Pottery

Out of all the advantages of living near the beach, without a doubt, he could go fishing nearby.

However, he also loved the sound of the waves and the rustling sand on the beach. It was calm and made him sleepy, a perfect lullaby to sleep.

While he was doing pottery, he noticed Kendo entering his house.

It was a new moon, so his physical ability and sense didn't become stronger, but he put an infrared sensor on his house, so when one entered his house, he would be notified immediately.

If possible, he wanted to have a trap, barrier, or sealing-like ability, which could be activated automatically when certain conditions were met, such that people had malice toward him or something related.

If he could do that, he could also set it on his house in Kamakura to protect his parents.

He knew he might be overthinking since as long as the symbol of peace existed, this country would be peaceful, but he just didn't want to put the safety of the people he cared about to someone else.

"Minoru, are you here?"

Suddenly, Kendo's voice entered his ear.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? Why didn't you wear your clothes?!"

Kendo, who entered his studio, was dumbfounded when she saw he only wore his jeans pants without hiding his upper body. Her face was red, but she kept looking at him, thinking his body was good. She thought he was a slender type, but unexpectedly, his body was amazing.

The lines of his muscles were clear, and his back was broad and strong, making her feel that he was strong and dependable.

She wanted to touch his back, but his voice woke her up.

"I thought you wouldn't come here, and this is my house, alright?"

"Ah, sorry, did I bother you?"

Kendo was embarrassed and thought she had troubled him.

"No, it's okay. If you want, you can watch."

"Can I?"

Kendo seemed excited when she heard his offer.

"Sure, take that chair and sit down."

Mineta pointed at the chair on the side with his chin without stopping his hands.

"By the way, what about the thing that you forgot?"

When he asked this question, he didn't care whether she really forgot something or not. Instead, he thought about something else.

Kendo was startled and almost staggered, but she quickly said, "Ah, yes, I have brought it with me."

"That's good."

"Yeah..."

Kendo sighed in relief when he didn't continue to question her. After she sighed in relief, she took the chair and sat close to him, watching him. In the beginning, she was watching his face, but soon, she was attracted by the soft clay, which shaped into a cup at an unimaginable speed.

"I thought you were training, but you're so good."

Kendo praised, but she thought for a moment and asked, "Say, did you make the plates and cups in your house?" She felt the shape of the cup-shaped clay on his hand was quite similar to the cup in his kitchen.

"That's right."

Mineta nodded. "If you want, you can have it later when I have finished."

Frankly, his house was good since it was owned by a rich guy who wanted to try to become a hermit artist, but in the end, he gave up because he was scolded by his family.

By then, he was coming and leased the house so easily.

It might be strange, but before he leased this house, no one wanted to get it since the area of this house was weird, considering the studio area was so large that it almost took up half of the space of the land.

It would also take a lot of money for a renovation, so in the end, the owner just let it be the way it used to be.

Unfortunately, no one wanted to rent such a house until he came, and the owner of the house happily leased his house to him.

"You know what, I feel that I have troubled you so much."

Kendo knew that the reason why her life was so comfortable in this city, even without her family, was because of him. If he wasn't here, she was afraid she might need time to adapt to her new life.

Fortunately, he was there.

Unfortunately, while he was there, he was so far away from her.

"You're not. Honestly, it's fun for me to talk with you. You know, it's lonely to live here without our family, right?"

"You're right about that, but don't you want me to do something for you?"

"Hmm..."

Mineta looked at Kendo, who seemed ready to do anything for him, but he shook his head and said, "I don't have it now, but if I need your help, I will ask you, Itsuka."

"Sure, tell me anytime," Kendo said with a bright smile.

"...."

Mineta knew he shouldn't say this, but this girl was handsome.

"But you know, it seems so easy to do pottery. It feels like I can do it too."

The way he moved his hands and shaped the soft clay into a mug was so easy and smooth that she was confident to do the same.

"Do you want to try?" Mineta felt that this girl was looking down on pottery so much.

"Can I?" Kendo seemed eager to try.

"Why not? Take my place."

Mineta stood up and walked to the sink, and washed his hand.

On the other hand, Kendo sat down on his previous seat while facing the potter's wheel, waiting for him, wondering what she should do. However, while she was eager, she was disappointed when she saw him wearing his shirt.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, please teach me, Sensei!" Kendo joked around.

"Good, but I won't be lax with you. I hope that you can handle my tough training." His expression was solemn, as if he was ready to throw Kendo under the waterfall for spartan training.

"Please be easy on me, Sensei," Kendo said, pretending like she was a good student.

The two then laughed before he told her how to make pottery with a potter's wheel.

"Wet your hand, then push the pedal on your foot to rotate the wheel-head."

"Like this?"

"That's right. You're good at it."

