Sophia was currently in a big pinch. Maya had claimed the first of her rewards, and she started with an outrageous one. At least in her eyes. Having requested to take a bath together, she was confident that she's not going to survive, surely dying from embarrassment or other, more conflicting feelings. Still, as she had promised the cat-girl, there wasn't much to be done about the situation because she had a high sense of duty in that regard. Going back on her word wasn't her style. No matter how much she wanted to.

"Uuh, are we really d-doing this?" Sophia glanced at the completed bath that looked more like a hot-spring bath now because she made it really big, trying to get as much space between the two as possible before getting back to the cat-girl.

"Yes." A lively answer came in return.

"F-Fine…" Resigning herself, she gave up.

"Good girl." Maya praised her.

"B-But, I'll go into the water first, o-okay?!" She had one last request. "You can… f-follow afterward."

"Ehh? Let's go in together~."

"P-Please let me at least have this!" She was practically begging at this point.

"Can't be helped, huh? Okay, I'll wait exactly two minutes. Not a second longer, got it?"

"Pushy Maya… N-Not sure if I'm a fan." Voicing a weak complaint, Sophia disappeared into the bath and quickly undressed there. Then, the girl entered the huge, almost hot-spring-like tub and made herself small while hiding in a corner. Mostly submerged in the water, Sophia faced one of the walls, not wanting to see anything else. "I'm g-glad she's unconsciously helping me out, b-but... her attack-power is way too high for the current me. I want to get better at it already!"

"Ohh~, you really outdid yourself." Another voice entered the bath after a while. Soon, the rustling sound of clothes being taken off could be heard.

"Uuh…" She tightly shut her eyes before feeling that someone had entered the water she was in.

"You sure are a shy one." Maya got herself comfortable and relaxed. "Haa, so nice."

"I-It can't be h-helped, okay?!" She tried to explain herself. "T-That's the first time I've ever done s-something like taking a bath with anyone else…" Sophia still refused to look her way while admitting so.

"You never took a bath with friends?"

"B-Before that, I can barely even remember the time I had friends in the first place…"

"Ah," Maya didn't know what to say. "S-Sorry…"

"No, it's fine, I guess. It was mostly my own f-fault because of my… c-circumstances, after all… S-So, I'm sorry about reacting in such a w-weird way in this situation…" Sophia had a rare clear moment and came up with a somewhat solid excuse.

"Don't worry about it." Maya started to feel guilty about bringing it up. "Still, won't you face me at least? Even if you're embarrassed, which I can understand now, this makes it even more awkward… Don't you think so, too?"

"…" She remained silent for a while. Eventually, Sophia then slowly turned around to face the cat-girl. Her eyes remained shut, though.

"Oh, you're actually not quite as slender when not wearing clothes." Maya was intently checking her out. "They're bigger than I thought."

"Hey!" Sophia sprang up and looked angry. "No comments on that, okay?!" Her biggest regret when coming to this world was getting a body that hadn't yet developed to the point she wants it to. It especially weighed down on her ever since becoming aware that it'll take a literal eternity to get bigger because she most likely doesn't age much, if at all.

"T-Touchy subject, huh? Don't worry about it, you look great. Also, you'll probably grow another bit in the coming year or two. Well, unless you're like me, whose body stopped growing for some reason."

"Please stop…" Because she took even more damage from the cat-girl's prediction, Sophia missed the compliment she had thrown in it.

"But like I said, y-you do have a great figure regardless!" Maya could effortlessly tell because Sophia was currently presenting herself in full view after standing up out of the water in her fit of anger.

"U-Uuh…" She finally realized that she was standing stark naked in front of the cat-girl and quickly submerged herself again while turning completely red.

"I-I mean it, okay?" She, too, got a bit flustered.

"T-Thank you… but," Sophia finally managed to take a peek at Maya and almost choked. Her glistening wet skin, the slightly flushed face. The snow-white and damp hair sticking to her body and face, together with her equally white cat ears, which seemed to sparkle from the droplets of water clinging to the fluff inside. The waterline partially distorted it, but she could still make out the girl's figure, and she liked what she was seeing and was terribly jealous and couldn't look away. Her emotions about the view were all over the place. Unconsciously taking a longer than appropriate glance at her chest area, Sophia managed to stop herself before her line of sight began to wander further south. Feeling guilty, she looked away from her.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Hmm~?" Maya developed a grin. "Just where were you looking? Enjoying the view?" She didn't fail to miss the girl's suspicious acting. It's basically impossible not to notice those gazes after all.

"N-No, that's n-not…" She turned even redder and was unable to give a proper answer.

"Oh, so you aren't, huh? I was kinda proud of my figure, though." It was near impossible to tell whether she was serious or teasing the girl.

"E-Eh? That's not what I, huh?" Sophia stopped in the middle of her sentence. "I-Is there a right a-answer… I can give here?" She felt cornered and looked troubled.

"Who knows~." The cat-girl was having her fun.

"Uuh…" Sophia had turned around completely again to hide once more. She couldn't deal with it anymore. As much as she wanted to, the current her went already way past her limits.

"Ah, you've stopped facing me again!"

"W-Whose fault do you t-think that is?!"

"Yours?"

"T-That's… not the m-main reason here!" She had to pause for a moment.

"Hehe… Well, if that's how it is," Maya's grin became even more mischievous. She got closer to the embarrassed girl and wrapped her arms around Sophia's waist from behind. Pulling her close, the cat-girl's front came in contact with the other's back before she placed her head on Sophia's shoulder to rest it there.

