Nagasaki Soyo fell into deep thought.
Rarely was her mother not at home.
In the spacious mansion, it was only her and Kaito alone.
It seemed... there really wasn't a more suitable time than this.
("Love is like a war, Soyo. If you hesitate, you'll lose.")
Thinking of her mother's past teachings, the brown-haired girl's gaze gradually turned resolute.
———
Kaito sat on the sofa in the living room, chatting with Mutsumi.
Originally, he hadn't wanted to disturb Little Cucumber's rest. The girl who usually slept early, however, took the initiative tonight to message him, asking about how much longer he'd be.
When Kaito had left, he only said he had something to handle. Because he was in a rush, he didn't explain clearly.
Now that everything was settled, there was no need to hurry. He briefly summarized what had happened just now before replying to Mutsumi:
[Soyo is a little scared and wants me to accompany her at home for the night, so I can't go over tonight.]
[So it's Soyo...]
On the other side of the screen, Mutsumi seemed to fall silent for a while. The chat window displayed "Kaito-kun is typing," but a reply didn't come for a long time.
After waiting four or five minutes, two new messages finally popped up.
[I see.]
[Good night, Onii-chan.]
For some reason... even though it was a very calm reply, Kaito seemed to see through the screen the green-haired girl's wronged yet understanding little expression. Like a wife whose debauched husband didn't return home all night, and the meek, introverted wife could only choose to tolerate, even reminding him to rest early and not stay up late.
It gave him a... subtle feeling of guilt.
'No, that metaphor doesn't make sense, right? After all, I only regard Mutsumi as a younger sister. Mutsumi, perhaps because she lacked love growing up, just treats me as a reliable older brother.'
'This is family affection, the purest, most innocent kind of family affection."
Shaking his head to dismiss all these messy thoughts, Kaito was just about to reply "Good night," when a small cry of pain suddenly came from the nearby bathroom.
"AHHH..."
———
"So painful…", Nagasaki Soyo frowned her beautiful willow-like brows slightly, looking at the bruised mark on her knee with an expression of wanting to cry but having no tears.
Back in the karaoke booth, because she had tried to stop Sayaka, she had accidentally fallen. It hadn't seemed too serious at the time, just a stinging pain at the point of impact.
On the way back, the novelty of flying had pushed the pain out of her mind.
After arriving at the bathroom, her head was full of the gratitude plan for later, leaving no room to consider other things.
Who would have thought that once she finally made up her mind and was about to dry her body, she'd forget about the knee injury, and pressed directly on it.
The pain was secondary.
The key point was... in her current condition, even walking was a struggle, let alone performing any strenuous activity.
'Such a rare opportunity, is it going to be wasted because of my own recklessness?'
Soyo was very annoyed.
'But now, it is too late for regret.'
She tried to stand up by herself, but after struggling for a long time to no avail, she had no choice but to endure the pain and say in a slightly trembling voice: "Kaito-kun… could you… come in for a moment?"
———
This wasn't the first time Kaito had entered a girl's bathroom.
A certain seemingly ordinary lady had also, due to being possessed by demon energy, been unable to move and had to ask him for help.
However, that time Yukino was wearing a bathrobe, with all her private parts well covered.
This time was different.
Soyo's figure, compared to that lady's, couldn't exactly be described as vastly different, only as heaven and earth apart.
Plus, due to the sudden nature of the event, she couldn't even stand steadily, naturally, there was no way for her to put clothes on by herself.
She could only cup her hands slightly in front of her chest, her pretty face tinged with red, using her body as the final line of defense.
But this method was merely like drinking poison to quench thirst.
Some places simply couldn't be covered, and this cupping motion only made certain parts more prominent.
Kaito subconsciously looked away.
He wasn't the same icy man from before who kept all women at a distance, still, he knew not to look inappropriately.
Noticing his slightly uncomfortable reaction, the brown-haired girl was a little shy, but a trace of joy also flashed in her heart.
'It seems… my figure was still attractive in Kaito-kun's eyes.'
With this thought, she hesitated a moment, then silently put down her arms, no longer attempting any pointless cover-up.
At that moment, Kaito had just squatted down to examine the wound and didn't notice the girl's movement.
"It's just a superficial wound, no damage to the bone… If this happens again, just tell me directly instead of foolishly enduring it."
Clearly she seemed like the gentle and elegant type, brimming with feminine charm like a mature housewife.
'Who would have thought that Soyo-san would have such a reckless side?'
'How should I put it… strangely endearing?'
As he spoke, Kaito didn't forget to pass a strand of spiritual power into her body, then looked up.
"Alright, you can try standing up now. See if it still hur—", His voice suddenly stopped.
Because he was squatting, from his perspective, he could clearly see… the girl's most precious view.
Sparse grass and the valley.
That was the first thought that came to his mind.
'So Soyo-san isn't just brown-haired on her head.'
That was the second thought that came to his mind.
"How fascinating!"
Soyo hadn't realized her greatest vulnerability had been exposed, still immersed in her gentle surprise.
She had originally thought that the wound on her knee might ruin tonight's gratitude plan... but she hadn't expected it to be resolved so easily.
The previous bruises were gone without a trace, replaced by smooth and tender skin. Even that unbearable stinging pain had disappeared completely.
'Doctor Kaito, your healing hands bring spring!'
She slightly bent her knee to test it, and after confirming that she felt no more pain, she looked happily toward Kaito, just in time to meet his gaze.
Soyo suddenly realized something.
A flush of cherry pink quickly spread across the porcelain-white cheeks of the girl, like peach blossoms in full bloom in spring, dazzling and moving.
The atmosphere in the bathroom grew so quiet that they could almost hear each other's heartbeat.
"Since it's already better…", Kaito coughed lightly, "Then I'll head back to the living room first…"
Although what happened wasn't his intention, now that it had happened, staying here would only embarrass Soyo more.
Better to give her space to calm down.
But… the idea was good. In reality, he ran into trouble.
Just as Kaito turned and took one step, his wrist was grabbed.
"Kaito-kun," The girl's suppressed voice came from behind, carrying a soft grievance, "You… saw everything, didn't you?"
"…Yeah."
"So," A soft sensation came from his back. A strand of smooth brown hair fell to his chest, and a slightly sweet breath was close to his ear, "Are you… trying to run away?"
[T/N: I felt a great disturbance in the internet as if hundreds of zippers were suddenly opened.]
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