Chapter 113 – Playing tag

Sophia had successfully tested the idea of using her storage dimension as a means to fast travel by connecting an entrance and exit portal between a long distance. Afterward, the couple relaxed for a while and enjoyed each other's company. As usual, they got a little touchy and very flirty in the process.

Eventually, the two got back to the inn they were staying and took their usual bath together. Then, Maya noticed a new bag of the lingerie boutique they visited before. The cat-girl had bought a set of showy underwear to wear for a special night. Apparently, Sophia had bought equally provocative lingerie and placed the bag right next to Maya's. She faced the tiger-girl to find out why she was presenting the bag so openly. With an intense blush on her face, Sophia only responded with a slight nod, indicating and consenting that she was ready to put it to use.

----------------

"..."

"..."

The following morning was more than just a little awkward. The couple had taken another bath and also already had breakfast together. Afterward, they went back to their room but had yet to have an actual conversation.

"..."

"..." They continued to steal glances at each other for a while without saying a word.

"O-Okay..." Maya couldn't take it anymore. "W-Want to, uh, talk?"

"A-About...?" Her face turned red from just hearing the cat-girl's voice.

"Well, y-you know..." She wasn't doing much better.

"Err..." Sophia was having a hard time. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what to say... Never been in this situation... no idea how to react... Besides being embarrassed and, uhh... trying my best to not... show a stupid grin on my face... when looking at you... Sorry for being so awkward..." She barely managed to get the words out.

"E-Eh...?" Maya turned to get a good look at her now. "That's... That's the reason? I thought I... did something wrong... You aren't avoiding me because of that...?"

"Huh?!" Sophia finally stared back at her. "N-Not at all! I-I was just embarrassed by how happy I'm feeling... If anything, I thought you were ignoring me... for that exact reason... "

"O-Of course not! It's the same for me... embarrassed, but the happy kind..." It appeared that there was a slight misunderstanding about the cause of their awkwardness.

"R-Really...? Haa..." The tiger-girl looked relieved. "I-I mean, it wasn't as, uhh... s-smooth as I had... fantasized... before, but that's because it was the-"

"F-First time...?"

"Y-Yes..." Sophia was currently inventing a new shade of red.

"That's true... It was still n-nice. I'm glad I got my first experience with you, Sophia. Well, I got a lot of those first with you, but now we've finally gone all the way after chicken out right before many times. Both of us." Maya sat down next to her on the bed and rested her head against the girl's shoulder.

"A-Absolutely! I couldn't be gladder about my partner!"

"Ehehe~." The cat-girl looked happy. "As for the r-rest... we just need more practice. How about lots of practice, actually~?"

"H-Huh?! "Sophia's eyes sprung open in shock.

"You don't want to?"

"No... I-I mean, yes... I mean... no. Yes! Uhh, wait a moment, my brain's turning mushy..." Sophia needed a moment to collect herself. "Y-Yes, I do want to... Though, I might need around three days... to feel confident... and b-bold again. That includes my boosts working overtime to recover on these days..."

"Y-Yeah... it took me a lot, as well... Being confident isn't nearly as easy as I thought. Can I have some of your boosts? Ah, but only the positive ones, okay? I have little motivation to start a war because I got angry."

"Nope, those are all mine. For the better or worse..."

"Hehe."

"Ahaha."

The awkwardness between the couple was finally starting to subside. They cuddled and enjoyed each other's company for a while longer before leaving the inn around noon. Once the two had lunch in a restaurant that tickled their fancy, they went outside the city once more.

----------------

"By the way, are we going somewhere?" The couple was walking on a path leading through an extensive plain when Maya noticed that she had no idea what the current plan was.

"Good question." Sophia just tilted her head.

"Ehh?"

"I just felt like moving around because I'm feeling way too energetic for some reason."

"... Idiot." The cat-girl took a guess why Sophia's feeling like that and developed a slight blush in response.

