"Phew! As I thought, a soak in the bath after training really hits the spot, it does!"
"Sakura, you sound like an old man when you say things like that."
"Hmph! Look at you, all refreshed after cutting loose! I'm so jealous! I wanted to spar with Yugo, too!"
By that evening, the women had finished their training and were enjoying a group bath.
As Setsuna and Melt teased Sakura while soaking in the tub, Neries sat huddled in the corner, clutching her knees and feeling utterly overwhelmed by her surroundings. She curled herself into the smallest ball possible, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible at the edge of the water. Her reason was simple: the sheer difference in their proportions.
It wasn't a matter of height. While it was true that Neries was on the shorter side, her current anxiety stemmed from an entirely different area.
(Is everyone... huge? What do you even have to eat to turn out like that?)
Sakura, Setsuna, Melt—they were all massive. Specifically, certain parts of their bodies (or rather, two parts, top and bottom) were exceptionally large.
She had already known Melt was well-endowed, and she had seen enough of Sakura to know she was large as well. However, the sheer impact—the destructive power, so to speak—of seeing them without clothes was far beyond her expectations.
Speaking of unexpected, there was Setsuna. Neries had assumed she was "one of her own," so how was it possible for her to be so big once the clothes came off? Peewee, who was on the same level as Neries, sat on the opposite side of the tub with dead eyes, remaining silent. They were likely thinking the exact same thing.
As Neries was lost in these thoughts, a woman possessing the highest level of destructive power made her appearance.
"Agh, dammit. My body's stiff as a board. I think I'll just veg out in this big tub for a while and rest my bones..."
"Oof...!"
An indescribable groan leaked from Neries's lips as she watched Anhel roll her neck. Compared to Melt and the others, who were already plenty large, Anhel's figure was—to put it in sounds—Bam! Tight! Kaboom!
Well, if you're carrying around things that heavy, of course your shoulders are going to be stiff... Neries desperately swallowed the words before they could escape her mouth as Anhel sank into the water with a look of pure bliss.
"Haaah... This is heaven, sheer heaven..."
"...Somehow, she's strangely more sensual than Sakura."
"Even though Ann usually acts and talks more like a guy."
"Hey, I can hear you. If you're looking for a fight, I'll give you one. Yeah?"
"Wait, weren't you also taking a dig at me just now? Shall we settle this in a two-on-two team battle? Hmm?"
Neries sat there learning that large breasts really do float in the water, and they really do sway with the slightest movement. Looking at this impressive lineup, she couldn't help but wonder if this was Yugo's specific taste.
Given his reputation as a notorious womanizer, had he already made a move on them? But then again, he hadn't shown even a hint of such behavior toward her or Misery today. Was that reputation perhaps some kind of mistake?
...Or maybe, since both she and Misery were "small servings," they were simply outside of his target range? As Neries spiraled into these depressing thoughts, Raiha quietly approached and spoke to her.
"Um, Neries-san... do you have a moment?"
"Eek!? Ah, yes...!? W-What is it...?"
She was startled first by the sudden voice, then by the fact that a Warrior Shrine Maiden knew her name, and a third time by the sight of Raiha's chest. Why was this girl's chest so large when she was supposed to be shorter than Neries? Was it even legal to be small yet big? As Neries was about to curse the gods for this unfairness, Raiha spoke.
"It might only confuse you to hear this so suddenly, but... please, try not to be so afraid of Ryuga-san. There was a reason behind him breaking your door, and it seems he feels quite bad about what he did to you, Neries-san..."
"Ah, okay..."
Neries nodded, though her mind immediately went back to Ryuga cleanly slicing her room's door into four perfect pieces the day before. To be honest, he was terrifying because she had no idea what he was thinking... but she couldn't exactly refuse a request from a VIP like Raiha. While still feeling a bit intimidated, Neries gave her consent and then ventured a question of her own.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking... are you and Renjou-san fiancés or something...?"
"Eh? ...No, it's nothing like that. I simply have a debt to Ryuga-san so great that I couldn't repay it in a lifetime... That's all it is."
Raiha answered with a complex expression that was neither a smile nor a frown. Neries immediately tensed up, realizing she might have stepped on a landmine with such a careless question. However, a helping hand appeared to bail her out.
"Please don't worry about it too much. I think my brother is saved by Raiha-san's presence in his own way."
"Yui-san..."
The one who spoke to the dejected Raiha was Yui, who had come to visit the upperclassmen's dormitory. Even with her eyes closed, it seemed she carried her own weight of circumstances. As Neries watched her, Yui continued talking to Raiha.
"My brother just doesn't know how he should interact with Raiha-san. He’s lived his life hiding his true feelings for so long that he’s forgotten how to express them. He hardly ever shows his true self, even to me. The only exception is probably Yugo-san."
"......"
Neries understood, if only vaguely, that there was a complicated web of relationships between these people. Sensing that this was not a topic for an outsider to intrude upon, she quietly distanced herself from Raiha and Yui. She fled toward her roommate and fellow "small-serving" comrade, Misery, who then called out to her.