Chapter 354

"My shirt is all wet..."

Looking at my face, then down at her own clothes...

Hiyori stole glances at me, darting her eyes around as she brushed off the unabsorbed raindrops. She was clearly hyper-aware of what I had just done.

'Our Hiyori... she has an absolute gift for teasing others, but direct physical contact leaves her completely flustered.'

'Of course, she's only reacting like this because she completely failed to anticipate it, but she's still cute.'

"Yeah. Completely soaked."

"This is all because you told me to come out, sunbae-nim."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm joking. The wind is really..."

"Strong. Let's just head inside somewhere for now."

Hiyori was relatively fine thanks to my protection, but I wasn't.

Taking the storm head-on had soaked my shirt and pants all the way through, and my face looked like a drowned rat's.

I roughly shook the water out of my hair, pulled the sleeve of my T-shirt down, and wiped my face.

Hiyori chuckled in disbelief and scolded me.

"Hey, what are you doing? You're going to stretch out your shirt...!"

"It's fine."

"Idiot. You're an idiot."

"You're calling me an idiot just for this?"

"I just wanted to say it. There's a multiplex cafe on the third floor of this building—want to go? It says they have shower facilities, too."

Hiyori was studying a promotional poster plastered on the side of the building.

I nodded, resigning myself to the situation, and answered.

"Let's do that."

With that, Hiyori and I took the elevator up to the third floor.

The multiplex cafe we visited was partitioned into different sections: one side for comics, another for PC gaming, and a third for console games.

As a bonus, the entire place was divided into private rooms so customers could have their own personal space.

'It's been a long time since I visited a cafe like this.'

'It suddenly brings back memories of kissing Miyuki.'

'We did it in a place with an interior a lot like this one... I wonder if I'll end up doing something steamy with Hiyori today, too.'

"How long are we staying for?"

"An hour, to start? We'll leave if the rain stops, and if it keeps pouring, we can add more time."

"Okay. Do you want to play a game? Or read comics?"

"Comics."

"Are you going to read dirty comics?"

Instead of dignifying that nonsense with an answer, I flicked the slightly drooping cowlick on top of her head. Then I paid for the room and shower fees at the counter and turned to head toward the washrooms.

Just then, Hiyori stepped up beside me and pointed at a vending machine against the hallway wall.

"They sell underwear here. Don't you need to buy some?"

Just as she said, the vending machine was stocked with underwear.

'What a well-prepared cafe.'

'They must get a lot of customers rushing in from sudden downpours.'

"Why would I buy that?"

"Isn't your underwear wet?"

'Oh man...! Wet...'

'If you say dirty things like that in a place like this, you have no idea what might happen while we're reading comics.'

'Bad girls need to be punished.'

"It's not wet. And keep your voice down when you talk about stuff like that."

"I was being quiet..."

"Stop talking back and go wash up."

"Okay. See you later."

Waving brightly, Hiyori turned and headed for the women's shower room.

'What am I going to do with that girl? She's only lewd on the outside.'

'I'll have to give it some serious thought while I shower.'

"You're already done showering?"

Hiyori asked as she stepped into the room with a few comic books in hand.

Sitting on the soft mat, I looked up at her face. Her makeup was still perfectly intact, and I tilted my head in confusion.

"Yeah. But did you even shower? Why does your hair look exactly the same?"

"I did. I just washed my body."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't get that wet?"

"Is that so...? Your hair's going to smell, then."

"Hey, what are you talking about...! It does not! Want to take a sniff?"

Hiyori plopped down on her knees on the mat and thrust her head right in front of me.

Catching the faint scent of lemon wafting through the air into my nose, I pushed her head away with my hand.

"It doesn't smell, so back off and go read your comics."

"How can you answer without even smelling it?"

"I smelled it. It doesn't."

"See?"

Looking triumphant, Hiyori stuck her nose in the air and leaned against the wall opposite me.

She stretched out her already long legs, her toes coming to rest right against my pelvis.

'Did she completely forget how embarrassed she was a few minutes ago?'

I clicked my tongue inwardly as I watched her settle into a comfortable position and open her comic book. For now, I decided to focus on my own reading.

But as time passed, my concentration quickly plummeted.

Hiyori's fresh lemon scent kept tickling my nose.

The room wasn't very well ventilated, which made the fragrance even more intense. I was exerting maximum effort just to suppress my rising arousal.

I was killing time, pointlessly flipping pages and pretending to focus on the comic, when—

Poke.

I felt a slight prick against my waist.

Wondering what it was, I looked down to see Hiyori's toe resting against my waistline.

"You could just call me. Why poke my waist?"

"You touched my waist earlier, sunbae-nim."

'So she had been conscious of it.'

'Just a little while ago, she was making the most demure face imaginable, and now she's acting all bold again.'

