly grabbed the long hair that was flipped over my shoulders.
"Eh?"
"Hold onto it. Now we need to wash you."
"Ah, aah..."
Realizing that time had come, I let out a small groan. The Professor sprayed warm water on my back, then stopped and scrubbed hard with the exfoliating towel.
"Eek!?"
"Urr, stay still. We need to scrub you once in a while."
"Ah, it hurts..."
"I'll finish quickly. Our Urr is so good. So good."
When I curled up and moaned in pain, the Professor eased up a bit and continued scrubbing my back. I frowned at the vibrating sensation of being scrubbed.
I knew that before getting into the tub, you needed to thoroughly clean your body, but the problem was that I always hesitated when the time came.
I wondered if my body would become less sensitive when I grew bigger. Right now, I was too weak to these things. With such thoughts, I endured the pain.
"Uuugh... mm, aah..."
"Almost done. It's okay."
"B-but you've only done my back so far..."
When I protested at the Professor's obvious lie, they caught their breath with an "Ah."
"Urr really does have a sensitive body. If your back hurts this much already, how will we finish washing you?"
"I-I'll endure it..."
"The duck is waiting to play with you too."
I didn't care about that, but I let it slide. I knew that while baths might seem bothersome at first, once you're done, you feel so good you don't want to get out, so I didn't want to miss it.
After finishing my back, it was time for my arms. Every time the Professor grabbed my arm and scrubbed, silent screams filled me.
I'm dying. I'm dying...! My skin is peeling off...!
As I opened my mouth and struggled, the Professor showed me my arm.
"Look, doesn't it seem cleaner?"
"It looks the same to me..."
"Really? But stuff comes off when I scrub."
The Professor scrubbed vigorously, then grabbed my other hand when they thought nothing more would come off.
It felt like an eternity was passing. The areas where the exfoliating towel had passed left a burning sensation, as if fire had swept through. When I let out a choked "Uwa" from the hot pain, the Professor stopped.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"...I-is it over now?"
"No, we still need to do the front. Let's rinse once and put your hair back."
"..."
I wondered when this would end. Of course, we'd done my back and arms, so it would be strange not to do my front and legs, but I wasn't sure if I could endure it.
Splash. I closed my eyes and endured as water sprayed from my head. The Professor wiped away the water on my eyelids with their hand, and only then could I open my eyes again.
The Professor's expression occupied a corner of the bright scene before me. It was always that expression. I could tell by the twitching corners of their mouth, unable to contain themselves at the sight of something cute.
I stared at the Professor's expression with wide eyes.
"Our Urr, let's endure a little more, okay?"
"...Okay."
When I nodded, the Professor nodded approvingly and flipped my hair back again. My hair was so long it touched the floor. It bothered me slightly, but I turned my head, knowing the Professor would rinse it again.
As the Professor placed their hand on my waist, I straightened my back, slightly tense. I gulped as the exfoliating towel in the Professor's hand approached my stomach.
It looked like a green monster trying to eat away at my body, making me even more tense. My mouth felt completely dry despite all the water around.
"...Uh, eek? Hic, w-wait... wait a moment!"
"What, what's wrong?"
I couldn't help but cry out at the sensation of the towel brushing my stomach. Unlike before, it wasn't pain but a ticklish feeling that I judged unbearable.
When I grabbed the Professor's arm and moaned "Uuu," they looked at me with a troubled expression.
"I-it tickles..."
Having barely stopped being ticklish, I looked up at the Professor with a tearful expression. The Professor apologized and hugged me.
But they weren't going to let it slide just like that.
"Should we take a little break?"
"Not doing it at all... seems like an option too..."
"No, we need to get you clean before you get in the tub, right?"
The Professor said that while bringing the exfoliating towel back. I let out a high-pitched moan as the act resumed, enduring the Professor's touch.
When it finally ended, I blankly stared at my reddened skin. Submerging myself in the bath water up to my chin, I blew out bubbles, and the Professor patted my head from behind.
The cheerful duck floating in front of me swam away, pushed by the air bubbles I made. Whenever the duck tried to drift away from me, I grabbed it and placed it back in front of me.
The Professor, who had joined me in the tub, saw this and smiled wryly.
"But it feels good to be clean, doesn't it?"
"...It's just okay."
"Don't hate the Professor too much, okay?"
"I don't hate you."
After grumbling that, I put my mouth back in the water and blew more bubbles.
I'm annoyed at the duck. The duck seemed to share my feelings as it tried to drift away from me on the bubbles. Feeling inexplicably resentful, I grabbed the duck and squeezed it tight.
Squeak.
The duck in my hand let out a death cry.