Veronica's face, forcibly held in place, was burning hot. That heat transferred from her soft cheek to my palm. A voice as tiny as an ant's escaped Veronica's lips as she shook her pupils wildly with a bright red face. I could feel the ears on top of my head twitching.
"L-Let go of this…."
…That muttering made me realize I had been too rude.
Lately, dealing with people with strange distances… seems to have made me a bit strange too.
"…Sorry, that was too rude. I apologize."
"Ah, no, not really…."
"Huh?"
"A-Ah, no! R-Right! E-Even though you're a woman now, y-you were originally a man… so… ugh…."
Her trailing off made it hard to hear, but the meaning got through. I removed my hand from Veronica's face and stepped back, but lost my balance and fell backward. It was the tail's fault.
"Ugha!?"
The fall itself wasn't a huge shock… but my butt hurt strangely. Because of that, I let out an embarrassing sound.
How mortifying….
"A-Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I'm fine. It's nothing."
When I looked up, I saw Veronica's face, still red but filled with concern. Feeling awkward, I scratched my cheek and tried to get up, but… my body seemed to creak somehow.
Meanwhile, Veronica got up before I did. A shadow fell over my face. Looking up at Veronica… felt strange. A tightening sensation in my lower abdomen, and my tail clung to my body.
"What's wrong?"
"…Nothing."
Veronica reached her hand out to me. Probably meaning for me to take it and get up.
But… without realizing it, I rested my chin on that pure white palm. It was a very impulsive action.
"Uheh?"
Veronica let out a strange exclamation, seemingly flustered. I was flustered too. It must be… because of the Beastification Potion. First, the tail moved on its own… and now my body was moving on its own too.
"S-Sorry, my body's moving on its own… maybe because of the p-potion…."
My face flushed with embarrassment. Veronica, who had been momentarily flustered, chuckled and started scratching under my chin. That skillful touch, as if she had experience raising feline animals… felt good.
"Mmm… yeah…."
While I was lost in that strange, pleasant sensation and making a foolish sound, before I knew it, she was stroking not just my chin but also my ears. The gentle touch stroking the ears on my head and fiddling with my chin… made it hard to keep my wits about me.
"S-Stop…."
Veronica, perhaps intending to brush it off like this, pretended not to hear me and stroked my head and ran her hand down my back. My body, faithfully reacting to that, had already climbed onto the sofa and curled up next to Veronica.
…Is this why Beastfolk are sensitive about having their ears touched? How does Claudia endure these impulses…? The time I touched her ears last time… I might need to apologize.
At that moment, a lightning-like pleasure spread throughout my entire body. Starting from my tail, that indescribable pleasure made my mouth feel moist. Every time Veronica tapped, tapped the base of my tail, I had to hold back pathetic moans from escaping.
"I-I said stop…."
When I barely managed to speak, Veronica stopped her hand. Even before the thought that she'd finally stopped could register, my tail was faster, thumping the sofa in protest. Veronica's laughter reached my ears.
"Your body seems honest, though?"
"…You did it, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
That touch… what happened to me… I think I somehow know. It was a feeling close to certainty. It should be a sensation I'm feeling for the first time… yet the patting… didn't feel unfamiliar for some reason.
"You took the medicine… and to me…."
Veronica's stiffened hand began tapping my tailbone again. A bit… intensely enough to feel rough.
"Y-Yes, I d-did! But!"
"Eht…."
"Y-You were the one who started sucking on my fingers and clinging to me first!?"
"I-I wouldn't do that…."
"You did!"
Veronica shouted in a voice filled with grievance, continuing to tap my butt. It felt like my lower abdomen was tightening.
"A-Asha, so th-that's─"
The door opened, and lively footsteps were heard. I didn't need to ask who it was. In this house right now, besides Veronica… there's only Cecil.
"Shaa-nim! I ate all the cookies!"
As expected, Cecil's cheerful voice echoed in the room. Veronica, while maintaining her patting hand, replied to Cecil.
"Assistant… no, Cecil, was it?"
"Yes! Veronica-nim. But… isn't Shaa-nim here?"
"Uh…."
It seemed I was hidden by the sofa and couldn't be seen. I thought it was fortunate my embarrassing state wasn't visible. After a moment's hesitation, Veronica continued speaking while patting my butt.
