Cuteness

"Kirisu-sensei, bear with it; it might hurt a bit."

Homura carefully observed the extent of the swelling and decided on his massage technique.

Mafuyu, still bewildered by him suddenly taking off her shoes, finally regained her senses.

"Oh... I see..."

Though her words made it seem like she still hadn't fully come to her senses.

Homura's palm slowly grasped her foot.

"Kyaaa!"

A super cute squeal escaped Mafuyu's lips.

Hearing that sudden squeal, Homura's heart skipped a beat, almost breaking his professional demeanor as a doctor!

"Why, God? Is she not sexy enough? She seems to have claimed cuteness on top of everything else!" Homura couldn't help but complain to God in his heart.

Haru, watching the two humans with a strange look, had a question mark written all over her face.

"Kirisu-sensei, please bear with it." Homura took another deep breath and began improving her blood circulation.

"Mmh!"

Was it just his imagination, or did her cute squeal sound even cuter now?

Upon realizing that, Homura's hand trembled. Of course, his massage hand remained steady, while any trembles were forcibly transferred to his other hand.

Sensing Homura's hesitation, Mafuyu, her face turning red, also began controlling her voice.

And so, the massage continued.

Homura couldn't help but feel that whenever he was alone with Mafuyu, his willpower was constantly put to the test!

"By the way, Kirisu-sensei, are you really scared of bugs?"

Homura started a conversation while massaging her to calm himself.

Upon hearing his question, Mafuyu instantly tensed up.

"Well... umm, that's right... It's a bit embarrassing for a teacher to be like that, isn't it?"

"Nah, most girls are afraid of bugs, right? It's not that strange. Even if most guys might not be afraid of them, they still feel uncomfortable seeing them." Homura responded, shaking his head.

'Most guys seem to be afraid of flying cockroaches though...' Homura added inside his mind.

Hearing his words, Mafuyu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although it was true, she still wanted to keep that 'afraid of bugs' matter a secret from her students.

A moment later, Homura asked with a curious voice.

"By the way, how do you deal with bugs at home?"

He was genuinely curious, not pretending to be. He had been curious when he was watching the anime, after all!

When cockroaches appeared in Mafuyu's apartment, it was the protagonist who helped her deal with them, but what about before that? Did cockroaches never appear before? Could it be their appearance was purely a plot device to assist the protagonist to get closer to her?

It was really better not to look too much at the anime, but Homura truly wanted to know.

"Pesticide..." Mafuyu's killing intent was intense as she spoke. "Spray the entire apartment with pesticide, then stay outside for a night."

Hearing her answer, Homura was stunned!

Staying outside for a night? Wasn't that too excessive? That wasn't something an ordinary person could do!

They continued chatting like that from time to time, but most of Homura's attention was focused on massaging Mafuyu.

However, as Mafuyu watched Homura earnestly massaging her ankle, she began to feel strange.

Why was her heart beating so fast?

'No, no! I shouldn't think too much! It's only our second meeting! Besides, we're just a teacher and a student...'

And so, Mafuyu's face continued to change color.

===

Twenty minutes later.

"Kirisu-sensei, try standing up."

Homura, who had been squatting all this time, sat down to relieve his slightly numb legs.

Mafuyu looked at her ankle in amazement.

The swelling on her ankle had completely disappeared!

However, she didn't immediately get up. After cautiously testing it and feeling no pain, she slowly stood up, and after taking a few steps, her eyes lit up.

"Impressive. I can't feel any pain at all."

"Even though it doesn't hurt now, you still need to be conscious of taking care of it and get some extra nutrients to recover quickly, got it?" Homura suggested.

His massage wasn't a direct cure; if her ankle suffered another impact, the swelling would return!

Mafuyu nodded in understanding and turned to look at her messy room, her eyes twitching.

"I think I should help you tidy up the room, Kirisu-sensei..." Homura stood up and rolled up his sleeves. "By the way, it's not good to have stuff stacked like this. Just considering the gaps between them, it's easy to attract those bugs you dislike the most. You wouldn't want them appearing in your home frequently, right? So, it's better to constantly tidy up your stuff."

Actually, Mafuyu had already packed the trash. It was just the way the garbage bags were casually stacked, while items strewn all over the floor and bed were actually useful items. They just needed some sorting and organization.

Tidying them up would be relatively simple.

Homura casually picked up a piece of clothing that had fallen on the floor but twitched his brow upon seeing a menacing bra underneath.

Homura quickly glanced sideways, looking at Mafuyu, who had panicked and awkward expressions.

He shook his head with a wry smile.

Twenty minutes later, Homura had finished organizing everything at lightning speed!

Following that, he spent another fifteen minutes doing some cleaning.

During the process, he encountered two cockroaches. Despite being heavily obstructed, he managed to successfully exterminate them.

After half an hour of hard work, Homura wasn't even sweating.

"See? If you don't tidy up your place regularly, it's easy for those bugs to show up."

Homura remarked with a smile as he looked at Mafuyu who was feeling increasingly embarrassed.

Although bugs still appeared even if she tidied up, the quantity would be much lower. But no matter what, it was good enough if she tidied up her room from time to time.

"...I understand." Mafuyu shivered and nodded, but whether she could actually do it remained to be seen, as laziness had become her habit.

Since it was already a little after four in the afternoon, Homura decided to lend a hand all the way.

"Kirisu-sensei, do you have any cooking ingredients at home?"

"Not really..." Mafuyu shook her head. "Most of the time, I order takeout."

"Alright..." Homura shrugged. "I'll go buy some ingredients, so please wait for me."

"Oh, and you, Haru, wait here with Kirisu-sensei!"

After saying that, Homura went to the exit and disappeared.

Mafuyu and Haru exchanged silent glances.

"Surprising. Minamiya-san really is an extraordinary person." Mafuyu muttered while stroking Haru's head.

"Meow? (Is this human talking to me?)" Haru meowed as she looked at Mafuyu's face. Observing Mafuyu's face for a while, Haru turned her head away and began licking her paw.

"Do you think so too?" Mafuyu spoke again.

"Meow~? (It does seem like she's talking to me... but what is she saying?)"

One human and one cat.

They seemed to be having a rather cheerful conversation, didn't they?