Hikari originally thought that after he said that, Sayako would get embarrassed, stop him, and then leave.
But maybe she had already mentally prepared herself before coming here, because Sayako actually had no intention of stopping him. Instead, she giggled and said, "Sure. It's not like Auntie hasn't seen your body when you were little anyway. Back then I even helped you take baths, remember? At that time, that girl Miyuri was still fighting with me over who got to lather you up with soap. Do you still remember?"
While listening to Sayako talking, Hikari also heard the footsteps behind him getting closer and closer.
Sayako was actually walking over toward him.
"Eh? Aunt Sayako, what are you trying to do?", Hikari turned his body slightly and glanced back at Sayako, who seemed to be trying to sneak up on him from behind.
Apparently not expecting Hikari to actually dare to turn his head, Sayako got caught in that fleeting instant of eye contact, first giving a little start, then her cheeks flushed bright red as she stammered, "Y… you, what are you turning around for! T… turn back! Auntie just wants to thank you a little, that's all!"
Hearing the panic in Sayako's tone, Hikari, although he had no idea why this widowed woman was acting so easily embarrassed, acting far less guarded than her words suggested, still obediently turned around again and kept his back to her.
"Thank me? Auntie, thank me for what?", Hikari asked curiously.
"Thank you for helping Auntie clean up the izakaya just now of course. You helped Auntie clean up the izakaya, that was really tiring, right? It's so hard to scrub your back all by yourself when you shower, so Auntie came to help you scrub your back, just like when you were a kid," Seeing Hikari turn away again, Sayako relaxed a lot, and said with a smiling lilt.
Sayako's tone was very calm, as if this really was just an elder helping the younger one scrub his back.
But hearing Sayako say this in that soft, coquettish voice, Hikari suddenly felt a bit of a headache.
After all, he was not the child he used to be anymore.
And he felt this was a little similar to when he was at the Tsubakihara house.
Back at home, Miss Mira was always saying she wanted to help him scrub his back, or have him help her scrub her back.
All these older ladies, they all liked to pull this kind of move on him, huh?
While Hikari was thinking this, a soft, delicate hand coated in body wash was already rubbing across his back.
Looked like Sayako really hadn't been joking, she really was here to help him scrub his back.
Hikari thought about it. It was probably exactly as Sayako herself had said.
He had helped Sayako a lot today, and had even saved her a few times, so this could be considered a way of paying him back.
It wasn't really a big deal, and Hikari didn't want to make her lose face. Besides, having a beautiful woman's small hand helping scrub his back was indeed extremely comfortable.
So Hikari sat down on the little stool, making it easier for Aunt Sayako, who was quite a bit shorter than him, to reach his back.
Seeing Hikari cooperate and sit down, Sayako behind him showed a happy little smile on her pretty face.
Then she continued gently scrubbing Hikari's back in slow, careful motions.
While she scrubbed, Sayako's eyes naturally fell onto Hikari's back.
Looking at that inverted triangle back, her beautiful eyes couldn't help but reveal a strange glimmer.
'Hikari-kun's lats are so amazing!'
Even though Sayako, who was independent, self-reliant, and very mature, was long past the age where teenage girls are obsessed with looks, when she saw Hikari's back muscles that were already well-trained to begin with, and after his physique skyrocketed had become even more solid and sharply defined, she still couldn't help her eyes lighting up.
Just like how most men like looking at women with curvy figures, women are naturally defenseless when faced with a man's strong, well-built body too.
So when she saw those perfectly chiseled muscles, Sayako unconsciously swallowed.
'Hikari-kun has really grown up. He's long since not that little kid I could hold in my arms with one hand anymore, but a fully developed man.'
Once she clearly realized this, Sayako couldn't help but recall how Hikari had stood alone to help her drink for others, and bravely stepped forward to deal with the Ryusei father and son.
Even though she had already said thank you before, Sayako actually hadn't fully expressed her gratitude. The feeling of being moved in her heart was even greater.
At the same time, all of this made Sayako, consciously or not, add a lot of reliance on Hikari in her heart. It was the kind of reliance a lonely woman has on a dependable man.
So now, looking at this extremely impactful and perfect body in front of her, Sayako didn't even know why, she just felt her body heating up, her emotions surging.
