Ah, a deep, dark night without stars or moon.
The witch looked down at me, gazing at me intently.
Her pale green eyes seemed to glow, impossibly, in the darkness.
Even in the dark, I could tell it was the witch by her silhouette. I just knew.
"............"
I could hear the witch's breathing. I could feel her warm body heat.
The witch's tail was touching my leg.
"............"
I couldn't move or make a sound.
The only thing I could do was wait. Just wait. That was all.
What else was I supposed to do? She was a witch, after all.
Still, it really looked like the witch was pinning me down.
Being loomed over — that's essentially what it was. Geez, this witch. Now that I got a good look at her, she was quite something.
"Hey, hey, little Wof. Kon... Kon really wants... you to do something for her, you know~"
Her voice was heated, her eyes wavering as she spoke with a sigh full of troubled longing.
Despite its softness, I could hear every word clearly.
"W-what is it...?"
My voice trembled. I'd never heard the witch's voice so alluring before.
The voice of a woman seducing a man. The witch's gaze grew moist. I couldn't look away.
"Mm-hmm. You see, Kon's..."
The witch then shifted her position, reversing their positions.
Which meant her tails — three of them — were now draped over my face.
"W-witch...?"
This was different from usual. Well, no — I already knew that.
The witch had been acting strange since earlier today.
But I didn't know if I should ask about it. It might just be my imagination.
Even if I asked, she'd sometimes dodge the question. And her strangeness had continued.
After dinner, she pulled several bottles out from under the kitchen floor.
One sniff told me what they were. Alcohol. And so the witch's drinking party began.
The witch got drunk. No — she didn't just get drunk. She was completely wasted.
She normally only sipped a little, but this time it was full throttle with no brakes from the very start.
No one — not just me, everyone — had never seen her this drunk before.
In that state, the witch passed out cold.
After that, everyone left the rest to Munieka the ghoul, who could drink endlessly without changing expression.
And now, the witch reeked of alcohol as she spoke with a troubled air.
"Kon wants... Kon wants you to groom her tail... you know~"
She was completely hammered.
"Groom... you mean comb it? But I don't have a comb—"
"No need, no need. Just use Wof boy's hands... that's what Kon wants~"
"But I've never groomed a tail before."
Tails weren't supposed to be touched casually in the first place.
"That's fine, that's fine. However Wof boy likes... Kon wants you to groom her tail~"
"Are you sure... it's really okay for me to do this?"
Asking something so obvious. I already knew the answer without asking.
But that was exactly why I wanted to confirm it. I wanted to hear it. The witch's own words.
"Do it, do it, pleeease do it, Kon~"
She turned sideways, her cheeks flushed crimson, her eyes glistening with a feverish haze, and flicked her tails with a grand flourish.
Her sweet, rich, melting voice — like honey mead — beckoned to me.
If that was the case, I reached out without hesitation, grabbed her tail, and slipped my fingers into its fur.
The witch's body arched, her spine curving like a bow.
I gathered a generous handful of fur between my fingers and began to comb through it slowly, gently.
"Haah... haah..."
The witch's three tails each had different fur colors and textures.
The right tail was silvery-white from root to tip, looking fluffy to the eye but with slightly coarse fur when touched.
"Mmm... mmm..."
The center tail had a flaxen base with white tips, soft and springy, with fur that tangled around my fingers.
"Ah... ahh..."
The left tail had a faintly pale flaxen root and was feathery-soft, with thick, dense fur.
"Mmm... mmm..."
So thick. My fingers sank deeper and deeper inside.
It was warm, soft, and slightly slick with sweat when I felt something thick and firm.
Was this... the base of the witch's tail?!
For some reason, I wanted to squeeze it, so I grasped it and began to stroke the tail from its base with care.
"That — that — that's no good, you knooooow!?!"
Now that I think about it, I was just grooming her tail.
I was freely grooming the witch's tail with my hands, doing exactly as I pleased.
I ran my fingers upward along each strand of tail fur, scratching lightly from root to tip.
"No tails, nooooo!"
The witch's body convulsed violently, and she tumbled off the sofa.
"Witch?!"
"Haah... haah... Wof... boy..."
She murmured those words, then collapsed.
"............"
Wh-what should I do?
I regretted it — though it was a bit late.
The witch came to.
It didn't take long for her to wake up.
