Chapter 11

1.

The hospital room was a private room, so it had a separate sofa. I guess it was for visitors or whoever was looking after the patient.

I brought Dojin over and sat beside him on the sofa. As soon as I sat down, I leaned against him as if cuddling into his arms.

At first, Dojin seemed surprised, but soon he smiled and held me while idly playing with my hair.

"Hehehe."

After our kiss, I was in such a good mood that I couldn't stop grinning. I felt satisfied and fulfilled. And I knew in my heart that I couldn't be with anyone but him.

Even though the contract had put me in heat, I'd deal with that on my own later. We weren't going that far yet…

Still, if Dojin wanted to, I wouldn't have the confidence to resist. It wasn't a question of the difference in our strength—I just didn't think I could fight him off. Wouldn't I end up welcoming it instead?

"Are you that happy?"

"We're officially a couple starting today."

After our kiss, I confessed and asked him out without even thinking. And Dojin accepted.

Even with my injured face, I was clinging to him like a cat because I'd succeeded in confessing to him.

Actually, my wounds were healing in real time thanks to my magic, so I was optimistic they'd be gone soon.

"I'll become A-rank soon. I want to be a woman worthy of you, Dojin."

Goodbye, my precious manly pride.

…I don't think it was all that precious, though.

"You don't have to rush."

"I don't want to wait. Right now, I feel so shabby compared to you."

I shook my head and refused. I guess I just looked cute to Dojin. You little punk. Look at that smile you can't wipe off your face.

Of course, these days I could smile just from seeing him smile. What could I do? I was the one who fell for him first.

"I don't care about social status."

"That's because you're at the very top. Even if it's not everything, it still matters to me."

That's what I thought. People at the very top sometimes didn't care about social class because they were so exceptional themselves.

I didn't think status was everything, but it was better to avoid people looking down on us as much as possible. Rather than hear things like 'gold-digger,' I wanted to be part of a couple everyone would cheer for.

"And I… if possible, I want us to be a couple everyone around us can bless."

Dojin often teased me, but maybe he didn't have any dating experience, because he couldn't tease me at all. I was the same, but somehow these self-sabotaging remarks worked so well that I kept making them.

We were both red as tomatoes, though. It wasn't often that I got to see Dojin looking like that.

"I'll make sure that happens."

"Really?"

"Promise?"

I grinned. I couldn't stop smiling. Was this heaven?

I rose slightly out of his arms and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck.

"Seal it with a kiss."

"You're like an adorable little kitten."

The French kiss Dojin gave me first… It was like heaven.

Honestly, the pleasure of our tongues intertwining nearly made me climax right then and there. If I hadn't been in front of Dojin, I probably would have.

As I breathed heavily, my face flushed, Dojin kissed me again.

I tried to ignore the throbbing in my lower belly as much as possible. I tried to ignore my nipples, hard enough to hurt, too. Luckily, I was wearing underwear, so I didn't think it would show.

Since my hospital gown was pants, there was no way to deal with my pussy, soaked with arousal, here.

"I'm going to use the bathroom for a moment."

Without waiting for a reply, I pattered over to the bathroom.

"Haaah…"

My body wanted a man—Dojin. But I held back as hard as I could.

I didn't want Dojin to think I was an easy woman. I'd rather he thought I was lewd than cheap. Cheap? That was practically being a call girl.

Absolutely not!

I wiped away the arousal with toilet paper. I wanted to masturbate and get off quickly, but I'd probably smell sweaty, and after doing it twice in a row last time, I learned that a woman's arousal didn't fade quickly just because she had an orgasm.

There was no way I could calm down with Dojin right beside me. This body loved lewd things to begin with, and that damn contract only made it worse.

When we kissed earlier, my mind really went blank, and I ended up licking Dojin's tongue greedily without even realizing it.

Thinking about it made me feel like I was going to get wet again, so I pulled out more toilet paper. I flushed it away without leaving a trace.

