After a quick wash, Cipher dried herself with Aria's towel, taking extra care with her hair and cat ears.
As she thought about it, Cipher realized she was currently living off Aria's generosity, eating her food, using her toiletries, and sleeping under her roof. In a way, it made her feel like she was being kept. She couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon Aria and her friends; otherwise, she'd still be struggling to find food and shelter.
Thankfully, her hair wasn't too long, just past shoulder-length, making it relatively easy to manage. Once she was mostly dry, she put on her underwear and quietly called out to Aria, "I'm done!"
"Coming!" Aria replied, walking to the bathroom stall. The moment she opened the door, a white blur zipped past her, leaving only a faint fragrance in the air.
It was Cipher. She had bolted out the instant Aria opened the door, leaping to the opposite wall of the bathroom in a single bound. Her heels dangled in the air as she pressed her soles lightly against the wall, using the momentum to spring onto the single bed and burrow under the covers.
Aria froze, staring at the empty bathroom. Then she glanced at the suspiciously bulging bed beside her and finally realized what had just happened. "So fast?!"
Her eyes sparkled like tiny stars as she excitedly rushed to Cipher's bedside. "Sister Cipher, how did you do that just now?!"
Cipher sat cross-legged on the bed, completely cocooned in her blanket with only her head peeking out. "Um... well, you know... just lots of exercise and training, I guess?"
In truth, even Cipher herself was surprised by her own speed. Overwhelmed by shyness, she had simply wanted to dive under the covers as quickly as possible, and the series of movements had flowed from her instinctively.
Hearing Cipher's flimsy lie, Aria actually looked enlightened. "Oh, I see! That makes sense!"
With a bounce in her step, she skipped off to the bathroom. After a while, when Aria still hadn't emerged, Cipher called out, "Aria? Aren't you going to change the bathwater?"
Aria's voice drifted from the bathroom, "It's fine! The water looks clean enough, so I'll just use it as is."
A while later, Aria emerged from the bathroom after her shower, dressed in an adorable pink pajama set and drying her hair. The first thing she saw was Cipher's flushed cheeks.
So... so cute! The thought that had crossed her mind countless times resurfaced.
Cipher shook her head. If she doesn't mind, why am I still obsessing over this? To distract herself, she blurted out, "Aria, you keep calling me 'Sister Cipher.' How old are you, anyway?"
Aria settled onto her bed. "I just turned sixteen recently. Sister Cipher, you're taller than me and look so beautiful and mature. You must be older, right?"
Beautiful... Mature...
Having only become a girl today, Cipher found these compliments somewhat complicated. Still, if she counted her previous life, she was in her early twenties—slightly older than Aria. The title "Sister Cipher" seemed perfectly appropriate.
Cipher suddenly realized something. When she looked at Aria, their eye levels were usually aligned, suggesting similar heights. But perhaps due to her cat ears, Aria perceived her as slightly taller.
There was a problem, though. Cipher wore high heels while Aria had flats. So... in bare feet, Aria might actually be taller?!
For some reason, Cipher's first thought upon realizing this was, I can't let Aria find out! Was this about preserving her dignity as an "older sister"? After all, if someone addressed her as "Sister Cipher" only for her to be shorter, wouldn't that be mortifying?
As Cipher spiraled through these thoughts, Aria suddenly chirped excitedly, "Oh! I've heard girls chat about all sorts of things before bed—you know, girl talk. But I never had female friends before. This is perfect! Sister Cipher, will you chat with me?"
Cipher blinked. "Huh?"
Aria continued talking to herself, "Hmm, what should we talk about? Oh, I know! How about the story of the Hell Book? It's a terrifying magical tome. Legend says that if you open it, scenes of hell will be projected into our world, and endless hordes of demons will spill forth!"
Cipher raised an eyebrow. Is this... is this really a typical topic for girls' conversations?
Though they were supposed to be chatting, Aria did most of the talking while Cipher quietly listened beside her.
As the night deepened, Aria's voice gradually faded with exhaustion, and she drifted off to sleep. Cipher lay on her side, silently gazing at the night sky through the window.
A striking red "moon," likely this world's moon, hung prominently in the sky.
Another world... Cipher murmured softly, then instinctively rolled over to lie on her back. She accidentally pressed against the base of her tail, causing her lips to twitch slightly. Reluctantly, she returned to her side position.
Thanks to this tail, she thought, I'll probably never be able to sleep comfortably on my back again.
The next morning, when Cipher woke up, her eyes immediately fell upon her smooth, delicate calves and adorable little feet. She discovered she was hugging her chubby thighs, her tail coiled tightly around her right calf, her entire body curled into a "Cat Ball" that occupied barely a third of the single bed.
Rubbing her still-sleepy eyes, she unwound her tail from her leg and slowly sat up, stretching languidly.
"Ha~"
Now that she thought about it, the flexibility of her current body was astonishing. She had maintained that curled-up posture all night and woke up without a single ache.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, but Cipher felt completely awake. She tiptoed out of bed and put on her only set of clothes.
Finally, she pulled up her hood, secured her leg straps, and prepared to venture out for some exercise and get more accustomed to her new body.
P.S.: In the game, Cipher's character model is the Young Girl type, similar in height to Ruan Mei, Big Herta, and March 7th—approximately 163-164 centimeters tall. According to the lore, the Golden-Haired Hero is slightly taller, standing at 167 centimeters.