"Mmnn... mmn... Wof boy? Oww, my head... it hurts, you know..."
"You're awake."
I handed her the crescent-shaped cup from my canteen. Inside was a potion, effective for hangovers.
She gulped it down, noticed she was lying on the sofa, and tilted her head.
"Kon was... Kon was... what was... ah."
She seemed to remember, because the tips of her fox ears turned red-hot in an instant.
She hastily sat seiza on the sofa, her face bright red, and bowed her head deeply.
"First of all, I... I'm sorry."
"Mmn... mmn... why are you... apologizing, Wof boy...?"
"Well, when I was grooming your tail, the sounds you made were so enjoyable that... I couldn't stop myself from going too far without holding back..."
"Uwaaah... uwaah... that's... so embarrassing... you know..."
The witch's voice came out strained. Her entire body had turned red, and sweat trickled down.
"But... why did you do something like that...?"
At that question, the witch raised her head. She looked at me with effort.
A faint, wry smile.
"You see... I was worried, you know... Wof boy was changing, and I knew that was growth, and as your master, Kon was happy about it... but somewhere in my heart, I felt like I was being left behind..."
"Worried?"
I knew that feeling too.
The reason I'd asked why she liked me. It was because I was worried.
"Even if... even if it's master and disciple... even in a teacher-student relationship... I felt like I had to do something... to keep things right... you know. Kon had never felt this way before... so I was scared... and sad... and aching... and lonely..."
A single tear traced down her cheek from the eyes that gazed at me.
My heart skipped.
"I'm lonely too. You were always going out, witch."
"Ah, ah, mm-hmm. Sorry about that, you know."
"But I knew it was for my sake. Still, I felt lonely."
"You feel... the same way Kon does, then...? Worried and lonely, and your heart, your chest aches?"
"Yes. The same."
At my words, the witch smiled with a tender sadness.
The witch and I were the same. We'd each thought we could live alone forever.
But that wasn't true. It wasn't.
We couldn't live alone anymore.
I — the witch, no, that's not right. Master, that's not right either... I see.
"Witch. Could you tell me your name?"
I didn't know the witch's name.
She seemed to realize that too. She gave a small nod and opened her mouth.
"It's Laa-Lalili."
I felt like I'd finally come to know the witch.
Her.
The witch returned to her own room with a satisfied look.
I lay back down on the black sofa once more.
"............"
AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
Now it hit me — I'd just done something absolutely outrageous.
Nothing overtly sexual had actually happened.
But I felt like I'd done something on par with that.
Or maybe even beyond that — was this okay? Was it all right for a thirteen-year-old to be doing this?
"Come to think of it, witch. Hey, wait—"
Ah, I'd forgotten. I quickly looked to my side.
On the white sofa next to me, Chive had been sleeping. I'd completely forgotten about her.
I took a peek, but the yellow hood showed no change. She seemed to be sound asleep.
She'd also had too much to drink and was dead drunk.
Shiro had also passed out, ending up as nothing more than a groaning doll.
The witches' drinking party would have been hell if not for Munieka the ghoul, who never let anything get to her.
Relieved, I lay down and closed my eyes.
Just as I was drifting off, I sensed someone's presence.
I opened my eyes, and a pair of gray raptor eyes, glazed with intoxication, stared back at me.
"Huh—"
She had beast ears and a tail on her behind.
But she wasn't the witch. She was clearly shorter — a small, thin, naked body.
The complete opposite of the witch's voluptuous figure. An immature but beautiful body I recognized.
"...Chive?"
"——Wof-chi. You see, my Relic, Magical Beast Flazzerey, lets me transform into an armored Magical Beast Flazzerey, but—there are... s-several forms to it... The first form is like a beastkin race—w-where you get black ears and a long tail with jet-black fur... and so—Wof-chi, I have a favor to ask..."
"A favor...?"
Nodding, Chive spun around.
Even in the darkness, I could clearly see her jet-black tail swishing against my face.
Long and thick with dense fur.
"My tail too... do whatever you want with it..."
A voice thick with the dense passion of a fertile female. No man could resist that.
I reached for Chive's tail, grabbed the black fur firmly, and yanked it hard.
Chive's small naked body arched with a piercing cry, bouncing violently and twisting.
Ah, what a hopeless, terrible person I was.
But this is who I am.