Then I washed my hands, tidied my hair in front of the mirror, and examined my wounds carefully. They looked even better than when I'd first seen them reflected in the water.

Seeing things like this really made me feel how effective magic was at healing.

Just as I was about to reach for the doorknob and leave, my pants crumbled into dust and disappeared.

…What do I do? Come to think of it, this happened the last time I was hospitalized with Ruby and Peridot, too. I think I barely managed to change into a dress or something.

Back then, Peridot had said, 'I'm glad I brought a change of clothes just in case.' It probably wasn't a standard hospital gown.

…I'd completely forgotten. What do I do?

"Um… could you close your eyes for a moment?"

"Hm? Sure."

In the end, I only had one option. I opened the bathroom door, peeked my face out, and asked Dojin to close his eyes.

As soon as Dojin closed his eyes, I hurried over to the bed. I covered my lower body with the blanket and sat up, moving toward the corner of the bed.

There was enough room for one more person to climb in. It'd be cramped, though.

"You can open your eyes now. And could you come over here?"

Dojin opened his eyes and came over to the bed with a puzzled expression.

I stammered a little, embarrassed. My fingers fidgeted as I played with the blanket.

"M-my pants got splashed with too much water… I didn't think I could wear them, so I put them in the laundry."

"Oh…"

Dojin replied as if to say, 'I see…' Then his eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at my legs and butt.

Startled, I covered myself even more tightly with the blanket. Now that I looked, the hospital blanket was pretty thin, and my legs showed through it. If anything, that might make it more erotic.

"…Pervert."

"No, that's not it."

I knew it was a half-instinctive sort of gaze. If I were a man, I'd probably look too.

That was that. But I'm a woman right now, aren't I?

I puffed out my cheeks to show him I was in 'I'm sulking' mode. He should soothe me by gently stroking my hair or something.

Dojin scratched his head, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently stroked my hair.

Since he'd done something nice, I could forgive him for the bad thing, too.

I couldn't hold back the corners of my mouth as they curled up, and my smile wouldn't go away.

Even with a little gesture like that, I kept grinning. I just couldn't stop.

"Lapis."

I saw Dojin's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. He looked as if he'd made up his mind about something.

Given the atmosphere, there was a good chance it was 'that.' Maybe we'd been too lovey-dovey.

I'd thought about it earlier, too, but if Dojin asked, I didn't think I could refuse.

"I'm going to kiss you again."

"Yes♡"

I heard my voice come out in a coquettish tone before I even realized it. Wow, that was my voice?

Dojin and I kissed again, our tongues intertwining. I felt his hand cradle my head, then gradually move lower.

What should I do? Should I make some gesture to refuse, even a little? But my body seemed to want to feel Dojin's touch, twitching and guiding his hand so he could grope me more easily.

Dojin's hand slid down my back, about to reach my butt. I should refuse at least once…

"Lapis~ I brought you some clothes to change i—"

With a clatter, Ruby came in.

"…I'll come back in thirty minutes?"

"Pwah. N-no!!"

I hurriedly broke the kiss and called out to Ruby. Dojin looked disappointed. Well, I was disappointed, too.

It was a little scary to go all the way on the first day, and I was a little disappointed, too. But a physical relationship after a sweet romance was romantic in its own way.

2.

Ruby had brought me a plain gray dress. It was long enough to cover my thighs, as the contract required, so I was relieved I could wear it.

"Thank you."

"Wow, what a relief. Still, our Hero did a good job cheering you up, huh? You don't look depressed."

"Th-that way of putting it is a little…"

Dojin had stepped out, saying he was going to get some air, so Ruby was happily chattering away.

"So. How far did you get?"

"W-we only… kissed."

Maybe it felt several times more embarrassing because Ruby knew I used to be a man. Well, I didn't plan on going back anymore, anyway.

…What should I do about the contract? Would they cancel it if I asked? They weren't going to demand something weird as a cancellation fee, were they?

