Asha couldn't hide her frustration.
What was the point of a gem like her taking a bath?
Her body would naturally recover to its original state at the end of the day, so things like that were meaningless to gems.
But there wasn't anything she could do, because now she was living as a human.
"..."
Asha released her grip on Priyanka's clothes and sat expressionless.
For some reason, her eyes seemed emptier than usual.
A hand patted her head, as if praising her self-control.
Priyanka seemed to enjoy patting people's heads a lot.
Her touch was less intrusive than the chatty nurse's, so Asha didn't mind it.
She had lived for two weeks under the care of that nurse, who had been responsible for all her basic needs.
Compared to her, Priyanka was quite conservative.
Priyanka knew her body just as well as she knew her own.
She would dress her, feed her, and brush her teeth.
Life had never been so easy, and it was all thanks to Priyanka.
Thanks to her, Asha was reintegrated into human society and no longer had to worry about money like in her past life.
As far as being connected to the original was concerned, Priyanka was the best ally one could have.
There was no reason to worry with her by her side.
Yes, if Priyanka was around, there was no reason to worry...
'No, is that really okay?'
Suddenly, a feeling of doubt and fear crept into her mind.
In her past life, no one had ever been this close to her.
She had met Priyanka only two weeks ago, but the feelings of dependence were already noticeable.
Just having her hand touch her head would soothe many of her worries, even though she didn't feel anything.
She had lived most of her life alone, and many of her friends were online.
Asha wasn't used to this kind of human touch.
The fact that Priyanka had become so important to her was something she wasn't prepared for.
What if she didn't control herself? She might develop emotional dependence on Priyanka.
If that happened, she would become a burden, both to Priyanka and to herself.
Also, the way she had reacted to that Super Drill wasn't like her usual self.
She would never act so childish.
Maybe her mind was being affected by this new body more than she had anticipated.
Or perhaps her time in the desert had affected her sanity.
Whatever the answer, one thing was clear.
'I need to do something...!'
If things stayed this way, she would become completely dependent and unable to live without Priyanka.
She needed to distance herself from Priyanka and regain her independence.
After a few minutes of contemplation, the patting stopped, and the hands moved toward her armpits.
Priyanka hugged her body as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"...?"
This was new.
Priyanka never hugged her for longer than it took to move her into the wheelchair.
Asha pointed at the wheelchair with her fingers.
Priyanka shifted Asha's body to her right arm and held the notebook with her left.
It was impressive that she could write so naturally while hugging someone.
Was she really that light?
[I'll give you a bath. It's hard in the wheelchair.]
Ah, that made sense.
It would be hard to take a bath while sitting in a wheelchair.
Wait—what had she just said?
*
Asha was going through one of the most critical moments of her life as a man.
She was sharing a bath with a woman who wasn't related by blood and with whom she wasn't romantically involved.
The woman was married and had a daughter. And, as if that wasn't enough, she was also her adoptive mother and friend.
It wouldn't be surprising if Asha ended up behind bars the next day.
When she analyzed the environment, she noticed Priyanka gently touching her hair.
Foam had formed on top of her head.
Despite being completely exposed, Priyanka's face showed no shame.
She seemed entirely focused on cleaning her body, without a second thought.
Watching her at that moment, only one thought crossed her mind.
'So defenseless!'
Asha also knew Priyanka's body from top to bottom.
She had analyzed her body daily, perfectly replicating her system through transmutation.
But during those moments, there was never time to think about anything else.
Had she not analyzed her, who knows what could have happened?
It was an emergency.
Priyanka was the nearest person to her, and that's why she analyzed her in a panic.
Thanks to those unbelievable circumstances, she'd been forced to give up her gender to fit into human society.
It always felt like God was playing tricks on her. Her little "son" had never gotten the chance to fulfill his purpose and had become useless.
She felt like a failure as a man.
Now with this childish appearance who would dare to date her?
Just a woman with controversial tastes would accept her as she really was with a smile.
Suddenly the image of a nurse appeared in her mind like PTSD.
She was holding her in her arms with a strange red face wearing a bride dress.
Asha quickly deleted this image of her mind.
She wasn't that desperate.
