"Nice back, fair skin, and quite a perky butt."
Kurumi, female and fond of women, caught the scent of a pretty girl.
As Kurumi looked at the woman, the other woman, who had heard movement behind her, turned around and looked at Kurumi as well.
Their eyes met. Kurumi hid the look in her eyes well and smiled as she nodded to her.
The latter smiled back at Kurumi, then turned and walked toward the hot spring enclosed by stone walls on three sides.
Both of them were perfectly at ease despite being naked, without the slightest embarrassment.
Judging by her appearance, the woman was in her twenties, with an alluring, curvaceous figure.
Though she was slightly taller than Kurumi, Kurumi had an absolute advantage when it came to the size of certain parts.
Sitting on a wooden stool in the shower area, Kurumi carefully washed herself from head to toe before heading toward the hot spring, feeling refreshed.
Standing beside the spring, Kurumi quickly tested the water temperature against the chilly autumn wind since it was outdoors, then slowly lowered herself in.
As the warm spring water soaked her skin, an utterly blissful expression appeared on Kurumi's face.
This feels amazing!
Just as Kurumi happily enjoyed the hot spring, she suddenly froze.
Huh? Where's my sweet sake?
The World Had One Less Cross-Dressing Big Shot
Kurumi had planned to happily sip a few cups of sweet sake while soaking in the hot spring, but when she realized she had forgotten to bring it in, her whole face became utterly lifeless.
Ah, how could I forget something like that?! Leaning against the stone wall behind her, Kurumi gave off the dejected aura of a salted fish.
Noticing something odd about Kurumi, the woman in front of her thought this young-looking girl might have gotten sick from soaking in the spring. She cautiously moved closer and asked with concern, "Um, are you feeling unwell?"
Hearing the woman speak to her, Kurumi shook her head and said regretfully, "It's nothing. I just forgot to bring my sweet sake in."
"I was planning to have a couple of drinks..." Kurumi, completely listless, leaned against the stone wall and slowly sank into the hot spring as though her entire body had gone limp, leaving only her head above the water.
Kurumi's answer put the woman's worries to rest.
Then she smiled and said, "That is rather regrettable, but are you old enough, miss? You know, minors aren't allowed to drink alcohol in Japan!"
How could Kurumi not know that law?
But as an outlaw, she was not about to rigidly follow the rules like some good child.
"Rules are dead, but people are alive." Kurumi pursed her lips and spoke in a tone as though she had seen through life itself. "Besides, I don't think a law like that can regulate every minor."
"The law...?" Perhaps Kurumi's words had struck some chord in her heart, because a faintly mocking smile appeared on the woman's lovely face. "By the way, are you visiting the island, miss?"
Seemingly unwilling to continue discussing that topic, the woman asked curiously, "I've never seen you on the island before."
"Oh?" Hearing her words, Kurumi looked the woman over.
"Yes, I only came here from Tokyo this afternoon." Kurumi caught the key point in the woman's words and asked in return, "So does that mean you live on this island, Sister?"
From their appearances, Kurumi looked like a high school girl and was undoubtedly much younger than the woman, who clearly looked like an adult.
"What a coincidence! I'm from Tokyo too. I was born there, but I moved here a few years ago." Upon hearing that Kurumi was also from a big city like Tokyo, the woman seemed quite delighted.
Watching the woman before her, Kurumi began to feel suspicious.
Was it really just a coincidence? As someone who knew what was going on, Kurumi remembered more or less of the original plot.
As the target of her mission this time, Asai Seijitsu... or perhaps he should be called Aso Narumi, this cross-dressing big shot had moved from Tokyo to Moon Shadow Island years ago and returned as a doctor to investigate the cause of his father Aso Keiji's death.
Yet the woman in front of her had also said she had moved here from Tokyo. Such an unexpected overlap made Kurumi feel that this might not be a coincidence.
Could it be that Aso Narumi was actually a woman in this world?
Though such a guess was somewhat unbelievable, Kurumi had seen all manner of storms over the years. Naturally, she would not let the other woman notice the surprise and suspicion in her heart.