The little heart beneath her chest kept speeding up, as if it was about to jump out of her throat, banging around like a crazy little deer.
"Aunt Sayako? What's wrong?"
Hikari felt the soft little hand that was scrubbing his back suddenly stop moving for quite a while, so he asked in confusion.
He could hear her slightly heavier breathing, and he didn't hear the sound of Sayako leaving the bathroom either.
But he hadn't felt Sayako moving for a while, so he couldn't help asking.
And after hearing Hikari's question, Sayako, who had just come back to herself from her daze, hurriedly replied, "N… nothing! I'm just squeezing more body wash!"
"Squeezing body wash takes that long?", There was doubt in Hikari's tone.
Sayako didn't explain further. Her pretty face couldn't help flushing even redder, and as if to cover it up, she reached out her hands again and started scrubbing hard over Hikari's back.
She really couldn't bring herself to say it, or let Hikari realize that just now, as an elder, she had been staring at his perfect muscles and drifting off into indecent thoughts.
As for Hikari, he didn't think too much or keep asking. He just closed his eyes and continued enjoying the massage from those soft, pale hands.
But Sayako, who mechanically scrubbed his back behind him, already had her thoughts floating far away.
"Today Hikari-kun didn't just help me clean up the izakaya, he also helped me out of so many tight spots." [T/N: Ahem!]
"The way he helped me drink and downed that huge bottle of soju all at once, he really looked so cool, like the main character in a drama. At that time, even though I felt really worried and my heart ached, why did my heart start beating faster for some reason? It's just… just because I was worried about him, right?"
"Later, Hikari-kun even got into a fight with that bastard Ryusei father and son because of me. Thank goodness Hikari-kun is strong, otherwise if he had gotten hurt I would have been heartbroken…"
"And then today Hikari-kun helped me so much. As a way of thanking him, just scrubbing his back definitely isn't enough. So how should I repay him properly."
Sayako fell into conflict and distress.
"If it's money, Miss Mira is much richer than I am. Hikari-kun definitely doesn't lack money to spend, right? I'm just a widowed woman running an izakaya, I feel like I don't have anything I can take out to repay him with, it's really headache-inducing."
"How about…"
After racking her brain for a while, Sayako finally seemed to come to some sort of decision.
Just as Hikari was enjoying having a mature young widow scrub his back, he suddenly felt the soft hands behind him stop again.
Before he could open his mouth to ask, he heard Aunt Sayako's voice in his ear.
"Um, Hikari-kun, Auntie wants to ask you a question. I don't know if you're comfortable answering," Sayako asked.
"Auntie, just ask," Hikari replied casually.
"It's just… um… your, you know… first kiss… do you still have it?", Sayako asked.
Hearing this question, Hikari fell into thought.
The answer was actually beyond question. His first kiss had long since been gone.
Even not counting that time in the taxi with Natsuha, when thanks to his silver tongue they unexpectedly kissed, and all the girls afterward.
Back when he was very li*tle, Miss Mira had already snatched away his first kiss under some pretext.
He had even just kissed with Miyuri in her bedroom before coming to the izakaya.
So rather than asking whether his first kiss was still there or not, it would be more meaningful to ask when it was gone.
Because he hadn't expected Sayako to suddenly ask such a strange question, Hikari didn't answer immediately while he was thinking. He was silent for a while.
Sayako read too much into this. Seeing him quiet for a moment, she quickly said, "I'm really being silly. Hikari-kun is so pure and reserved, and you've never even dated before, so of course you haven't tried those things yet. I shouldn't have asked, sorry."
"It's fine, Auntie, actually my first kiss has long been…", Hearing what she said, Hikari was about to tell her the truth, but halfway through his words, he was cut off.
Sayako smiled and said, "It's okay, Auntie won't care whether you've dated or not, and won't make fun of you just because you haven't had a girlfriend yet. Auntie just wants to thank you for helping me so much today, that's all."
"?"
Looking at Sayako, who clearly had him labeled in her mind as a pure, shy boy who hadn't dated yet but was pretending to be a seasoned love expert out of embarrassment, a few question marks popped up over Hikari's head.
