Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume13 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 4===

Immersed up to his shoulders in the spacious bath, Haruaki slowly exhaled "phew~" The mildly hot water, stimulating his skin, felt extremely comfortable.

"It's been so long since I last visited a bath house... Ah! This really allows me to relax my entire body..."

Apart from Haruaki, there were no other customers in the male bath, resulting in a situation where he could monopolize the entire place. Although he only ended up here as a result of all sorts of simultaneous coincidences, it turned out to be more leisurely and relaxing than expected. Haruaki wondered if he should be thanking Sovereignty and Un Izoey instead.

Just at this time, noises could be heard from the female side of the bath. Although he had already warned Fear not to be too loud, this bath house's structure was the same as others in the past&mdash;the top part of the separating wall between the male and female sides was hollow. Hence, hearing noises from the other side was only natural. However, he next heard Konoha say: "J-Just relax! You won't die!" This came totally out of the blue and made him extremely curious. What exactly was happening over on the female side of the bath?

At this moment, he heard the male bath's glass door grating as it was pulled open. Another customer was coming in apparently. Deciding it would be bad if he were mistaken for eavesdropping on the female bath, Haruaki pulled his gaze back away from the partitioning wall, closed his eyes, and focused on carefully savoring the hot water's temperature.

He could hear the new visitor using the rinsing facilities, pouring hot water into a wooden bucket. Then new waves were made in the bath tub where Haruaki was immersed.

"Uwah, so hot~ It hurts~"

"It'll be fine once you get used to it. Besides, it won't feel like a bath house unless it's this hot. Because Japanese people love to enjoy a good soak in hot water."

"Oh okay, I see now. Then I'll endure it... Ooh~ ...Ah, it feels like I'm slowly getting used to it. Yes, it's really very warm~"

"I only came here by pure chance, but this hot water turns out to be really great&mdash;Ah, hey!"

A powerful sense of dissonance suddenly pierced his mind. He had overlooked the matter because things had developed too naturally, but this was absolutely something that must not be ignored. Haruaki suddenly opened his eyes, trying to confirm the appearance of the other customer immersed in the hot water beside him. But wait, hold on, confirming would be bad as well, right? Hence, just as he was about to shut his eyes again with maximum haste&mdash;

"Ahaha~ Haruaki-kun, don't worry. I already transformed to a boy in the changing room."

"...Oh."

Haruaki apprehensively confirmed the other person's appearance. The customer next to him was undoubtedly Sovereignty but his hair was shorter than just now and the bulging chest was gone. As for the lower body... Due to being soaked under the hot water, the actual details were not visible. This should be okay, probably.

"R-Really? I almost forgot you had a male mode because I seldom see you in that form."

The «Sovereignty-Perfection-Doll» would fall in love with its owner and was the doll created for that purpose. Furthermore, since the romantic partner could be either male or female, Sovereignty&mdash;required to fullfill its duties perfectly regardless of the owner's gender&mdash;possessed the function to control physical characteristics of both male and female bodies.

"Hmm~ I'm actually a boy quite frequently when I'm home. After all, with Shiraho&mdash;"

"No, hold on, I don't think it's appropriate for me to listen anymore! Please end this topic!"

Really? Sovereignty tilted her head in puzzlement. Only when that name was mentioned did Haruaki realize suddenly in alarm the kind of unknown consequences he was going to face if Shiraho&mdash;Sovereignty's lover&mdash;found out about the current situation. Haruaki shivered in fright after imagining: "From what I hear, you were bathing together with Sovereignty? You have apparently grown weary of living, human!" He had a feeling that things could develop into something this serious. Even though Sovereignty had transformed into a boy, Haruaki did not think Shiraho would let him off... But now that they were already immersed in the bath together, there was nothing he could do.

In any case, Sovereignty was definitely a boy right now. But... Since she was usually female for the most part, combined with the fact that her voice was virtually the same, possibly due to preconceived impressions, Haruaki felt completely uncomfortable. Trying not to look at Sovereignty as much as possible, he said:

"Putting that aside&mdash;Uh, why did you suddenly come running to this side? Oh, I'm not saying it's bad for you to be here, but I was expecting you to play and bath with Fear and the other girls."

"That's what I wanted to do in the beginning, but as you can see, if I went over to that side, Haruaki-kun, you'd be bathing all on your own, right? I was thinking that'd be lonely for you~ ... Umm... Maybe... Am I being a bother... to you?"

Sovereignty looked up slightly, glancing at Haruaki. His facial features were essentially identical to that of his female form, hence, Haruaki felt his own heart skip a beat suddenly.

"O-Of course not, I just said, right? There's definitely nothing bad. I should thank you instead... I guess, yes. Really, having a dip in such a big bath alone, it does feels quite a shame and lonely."

"I see, thank goodness. Then I can say that I've once again achieved today's lucky action of 'treating others with kindness.' Ehehe."

Her demure, smiling face was causing Haruaki's heart rate to instantly accelerate again. No, calm down. Sovereignty is male right now. There's no reason to blush or get nervous at all. I have to calm down!

It must be due to looking at Sovereignty. If I look away, there should be no problem. Haruaki focused his consciousness on the hot water while closing his eyes with the mindset of an ascetic monk in training. Hence, all that remained was Sovereignty's unhurried voice entering his ears.

"Hooh~ Soaking in such a huge bath, it feels like being tightly embraced in someone's bosom."

"Oh... Sure..."

Haruaki's mind could not work properly. Stop, stop talking with such a girly voice.

"I'm also starting to get used to this temperature. This tingling feeling on my body, it's making me feel comfortable starting from the depths of my core..."

"Y-Yeah."

"Ahhh, I'm about to melt... This is getting too mcuh. Ah mmm... So nice..."

Crap. After closing his eyes, Haruaki was finding his imagination running away in weird directions. So I guess keeping my eyes slightly open might be better after all? Haruaki tried to raise his eyelids slightly...

&mdash;Wobbling.

"!"

He frantically closed his eyes again. For an instant, he saw something strange. No, an illusion. Surely the circuits in his brain had become abnormal due to hearing weird noises. That must be it. So I'll open my eyes again, this time, definitely&mdash;

"Mmm~ Public baths are truly the best~"

Sovereignty stretched comfortably. The hot water splashed slightly in front of her chest, producing waves of ripples.

"Not an illusion&mdash;! Hold on, it's popped out! Something has popped out!"

"Hmm? What's the matter?"

"I repeat&mdash;Y-Your chest has popped up!"

Haruaki frantically turned his back to her. The view was unclear due to the steam but there was no mistake. Two bulging masses were definitely floating above the hot water just now. Water droplets were sliding along the smooth curves. Why?

"Eh? ...Oh, you're right~ Ehehe, sorry. Because it felt too pleasurable, I guess it popped out on its own when I relax&mdash;"

"No, you don't need to explain, just deal with it quickly!"

"Uh... Down below... Oh, it's still a boy's, so there's no problem. Then it's just up here, yeah, yeah..."

Sovereignty was performing some kind of action, making waves in the bath water. Haruaki recalled her mentioning before that physical stimulation was needed to make the breasts shrink. So most likely, she was massaging&mdash;No, not allowed to imagine.
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"I-I'm all warmed up already, so I'll go rinse myself first. Enjoy your dip as long you'd like."

Confronted with the prospects of hyperemia in various ways, Haruaki fled the bath.