Also, the situation wasn't optimistic enough to think about any other stuff.
The situation she found herself in now was entirely different from what happened at the hospital.
There wasn't any thread or something to be focused on.
She was alone with a healthy woman in the bathroom actively touching her body!
Asha tried to suppress the dirty and dangerous thoughts that surged in her mind with all her might.
But Priyanka's hands didn't stop—they kept moving, touching every corner as if she were obsessed with cleanliness.
Their bodies would brush against each other repeatedly during the process.
Asha felt nothing physically, and for that, she couldn't be more grateful.
But the mental stimulation was too overwhelming for her to endure.
Her mind started spinning out of control, filled with strange fantasies.
An image of Priyanka, approaching with an innocent face, popped into her head.
"C-Can we bathe together?" Priyanka said, shyly.
Asha shamelessly continued scrubbing her own small body.
"The door was open, wasn't it?" she replied, her words carrying an oddly seductive charm.
Priyanka's face became even redder, but even so she approached.
"I-I'll clean your back!" she said while trying to contain her shyness.
Her hands were clumsy and barely couldn't clean her body.
Both kept in the strange situation until Priyanka finished cleaning her back.
"It's clean..."
She tried to pull her hands from behind her back, but her wrists were held by small, strong hands.
"E-Eh?"
Priyanka gasped in surprise, her eyes filled with a mix of anticipation and shame.
Asha, wearing cool sunglasses, looked at her.
"You didn't think things would end with you just wiping my back, did you?"
Her words were ambiguous and full of ulterior motives.
"I- I can't...! I'm married!"
Bam!
Two hands locked Priyanka's body against the wall, creating a perfect kabedon pose.
A magic stool appeared from nowhere, keeping them at the same eye level.
Priyanka's face was redder than ever, radiating a tempting and cute innocence.
This expression only encouraged the bold Asha to become even bolder.
"You're saying that after stealing my first kiss?" she said with a playful tone.
"T-This was an accident-"
When Priyanka tried to explain a bold finger touched her lips.
"Shh~ Are you going to back out now?"
Asha removed her sunglasses. Cool and dominating eyes stared at Priyanka.
Priyanka stopped resisting, she was mesmerized by her cold, dominating, and super beautiful eyes.
"Forget about Doug." she said, getting dangerously close to her face. "I'll show you what true happiness is."
"Kya~!" Priyanka's hand was pressed firmly against the wall.
Asha's face came dangerously close to the innocent and pitiful Priyanka.
Little by little their lips began to touch and...
'Stop! Ah!!!'
Asha screamed in her mind.
Her hands started to shake with strong emotions.
If her senses weren't restricted, she would have repeatedly hit her head against the wall to forget this shame.
What a beast she was.
How could she think such dirty things about Priyanka, who had been so kind to her?
'I'm sorry!'
Even now she was cleaning her body with her usual stoic and pure face.
Her friend was just worried about her health.
'I'm sorry!! Kill me!!!'
In an attempt to reduce her shame, Asha restricted her appraisal to black silhouettes and tried to simplify Priyanka's shape as much as possible.
Priyanka's hands suddenly stopped in the direction of her abdomen.
Asha's hands were still trembling from shame even after simplifying her appraisal.
Seeing her react so strangely, Priyanka did something Asha wouldn't dare to think of even in her craziest dreams.
She hugged her tightly.
The same way she came into the world.
Asha's mind seemed to stop due to the excessive stimulation.
Her hands slowly calmed down with only small movements.
Noticing her small reactions, Priyanka held her even tighter.
'...'
Asha's hands stopped moving completely.
Miraculously, she managed to keep her body in a sitting position.
That was the only thing she was able to do.
Priyanka kept her embrace for a long time as if testing her patience.
Instead of stopping, her actions became bolder, and the amount of skin touching each other didn't seem to have limits.
The situation seemed alarming at first sight.
Fortunately, Asha didn't need to bother about it.
She was already unconscious.
***
Author note
My mind again ran wild here. The last deadline was crazy, I'm traumatized. I changed my novel schedule and this became my main work while the other became a side project with monthly release to avoid another burnout.
I hope you like it. If you found it weird, calm.
The next ones will be crazier.