Kurumi pretended to be appropriately surprised by her words. "Really? What a coincidence!"
"By the way, my name is Tokisaki Kurumi. What's your name, Sister?" Kurumi decided to make good use of the common ground created by this coincidence to confirm her bold guess.
"Asai Seijitsu. I'm the doctor in this village—and I'm a doctor with a proper medical license!"
When the woman who called herself Asai Seijitsu revealed her name, Kurumi was stunned.
Her bold guess had actually been right!
Unbelievable! The cross-dressing big shot had really become a woman!
After silently mourning for one second over the fact that this world had one less cross-dressing big shot, Kurumi calmly asked, "Since you're a resident here, Sister Asai, did you come all the way here specifically to soak in the hot spring?"
That afternoon, while scouting around the village, Kurumi had passed the Moon Shadow Island clinic.
However, she had only passed by its entrance at the time and had not gone inside.
Yet she had not expected the woman to appear at the inn's hot spring that evening by such a coincidence.
"Yes." Asai Seijitsu nodded and explained, "There's another hot spring in the village, but it's much more basic than this one." Recalling some unpleasant memory, Asai Seijitsu suddenly looked seriously at Kurumi. "And although it's divided into men's and women's sections, some men in the village aren't exactly well-behaved."
At the end, Asai Seijitsu added, "You're so pretty, Miss Tokisaki. Make sure you never go there!"
Asai Seijitsu's words naturally made Kurumi think of the improper act known as peeping.
Especially when she imagined herself enjoying a bath while those people secretly watched her, Kurumi felt sick.
"Thank you so much, Sister Asai." Kurumi said that from the bottom of her heart.
"You don't have to be so polite. We're both girls, after all, so of course we should help each other!" Asai Seijitsu smiled somewhat shyly.
Over the next while, believing Kurumi was truly just traveling here alone, Asai Seijitsu introduced her to many of Moon Shadow Island's more famous sights, as well as some of its local customs.
Kurumi listened attentively as well.
But that was all an act Kurumi deliberately put on for her.
Kurumi's real thoughts were entirely focused on how she could take action to gain the greatest possible benefit.
As the night grew later, the two of them felt they had soaked long enough and stepped out of the hot spring.
Th-This is really the figure of a sixteen-year-old girl?!
Noticing Kurumi drying herself off, Asai Seijitsu involuntarily glanced at her own body.
*ε=('ο｀*))) Sigh.*
Although she had always been rather confident in her figure, Asai Seijitsu was left speechless when she saw Kurumi. Unable to find words to describe it, she could only marvel at how well-fed girls these days were.
A little later, Kurumi changed into a yukata, said goodbye to Asai Seijitsu, who was heading home, and returned to her room alone.
Wiping her damp hair, Kurumi sat on the tatami, turned on the television, and flipped through the channels with the remote in search of something less boring.
From their earlier contact, Kurumi could already conclude that Aso Narumi was a genuine woman, not someone who had undergone some sort of operation in Thailand.
After all, there was still a huge difference between a real woman and someone who had become a woman through surgery.
Especially for someone as sharp-eyed and experienced as Kurumi, telling the difference was easy.
Working Overtime on the Census, and I Have Something to Say
The census workload is enormous. I'm still at work entering data into the system alongside my fellow sufferers, and I'll probably have to work overtime until eleven or twelve tonight.
I'll skip today's update for now and make it up tomorrow.
PS: Also, this book has started trying to get a contract over the past few days. I'm not sure what the main criteria are, but I still hope it gets approved.
PS2: Thank you all for your support. If you have any suggestions or opinions, feel free to tell me directly in the book review section.
PS3: The book review section is a little quiet... ε=('ο｀*))) Sigh.
PS4: This overtime happened because the higher-ups didn't explain the assignment clearly. Only after we finished did they say it needed revisions.
PS5: There's no overtime pay. [○?｀Д'? ○]
PS6: Redoing work is seriously annoying!!!!!!!
Moon Shadow Island Observations
That night, Kurumi spread the bedding from the closet over the tatami. With her hair still a little damp, she lay facedown on the soft bedding and watched a late-night program on television.