"A-Ah..." Her face turned red, as well, while both of them got embarrassed once more.

"W-Wanna play tag?" Maya needed to change the topic.

"Huh?" The suggestion was too unexpected for her. Though, it was actually a good thing, as it distracted her from the current conversation.

"Don't want to? I had an idea I wanted to try out a while back, and I think it would be a great way to power you out... and myself."

"Oh? What's the plan?" Sophia was curious.

"Do you think it's possible to boost my running speed with air magic? Like creating some wind behind me?"

"I would say yes. I actually thought about that before, too. Never tried it, though."

"Can I give it a try? After you got used to your new body, I'm the slowest in our group again, and I want to make up for it."

"You don't have to, though." The tiger-girl didn't mind not traveling at max speed all the time.

"But I want to!" As usual, she was very competitive.

"Alright, all the power to you." She had no plans to stop her. "Should I do anything specific? Holding back, maybe?"

"No, please go all out. Ah, but maybe no magic."

"Are you sure? I've been training a lot lately, especially when you were practicing magic, and I've become fast. I'm not 100% back to my original form, but I'm running a lot, and my new feline body's awesome. I love it!"

"You mean like yesterday? When you went for another run?"

"Yesterday...? A-Ah..." Sophia remembered the excuse she made up for secretly going lingerie shopping. "A-Alright, you said you want full power?"

"Yes, please. Then, I'll test out air magic to run faster and catch you."

"Try to catch me, you mean." The tiger-girl looked smug while she started stretching her body. She was already preparing herself.

"Sure~." She seemed pretty confident herself.

"Alright. Well then," Sophia finished stretching and got down in a crouching-start position. Her tiger ears were cocked up, and even her tail pointed up, signalizing she was ready. "Bye~!" she kicked the ground and was gone.

"E-Eh...?" Before Maya even realized what was going on, the other girl was already a couple of hundred meters ahead. "W-Well... I guess that's what I get for being cocky, huh? Maybe I should've tested my idea before letting her run away..." She noticed that she could barely see Sophia anymore. "Okay, let's see... If I create some strong winds behind me, they'll push me, and I should be able to run much faster. Probably." Imitating her girlfriend, the cat-girl also got on her knees for a better start. Breaking into a sprint, she then activated her air magic, which noticeably boosted her speed. "W-Woah!?" Being surprised by the acceleration, Maya almost tripped over but managed to stabilize herself and chased after the tiger.

"Oho!" Sophia had slowed down after a while and watched the cat-girl get ready. "Not bad! Looks like this game of tag will be fun~." With a sparkle in her eyes, she increased her speed again, visibly having fun running around like that.

----------------

Maya kept chasing the blonde for around 20 minutes over the vast plain, but even with the magic boost, she couldn't catch her. She also began to notice that the constant use of magic was everything but easy, too.

"Haa... my magic-power reserves are still good but using it nonstop is kinda tiring on its own… Also," She looked at Sophia in the distance again. "Yeah, I'm not getting closer at all... She wasn't lying about her training... Seriously, how can a girl I have to use force to get her out of bed in the morning, be so sporty, and loves to run...? It makes no sense! Boost or not, I can't even catch up with magic. I should accompany her to train more often and get a little fitter... For now, though..." Maya looked around, trying to think of a plan to catch the other girl.

"Hmm...?" Sophia glanced behind her and noticed the cat-girl had stopped. "Did she give up? No, that doesn't sound like Maya... She's planning something, isn't she?" The tiger-girl knew she wouldn't give up just like that. "And just as I say it, she's on the go again. Oh, a new strategy, huh?" She noticed how the girl stopped simply following her and instead seemed to be running at an angle and started drawing circles around her.

Following her new strategy, Maya stopped running behind the blonde and got next to her in the distance. From there, she tried to intercept Sophia when she ran out of space on the plain, which was their playing field. The cat-girl now knew that it was impossible to catch the tiger with speed alone. Instead, she hoped that her reaction time and body controls were still better than those of Sophia. Maya was born with feline reflexes and always had a tail, which significantly boosts one's agility. The tiger-girl's fast, but she's still a little clumsy when it comes to cornering.