Kendo showed a smug expression and said, "Hey, it's easier than I thought."

Mineta rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything. Still, Kendo was different from an ordinary girl. Usually, a girl would scream or show disgust when their hands were dirty because of the mud clay, but this girl didn't even care about her dirty hands. Instead, he could see she was excited.

Or maybe, it was her kink?

He wasn't sure, but he felt this girl was kind of perverted.

"Now, press the clay squeezed and pulled gently upwards and outwards into a hollow shape."

"Eh? Like this?"

While his explanation was clear, Kendo was confused since pottery was more complicated than she had thought, especially when she wanted to shape the clay into the shape she wanted, and in the end, the clay twisted into a weird shape.

"Is it easy?"

"...Can you not tease me?" Kendo pouted and complained, "Sensei, you're too irresponsible like this. You should teach me in detail!"

He looked at Kendo for a moment before he nodded. "Sure." He picked up his chair and sat right behind her.

"Eh?"

Kendo was dumbfounded when they were so close!

He was right behind her!

While their bodies didn't touch each other, it felt like they were hugging each other.

"I can teach you better like this, but if you don't feel comfortable, then I will move."

"...no, no, it's okay. If you can teach me better, then let's do it this way."

The blush on her face spread to her ears and neck, but she agreed with his offer.

"Okay."

His voice was calm and gentle. "Try from the beginning and push the pedal."

The twisted work of art was smashed into a rough ball of clay once again before she started to follow his introduction again.

"Like this?"

Kendo asked while subconsciously glancing behind to see his expression, but she didn't have time to do that since his following action made her heart race even harder.

"It's like this."

He held her hands and intertwined them together, helping to get the feeling of how to shape the clay into the right shape.

Yet it was hard for her to listen to his instructions.

Their hands were intertwined together, and they were covered by mud clay, which made their hands wet and sticky. Yet she could feel the warmth of his hands. Unlike her hands, which were cold, his hands were warm, and they were big enough to envelop hers.

However, slowly she forgot her shyness since the shape of the clay started to shape into something that she wanted to be. She was naturally excited and happy before she became engrossed in the process.

"Slow down the pedal. Don't be too fast."

Neither of them wore shoes or sandals, and they were barefoot.

Kendo, who pushed the pedal at her pace, was told to slow down by him.

"How?"

However, she just couldn't find the right speed.

"It's like this."

The pedal was quite broad, and it was enough for their feet to stay together.

However, his thumb hooked her small pinky so she could get the feeling of how fast she needed to push the pedal.

"Oh, it's even better!"

While she seemed excited, her heart was almost bursting, and all she could hear was her loud heartbeat since his every action made her heart flutter.

Yet she didn't want this to an end since they were close, closer than when he was with Ibara, which gave her exhilaration in her heart.

The two were together, shaping the wet clay into a mug, ignoring everything.

Only the voices of each other mattered.

She also lay on his chest, so she could have a more comfortable position.

On the other hand, he had a hard time calming himself. The smell of her shampoo and sweat from her neck mixed together gave a sweet yet strange pheromone, making him subconsciously hug her body tighter.

His hug might be tight, yet it didn't make her uncomfortable.

Honestly, the feeling of watching him be together with Ibara tightened her chest, yet the sensation which came with the guilty feeling, knowing what she was doing was wrong, made her heart almost crushed. She had a hard time breathing. Fortunately, her physical ability was better than most, so she was strangely comfortable with this feeling.

Yet this feeling, which almost melted her brain, she didn't hate it and was even thrilled with excitement.

However, even if they were so close, neither of them said a single word about their position, and they only focused on the mug clay in their hands since it was almost finished.

"It's done!"

When the mug of clay in their hands was ready, she couldn't help but cheer since the process was more challenging than she had thought. She also felt she should apologize to him for underestimating the process.

"It's done. You did a good job."

Hearing his praise, she beamed with a smile and subconsciously turned her head but was stunned when she realized he was so close that their lips almost touched each other.

Their eyes happened to meet, and they couldn't look away as if glued by a certain force.

This certain force also slowly extended toward their lips.

He stared into her teal-colored eyes, which seemed weak, but burnt with a fiery passion. He should hesitate, but her eyes burnt down all the hesitation in his heart.

She also stared into his eyes deeply, unable to avert herself from them.

It might only be for a moment, but at that moment, they just forgot about everything, closed their eyes, and closed the distance between their lips until they touched each other.

He hugged her, and she held their mud-clay-covered hands together, and neither of them let go of the other.

The sense of pleasure rushed from their heads to their entire body.

While the pleasure hadn't erased her subconscious, she thought she should apologize to Ibara since she knew she had done something unforgivable for her.

Yet, she couldn't change the fact that she loved him and she wanted him.