We Even fucking went during the night are you serious…? Ugh, at least I didn't need to walk….
As my thoughts raged, I wandered into the forest nearby. There was an obvious lake for all, which Shen did confirm.
Thank god there's a secluded area… I thanked whatever the hell was up there. This lake had multiple sections, I found this blocked out area. It was surrounded by a lot of bushes and trees. It made it feel just like curtains.
Thankfully, the other girls listened to me and allowed me to be by myself. I made sure I had no one looking, and undressed myself. Fuck this cold though.
Due to the frigid area around me, I was shivering. It only lasted till I put a towel around my body.
I'm not trying to be a pervert, but I hope this body never gets gigantic breasts.
From a rough estimation, these were C cups… low ones. I don't know if I'll stay in this body for long, but I don't want to imagine the back pain if they grew further. I already have a little bit, mainly due to the bras forced on me.
Other than that, I wrapped my body in a towel, tightly. Then, I used Palm of Flames to heat me up. Lastly, I stepped out from the trees to look at this secluded spot.
It was nice looking, completely hidden from the back, and sides. Only allowing the front to be uncovered, furthering this sight, the water was crystal clear.
It was a beautiful sight aside from something peculiar.
"Oh, hello, Yukina. Come in, the water is nice and refreshing!" Shen called out to me, she was completely submerged under the water. Her head and collarbone I could only see; well, other than the reflection of her body under water.
Now I can understand why Jin is interested… that would catch any man's attention. I thought before I turned around. My face felt warmer, I really wasn't expecting her.
"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to be here… I'll get going." I quickly apologized and readied myself to leave. First, I wanted to be alone now, it's frankly exhausting being around others… Second, Shen was completely nude, no towel like the rest of the girls.
"Oh, don't be like that… Join me in here!" I heard her hand splash against the surface of the water. "We're both ladies here, I can smell the embarrassment from over here."
"Former men! And why the heck are you naked?! I thought it was common practice to wear a towel!"
From my gut, I could feel Shen's head tilt. "I have a tail, you know? Even if I had a towel, my butt would be showing."
…
Okay she has a point.
"C'mon join me."
"Alright…"
I turned around, whilst looking away from her. It's super embarrassing! She has it all out to display, not even showing the slightest bit of ANYTHING!
… Hold on, why is the water warm? Am I being tricked…? The water looked absolutely freezing, and it was to the point I was ready to wall of flames around me… however, it was deceiving.
"You don't need to be embarrassed." Shen told me. She leaned back onto the shore, her chest was nearly poking out of the water.
"You know, I've only been in this body for a year, right? How the hell am I supposed to be calm?"
"A year, taking baths with other girls." Shen emphasized the one with a finger. "And I have my doubts about that statement, you're fourteen in this life."
Should I just tell her? Should I? I don't know, what should I do?
I don't think she'll believe me, I already told her once…
"Are you sure you're Mathew?"
"What? Yes, I'm Mathew." I confirmed my old name. My eyebrows furrowed at this question. "You were-"
"It was a rhetorical question, turns out you are him." Shen covered her face, she sounded frustrated now. "Can you even remember the past of your current body?"
"I don't remember much…" I muttered. My throat felt as if it was being choked. I can't breathe… why can't I just say it?
My heart was racing, I could feel my body shake. Why can't I just say it…? Why does it hurt so bad when I remember it…?
My mind hasn't been there for over a week… I thought it would be over that memory.
"If it hurts you that much, " Shen stated, a short breath later, and a hand on my shoulder, she continued. "I can explain what I went through too."
"I t-think I'm fine… I don't want to talk about it…"
It took a moment for my breath to calm down. However, my heart was still racing, the memory wasn't disappearing.
That was not all, in the next moment, I felt an immense, searing pain come from my ears.
"Don't touch them!" I yelled, I frantically slapped her hands away; even more, I stumbled back whilst holding my fluffy ears.
"And I would assume the memories are related to that?"
"..."
Shen tilted her head, her hand still raised in the air.
"..."
Shen let out a sigh, before falling back into the water. Furthermore… she apologized, it wasn't shallow, she felt bad.
After the nerves in my ears calmed down, I took my spot next to her.
"Listen, you can talk to me." Shen claimed, which I knew she could. She was my old advisor/teacher. But my body, it can't physically let it go. It gets caught in my throat. "Kid, can you hear me?"
"I'm sorry…"
"Take a breather, I have 7 hours before I can't listen anymore."
"..."
It took a while for myself to calm down; for most of it, I was trying my best not to hyperventilate.
"The memories… well, memory…"
"Hm?"
"My ears… they're sensitive, it felt like someone poured lava on them."
"Animalkin's ears are sensitive."
"I was a slave."
I felt Shen's stares on me, her body physically turned. I couldn't say much else, her hand rested on my head.
"What did they do to you?"
"...I don't remember much…" I responded, I wanted to run. My hands were bleeding from how hard I gripped. "They.. just kept cutting them off… over… and o-"
"...?"
"They kept— kept cutting my ears off. They just-"
Over, and over, they never stopped. My ears felt the cuts, slow, to quick. Ragged, to smooth, they hurt, stung, it kept jabbing. I wanted to rip them off, I wouldn't have to worry about feeling it again!
