After the Bath, I Want Coffee Milk (Desire)

Saya, having washed her body, stepped out of the bath.

"Mmh, I'm thirsty…"

Baths, as it turns out, make you sweat. Even soaking in hot water, you don't drink anything, so your throat gets parched. Unless you bring a water bottle into the bath with you, that is.

Opening the fridge, she found no juice in particular. Just a pitcher of chilled water sitting there. She took out the cold water anyway, poured it into a glass cup she'd bought at the 100-yen shop, and drank.

The chilled water seeped down her throat, cooled her esophagus, and settled into her stomach.

"Would you care for something with a bit more flavor, Ojou-sama?"

That was when Kokuyou called out to her. Her voice almost sounded like it was smiling.

"There's some nicely chilled coffee milk, if you'd like."

"… I'll gladly have some!"

"Ah, do dry your hair first, please."

After drying her hair, Saya put on her VR gear, entered VR space, walked into her usual "Gorgeous Private Chamber," and became Karona.

"Ojou-sama, here, your coffee milk."

"Thank you, Kokuyou."

The coffee milk she held out was the glass-bottle variety.

In that case, there was only one proper way to drink it.

Karona planted her left hand on the waist of her dress, gripped the coffee milk in her right, and brought it to her lips.

Just like that, she tipped the bottle back and chugged it down.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp… puhaaaa, indeed～!!"

Yes. Hand on the waist, bottoms-up in one go. That is the proper etiquette for post-bath coffee milk.

"A fine drinking form, Ojou-sama."

"But of course, ohoho."

Karona traded the empty bottle for the handkerchief Kokuyou held out and gently dabbed her lips.

Though this was VR, this particular milk-bottle line had a "drinking milk leaves a milk mustache" gimmick built in. Well, since it was coffee milk, the mustache came out brown, but still.

A discerning little masterpiece. The fact that it was 10 yen cheaper than the no-gimmick version for some reason is a secret just between us.

"There's fruit milk too, you know."

"Not having to worry about your tummy sloshing is another nice thing about VR. I'll have some, please."

No matter how much you drink, it's zero calories and your stomach never gets full. To keep it from being abused for extreme dieting, VR food and drink is tuned so you don't get much of a sense of fullness.

"Nkyu, nkyu, nkyu… puhaaaa, indeed～!!"

Put another way, you can eat and drink enormous amounts inside VR. For Karona, who can't eat or drink very much in reality, that alone was endlessly fun.

Steak, sushi, jumbo katsu-curry, char-siu ramen. All-you-can-eat! … Though once she returns to reality, she feels even hungrier than before.

"Incidentally, Ojou-sama. Have you confirmed the furikomi?"

"Furikomi? Kokuyou, I don't play mahjong, you know."

"That's not what I mean."

Karona, drawing on half-remembered knowledge that was probably just from a mahjong manga she'd read, had fired back reflexively at the spinal level. In a way, that might just be a streamer's talent at work.

"What I meant was, there were wire transfers for your SuperChats and your corporate-affiliation salary, so oughtn't you confirm them?"

"! Now that you mention it! How much was it?"

"Please have a look at this."

And with that, Kokuyou held out a statement sealed inside a wax-sealed envelope. Opening it through a mailer would have been one-touch simple, but she'd gone to the trouble of including a paper knife.

For Karona, who loved Ojou-sama roleplay, this little extra step was quietly delightful. She sent Kokuyou a GJ in her heart.

"Now, now, I wonder just how much it was…!"

Karona used the paper knife to slice open the envelope with a zari, and drew out the statement within.

 

*

 

(Notice below)

The manga adaptation starts from 5/15～!