'She wasn't showing it, but she was definitely still embarrassed.'

"No, I did that without thinking..."

"Anyway, you touched it, right?"

"I suppose I did. Is this your revenge?"

"Yes."

I watched Hiyori's toes wiggle as she gave her honest, shameless reply.

Unlike a typical round shape, her long, straight big toe—much like Chinami's—was truly pretty.

'It makes me want to pop it in my mouth and suck on it. I kind of want to tickle her cute soles with my fingernails, too. I'll have to wait for the right moment.'

"Matsuken."

Her call pulled me out of my thoughts. I collected myself and replied.

"Why did you drop the 'sunbae'?"

"I'm not in the mood for it."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes. Is the comic you're reading any good?"

"So-so. Yours?"

At that, Hiyori waved the romance comic she had been reading.

"Mine isn't so good. Is it still raining?"

"You can hear the rain, can't you?"

"I'm asking if it's coming down hard."

Pulling back the curtain slightly, I saw that it was still pouring relentlessly outside.

'It's coming down so hard there might even be a flood.'

'If it's still raining like this by evening, I'll have to go pick Miyuki up.'

"It's pouring. The sky's completely dark, too."

"Then I guess we'll be stuck here for a while?"

"We'll see about that."

"The rain reminds me of the last time we ran into each other."

"Last time? Ah... you mean the day you were taking shelter from the rain under a tree?"

"Yep. You tried to share your umbrella with me then, just like earlier today. Same goes for the day we fed the cats. Now that I think about it, it feels like it rained almost every time we bumped into each other."

'I'm glad she remembers those days so vividly. It seems she truly considers them fond memories.'

"Now that you mention it, I guess you're right."

"Yep. But how did we run into each other so perfectly? Are you stalking me, sunbae-nim?"

"Stop spouting nonsense."

"Okay, okay. Pass me that remote over there."

Hiyori, having opened her book again, used her toes to point at the remote control sitting on the desk.

I shot her a baffled look before suddenly snatching her slender, pale ankle.

I set my book down and used my free hand to jab my finger right into the center of her sole.

"Hyaaah...!"

Struck by an intense tickle, Hiyori curled her toes up tight.

Chuckling inwardly, I scolded her.

"Who taught you such bad manners?"

"What bad manners...! I didn't even put my foot on you...!"

"Pointing at things with your toes isn't bad manners?"

"If we're close enough, it's... Ah, it tickles...!! Stop it...!!"

The moment I started tickling her foot in earnest, Hiyori burst into screams of laughter.

She twisted and thrashed wildly, desperately trying to pry herself out of my grip.

"Stop...! Stoooop...!! Hyaaaah...!"

Smack! Smack!

She smacked the mat repeatedly, switching between fake sobs and boisterous laughter. The second I finally let go of her leg, she collapsed face-down and gasped for air.

Completely exhausted in that short span of time, her slumped body was visibly flushed.

'Her skin is so pale to begin with, the blush is glaringly obvious.'

'Just like how her ears turned red earlier... that's our Hiyori. Her body temperature skyrockets whenever she gets worked up.'

"Haa... haah..."

'Watching Hiyori pant like that is subtly... no, blatantly erotic.'

'It might be because she took off the shirt I gave her.'

I grabbed one of the Blankets provided in the room and tossed it over her, placed the remote by her head, and stood up.

"I'm going to order drinks while I head to the restroom. What do you want?"

"Huu... nothing...!"

'Always trying to take the lead, only to get completely wrecked by a single counterattack, instantly losing the upper hand and getting mad about it... What should I call this?'

'It's... incredibly arousing. Honestly, it might just be because the way she's sprawled out right now makes it look like we just got completely down and dirty.'

"Are you sure? I'm only buying for myself, then."

"...No. I want something... Get me a Cherry Coke..."

'It's hilarious that even while sulking, she doesn't just ask for "anything" but places a very specific order.'

'Our gluttonous Hiyori... She mentioned wanting to lose weight. I'll just have to help her burn off those calories with some sensual physical exertion soon.'

"You're getting lemonade."

"Why? If you were just going to choose anyway, why did you even ask...!"

"Because I feel like it. Stop acting up from now on."

Hiyori turned her head to the side, peering up at me through half-lidded eyes.

Then, she muttered under her breath.

"You're ugly..."

"Why, I ought to..."

I sluggishly raised a hand with zero real threat behind it, causing her to instantly throw the Blanket over her head.

Even facing absolute defeat, she still refused to let me win. I lightly—very lightly—patted her Blanket-covered head.

"It's just because you're looking from below."

Pretending that her insult had actually bothered me, I tossed out that one line and left the room.

Right before the door closed behind me, I thought I heard a snort—a slightly unrefined but clearly delighted laugh. Was it just my imagination?