Before I could realize, my head hit something soft. Something more firmer wrapped carefully around my head.
Only a second passed before the revelation; Shen held me tight to her, keeping me in a side hug in which I couldn't escape.
That something soft was the top part of her chest, and her shoulder; next was her arm, it held my head tightly there.
"I'm sorry you had to experience that." She mumbled into my ears, her voice tender.
"I can't forget it, no matter how hard I try…"
"You won't forget it, Yukina." Shen responded, letting go of my head. In the next moment she set her hand on my head, and allowed me to make some distance. "Even in my advanced age in this life, I still remember things of my past."
"Eh…?" For some reason, my head was calming down, same with my irregular heartbeat. I had to squint my eye, but there was a slight glow in Shen's eyes. "That's not… comforting."
I said that, but my head was eventually clearing up. Moreso… I was calm now, I wasn't feeling frantic, my hands were not shaking.
"It's not meant to be comforting."
"And what happened to you?"
Shen let out a "hm?" Before going further back into the water. She was floating, but there was a small layer of mist hiding her body.
"I was mute for the first eighteen years of this life. Additionally, I was weak; extremely weak for twenty-four years." She explained, her head aimed at the sky, alongside her eyes being closed.
Mute? Weak? I tilted my head, even though she couldn't see. I guess?
"Becoming a vampire removed those issues, temporarily. If I don't drink blood for a week, I'll go back to my old physical state."
"...Are you kidding me?"
"Nope… When I first met you in this world, I was almost at that threshold." Shen said, how does she still sound so calm? Isn't that rather concerning?
No, it's far past concerning! The last time I saw her drink blood was almost a week ago!! Wait, how bad is her damn physical state anyways?!
"Okay, okay hold on. When was the last time you drank blood?"
"Six days ago."
"...And how bad is your physical state?"
Shen never opened her eyes, still relaxing as she laid back. Now that I look at it.. she looks tired, how did I not notice it before?
I sucked in my breath as Shen was taking a long time. For some odd reason, she was unnaturally calm, it made me feel like she was lying.
Finally, she explained, from floating to swimming, then grabbing my hand. She had me use Identify on her.
[Vampiric thirst: When the user is sated, all physical stats will be boosted tenfold.]
That was not all, her status popped into my vision again… She was weaker than me, and I'm fourteen currently…
I offered my arm, whilst encouraging her to drink my blood. Forcefully shoving it into her face, but she took a step back with her hands in the air.
"Listen, Yukina… I need a lot more blood than that." She explained, the tiredness in her was evident in her voice. Why did it take me so long to realize? "I don't want to kill you, just worry about yourself, okay?"
"What'll happen to you? And does monster blood not suffice?"
"I'll be a vegetable for a few days… and no it doesn't; it has to be a blood from a human, animalkin, elf or dwarf."
"A vegetable?"
"Mhhm, when I first became a vampire, it happened." Shen began to ramble. "It happened a lot, every other week I would fall flat on my face."
"Also, don't worry, Yukina. I won't die from not having blood for some time. At most, I can live without blood for a year."
Shen leaned further back, an exhausted smile finally taking over. "My body will completely stop working for three days. The sudden strength drop is too great at once, so my muscles will stop working."
Isn't that catastrophically bad…? Why is she so calm about it?
"That's enough about my condition, Yukina."
I closed my mouth at Shen's hand, she wanted to switch topics.
"Ask anything else about me, I'll answer your questions."
"Um… what does blood taste like?" I asked, I didn't want to piss her off.
"Sweet, intoxicating. Tastes like fine wine, frankly better than any drink back on earth."
Honest.
"Can you eat food that isn't raw?"
"No."
For the next few minutes, I kept asking questions to get to know Takeda better. I guess, I wanted to the past week.
He really changed a lot… his answers were more honest. Apparently, despite being undead, she still gets periods. Thus, the curse of immortality does not sound as good…
That sounds utterly annoying in all, but that was not all. Her body was entirely different in some areas; well mainly for vampiric mythology.
She can eat garlic, hold holy relics; but the sun is really lethal to her, in a few seconds she can be reduced to a pile of ash. I can see that…
She only uses her arm to showcase the weakness, other than that she dislikes the feeling. Well who wouldn't, dumbass… I internally held my head to my thoughts.
Pretty dumb thoughts in everything. There's a lot more to Shen than I thought.
When she was a child, her parents beat her for nothing; saying she wasn't their child. Hearing that, I wanted to give her a hug, but she stated she was fine.
But, she ran from home, became an adventurer and partied up with my father. So he's also an old man now… Matching that with her age, he would be over five hundred years old.
All that was mind boggling, and I could feel a headache incoming. He was the king of a nation called Gaia, a land for all reincarnators and advancements.
It's the powerhouse of this world, housing so many reincarnators compared to every nation. Adding onto that, all my friends from my past life lived there! Pretty awesome isn't it? However, it was unfortunate, I wouldn't be able to see them for some time.
Thank god I can see her… I felt happy. I can't care about what happened between her and I when we met each other again. She hasn't shown that anymore, even though I can't predict her.
After my pestering was done, we were sitting close to the bank. The river had these natural steps she and I could sit on. Shen was now wearing a towel to cover herself, as she smiled down at the water.
"Now as a reward, I might tell you a little more about our destination."