"I will bathe you."
At first, Bianka discarded it like it was a mindless tease from her maid. She simply told Rita that the hunting party found a river leading to a waterfall and that they were planning to go back to it for a dive. But surprisingly, her maid really showed up at the riverside holding a towel, a sponge, a perfumed oil bottle and some other items. Bianka facepalmed and grumbled some complaints under her breath, while the rest of the Immortal Blades laughed at her for being the only Valkyrie coddled like an infant. Flushed with embarrassment, she soaked into the water until only her eyes and nose were visible.
Rita made an innocent smile and took off her shoes. "Miss Ataegina, you have nothing to be shy about. A good servant takes good care of his good master."
"I can take care of myself." Bianka further dipped into the water and now her maid could see the tip of her nose with tiny bubbles forming around it.
The persistent maid further undressed herself until she only had a flimsy garment covering her top and a pair of short shorts covering her bottom. The cold breeze of the early evening immediately greeted her but its caresses did not make her shiver the slightest. Having worn the Argent Knight battlesuit all day she was still resistant to coldness and even to subzero temperatures. By the time she was done, Bianka's head was completely submerged with only the rising bubbles marking her presence.
The river water lapped at the maid's feet and rose up to her legs and thighs as she further advanced. She was fully determined to embarrass a certain someone who was scared of nudity. And so, she waited in the water until Bianka would swim back up.
Five minutes later, the calm water was disturbed again and a familiar face emerged from it.
"Gah!" Bianka gasped for air and swept back the wet hair strands clinging to her face. She heard a roar of laughter coming from her peers who were still bathing and then her eyes went to a half-naked and smirking Rita.
"Let me bathe you," her maid insisted.
"I'm naked!" Bianka snapped in a half-whisper before she hugged herself.
"I assure you, miss Ataegina, there's nothing extra that you have and I don't. We're both females." Rita brandished the bath sponge like it was a special weapon and Bianka shuddered. "Besides," Rita added in whispers, "I've already seen everything on multiple occasions."
"What!" Bianka stood up. "You, perv–" She stopped when she noticed that Rita's eyes were not on her face anymore, and she immediately covered her chest with her hands and sunk back into the water. "There's something I've learnt in Schicksal as a Valkyrie — women are pervier than men! Lots of strange things happen in the changing rooms, and I swore not to be part of their shenanigans."
It was Rita's turn to laugh at her. She spoke in undertones so that only her mistress could hear. "Apologies if I gave off such an impression. It is true that I've seen you butt-naked dozens of times, with all of them being in the least desirable moments."
Bianka glared at her, but she was more curious than willing to shut her up. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well..." Her maid hummed a tune, unsure of where to start. "Do you remember the time when principal Theresa Apocalypse confiscated your religious books and you became livid about it? Ever since that day, you were building up the perfect revenge plan against her. So one day, you instructed me to keep an eye outside while you infiltrated the principal's office. You swapped her Sunday sermon script with a centuries old erotic poem — I read it too by the way, and it is an exquisite and refined piece on the anatomy of love — but alas, the principal appeared in the hallway right at that moment. You were running short on time and about to be discovered a hand in the cookie jar, so you dived out of the window and forgot you were on the third floor. And of course, you fractured an arm."
Bianka raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... And I don't see how this has anything to do with me being butt-naked."
Rita smiled at her. "And do you recall the time a guy confessed to you in a Homu costume at the spring festival, and you were so embarrassed that you ran away and slipped on the stairs and fractured your other arm?"
"Um..." Her eyes shot back and forth from her smiling maid to her friends whispering and laughing among themselves.
"Shortly after, your monthly bleeding started. You did a veritable spectacle in the bathroom..." Rita went on, seeing the lost look on Bianka's face, "...and because both of your arms were out of use, I was the one who–"
Bianka covered Rita's mouth before she could finish and only incomprehensible muffles came out. "Okay, now I get it. I-I w-was a kid back then."
Rita was not sure if Bianka could blush even deeper than that because she looked as if all her blood had ascended to her face. Still, Rita removed Bianka's hand from her mouth and replied, "This happened a year ago."
"Rita!" Bianka growled in a fake anger.
At that moment the rest of the crew left their bath spot, completely unbothered by their nakedness as they fetched their towels and clothes. Bianka averted her eyes and kept her head down. Once they were alone Rita turned to her. "Your shyness is uncalled-for. I helped you dress and undress far too many times than I can count on my fingers. With all due respect, miss Ataegina, you smell. Your hair is still matted with dirt and blood. I'm only here to help."
She saw her mistress fidget for a moment, as if she was inwardly fighting with two voices in her head.
"Fine. Promise me you won't tease me first… and that you will only do my hair."
"Very well. I will not go against your orders."
