Massage 2

"Then, shall I give you a massage, Kujo-senpai?"

"You don't have to."

After dinner and bath, Airi suddenly spoke up.

Minato had a record of causing trouble last time when he fell asleep. So this time, he firmly refused, but Airi raised her eyebrows unhappily as if she was dissatisfied.

"It's been more than a month and a half since your last massage. You should be getting one soon."

"Actually, I've been doing it myself while Ninomiya takes a bath, so my body is fine."

It wasn't a lie. Minato secretly studied it, thinking that he should do it himself after reflecting on his previous experience.

He thought it might complicate things if she found out, so he did it while Airi was taking a bath, and apparently, she didn't find out.

When Minato explained the reason, Airi stared at him with a fierce look in her eyes.

"Well, you certainly don't seem to be as exhausted as you were last time. You're quite adequate, aren't you?"

"Don't be rude, I studied hard. Besides, Ninomiya must be tired after the sports festival, right?"

"I've already slept, so I'm fine."

"I don't think that's a good reason to let you massage me."

As he was making excuses to Airi, she turned her face down.

"…Did you hate my massage that much?"

"Eh? No, that's not what I meant."

Although Minato didn't see her expression, her voice sounded trembling as if she was about to cry.

It was not fair of her to suddenly sound like that.

"Can I do it then?"

With no expression on her face, Airi asked for permission.

"Ahh, fine. I get it."

Minato couldn't say no in this situation, and he couldn't let her cry either, so he gave her permission as he scratched his head.

This time, Minato told himself he had no other choice. It wasn't because Airi's massage felt good, and he didn't think it was because of his weak will either.

"Thank you very much."

Airi looked up and had a very radiant smile on her face. The crying voice from earlier was nowhere to be heard.

"…You tricked me, didn't you?"

"What do you mean? Come on, please lie down on the futon."

Minato didn't think that she would want to trick him into giving him a massage.

He hadn't thought that Airi would do such a thing at all, but perhaps she was really worried about Minato's health.

Normally he would have felt frustrated at being tricked, but somehow Minato's heart felt happy.

As before, he laid face down on the futon and rested his chin on the pillow.

(It smells really good.)

The sweet flowery smell of Airi was bad for an adolescent boy.

While calming his mind, he thought that if he remained still, it would start, but it still hadn't yet.

"Ninomiya, what's wrong?"

"Kujo-senpai, would you like to play a game?"

"A game?"

Minato asked Airi if there was something wrong with her, but she replied with something strange.

There is no such thing as winning or losing in a massage, so Minato wondered what they were going to play about.

"Yes. If senpai falls asleep before an hour from now, I win, and if senpai stays awake, senpai wins. How about that?"

"Why would you do that?"

"It's fine. Are you perhaps backing out?"

"…What did you say?"

Although Minato didn't know what Airi's purpose was, he wasn't so cowardly as to back down under the agitation.

And moreover, she had fooled him so beautifully earlier that he felt defeated if he backed down now.

In the first place, Minato was given a proper massage last time because he was very stiff.

This time, even though he was tired after the sports festival, his body wasn't as sore as last time, so he should be fine.

"All right, I'll take that bet."

"Thank you very much. By the way, the loser has to do one thing for the winner."

"Hey, don't make it a punishment game!"

"Yes, yes, here I go."

That punishment game would not be appropriate for a man and a woman to play, and it was coming from the girl's side. Minato tried to stop her, but she forcefully started.

She seemed absolutely confident as if she was going to win.

Minato would have to do whatever he could to win and not let her have her way with him. With that in mind, Minato took the massage with renewed determination.

Airi touched Minato's body. Last time felt good, but this time, it felt much better.

Her gentle voice hung from behind his back.

"How does it feel?"

"Not good. You'll have to work harder."

"I see, so it feels good."

"…How did you know?"

"You don't usually talk like that, Kujo-senpai. So it was easy to tell."

Minato didn't want to admit that it felt good because it was a game, and he was also upset that he had been tricked earlier, so he lied. However, he was immediately found out, and Airi chuckled.