"Such a well-behaved little kitty~ Why climb onto the kitchen counter first?"

"……"

Ruby still seemed to enjoy teasing me, so she kept at it. Still, at least all my earlier gloom was gone…

"Oh, right. We have to throw a party after you're discharged."

"A party?"

"Yeah. Peridot became A-rank."

"Really?"

Peridot was A-rank now. I guess she'd had some kind of breakthrough and grown stronger, like I had. Shouldn't I ask about taking an A-rank assessment, too?

…I remembered Iris waterboarding me. Honestly, I still couldn't understand how she'd split a wave with her fist. What was she, some end-of-the-world Fist King?

Anyway, it was something worth celebrating.

"I should ask about the assessment, too."

"Peridot will explain it to you."

Ruby said that and sprang to her feet. It looked like she was about to leave.

"Well then, don't you dare cross the line, okay?"

"I won't!"

That's what I said, but if we ended up in a situation like before, I felt like all I could do was cling to Dojin and say something like, 'Please be gentle with me.'

Ruby left with a beaming smile. Just then, Dojin came back in.

"Here."

"What's this…?"

Dojin handed me a thermos filled with warm fruit juice. Had he gone somewhere in the meantime? Come to think of it, he had teleportation powers. He could go home and back in an instant.

"Uncle Sword Saint said to give you this. He said I should bring you over sometime."

What was this, some kind of meeting-the-parents thing?

I could feel the pressure weighing on me. It was like a boulder had been set on my shoulders. Come to think of it, the Sword Saint's image was turning more and more into a mother every day. Good thing he was a man. If he were a woman, he'd feel like a rival or a mother-in-law.

"…Thank you. But meeting him is a little intimidating…"

"Uncle isn't that hard to talk to. He's much more easygoing."

That's probably because you're close to him, Dojin.

Apparently, they used thermos lids as cups here, too. I poured the fruit juice into the lid with a glug-glug and took a sip.

Maybe it was because Dojin had brought it for me, but it was incredibly sweet for fruit juice.

"I mixed in some honey. It'll be sweet and easy to drink."

"That's thoughtful of you."

It wasn't just the honey that was sweet. Dojin's affection was sweet, too.

I kept sipping the fruit juice with a goofy smile on my face.

"I learned it from Uncle Sword Saint."

"…He sounds more like your parent than anything."

"I guess. Uncle Sword Saint took care of me after I lost my parents and became an orphan."

He really was in the role of a father… Should I call him Father? Come to think of it, Dojin was technically an orphan, too. He was no different from me, an orphan with no one in this world.

Anyway, what was this fruit juice? What kind of fruit made me so sleepy? It tasted like pear or apple juice.

"Mmm… did you put anything else in it? I'm suddenly really sleepy…"

"Sleep is the best thing for recovery. It's sleep fruit juice."

Dojin said that and picked up the thermos.

So there was a fruit called sleep fruit, too.

"Sleep well."

After that, I don't remember anything…

3.

In the morning, Dojin was asleep sitting on the sofa. I quietly climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom. I wanted to shower, but I probably couldn't do that here.

I washed my face quickly at the sink. I tied my hair back so it wouldn't fall loose, then wiped my face carefully. All the wounds on my face had healed, so there was nothing left to hurt.

After I finished washing up and came out, Dojin was yawning and stretching on the sofa.

"Did I wake you?"

"I figured you'd be getting up soon."

Apparently, sleep fruit was designed to induce a strong desire to sleep for a set amount of time, so people generally slept for about that long.

"You're getting discharged, right?"

By then, Dojin had packed my belongings into the bag Ruby had given me and was holding it. I went right over to him, linked my arm through his, and we completed the discharge procedures.

"It's hard to walk."

"Put up with it. Just a little longer. I want to be like this."

"All right…"

Dojin looked tired, but I didn't want to be apart from him even for a moment, so I clung to him even more.