Daiwa Scarlet and Donna soaked in the hot water, which felt a little too warm at first, but settled into that perfect range they could still bear. The steady splash of water was the main sound filling the large bath.
They were both horse girls from Japan, after all. Sitting there in total silence would have been strange. So Daiwa Scarlet scooped up a double handful of steaming bathwater and watched it trickle away through her fingers, determined to think of something to say before every last drop slipped away.
But no matter how she thought about it, she came up blank.
Donna seemed cool and distant, and Daiwa Scarlet hardly knew her. On top of that, Donna's competitive streak showed up everywhere in daily life and training. Whenever there was some little thing she could do to curry favor with Xingyun Liuge, Donna did it with absolute seriousness. And during training, she was intensely focused—unless Xingyun was nearby, in which case she became even more focused, then hurried over the moment training ended, as though hoping for praise or eager to hear suggestions for improvement.
None of that was wrong, exactly. But Daiwa Scarlet was the kind of horse girl who took things seriously and was fiercely competitive herself. Donna's behavior had stirred up that same spirit in her.
It was not that the two of them were on bad terms. It was just that whenever things grew quiet, they could never find anything to talk about, and the atmosphere turned painfully awkward.
Donna showed very little interest in anything outside training and racing, and that only made Daiwa Scarlet more restless.
She could not help thinking: I'm the senior here, at least in terms of when we enrolled. There's no way I should be the one waiting for a junior to start the conversation… But acting all high and mighty as a senior would be weird too. What a headache.
Arms folded, Daiwa Scarlet found herself wanting to improve their relationship.
They were both Japanese horse girls. Back at Central, that was one thing, but now they were far from home. They ought to stick together. More than that, with Xingyun seemingly about to face a siege from Europe's horse girls, shouldn't they be joining forces and showing those girls what Japanese horse girls could do?
As Daiwa Scarlet saw it, Cui He was certainly talented, but she was still a British horse girl. She could not really bring Xingyun Liuge glory as a representative of Japan. In that case, it should be up to them—Japan's horse girls—to help ease Liuge's burden and repay her for all the guidance she had given them.
Daiwa Scarlet assumed Donna must feel the same way.
After all, Donna practically looked like a fanatical admirer of Xingyun Liuge.
And yet, now that they were finally sharing a bath, Donna had remained silent the entire time. That only made Daiwa Scarlet more frustrated.
Just as her gloom was beginning to harden into outright irritation, a wet little hand poked her arm, startling her so badly she nearly yelped.
"C-Cui He?"
Daiwa Scarlet went nearly pale. Had Cui He been in here the whole time? She had not noticed her at all.
As always, Cui He wore that detached expression, as though nothing in the world could ever truly move her, and her words were as brief as ever.
"Tachyon."
Daiwa Scarlet did not get it at first. What about Tachyon? Wasn't it quiet enough? No ridiculous antics, no sudden demands for a late-night snack, so calm she seemed like a—
Daiwa Scarlet suddenly looked around.
And then she realized something terrible.
Agnes Tachyon was gone.
"Hah?!"
Daiwa Scarlet's tail practically shot straight up. When had that hopeless senior disappeared? And why had she left without saying a word?
Cui He, considerate as ever, silently pointed beyond the curtain, as though she had witnessed the truth of Agnes Tachyon's disappearance.
"Thanks. I'll go take a look."
Daiwa Scarlet did not even bother finishing her bath. She scrambled to her feet, intending to dry herself off, throw on some clothes, and drag Agnes Tachyon back before she could get up to trouble.
Once again, she grumbled inwardly:
Seriously, who's supposed to be the senior here?
As Daiwa Scarlet hurried off, the bathhouse quickly returned to silence. Only the carved lion heads pouring hot water into the bath kept up their steady murmur. Donna and Cui He did not look at each other, nor did they speak, like a tall beauty and a small beauty both carved from the same cool stone.
Daiwa Scarlet searched the villa from top to bottom, checking every place she could think of, but found no sign of Agnes Tachyon.
She muttered to herself as she walked:
"Don't tell me she went to see Lady Xingyun again… I mean, sure, after training all day, a massage would help loosen up, but Lady Xingyun is supposed to be preparing for the King George. Honestly, stop making trouble for her…"
Still grumbling, she crept up to the third floor. Her ears stood high, straining to catch the slightest suspicious sound.
And, as it turned out, she really did hear something—some oddly sweet voice, the sort that made her imagination run in dangerous directions.
No, not sweet exactly. More like the kind of sound someone made only when they had gone completely limp with exhaustion.
Daiwa Scarlet slowly began to stiffen all over. A deep flush rose across her fair face, carrying with it a clear sense of heat.
Her ears drooped without thinking, then stood up again as though she were ashamed to listen, yet too curious to stop.
With those tangled feelings in her chest, she tiptoed to Xingyun Liuge's room.
Then she noticed something else.
The door was slightly ajar.
That, apparently, was why those embarrassing sounds were drifting into the hall.
