Chapter 122: Massaging Rena-chan

After soaking in the bath, Kitahara felt slightly tired, so he chose to lie down on the bed for a while.

On a rainy day, it was perfect for sleeping in!

Hayami Rina, on the other hand, was even more exhausted, but she couldn’t rest at this moment — it was almost lunchtime, and she needed to go make lunch.

By the time lunch was ready, Kitahara-kun would have rested enough and would probably be hungry.

She needed to make sure he could enjoy lunch immediately upon waking.

As a dedicated housewife, taking care of Kitahara-kun’s daily meals and living was her most important job.

Although under these special circumstances she would feel very worn out, all the hard work was worth it.

Dragging her tired body, she shuffled out of the bedroom. Passing by the study, Hayami Rina opened the door and peeked inside, planning to call her younger sister to help her.

After all, she was truly too exhausted at this point.

Even simple cooking and rice preparation would be a struggle.

“Rena-chan, you’re not drawing? Perfect timing — come help me prepare lunch!”

Hayami Rina saw her sister standing by the window, staring outside in a daze, and said happily.

She had been worried about disturbing her sister’s drawing.

She hadn’t expected her sister to be spacing out — wonderful!

“I’d like to draw, but could I possibly? Big Sister, you… ugh! Fine then!”

When Rena-chan saw her sister, her heart was full of complaints. She had wanted to grumble a bit to make her sister tone it down.

But considering she was currently staying at someone else’s place and making them accommodate her, it wouldn’t be right to say anything, so she swallowed her words.

She obediently went to cook with her sister.

“Wait, Rena-chan, don’t walk so fast — help support me…”

…

Rena-chan saw that her sister looked exhausted, her footsteps unsteady, a pitiful and miserable sight, and felt somewhat heartache.

So she took over all the lunch preparation work entirely.

She urged her sister to go rest properly.

However, Hayami Rina still couldn’t quite set her mind at ease.

Although her younger sister was usually obedient and sensible, her cooking skills still needed improvement. The food she made might not suit Kitahara-kun’s tastes.

She couldn’t rest easy.

After thinking it over, Hayami Rina decided to supervise personally.

So she moved a chair to the kitchen doorway, sat down on it, and began directing her sister’s cooking work.

“Little Sister, let’s make four dishes! Steamed grape shrimp, spicy stir-fried beef, a stir-fried vegetable, and a seafood soup — put plenty of ingredients in the soup. It’s gotten colder, so let’s eat more warm food.”

“Huh? Aren’t grape shrimp meant to be eaten fresh? Such a precious ingredient — steaming it would be a waste, wouldn’t it?”

“Kitahara-kun doesn’t like them fresh. Just steam them.”

“Okay!”

“Big Sister, honestly, I really envy the relationship between you and Kitahara-kun. Your sweet way of living together makes me feel really good too. You think of him in everything and accept everything about him. And he has the ability to give you a happy life, and his personality is so good — so considerate and gentle. You two seem like you have no worries at all…”

Rena-chan said with emotion as she took ingredients out of the fridge and handled them.

Hayami Rina shook her head upon hearing this:

“It’s not that there are no worries! Rena-chan, you’ve seen it too — I have a really hard time. Sigh, every time I face this kind of situation, I feel especially troubled. For me, dealing with Kitahara-kun every time is a huge challenge. Sometimes I even feel like maybe I’m just not capable enough, which is why handling everything is so exhausting. But no matter how hard it is, I can only grit my teeth and keep going — after all, I can’t give up easily. So Rena-chan, don’t look at me like I seem all relaxed on the surface — in reality, my heart is already filled to the brim with these worries.”

“…”

“Rena-chan, why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t you like talking?”

“…”

Hayami Rena felt a bit withdrawn.

Why was her sister so annoying? Her lips were curved so high, and who knows how delighted she was inside, yet she still claimed to have worries.

Hmph, do you even deserve to use that word?

…

After finishing lunch, Kitahara and Rena-chan went to the study to work.

It took about an hour for Kitahara to organize the entire story of “The Sky of Fate” and write it out for Rena-chan.

Then, he guided her on some drawing-related matters before starting to create his own novel.

Outside, the autumn rain pattered down, as if it had no intention of stopping.

Raindrops gently tapped against the window, producing a crisp and rhythmic sound.

The study window was slightly open, and that tiny gap allowed the cool autumn wind to slip into the room, while also carrying in the moist sound of rain hitting the ground.

The study was quiet, with only the two of them silently buried in their respective work.

At this moment, the only sound that could be heard in the entire space was the “swish swish swish” of pen tips rubbing against manuscript paper.

The sound was sometimes faint, sometimes hurried, like a secret conversation quietly unfolding.

Every slide of the pen tip was the flow of thought.

Every line of text that appeared was the crystallization of inspiration.

In this quiet study, time seemed to freeze, with only words and images continuously growing and spreading…

Who knew how much time had passed — Hayami Rena put down her paintbrush and, while admiring the draft she had just completed, gently pounded her shoulder with her fist.

She had maintained the same posture for too long, and half her shoulder felt sore and numb.

“What’s wrong, Rena-chan? Is your shoulder hurting?”

Kitahara Chiki had just finished writing a paragraph at this moment and was thinking about how to develop the next plot when he saw this and spoke up.

“Huh? Sumimasen, did I disturb Kitahara-kun? I’m fine — it’s just a little discomfort,” Hayami Rena said somewhat apologetically.

“No need to apologize. I was just thinking about taking a break anyway. Your shoulder is uncomfortable? Here, let me massage it for you, Rena-chan. I know a little about massage too!”

“Nani? No, no, how could I trouble Kitahara-kun with something like this? I can relieve it myself with a little pounding.”

When Hayami Rena heard Kitahara proactively offer to massage her, a look of surprise appeared on her face, and she quickly shook her head to refuse.

Although she had felt favorably toward Kitahara from their very first meeting, something as intimate as a massage still felt inappropriate to her.

After all, Kitahara Chiki was her sister’s lover.

And they had only known each other for a short day or two — having physical contact so quickly would inevitably feel somewhat abrupt.

“It’s no trouble at all. Come on! An uncomfortable shoulder is really unpleasant — Rena-chan, you can experience my massage skills for yourself!”

Without taking no for an answer, Kitahara rose and came up behind Hayami Rena, placing both hands on her somewhat delicate shoulders.

Then he slowly applied force.