Chapter 355: Return Fire
Chapter 355: Return Fire
Translator: Reflet
Editor: ryunakama
“Yeah, you’d totally do that, Akiha.”
Aoba said with a pleasant smile after hearing Taiyou’s story all the way through. After everything had ended and Taiyou had returned home, he immediately went to Aoba’s room. Hugging her from behind in her pajamas, he had proceeded to sit on the bed and began talking to her about Akiha about how Akiha had fought alongside him as well as her wish.
“I agree.”
“So where is she now?”
“She went to Ruri’s room. Said she had a few more things to learn first.”
“Wow, really.”
“But that was a surprise, you know? I already knew that she probably had good reflexes, but dang! She knows how to fight, that girl.”
“I think this probably developed recently.”
“You mean her being able to fight?”
“Yeah.”
Aoba nodded. She leaned back against him.
“You see, Akiha was called the Wonder Child when she was little.”
“Wonder Child…ah, the same meaning as a prodigy.”
He didn’t typically hear such a word in his daily life, so it took Taiyou a moment.
“Yeah, it all started with an IQ test when she was a kid, and the results were crazy good.”
“Oh really now?”
Taiyou wasn’t entirely surprised. Akiha just felt like that kind of person.
“Still, up till now she’s been normal…ah, well, not normal exactly.”
“Yeah, she isn’t normal.”
Aoba giggled in agreement.
“She’s definitely not normal. No, it’s more like she hasn’t done anything up till now to make her look like a wonder child. Titles like ‘wonder child’ or ‘prodigy’ would better fit…Ruri, I’d say. Although Youran is also a bit like that…”
“But she’s more on the hard-working side, you know.”
“Yeah, it’s more like she feels like one because she’s doing her best to act like one. She knows when to change her mask, so to speak.”
“Yeah.”
She giggled again, knocking against his sternum with the back of her head as she responded.
“I think it’s possible that Akiha just didn’t have anything she could get serious about until now. She was smart and talented, but just didn’t have motivation, so she was just a normal—-ah, well not normal, right.”
Aoba accidentally said the same thing as Taiyou. He jokingly pinched her cheeks.
“So essentially, her talent is S Rank but everything’s a drag to her so she’s fine with staying at D Rank.”
“The heck are you talking about?”
“Just a manga reference.”
“Oh, okay.”
“But now she’s serious. That’s a good thing. Although I do feel a bit jealous at the fact that this is all for you.”
“No, shut up, you’re clearly not jealous.”
Aoba giggled.
“Nah, sure I am, just a bit.”
He put his hands in front of her eyes, making a ring with two of his fingers. He didn’t close the gap, instead just slightly opening his fingers a small millimeter.
Taiyou and Aoba flirted in her room, making him gradually feel the fatigue from a hard day’s work fade away. He always felt healed around her, never having to put up a bold front.
“Sniff sniff.”
“Yah! N-Natsuno-kun, what’re you doing?”
“This is a great smell. Same as Akiha’s, isn’t it?”
“Yeah…We found it when we went shopping earlier—-Hyan!”
“Yeah? What a nice smell.”
“C’mon, Natsuno-kun…stop—-rubbing your cheeks against mine.”
“Should I not do it?”
“I-It tickles…”
“It’s okay, I don’t intend to tickle you.”
“It’s what?—-yah!”
Aoba writhed inside Taiyou’s arms, saying things like that, but of course she didn’t actually dislike it.
“This is a great smell. Don’t let it run out, kay?”
“Eh? M-Mhm…”
Her face reddened all the way to her ears as she meekly nodded. She was being praised, sought-after…and he gave her what she wanted. The atmosphere became more lively, their breathing more ragged. She turned her head, giving him a suffocating expression, when–
“Let. Me. In. Too.”
They heard a voice from outside, accompanied by noisy footsteps getting closer until the door was opened with a bang. Standing there was Akiha in her pajamas, her skin a tinge of pink after a good shower.
“Let me iiin!”
“Akiha…”
Akiha zoomed into the room, hopping onto the bed. Her freshly washed straight hair emitted the same scent as Aoba.
“C’mon c’mon, let me, with Aoba—-”
She probably meant to only half-tease him, but what happened the next moment surpassed her expectations. Taiyou released Aoba from his embrace before pinning Akiha down, kissing her on the neck.
“Ahh…”
His mouth crawled, licking her as it made its way down slowly before his canine teeth gave her a sweet nibble. Now that her body was warm, Akiha became sensitive, giving a little twitch.
“Hey, Taiyou, where did this come from…”
“What do you mean?”
He lifted his head, licking her lips in the process.
“You’re the one who said you wanted to join in, right?”
“Yeah, I did, but, but…”
“You wanna join in, I make you join in. Now then, Aoba.”
“Yes?”
Aoba tilted her head.
Taiyou hugged Akiha from behind, turning to Aoba.
“Do me a favor and strip Akiha out of her pajamas.”
“Whaa?”
“Aoba, go ahead.”
“Uhh…”
“…”
Akiha was utterly silent. He was embracing her from behind, so he had no idea what facial expression she was making. However, judging from her squirming, she was probably expecting something quite grandiose.
As if understanding this, Aoba slowly, but firmly nodded.
“Yeah, okay.”
Aoba said.