“Wooooo.” A noise came from Suu’s mouth, but he wasn’t sure if she was trying to talk or if it’d been shaken out of her by the vibrations.
“Ahhh…feels nice…” Kimihito said from atop her.
Her current round shape made it feel more like sitting on a giant flan than a liminal. The moment he sat down, she sank around him like memory foam so he’d be evenly supported. A passerby might have mistaken her for a clear, green sofa.
“You’re…too stiff…sir…let me…help…” said Suu.
“Where’d you learn that line?” Doppel asked. A lot about Suu was a mystery, including how she managed to speak while she was a massage chair. “Whatever. How’re you feeling, Buddy? Our makeshift chair giving any results?”
“Ahhh…” Kimihito repeated, vibrating so intensely that he couldn’t speak even if he wanted to—and he didn’t want to.
Doppel chuckled. “Yeah, you’re gonna be useless after this.”
With his whole body sunken in the slime, he felt weightless. He had no idea how she did it, but Suu had formed a mass like a firm rubber ball that pummeled the knotted muscles all over his body. “Awesooome,” he groaned.
“You’re a strange, depraved creature, Suu. I can’t underestimate you,” Doppel said.
Suu was always a quick study. When she first arrived, she’d been unable to speak, but she’d learned bit by bit until she could attend study meetings with Mero and Rachnera. Just by inspecting the massage chair, she’d been able to change herself into a copy with similar features. Her mind—or the slime equivalent—was incredible.
“Is Suu awesome? Is Suu smart?” she asked.
“Yeah…yeah…you’re awesome… I’m gonna fall asleep…” No sooner had Kimihito said it than he started to doze.
“Master, you can’t sleep yet—”
“Man, that slime’s got more tricks than I do,” Doppel remarked.
“Are ye incapable of a feat such as this?” Lala asked.
Doppel silently bowed her head. “I can become any person I like, but changing into an object? Inanimate stuff is next level.”
“I see.”
“Think of it as Suu’s special move,” she said, watching the Suu Massage Chair rumble harder and smiling. “She’s got him taken care of. We could go home, if we wanted.”
“I remain tied to this place,” Lala said.
“Was there something you wanted to do?”
“Hm?” Lala hid her mouth in her scarf. “Rumor has it, the other homestay girls outdid themselves. As a shinigami, me name would be forever blackened were I tae skive off work. If our fate is tae tend this poor soul, then so be it. Here I will remain.”
“Ah ha? Oh ho? Is that it? Or do you just want to repay him for taking care of you?”
“Hmph!” Lala responded indignantly.
All the while, Kimihito drifted in his slime paradise, unable to hear them. Suu’s massage power was so overwhelming that he had even forgotten the concept of work. Nothing meant anything anymore. There was only the chair.
Suu, though, was busy analyzing their surroundings. There were several other patients at the relaxation facility. An oni used a massager on herself, and two other liminals—an eel-like mermaid and a centaur—were receiving spa treatments.
Then she saw an osteopath who was treating some sort of harpy. It was a logical treatment for a harpy to choose, since keeping their wings correctly aligned was so important. “Suu wants to try…that,” she said.
“Huh?” Kimihito said.
“Suuthe Master. Fix Master’s body.”
Kimihito had no time to react—Suu’s surface liquefied, and he dropped through. He was surrounded by her green gel with only his face exposed.
“Hey, uh, Buddy?” Doppel said.
“Just. Wait. Okay, Master?” Suu said. A loud crack followed.
“Aaaaaugh!” Kimihito screamed as she twisted him. It sounded like his bones were being broken.
“H-hey! Buddy! You okay?!” Doppel lost her cool.
“Ohhh man—this hurts!” Inside the gel his joints bent in unusual directions.
Suu continued to twist him, testing a variety of angles, ignoring his cries. “It will feel good soon,” she said.
“Ohhh myyy Goood,” he groaned, his voice as inhuman as his current pose. Terrifying cracks and snaps continued to reverberate around the hospital.
Doppel and Lala both stared at the scene in shock, not sure what to do. If they weren’t careful pulling him out, his body could get stuck in a weird position.
“Now. It’s good,” Suu said as she finally released Kimihito. Her work finished, he floated to the top, and she turned back into a massage chair.
“Th-that—was—terrible,” Kimihito gasped.
“Buddy! Hey! Are you alive? Did she break any bones?” Doppel asked.
“Uh—well—huh—?” He rolled onto his feet. He at least looked intact. His movements were smooth. “I feel kind of…light.”
“Suu did an adjustment,” Suu said.
He rolled his shoulder experimentally. Then he jumped a couple of times. Moving his arms and legs suddenly felt easy. “Suu! This is great! I feel light as a feather!”
“Suu did it right?”
Yeah—her massage made him feel the best he’d ever felt! Stretching himself out, he gave each of his joints a try in turn.
“Whoa! I’m jealous. Good job, Suu,” Doppel said.
“Hee hee. ♪”
“It hurt a bit while it was happening, but—do you want to try too, Doppel?” Kimihito asked.
Doppel shook her head. “My body’s built completely different from a human’s. It won’t work.”
“You want to? You want to?” Suu wriggled her whole body like a pudding on a plate. She was eager to try again.
“May I?” Lala asked, raising her hand. She removed her head, set it on a nearby table, and sat her body on Suu.
“Wooooo~!” vibrated Suu.
Lala’s body twitched and quivered. “Ahhhhh…like magic…” her head sighed.
“Suu…will make Lala…relax, too…”
“Could get used tae this…” She let out a moan like she was experiencing the greatest pleasure of her life.
“So much for being here to help Kimihito,” Doppel said. “Guess it’s up to me. Shall we head to the bath?”
“The bath? Why? What’re you planning?” he asked warily.
“You’ll see. Look forward to it. While you’re getting changed, I’ll prepare.”
“Prepare…?”
Doppel, despite her nurse’s uniform, was wearing a very un-nurse-like evil grin. Knowing how much she liked playing practical jokes, he took it as a bad omen. “It’s fiiine. It’s a proper hot spring. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
Since there weren’t many places like this that catered to liminals, it made sense they’d have every possible relaxation option under the same roof. “I guess?” he said. A bath did sound like the perfect follow-up to that massage.
He allowed her to push him towards the bath area.
“Ahhhhh…ohhhhh…yessss…” Lala’s moans reverberated behind them as they left.