Sayako kept chattering on, "Anyway, Auntie wasn't asking because I want to tease you, it's just to thank you."
"It's that you basically saved Auntie several times today, so what Auntie wants to say is, how about… how about letting Auntie teach you, let you experience what it feels like to k-kiss a woman…"
By the time she got to the end, Sayako's mature and beautiful face was already as red as a cherry, and her tone was stammering from shyness.
Before she spoke, Sayako had already rehearsed in her head, thinking she'd firmly made up her mind. But she hadn't expected that once she actually said it out loud, it would still be so mortifying.
And hearing that Sayako was basically set on passing along her experience in dealing with girls as a way to repay him, Hikari also felt a bit of a headache.
He felt like for Sayako, the main point wasn't on "teaching," but on "thanking," instead.
If you flip the genders, there was a bit of a sense of some older uncle trying to take advantage of a y*ung gurl who had helped him out.
So Hikari didn't go on to say that he already had plenty of kissing experience and didn't need lessons. Instead, he turned his head slightly and glanced at the ring on Sayako's ring finger, then asked, "Auntie, you really don't need to repay me for helping you. And isn't this way of repaying me a bit…"
"Is this kind of way of thanking me really okay?"
Sayako had still been feeling shy just moments ago, but seeing that Hikari was also hesitating, she suddenly felt a strange surge of courage.
"Could it be that Hikari-kun looks down on me because I'm a widow?", Sayako pouted.
"Yeah, after all, Auntie is old and withered, and you're young and strong. Just touching me must make you feel gross for a long time, right? Must have felt really uncomfortable having me scrub your back."
Hearing Sayako's self-pitying tone, Hikari smiled helplessly, "That's not what I meant. Aunt Sayako is beautiful and cute, with astonishing charm, that's why beasts like the Ryusei father and son are attracted to you. Aunt Sayako's charm is beyond doubt. How could I ever look down on you?"
Sayako immediately wrapped her arms around his waist, "Since Hikari-kun doesn't mind, then… then there's no problem."
"I… I just want to show my gratitude to you, Hikari-kun, that's all."
"You're so young. When you get close to girls in the future, you'll probably be all grabby and scare them, so Auntie is giving you lessons."
"And besides, I'm your elder, your aunt. Me teaching you how to ki*s and such is perfectly normal, right?"
Hearing Aunt Sayako's self-justifying explanation, which even sounded rather well-reasoned.
Hikari's expression turned a little strange.
'Why does this sound so cliche?'
Then he remembered, these lines were pretty much the same as what Aunt Miyuri had said to him earlier today.
'As expected of long-time rivals, the two of them really do have things in common.'
'And all these older ladies really like this sort of logic, huh.'
'Even though it feels pretty bizarre.'
But since such a beautiful Aunt Sayako had already worked up her courage and so boldly said this to him.
Of course Hikari couldn't really refuse and make her lose face.
Facing Sayako's beautiful eyes that were both shy and looking straight at him, Hikari nodded readily, folded his hands over his lap like he was surrendering, and obediently said, "You're right, Aunt Sayako. Please teach me."
"Pft!", Seeing Hikari's serious face as he earnestly asked for instruction, Sayako first couldn't help but laugh, then her pretty face flushed red again.
"Close your eyes first!"
Hearing Sayako's order, Hikari slowly closed his eyes.
A pair of white, delicate arms then slowly reached out and wrapped around the back of his head.
Sayako took a deep breath, then slowly closed her own eyes too, and leaned her small, delicate face toward Hikari.
(╯3╰)
Smooch!
A crisp sound echoed in the bathroom.
As that easily suggestive sound rang out, Hikari slowly opened his eyes.
Right in front of him, Sayako's beautiful, enchanting face was flushed so red it looked like it was about to drip blood. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes beneath them were tightly shut.
She looked so shy she didn't even dare open her eyes.
But looking at this alluring profile of the beautiful young widow, instead of getting fired up, Hikari just felt a little helpless.
"Aunt Sayako, that was my eye. You kissed the wrong place," Hikari said a bit speechlessly.
Hearing that, Sayako forced herself to fight down her embarrassment and cracked her eyelids open just a sliver.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.