"E-Eek!" She made a pathetic scream before her entire body tensed up. "W-W-What are you… d-doing, Maya?!" She'd gone useless in an instant.

"Just some skinship."

"S-Skinship?" Unfortunately, Sophia was slowly regaining the feeling in her back after going into shock for a moment. She became fully aware of Maya's naked body pressing against her. She was feeling various things she had never come in contact with from another girl, especially in such close proximity as skin to skin. In short, her brain overloaded. "…" Unable to say anything, she was at the complete mercy of the cat-girl.

"That much is completely normal between friends."

"…" It took her a whole minute to reply. Her theoretical knowledge made her doubtful, but there was little she could say as she had no practical experience. "I-Is-, Is that so?"

"A-Absolutely, yes." Maya's voice cracked, but Sophia's mind was in no position to notice this, let alone react.

"…" She closed her eyes and tried everything to calm down even a tiny amount, somehow being able to deal with this situation in some way. --- "H-Huh?" She didn't know how much time had passed since she tried to get used to the new feelings, sensations, it felt like quite a while, but when Sophia opened her eyes again, she wasn't in the bath anymore. This caused her a significant amount of confusion. Looking around, the girl saw the campfire and spotted Fen sitting next to it. "E-Eh?" She also noticed that she was lying down close to the ground, based on her low point of view, but she felt strangely comfortable. Having a bad feeling about this, Sophia wriggled her head around, becoming more aware of the soft surface she lay on. Glancing towards it, she finally noticed that she was resting her head on a pair of legs. Gorgeous legs, she added in her mind. "Err," Slowly, and even more awkwardly, the girl turned her head in the other direction, looking upward. There, she quickly managed to form eye contact with Maya, owner of these legs.

"Oh, you've finally woken up, huh?" She smiled at her.

"Eh? W-What happened?" Sophia was clearly confused.

"That's a good question. You stopped responding to me at some point, and then I noticed that you were out cold. It was quite the ordeal to get you out of the bath, and here, I'll let you know."

"S-Sorry… Wait, t-that means-" She looked down at herself in a fluster and noticed that she was fully dressed. "Uurgh… T-Thank you very m-much." Swallowing her embarrassment as much as she could, Sophia managed to thank her.

"Well, that part wasn't so bad~." She let out a short giggle. "Really, what happened? Did the heat get to you?"

"Uhh," Not wanting to admit that some sort of heat indeed got to her, she kept it vague. "M-Might be…"

"You're such a piece of work, Sophia."

"Ahaha." With a dry laugh, she couldn't exactly disagree and tried to get up from Maya's lap, but she wasn't allowed to leave this embarrassing position.

"Stay put, girl." She, not so, gently pressed her head down again, smooshing it into her thighs. "Relax a little longer and recover, okay?" Despite her wording, it wasn't a question.

"B-But…" While Sophia was indeed feeling comfortable, the sensation made her unable to recover, or relax, for that matter. The feeling of the cat-girl's lap was too intense to let her calm down.

"No buts!"

"Uuh…" It didn't feel like she could win against Maya.

"Good." Seeing that she had stopped struggling, she started to pet Sophia's head as a reward while her tail was happily swishing around from side to side behind her.

"…" Sophia felt like she was about to pass out again because her brain was working way too hard right now. Still, the petting felt really nice, making her have very conflicting feelings about the situation. She remained silent while thinking about her boosts, which seemed to be completely useless right now. Ignoring the part where getting a lap pillow by a beautiful girl would've been entirely impossible for her in the previous world.

"I hope you'll hold out better tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" She was confused.

"Hmm? Did you think the bathing arrangement was a one-time deal? Nonono, that would be way too little of a request, right? It's going to be our new daily routine." Maya was still smiling at her, but the other girl felt ever so slightly intimidated.

"W-W-What?!" In shock, Sophia tried to get up again but still wasn't allowed to do so. "W-We're going to d-do that… every day now?! T-That's impossible!"

"Why not?"

"…" There was no way she could answer.

"Is there something about me that makes you don't want to?"

"T-That's not it!" Sophia was the problem, not the cat-girl. In a way, she was really grateful to her and also enjoyed it. It just was too much for her current self to deal with.

"Great! It's decided then."

"Uuhh…" Losing the little strength she had left, Sophia had no idea how she was going to survive in the future. She glanced at Fen, seeking help, but he simply turned his head away. It was obvious that the wolf didn't want to get caught in between them.

"Now, be a good girl and relax." Maya increased her patting frequency as she said so.

"E-Easier said than done…" Sophia squirmed around for a little while but ultimately settled down on her lap before long. Definitely having taken a liking to the head-pats, she also didn't seem to be that distressed anymore, either. Being able to calm down appeared to be impossible for her, though. Or so Sophia thought, at least. By the time Maya began to play around with the girl's hair, a small yawn had escaped her lips before closing her eyes, seeming to be finally comfortable with the situation. That, or her brain turned off.

"Good." Maya showed a gentle smile as she looked down and noticed that the girl in her lap stopped shifting around nervously and had calmed down. Upon closer inspection, she noticed even more. "Ah, she's fallen asleep… So much for that. This girl sure is all over the place."

"I have the feeling that's mostly thanks to you, though." Fen suspiciously eyed her.

"Ahaha."

"So, what are you planning, cat?" The wolf felt like Maya had some sort of ulterior motive with how she was acting. And so, once the person of interest had fallen asleep, he tried to find out what was going on. He enjoyed Sophia's company, and so he wanted to protect her. Not that he would ever admit this to the girl in question.