Pleased with Rita's answer, Bianka turned and stood up in the water, exposing her skin that she sheepishly tried to cover with her long blonde hair. She did not understand why she felt so flustered around Rita now. Was it a side-effect of that dreaded phase of life called puberty? She waited in the cold for a few seconds, wondering what Rita was doing behind her back. Then she felt the delicate hands going through the length of her hair. She was accustomed to her maid's violent hair pullings when she would avoid the comb for a few days, but those same hands also showed how gentle they could be. As if on command, she shut her eyelids.
There was the sound of water drops, the sound of the waterfall crashing against the rocks, the constant gossiping and bickering of sparrows, the rustling branches, the odd crackling and crunching of dried leaves as curious animals stepped closer, the sound of her maid's breath against her skin...
Wait, what?
The forest grew a bit silent, or maybe it was just Bianka's overwhelming thoughts that dulled her senses. She was tired. The massages and head scratches made her yield to sleep. The maid was not sure how it was possible for someone to doze off while standing. Slowly, Bianka felt heavier with whatever Rita was applying to her hair. When her feet finally gave out, she unconsciously slumped into Rita's arms.
Had it been minutes? Hours? When Bianka woke up, she was still in the water and within Rita's embrace. Just as she was about to pull away, her maid gave her a grave look. Something was prying on them, camouflaged by the dark environment and silently observing. A Honkai beast? Bianka scoffed at the thought of it.
"I'll deal with it."
Rita held her arm. "I do not dare doubt your abilities, but let's be careful. As per its movement patterns, I can tell that this one comes from a special class."
Rita prudently stepped out of the river. There was not a sound now except for the whistles of the wind and its quiet whispers against the trees. The forest plunged them into darkness after the sun shed its last rays. Rita picked up her scythe and gave it a twirl. She activated her Genius compass, and at once, it shone a bright holographic image, bright enough to light their way back to the camping ground. "It seems that your clothes have disappeared. There are human footprints everywhere. Any suspects?"
Bianka let out a long tired sigh. "I told you. In Schicksal, women are pervier than men. How am I supposed to get out now? I don't have anything to cover myself."
"You may step out of the water. I assure you that I will not be bothered the slightest by some extra skin exposure. You're an ethereal beauty after all, one who needs no cloth for embellishment and whose sole existence enchants this forest."
"Rita!"
"I jest. You may take my long vest. What I'm wearing right now should suffice."
The beast from the shadows sprang at her the moment Rita picked up her vest. With one swift motion, Rita turned and blocked the attack, but she was surprised by the length of its claws. She staggered backwards in a drunken motion and raised her scythe at the strange creature, only to realise that her hand was dripping of her own blood.
The beast hissed, its body rigid, fur puffed up and back arched with the tail held high. When it saw the second human, it gnarled and hopped at its new target with open claws and menacing pink eyes aimed at the throat. However, with a single fling of the hand, it was projected several metres in the air before it landed straight into the cold river water.
"Heaven! Rita, are you okay?"
An otherworld in the middle of nowhere — it was how brave travelers called this forest with a name lost in translation. Athwart the scenic waterfall was more foliage and brambles leading to a thorny labyrinth path. Yet, the forest was forgiving enough to not starve or kill its intruders. The Immortal Blades had pinned this location as a resting point with bountiful resources and with the weakest Honkai beasts. A place free from the claws of death, according to Ragna. A place reawakening romantic feels and poesy, as per Rita. But to Bianka who made eye contact with the beast, this forest was hexed.
She stood in front of her maid in an offensive stance, using her fists as her sole weapons. From the agitated water emerged something that completely bewitched her.
It was a cat. Its overgrown fur stuck to its very thin body with all the water it absorbed, and altogether it looked like a wet mop head with four legs and a skinny tail.
"Err... Is that the Honkai beast that attacked you?"
The small animal further shrunk in size at the sight of Bianka and pulled its ears back as the tall human walked forward. Instead of just trembling or staying immobile in the face of death, it got a weird idea that discarded all of its predator instincts — it retracted its claws, laid flat on its back and meowed.
Rita stood quietly in disbelief when her mistress squealed and gave a tummy rub to the frolicsome Honkai beast.
"Apologies, miss Ataegina. I seem to have lost my bearings in the darkness. Now that I have regained them, please allow me to end this vile Honkai critter on my own."
Bianka felt something around the cat's neck. She drew out a broken collar. There was no name tag to it, only a strange code.
Rita held her scythe closer to the cat. She pointed at its tiny fangs and paws and tentatively tapped its tail with her scythe's long handle. The cat shrieked. It drew out its claws to scratch her again but Bianka held it firmly. The cat yelped some words in its own feline language, probably cursing the human who dared touch its tail. Rita retorted with more threats.
"Erm, I think we can deal with kitty in another way." Bianka lowered Rita's scythe with one finger. "We're bringing it back to HQ. Lord Otto would be fascinated by an animal capable of entering and leaving its Honkai beast state."
Much against Rita's wish, they sneaked the troublesome animal into the camping ground. The only person they had to absolutely avoid was Ragna because she was strict on eliminating all infected creatures. Alas, their leader's perceptive eye caught them.