"For a moment… she went out."
"Are you speaking of Shaa-nim?"
"Yes."
"Is that so? Shaa-nim told Cecil she wouldn't be going out for a while…."
To hold back the embarrassing moans threatening to escape, I asked the first thing that came to mind. Then something soft entered my mouth. It was Veronica's thigh.
"Eht…."
"Veronica-nim? Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing. By the way, Cecil, what do you usually do at this time?"
"Cecil helps Shaa-nim make Potions!"
Her voice was filled with pride. Veronica's patting seemed to speed up a little.
"I see…."
The pleasure spreading through my entire body gave the feeling that all my nerves were concentrated on my tail. I could feel tension entering my thighs.
"Well then… could you go back and do what you were originally doing? When Shaa comes back… I'll tell her you were here."
"Understood!"
I heard Cecil sniffing. Veronica's voice sounded flustered. Even her patting hand stopped.
"Wh-Why are you doing that…?"
"There was a sweet scent… but it must be Cecil's mistake."
"…."
"Then Cecil will go back now!"
"Y-Yes…."
The sound of the door closing was heard. In the moment Veronica stopped patting, my body, which had been consumed by pleasure, awoke. I hurriedly got up and clung to the sofa armrest.
A slightly… awkward silence flowed between Veronica and me. I was the one who broke that silence.
"…So that means… you did it, right?"
Veronica, with a devastated expression and a red face, replied in a mosquito-like voice.
"…Yeah."
"Did you… do it inside?"
"…S-Sorry. If I n-need to take responsibility, I'll do whatever I can…."
"Responsibility…"
Actually, if you drink a Contraceptive Potion… it's as if nothing happened. I have no memory of being… violated. But for some reason, Veronica was acting as if she didn't know about its existence.
…It's a bit much to say nothing happened… but if my body returns to normal, then nothing happened… right?
"Let's set that aside for now. You said you came because of the growth medicine? Why?"
"…I was curious how it's made. A-And also to see an old classmate's face after a long time…."
Veronica said while twisting and braiding her red hair.
The manufacturing method… It seems Master, who took Cecil's essence, processed it and… spread it around, but what on earth was he thinking? I rested my chin on my hand and sank into thought.
Not long after, Veronica's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Asha…?"
"Ah, sorry, I was just thinking for a moment."
"…About what?"
"What to do from now on… that kind of thought?"
Veronica trembled as if uneasy.
…To the point where I wondered if she was the same person who was patting my butt just moments ago. If she was going to be like this, why did she pat…? Still… I felt a bit sorry for her.
After thinking for a while… I opened my mouth.
"Are you busy?"
"Huh…?"
"How long can you stay here?"
"Uh… as long as I want?"
"Is that okay?"
Veronica nodded her head vigorously. Her red hair swayed this way and that. Without realizing it, I followed it with my eyes and then cleared my throat.
Is this supposed to be a Beastification Potion? It feels like just turning into an animal with ears and a tail? Whether the mixture is wrong or Beastfolk live their lives resisting these impulses… I think I need to find out.
Or maybe the medicine just works too well on me.
…But it'll be okay now. For a while, our Workshop will have a new… member. The delayed experiments on the breast enlargement medicine… I'm looking forward to trying them again.
"Veronica."
"Yes…."
"Then for a while… could you stay in the Workshop and help me out?"
"Huh?"
I said to Veronica as if it were nothing.
"I'll take care of your food and lodging─"
"Let's do that!"
"…I haven't finished talking yet."
Veronica looked at me with an 'oops' expression, then straightened her posture and replied.
"…I trust you. You're not the kind of bad person who makes unreasonable demands, right?"
"…."
Then she pointed a pure white finger at me and shouted.
"I-It's not like I want to work with you in the Workshop or anything! It's strictly to, to watch over whether you get pregnant and f-fulfill my responsibility!!!"
"Okay, okay."
Looking at Veronica saying that reminded me of our academy days, and I laughed.
"Wh-Why are you laughing!?"
"No reason… just remembered the old days."
"…."
For some reason, I headed toward the Workshop where Cecil was waiting, along with Veronica, who was glaring with dagger eyes.
…By the way, when does this disappear?
Author's Note (Author's Afterword)
Labomen No. 2 Veronica