While Maya was on her own, she tried to get an idea of how she could help Sophia getting used to her confidence boost. As the cat-girl had embarrassed herself a couple of times after somewhat coming to terms with her blossoming feelings for the high-maintenance girl, she also wanted to get back at her. But, this was way easier said than done for her.
"Uuh, I shouldn't have talked about this with Fen. Now that it's sorta out in the open, it's hard to ignore any longer! I've really made a fool out of myself... Stupid Sophia, you're way too charming! Hmm? Too charming? Wait... Wait, wait... wait a moment!"
"If what she'd said about her boosts is true... Did her charm get raised to super level as well?! I-Is that why Chiyo first got interested in her? I've spent some time with her now and understand her, well, charming points, but Chiyo was a little fast! She's usually pretty dense, after all." Completely ignoring the irony, she continued. "I initially became interested in Sophia because of her magic. Still, after getting to know her better, everything about her became interesting…"
"Oh, no!" Maya suddenly stopped, seemingly having realized something. "W-Wouldn't that mean my rivals are going to increase whenever we run into someone?! I-I have to make her mine, rather, make her want to be mine so that I can become hers, before the capital then, do I not?! She's gonna get swarmed there! Even some nobles would go for her! I can't let anyone else have her! Uuh... but that's wrong! You shouldn't rush such things, right? Okay, it's time for a detour! Let's take the, uhh, scenic route to the capital! I need to buy some time! Ah, well, we already are taking the scenic route, though. That means I need to think of a way to increase our travel time even further!"
"Urgh, you are so much work, Sophia!" Complaining about the innocent girl, she cried out her frustration. "Anyway, ignoring that, where was l again?" She noticed that she got sidetracked. "Ah, right, getting Sophia more confident, or rather, making her get used to it. What to do... Should I kiss her? Not just on the... back this time? Yeah, that... should totally... work. Nope..." Her face turned increasingly more red with each word, and she was barely even able to finish her sentence while imagining it because her brain got overloaded.
"Forget making Sophia more confident! It looks like I'm in dire need of that myself now! How did I become SO useless this fast? Ahh~, I want to fight someone strong and blow off some steam!" Being unable to deal with the situation, her old muscle brain took over. "Just not these monsters I'm traveling with! Oh, maybe we should head over to the sea? I've heard there are some strong actual monsters. It would also be a nice detour as well! Yeah, let's do that. Let's save the extreme plan for Sophia for some other time. I can't think of anything, anyway."
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Having decided on a course of action, though it had nothing to do with what she was initially thinking about, the cat-girl finally reunited with the other two.
"Ah, there she is." Sophia spotted her and lightly waved. "Welcome back."
"Y-Yeah, I'm back..."
"And, found something? Something extreme...?" She had a bad feeling ever since the cat-girl ran away under that pretense earlier.
"How about we go to the sea?"
"Ehh? What does that have to do with anything?" Sophia naturally couldn't see the connection.
"D-Don't worry, that's just step one of my, let's say, master plan."
"Oh, so that's how it is. What's step two, then?"
"I'll tell you, uhh, once I've thought of it." Maya had yet to form her master plan, after all.
"Ehhh~? Ahahaha~." She started laughing with a bright smile from her answer. "We totally are the same, huh? When it comes to stuff like that." She was the queen of not thinking things through.
"Y-Yeah..." The smile, combined with the laugh, was too much for Maya to look directly at right now, and she averted her face.
"The sea, huh? Sure, why not?" She had no complaints. "How far is it?"
"Hmm-" She tilted her head. "I'm not entirely sure, but it shouldn't take much longer than a week, I guess? Two at the very most."
"Cool. Let's start tomorrow morning, then." It was already late afternoon, so it made little sense to leave immediately.
"That means noon for you, right?" Fen doubted the notorious oversleeper would be able to get up in the morning.
"Err, somewhere in between." There wasn't much she could say in her defense.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. The group had their usual dinner, but the cleaning routine of the girls was slightly different. Sophia took her bath alone for a change because Maya said she felt like taking a shower today for some reason. A cold one, she added.
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Afterward, the cat-girl also went to sleep early, apparently in preparation for tomorrow. Though, instead of cuddling with Sophia like she had done so often before, Maya slept a little away from her. She needed some alone time. Sophia used the fluffy body of Fen as usual. Still, while she was comfortable, she didn't fail to notice the slightly lonely feeling in her lap, almost like something was missing, or someone. Glancing at the cat-girl a couple of times, she opted to keep this feeling to herself, though. It took her somewhat longer, but she still managed to fall asleep without much of an issue.
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On the following day, or early noon, depending on which one you would ask in the group, they started their journey towards the sea as Maya suggested before.
"Okay, let's get going already!" Sophia seemed motivated and began walking towards their destination with big steps.
"Already, she says." The cat-girl shook her head. "Also, you're going in the exact wrong direction."
"A-Ah..." Slightly flustered, she stopped and turned 180° before continuing. "I-I was just testing you."
"Oh, I see. Well then, keep leading if you know the way. I won't stop you."
"I'm sorry, I lied." She quickly gave up her act.