Peering through the gap, she saw nothing. The rooms here were huge, and the hallway inside curved around. Unless someone had thoughtfully placed a mirror at the bend, there was no way to see anything from the doorway.
Inside the room, Agnes Tachyon lay facedown on the bed, the source of those suggestive little noises.
Mostly it was nothing more than breathy cries and little gasps, occasionally mixed with things like "there" or "don't," though now and then there was also a request for more pressure.
It was enough to make anyone's face burn.
Her long legs lay stretched out weakly behind her. Her calves were trembling faintly from overuse, the lines of muscle still clearly defined. Her toes curled tightly.
To Daiwa Scarlet, it really looked as though Agnes Tachyon was waiting for Xingyun Liuge to push her all the way to her limit.
Xingyun Liuge, meanwhile, was having no such thoughts.
Or rather, her intentions had been clear from the start.
She picked up a bottle, poured some herb-scented oil into her palm, and rubbed her hands together until they grew warm.
Then she placed those broad, pale hands against Agnes Tachyon's smooth but rock-hard back.
"Ah—!"
The moment of contact made Agnes Tachyon's whole body tense up. The reaction was so exaggerated that her eyes nearly rolled back.
There was real pain in that sound, but also something oddly layered beneath it.
Xingyun Liuge's palms were warm and steady, carrying a kind of reassuring firmness. She did not apply real force at once. At first she only rested her hands there, stroking lightly, as though using her own warmth to melt away the strain and fatigue wound tightly into Tachyon's body.
For Agnes Tachyon, though, that gentleness felt almost unbearably intense.
Maybe it was the oil, but it seemed to her as though a fire had been lit across her back, and that fire was spreading through her whole body beneath Liuge's hands.
Her right calf lifted unconsciously, her toes curled tighter, her whole body going limp in spite of itself.
"Relax. Take it easy."
Xingyun Liuge's voice was crisp and pleasant, like wind passing through a flute.
Only once she felt Agnes Tachyon's muscles finally start to loosen did she begin in earnest.
Her thumbs found the hardest knots in the girl's back, the places wound as tight as twisted rope, and pressed there in slow, circling motions.
Beneath her fingers, the muscles resisted like stone.
But Xingyun Liuge was patient.
The pressure increased little by little, cautious and steady, like a gentle tide wearing down rock over time.
She could clearly feel the tiny resistance of each fiber under her fingertips.
"Mmh…"
A low, pained sound escaped Agnes Tachyon's throat, and she instinctively tried to curl up.
Unfortunately for her, Liuge had already worked on her legs earlier, and she no longer had any real strength left. If Xingyun Liuge decided to do anything at all, all Agnes Tachyon could do was lie there and plead for mercy.
Xingyun Liuge said nothing, only kept her thumb anchored on that knot.
The pressure continued—never excessive, but enough to force the clenched muscle to give way bit by bit.
Sweat beaded on Agnes Tachyon's forehead. The little sounds she made became more frequent, as though the person receiving the treatment was somehow working harder than the one giving it.
After that, Xingyun Liuge's technique shifted from precise pressure into broader kneading. She stopped focusing only on the back and moved to the shoulders and arms as well.
Agnes Tachyon's muffled groans gradually changed into deeper, longer breaths. After the most intense soreness passed, a deep, heavy relaxation spread through her.
Her ears flattened against her head. She looked as though she had no strength left at all.
Through the whole thing, the two barely exchanged a word.
Only rough breathing, the faint sounds of muscles being worked, and Agnes Tachyon's quiet reactions filled the room.
The scent of the oil hung in the air, grassy and clean, mixed with sweat and steam.
Agnes Tachyon's hair and tail were damp. Her flushed skin glistened with a fine sheen of sweat.
When the last of the stiffness finally gave way under Xingyun Liuge's hands, Agnes Tachyon felt as though she had sunk into a cloud.
The tight, painful fatigue was gone, replaced by an overwhelming limpness.
Her breathing turned deep and even. The tension drained from her face and eyes. At one point she even let out a soft little sound, as though she were about to drift off entirely.
If she had possessed even a shred of strength, Agnes Tachyon would probably have pounced on Xingyun Liuge right then and there to show her exactly why she pursued the limit of speed, and what hopes she carried inside herself.
But being unable to move was one thing.
Being unable to scheme was another.
After all, she was a genius researcher.
Using a voice thick with weariness, she made a request.
"Xingyun… come a little closer…"
Her crimson eyes shone with a strange heat.
She was parched.
And suddenly very tempted to bite something.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 180)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter260)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter135)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 240
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 280
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 260
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 130
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 155
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 120
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 135
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 110
Still playing traditional Honk 91
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 90
Checking In in Demon Slayer 95
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 105
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 100
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 90
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 105
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 85
After Maxing Out Every Class 85
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 44
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 70
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 55
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 55
From Trilobites to Titans 55
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 66
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 70
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 50
Honkai: The Fire Devil 30
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