Her loose black hair gave off a faint fragrance, while her baggy sleepwear hung loosely from her body, exposing skin as pale and smooth as jade.
Especially those elegant bare feet, capable of making countless foot fetishists' blood surge downward, gave off a dazzlingly tempting allure in the dim room.
Unfortunately, no one was there to admire the beautiful sight that could have driven any man wild.
Kurumi drank the sweet sake from a small cup placed in front of her. Although drinking while lying facedown was somewhat uncomfortable, her laziness had kicked in, and she really did not want to move.
Not even enough to sit up from the bedding.
Having just finished soaking in the hot spring, Kurumi felt warm all over. On top of that, she had already drunk an entire large bottle of sweet sake since returning. Though its alcohol content was low enough to drink like a beverage, it was still alcohol. Having consumed so much, Kurumi could more or less feel her thoughts growing sluggish under its influence.
A faint blush appeared on her fair cheeks, though it was inconspicuous in the dim room.
As it grew later, Kurumi felt her eyelids becoming heavier and heavier.
After letting out a huge yawn, Kurumi wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and climbed up from the bedding.
She went to the bathroom to take care of business. Looking refreshed afterward, Kurumi adjusted her loose pajamas and slipped into the warm bedding.
She reached out and used the remote to turn off the television. Once darkness completely enveloped the room, Kurumi closed her eyes as sleepiness washed over her and decided she would sleep in tomorrow.
At noon the next day, Kurumi woke from a long sleep with an uncomfortable expression.
The moment she opened her eyes, Kurumi threw off the blanket covering her, sprang up, and rushed straight into the room's bathroom without caring that her pajamas had become so loose they were nearly falling off.
Kurumi was in such a hurry that she did not even close the bathroom door.
The floodgates opened...
The trickling sound continued for a while, followed by the sound of the toilet flushing.
After taking care of her problem and washing up, Kurumi emerged from the bathroom with an utterly relaxed expression. Clearly, she had resolved the first problem of her new day.
"Whew, that was really close!"
With her urgent physical need gone, Kurumi felt refreshed from head to toe. Recalling how she had dreamed several times about going to the bathroom, she could not help feeling a lingering chill.
Blaming it all on the bottle of sweet sake from last night, Kurumi was rather relieved. If she had not suddenly woken up at the last moment, she might have ended up with a lifelong shadow.
Kurumi took another set of clothes from her suitcase and changed. After going to the bathroom to comb her hair, she inspected herself in the mirror, confirmed that she had not missed anything, and left the room.
Since she had told the innkeeper yesterday not to prepare breakfast or lunch for her, and since it was already afternoon, Kurumi could only head into the village to eat lunch at the ramen shop she had spotted the day before.
However, when Kurumi came downstairs into the lobby, she saw that the middle-aged man who should have been sitting behind the counter was gone.
In his place sat a black-haired young man in ordinary clothes, somewhat handsome in appearance.
As Kurumi stepped toward the door on beautiful legs wrapped in fleece-lined black tights, her sharp senses detected the young man's gaze from behind her.
"Um!"
Just as Kurumi pushed the door open to leave, the young man called out behind her.
Kurumi turned to look at him and maintained her usual gentle smile as she asked, "Is something the matter?"
Their eyes met.
From the young man's face behind the counter, Kurumi could see that he resembled the innkeeper couple in many ways.
However, his features resembled the innkeeper's wife more.
This should be the son the innkeeper's wife had mentioned, as well as the chef here.
While Kurumi swiftly observed the young man, a clear look of surprise appeared on his face when he saw her appearance.
Yamana Yusuke had heard from his mother the night before that a beautiful young girl had checked into their inn.
Moreover, while chatting with her, his mother had subtly learned that the girl had come here alone on a trip and was, more importantly, single.
Then she had sought him out and asked whether he wanted to find an opportunity to get acquainted with her first.
To be honest, Yusuke had not been excited by it at first. On the contrary, he worried that his mother's excessive enthusiasm might make the girl uncomfortable.
Though he was grateful for his mother's good intentions, Yusuke knew that he already had someone he liked—or rather, someone he secretly loved.
Before you continue