"I know~," Maya stated the obvious. "I just wanted to tease you." The cold shower the day before, together with the lonely sleep, had helped her calm down a lot.
"You... Well, I'm glad you're better. You weren't very energetic yesterday, after all."
"So you noticed, huh?"
"Of course! I might be stupid, but I'm not entirely blind. Though, I have no idea what was going on." Sophia had noticed that something wasn't right but didn't know what exactly.
"Y-Yeah, no need to worry. I'm feeling much better today. Thanks for worrying."
"Great! Then, lead away, Maya!"
"Sure." She raised her hand to indicate her readiness but then used it to grab Sophia's before actually starting to walk. "Let's go~!"
"E-Eh?!" Sophia looked at their joined hands in shock for a moment but ultimately obediently let herself be dragged around by the cat-girl.
Hand in hand, the girls kept going like that for most of the day. Fen was following slightly behind them with a faint smile on his face, silently cheering for the cat-girl. He also made sure not to get involved because he didn't want to deal with either of them. Having made good progress until the evening, the group finally stopped once they found a group of trees that made for a good camping ground. After having eaten something, they were relaxing around their usual fire.
"We sure walked a lot..." Maya was sitting comfortably on the grass while lightly massaging her legs. "I'm kinda tired."
"Hmm..." Sophia, lying flat on the grass next to her with her limbs sprawled out, didn't feel tired at all, but she decided to stay silent.
"I think I'm going for a jog later to power myself out a bit." Fen wasn't as nice. "Want to join me, Sophia?" Knowing the speed and endurance of his companion, not to mention her love for running around, the wolf knew that she was far from exhausted, either.
"N-No, I'm good."
"Sorry... for being so slow."
"You're not slow... Fen and I are just abnormally fast." She wanted to make her feel better. "Besides, I like to travel at this speed better anyway. Going slowly eliminates the chance of missing out on anything interesting. A-Ah-" She used the wrong word.
"Uuh..." She intended to be nice, but Maya only took more damage.
"A-Anyway, It's bath time for me." Sophia quickly changed the topic. "What are you going to do? Another shower, or are you c-coming with me?"
"Do you want me to come?" She recovered fast.
"W-Well-" She stopped to think. "Y-Yes, I think... so. I've gotten a little used to it. A bit, at least. Ignoring some, uhh, a-accidents, it's become fun, I guess? Despite it being embarrassing, of course... Also, it's a good training for getting used to my boosts, probably?" She wasn't perfectly convinced about any of what she was saying.
"I-I see. Well, looks like I have no other choice. I'll accompany you!" Maya tried to sound indifferent, but the smile and her happily swishing tail gave away that she was looking forward to it. Getting up from the grass, she grabbed Sophia's hand and pulled her up from the ground as well. Still holding onto her hand, the cat-girl then left the camp with her in tow.
"Y-You know... when you're this excited, Maya, I'm getting a bit scared."
"I-I'm not excited!" Her tail froze in place when she was called out.
"You are not, huh? Okay." Sophia didn't buy it, but she also didn't feel like arguing.
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Having found a suitable place, the girls started their preparations, and the bath was finished up in no time at all.
"So, we are going for a big bath again?" Maya was looking at the huge tub with a complicated expression.
"Yeah, ignoring various things... I think the small one was way too cramped because I like to stretch myself in the water."
"l... can't argue with that."
"Well then, let's go in." Facing her back towards the cat-girl, Sophia started undressing while looking straight forward, as usual, so she doesn't get distracted before entering the water.
"A-Ah!" Maya forgot to strip because she accidentally focussed her attention on something else that did distract her. After slapping her cheeks, she quickly followed the other girl. She sat down behind her in the big bath and then pressed their backs together by leaning onto Sophia.
"Y-You sure like that position, huh?" She remembered that the two often sat like that in the bath. Once she got used to the sensation, she leaned back as well before turning her head to look up at the sky. "Well, it feels... n-nice, and it's not... that embarrassing anymore."
"Yeah... Wait!" The cat-girl suddenly sprang up again. "Didn't we want to make you extra embarrassed so that you can get used to your boost thingy?"
"You're right! Okay, not the wording I would prefer, but you have a poi- A-AH!" Sophia forgot about their situation for a moment and turned around. Thanks to that, she got a perfect close-up view of Maya's glistening wet, not to mention, naked body standing right in front of her. She went silent and found herself unconsciously staring at her as a result.
"T-That's a bit embarrassing, you know...?" Feeling self-conscious after all that's happening to her lately, the cat-girl twisted her body away from being watched.
"O-Oh... I'm s-sorry, that's not-" She looked in a different direction before even finishing her sentence. "W-While not exactly... un-effective, I-I think your plan b-backfired a bit, M-Maya..." Sophia did get embarrassed, among many other things, by looking at her, but for different reasons, and she had the feeling the cat-girl took the most damage from this attempt.
"T-That wasn't what I had intended, idiot!" Because it had indeed affected Maya the most, the rest of their bath went on without anything noteworthy happening, and no further progress was made. The girls finished up before long and went back to the camp. Along the way, they ran into Fen, who actually went for an evening run, after all.