"I think it's working. Great!" She noticed that with every turn the two had to take, she was getting closer to Sophia. The blonde was still able to dodge her pursuer, but it seemed to be only a matter of time now.

"Urgh, I thought my agility was better... Maybe I should've done more than simply running to get faster. Tight cornering's also important! I guess a natural cat is something else, huh?" She naturally noticed the pinch she was in. "I won't ever lose, though!" Their game of tag had gotten rather intense. "I'll just do this, and- A-Ah!" Sophia tried to do a perfect 90-degree turn while running at full speed, but her body didn't fully listen. Her tail flailed around, causing her to lose balance, and she almost tripped in response.

"Ha! got you now!" Not wasting her chance, Maya instantly increased the power of her air magic and jumped, basically catapulting herself at the other girl. She tackled Sophia's back and dragged the two to the ground. "Flawless victory!" For her, playing tag, too, was serious business.

"Y-Yeah, good job." Sophia had to acknowledge her loss. "Mind getting off me, though...?" After getting tackled, she was lying face-first down on the grass with the cat-girl sitting on top of her.

"Hmm~" From the sound of it, she had little plans to do so.

"H-Hey!"

"Let's see..." Maya moved around a little and let the girl below her have enough space to turn around. Once Sophia was on her back, the cat-girl sat down on her lap, restricting her movement once more. Then, she leaned forward and gave the tiger-girl a quick kiss on the lips.

"..." Sophia froze up, and her face turned red. It seemed like the kiss and the position the two are in made her remember something that made the girl feel bashful. Even more than usual.

"A-Ah..." Seeing her response, Maya had a similar reaction, feeling equally embarrassed with a deep blush on her face. She got off the tiger-girl a moment later but still stuck to her, leaning against her side while the two sat down on the grass.

"..." Sophia needed another minute. "Y-Your air magic was quite impressive..."

"T-Thanks... but even that wasn't enough to beat you while using no magic..."

"Well... I'm pretty sporty. I've been running basically daily for over ten years now. Add Canir's boosts to that and also the extra agility I gained from becoming a feline type of beast-girl… Not to boast, but I'm quite proud of my fitness."

"Though cornering is still a bit of a blind spot, huh?"

"W-Well... Technically speaking, I'm still a newborn baby tiger~." She had a handy excuse.

"Wow, that sounds wrong... I get the point, though. Do you mind if I come with you the next time you go on a run? A normal, non-top-speed one, I mean. I want to train and get faster the normal way by training my body."

"Absolutely not! That sounds like so much fun! Ah, but then you also must train me in fully unlocking my true feline agility. It seems like I still have a lot of room to grow in that regard."

"Gladly!"

----------------

Having made plans to train together in the future, the two relaxed a little longer on the comfy grass while enjoying each other's company. Half an hour later, Sophia's expression drastically changed, though. With a very stern look and a slight grimace, she stared off in the distance to their left.

"What's wrong?" Maya quickly noticed that something was amiss.

"..." Her face became even darker. "I was playing around with the sensitivity of my detection magic... Around 500m beyond the plain, that way-" Sophia pointed in the direction she was looking. "There's a lone human hiding..."

"E-Eh...?" The cat-girl hadn't expected that. "I thought our army made sure they all left?"

"Yes." Sophia stood up while saying so. "I guess someone wants a personal invitation to leave from me." Without saying another word, she started walking in the direction the detection magic was guiding her.

"Stupid humans... always killing the mood! I hoped we could do a little more…" Maya never was a fan, but she found another reason to dislike them. Once she finished complaining about the wasted chance, she apparently had recovered from the awkwardness in that regard a lot faster than imagined, the cat-girl ran after Sophia, bracing herself for whatever was going to happen.