But still, it felt really good.

"It's very different from last time."

"I studied hard, though I only had the knowledge. I was worried until I actually did it, but from the looks of it, I think everything is fine."

When Minato asked Airi about it, she said that she had been studying hard.

Although he was too stubborn to admit it earlier, Minato felt that he should be grateful for this.

"It feels great. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He could hear her voice sounding very happy.

As he surrendered himself to the massage, he began to feel drowsy and wondered how much longer it would last.

"Ninomiya, how much longer?"

"About twenty minutes. You can go to sleep, I won't ask you to do anything strange. I promise."

Indeed, if he thought about it, Airi never made unreasonable demands without a reason.

That's why even if he lost the game, he would be fine.

When Minato relaxed his body, he suddenly became sleepy and wondered where his earlier determination had gone.

Airi has always done so much for Minato. Although they've only been together for about two months, he couldn't express his gratitude enough to Airi.

"Thank you for everything, Ninomiya."

"Me too, thank you for everything."

Minato thanked her with his mind that was not working, and she replied in a whispered voice.

With those words, he finally let go of his consciousness.

Minato woke up to the sensation of someone touching his head.

Last time, Airi kept massaging him, but apparently this time she was touching his hair.

"Sorry, I was asleep."

It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, but her hand stopped when she heard Minato's words.

Feeling a slight sense of regret, Minato sat up.

"Good morning, and no problem. And I guess I won the game." (T/N : Shouldn't actually be morning though…)

Minato took the match because he got caught up in Airi's antics, but then, he easily fell asleep.

He trusts her enough not to say anything unreasonable, so there should be no excuse.

"Yeah, it's my loss. Tell me anything you want."

"Right, then, senpai, please sleep on the futon with me."

"…What?"

Airi's eyes were serious and she didn't seem to be joking. However, Minato didn't think it was something a girl should say.

When Minato was unable to say anything, she looked at him with a worried expression.

"You can't sleep on the floor. Even though I'm massaging you, it's still not good for your body."

"That's no good, Ninomiya. Wouldn't it bother you to have a man sleeping next to you?"

It would be wrong for a man and a woman who are not even in a relationship to sleep together on the same futon.

Although they were living together, and she had a somewhat trust towards Minato, Airi, who didn't want to get involved with any man, shouldn't want to do such a thing.

"Don't worry, I don't mind. I'm more worried about senpai sleeping on the floor."

Shaking her head, Airi denied it, but usually, most people are wary when it comes to sleeping together.

And Minato thought she was more cautious than most people, but perhaps he was wrong.

"For God's sake, you should care more about those things. Don't you think I'll do something?"

"Kujo-senpai would stop if I say I don't like it, and in the first place, I don't think you would do anything strange."

"…Did I do something you didn't like? I'm sorry."

Minato thought he was being considerate in his own way, but it seemed that he had made Airi uncomfortable.

"No, that's not true. You've never done anything I don't like. That's how much I trust you."

"That's glad to hear, but, sleeping in the same futon… I knew it, it's just not possible."

Minato was seriously depressed, and Airi impatiently denied it.

For a moment, Minato thought it would be okay to sleep with her if she trusted him that much, but eventually, he threw away that thought because no matter how much she trusted him, sleeping on the same futon with a beautiful girl was going to cut into Minato's reasoning.

Then, her eyes narrowed in a huff.

"Senpai, you lost, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Losers always follow the winners, don't they?"

"Usually, yes."

"…Senpai?"

"Anything but that, please."

When Minato was in a mess, Airi tilted her head and looked at him with a straight face.

Scary, Minato thought.

Airi brought up the matter of punishment for the game, and Minato couldn't back out. Sincerely, Minato asked her to change the punishment, eventually and reluctantly, she agreed.

"Hah, I understand… As for another request, I can't think of any right now, so can I ask for it later?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"I've got your word, don't forget it."

She smiled at him, and it was strangely powerful. It might have been the first time Airi had smiled at Minato like that.