Chapter 37 - Maya Rosenwald P18

~37.18~

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I'm glad to see she's gained confidence.

She's half demon and thus a hermaphrodite, and they used their demon magic to hide or show whatever body parts they wanted. Anyone else seeing the scene I was seeing would have absolutely no idea she was anything but a typical catgirl.

From what I knew of her, she identified exclusively as female. Nobody would mistake her for anything else. But she preferred having both parts, and didn't like hiding anything.

"I practiced my magic in secret. I'm much better with it now." She was being careful not to say anything to reveal her secret, but also to say enough that we would understand. "I can use it anytime I want now."

I patted her head and replied, "I'm proud of you. Well done!"

She blushed and said, "I want to say something like, 'You're treating me like a child', but the headpats are nice."

I very slightly regret this decision. She's acting very cute. I glanced down. And beautiful... and hot. My word, I'm attracted to a girl that looks this good?

"Now whose eyes are wandering, hmm?"

I stopped abruptly. "Ahh, well..."

She giggled. "It's cute that I can make you blush as easily as you make me blush." She returned a headpat then strolled toward the bath. "Come on. The sooner we wash up, the sooner we can soak!"

I smiled and followed her. The twins had already gone in to wash, so we sat near them. Having somebody to scrub your back is nice. The twins helped both of us after washing themselves. When we were done washing up, we settled into the bath.

"This is nice," I as I sunk down to my nose. Across the bath, I saw Serah and Stella watching with a smile as Maya stepped into the water next to me. I rose back up, enough that the water was at my waist, and held my hand out to help her in.

Obviously she didn't need it, but I kinda just acted automatically. I don't think she gave it a second thought. She took my hand and settled in. "You're right, this is nice. Mmm." She melted down into the water just as I did.

I giggled as I watched her tail float around under the water.

"What's so amusing?" she said, raising up enough to speak.

"Your extra fluffy tail under the water."

"Hmm?" She looked down at her tail. "Oh, I suppose other races hardly ever see our tails submerged. Yeah, I have a rather fluffy tail to begin with, so it's uh... yeah. But you saw my tail and Lena's tail like this the other day."

"Ah, well. There were more distractions that time, so I didn't notice as much."

"I see." She giggled.

I giggled too, and we settled back down.

Why are we both going low enough to cover our mouths under the water. Most would say you shouldn't do that in a bathhouse since you don't know if the water is clean.

She rose up again and said, "Eli, because I have cat ears, my hearing is a little better than the average human. Normally in public with all the extra sound, I could never hear this, but it's very quiet here. Are you okay? Your heart is beating awfully fast. It was like this the other day, too. Are you feeling hot already? Or maybe did you catch something from the monsters you killed?"

"No, I'm perfectly healthy. I had a barrier around me the entire time, so I couldn't have caught anything if I tried." I held a hand to my chest. "You're right, though. I didn't notice. My pulse is quite fast right now. I'm not sure why. Maybe stress from combat."

That's a lie, I know exactly why my heart rate is fast. I'm in love with this girl.

"Maya, may I ask a question about your past?"

"Hmm? Sure."

"You only attended high school in Weltwald, yes? Since you were fully grown by five years old, you would only fit in with other races once they were around fifteen or so. Is that right?"

"Yes. I attended school up to that point in Nacht, then at fifteen, I started high school in Weltwald under the Rosenwald name." She looked up at me. "You did make sure nobody else is here before blurting that out loud, right?"

"Isn't it a little late to ask that?" I smiled apologetically. She puffed her cheeks out at me. I couldn't bring myself to tease her after that. "But yes, I checked, and they," I gestured at Serah and Stella, "will inform us if somebody comes in."

"Okay. Just making sure."

"So those friends you had were all in high school? The ones that you developed feelings for, I mean."

"You want to ask me about that?" I saw a bit of redness in her face.

"I'm sorry if it's too sensitive. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to answer."

She shook her head. "I don't mind, I'm just a bit surprised. Yes. All six of them were in high school. Each one reacted the same way. In Weltwald, being anything but straight isn't really accepted. I was made fun of after the first one, and barely made any friends after that. The few friends I did make scampered off the moment I revealed any feelings I had for them. And because of that, I gained a reputation. I didn't make any friends in my last year, nor did I try. Eli?" She reached over and took hold of my fist.

Hearing that people made fun of her triggered something in me. I had clenched both fists without realizing it. I relaxed my hands and took a breath. "I..." I wasn't sure what to say.

"Eli, are you sure you're okay? You're a little off today."

I turned toward her, my face flush. "It's that obvious?"

She nodded, then looked back down at her feet.

"Maya?"

"Hmm?"

"If you develop feelings for anyone again, especially one of your friends, would you act on it?"

"...I'm not sure." She was hesitant to answer. "I don't want to lose another friend, especially after I've come to care for all of my friends so much. I think I'd rather go unrequited and keep my friends than confess anything and risk losing them."

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Revision: 2025-2-12

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