Yuriko, who was taking a shower, turned her head.
She thought she heard someone crying and running away.
The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t make it out clearly, so Yuriko didn’t bother thinking about whose voice it was.
Next door, however, Yuri had not left.
She was still bothering Carmilla, occasionally making Carmilla emit some soft, delicate sounds.
As a girl who had never even been in a romantic relationship, Yuriko had never heard anything like that before.
Although she knew the interaction next door was more like playing around, she still felt a tingling sensation in her heart and some other places that shouldn’t have been affected began reacting.
“No, she couldn’t let herself think like that!”
Yuriko finished her shower as quickly as possible.
After drying off, she wanted to put on clothes but noticed there was only one towel in the stall.
Did she really have to walk out wrapped in a towel?
But she certainly couldn’t wear the sports clothes she had just taken off.
Wearing the clothes soaked in sweat right after a shower would feel uncomfortable and just too strange.
Yuriko quietly opened a small gap in the curtain to see how her classmates were handling it and saw that they all were just wrapped in towels.
“Phantom, Phantom, help me!”
“What’s wrong, meow? Are you being… invaded?”
“Invaded my foot! Even if it were, I’d be the one doing the invading! No, wait, what are you talking about? I’m asking if you know how to hide the tattoo on me!”
“Your aura seems fine. I thought someone might have tried to get you, but yes, I do know a way to hide the tattoo. However, I’m not there with you right now, so I can’t teach you.”
“Then come over quickly! Aren’t you in the changing room?”
“No, there’s water everywhere on your side. What if you get my fur wet?”
“Then I’ll use a hair dryer to dry you.”
“No, I hate hair dryers, meow!”
“I’m really begging you! After this, I’ll take you out to eat, okay?”
“Hmm…”
“You can pick whatever you want!”
“All right, fine.”
After Phantom agreed, a commotion came from outside the stall. Soon, a black cat dashed into Yuriko’s stall.
Phantom stepped on the wet floor, lifting her little paws and shaking them to get rid of the water.
“So wet, it’s so uncomfortable, meow.”
“Okay, now show me how to hide the tattoo.”
At Yuriko’s urging, Phantom leapt onto Yuriko’s shoulder and tapped it with her paws.
A magic circle flashed instantly, and the tattoo on Yuriko’s shoulder vanished.
“It’s gone. Did you erase my tattoo?”
“It’s just a simple illusion. It’s enough to deal with these students, but a teacher skilled in magic could see through it easily.”
“That’s good enough.”
After confirming the tattoo was invisible, Yuriko wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out, just as Yuri walked out from Carmilla’s stall.
“Ah, Yuriko, you’re done already? I haven’t even started washing yet.”
Why haven’t you started? Don’t you know yourself?
Yuri’s gaze lingered on Yuriko’s shoulder, now fully exposed. Seeing nothing unusual, she poked Yuriko’s shoulder and said:
“Wow, Yuriko, your skin feels amazing! Can you tell me how you take care of it?”
“Nothing special, maybe just good genes?”
“Tch, stingy! Fine, don’t tell me~”
Yuri stepped into the stall behind Yuriko.
Yuriko noticed Yuri’s gaze on her shoulder; it must have been triggered by her earlier attempt to hide her tattoo.
‘Are you sure they really can’t see it?’
‘Of course. With these students’ level of magic, they can’t see through it.’
After confirming with Phantom again, Yuriko left the shower area and started drying her hair with a hair dryer.
Once her hair was mostly dry, her eyes shifted to Phantom, who was lying nearby.
Phantom clearly noticed Yuriko’s gaze, tensed, and took two steps back.
“W-what are you doing, meow?”
Realizing what Yuriko intended, Phantom leapt toward the changing room door to escape, but Yuriko grabbed her by the scruff.
Even in Yuriko’s grip, Phantom kicked her legs, trying to escape.
“You ungrateful little thing! Let me go! I don’t need drying!”
“You don’t get a choice!”
“Ugh, meow!”
Yuriko lifted Phantom’s paws and aimed the dryer at her paw pads, blasting her until the black cat was completely dry.
Only then did she stop.
Phantom lay there as if completely exhausted; the little cat ultimately could not escape from Yuriko’s hands.
Yuriko scooped Phantom up, burying her face in her fur and rubbing gently, looking satisfied.
“See, drying feels so much better~”
Thanks to Phantom, many girls who liked small animals gathered around Yuriko.
They looked at Phantom with envy.
Some asked to pet Phantom, but Yuriko refused, citing that Phantom was shy.
Phantom wasn’t afraid of strangers, just cautious.
Even someone familiar like Yuriko couldn’t pet her freely, let alone classmates who had just met her.
The rejected classmates walked away disappointed, though they kept glancing at Phantom with longing in their eyes.
Yuriko changed into her school uniform.
Once Carmilla was ready, they returned to the classroom together.
Only one math class remained in the afternoon.
Yuriko wasn’t sure about the math in this world, but judging from the technology level, it wasn’t worse than her previous world.
She assumed the math wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Ruri, have you studied math before?” Carmilla asked.
“Yes, a little when I was young. Simple arithmetic is fine.”
Yuriko was telling the truth.
She had studied math, but aside from arithmetic, she had forgotten most of it.
“Then the math class might be a bit hard for you, but don’t worry. You can always ask me if you don’t understand. My math grades are pretty good.”
“Wow, then I’ll have to rely on you a lot!”
After Yuriko said that, Carmilla seemed happy. She clearly enjoyed being relied upon.
If she were a bit older, she could definitely be Yuriko’s dream of a gentle older sister!
Even now, it was already wonderful.
The math class started soon. As expected, Yuriko couldn’t understand it.
Math in this world was very different from what she had studied before, and lacking much basic knowledge, she soon felt completely lost.
But she had the all-powerful Phantom cat!