Shikime Natsu, unhurried and unrushed, started off and, following Kushida Kikyou, made his way back inside that tool box.
Accompanied by a soft "thunk," the door of the tool box was once again pulled shut, and the inside plunged once more into darkness.
Kushida Kikyou turned around. Those eyes of hers — eyes that even in the darkness still betrayed a hint of damp moistness and a faint blush — were staring fixedly at Shikime Natsu with a trace of wariness.
"Are we good now?"
She kept her voice low, her tone carrying a hint of unease.
"So… what am I supposed to do next?"
For Kushida Kikyou, this had already taken quite a bit of courage to muster.
Shikime Natsu's gaze fell on Kushida Kikyou's body, and then he spoke softly.
"First, take your clothes off."
On hearing such a blunt line from Shikime Natsu—
Kushida Kikyou's entire being instantly went rigid. Even though she'd already had her suspicions and had prepared herself, deep down, for being taken advantage of by Shikime Natsu — at this very moment, hearing Shikime Natsu say something like this, a flush of indignant shame inevitably welled up in Kushida Kikyou's heart.
That already somewhat rosy little face of hers flushed bright red in an instant — it felt as if blood was about to come dripping out of it.
"You… you said what?!"
Kushida Kikyou ground her teeth and glared death at Shikime Natsu, those eyes of hers brimming with refusal.
"Take my clothes off? Is that absolutely necessary?"
She couldn't help but throw the question back at him.
"You're not deliberately fishing for an excuse so you can take advantage of me, are you?"
"Earlier on, when you were making me smaller, you didn't ask me to take off my clothes at all — you just pressed straight through the fabric! How come now, when it's time to put me back, suddenly the clothes absolutely have to come off?!"
Faced with this volley of accusations and suspicions from Kushida Kikyou—
Shikime Natsu, far from getting angry, just gave a relaxed little chuckle.
"Kikyou, you're wronging me here."
He spread his hands open, his tone carrying a touch of innocence and helplessness.
"The precision of the stimulation needed to re-expand and restore is far higher than simple compression."
"If you, Kikyou, really feel that this is too much to bear, and want to stick to keeping your clothes on, doing it through the fabric…"
"That, of course, is also fine."
"Only — going through the clothes, I can't guarantee that the pressure points will be hit a hundred percent accurately. In which case, if the restoration doesn't go well — for example, the two sides end up different sizes, or only one half restores at all…"
He looked at her, and offered the addendum in the lightest possible tone.
"For consequences like that, I absolutely will not be taking responsibility, you know. After all, I gave you fair warning ahead of time."
All this complicated business — Kushida Kikyou understood none of it, and had no way of knowing whether it was true or false. But this much she had figured out: today, she had been thoroughly cornered and squeezed by this Shikime Natsu fellow.
In the darkness, Kushida Kikyou bit down hard on her lower lip.
Different sizes on each side? She'd rather end up A-cup than that.
Kushida Kikyou, no matter how much resentment and humiliation she felt in her heart, at this point and in this moment had no choice but to swallow it down and resign herself to her fate.
She drew in a deep breath.
"I… I get it."
She gritted her teeth, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum.
Then, she lifted her head, those eyes brimming with shame and fury looking at Shikime Natsu, and forced herself to ask:
"Then… do I need to face you?"
Watching this side of Kushida Kikyou — clearly itching to grind her teeth in hatred and yet having no choice but to meekly compromise, that bashful little look about her—
Shikime Natsu couldn't help but let out a quiet little laugh inside.
"Not necessary. I can do it from behind."
Hearing this from Shikime Natsu, Kushida Kikyou couldn't help but let out a small breath of relief. Even though it was all 'massage' either way, having it done from the front versus from behind still felt like two different things — at the very least… at least Kushida Kikyou wouldn't have to watch this Shikime Natsu fellow putting his hands on her body.
Kushida Kikyou slowly turned around, presenting her thin, slender back toward Shikime Natsu.
After all — if it came to having to stand in this cramped, sealed-off space, in front of a member of the opposite sex her own age, and outright take off her clothes…
She had never, from childhood all the way to now, ever put herself into such a defenseless state in front of any boy her age!
Kushida Kikyou drew in a deep breath, doing her utmost to keep her hands from trembling too badly.
"Natsu…"
With her back to him, her voice carried a note of warning.
"When you're working on me later, you'd better keep yourself in line. Absolutely do not pull any unnecessary moves!"
On hearing this warning — bold on the surface and trembling inside—
Shikime Natsu, standing behind her, gave a soft little laugh.
"Naturally."
"As for any of those other unnecessary little things, I won't be doing them. You can put your mind perfectly at ease."
"You'd better."
Kushida Kikyou shot back coldly.
But in truth, in her heart she had no confidence whatsoever.
The Kushida Kikyou of right now — even if she wanted to sneer inwardly at Shikime Natsu for being some unworldly little virgin, just to give herself a bit of a morale boost — she was completely incapable of doing so.
Because she knew perfectly well.
This Shikime Natsu fellow already had four girlfriends. He absolutely was not some clueless little fledgling.
Kushida Kikyou slowly lifted both hands and gripped the hem of her T-shirt — slack and loose now that it had lost the support beneath it.
Then she pulled the top down.
The pale, fine-grained skin of the girl's back — smooth as the finest mutton-fat jade — was, in an instant, exposed to the air.
That graceful pair of butterfly bones, that slender waist — picked out by the faint light, they gave off a kind of allure.
Having completed this first step—
Kushida Kikyou's breathing had already gone a little ragged.
Her two hands went around behind her back, her fingers trembling ever so slightly as she, awkwardly and unfamiliarly, fumbled her way to the metal clasp of that close-fitting piece of underwear.
With a soft, clear "click,"
Her smooth shoulders quivered slightly in the cool air despite herself, and even her voice came out with a tremor she couldn't quite hide.
"You… you can go ahead, right?"
With her back to Shikime Natsu, biting down hard on her lower lip, she forced the question out.
"Mm."
Shikime Natsu gave a small nod, granting her an affirmative reply.
Then he extended a hand and laid it against the girl's back.
As for the matter of reaching directly around from behind — that Shikime Natsu did not do.
Kushida Kikyou couldn't help but screw her eyes tightly shut, long lashes trembling violently in the dark.
The next second, she felt with crystal clarity Shikime Natsu's large, warmth-suffused hands settling directly against her back.
"Mngh…"
The instant that warm touch reached her—
Kushida Kikyou's body abruptly stiffened, and a faint, small whimper she couldn't suppress escaped from her throat.
As things went a step further, Kushida Kikyou felt her own body seeming to grow hot, her breathing thickening without her noticing it. Those cheeks of hers, already flushed to begin with, now went so red it really did look as though blood were about to drip out — even her slender neck and round little earlobes were stained with an extremely enticing shade of pink.
Along with the spreading sense of feverish heat—
That originally flat, empty front of hers actually began to produce a distinct, swelling sensation.
That feeling — it was as if something there was, right at that moment, rapidly regrowing and inflating all over again.
A short minute or two later—
Kushida Kikyou could feel, with extreme clarity:
The familiar weighted sensation on her shoulders, and that heavy, pressing fullness on her chest—
They were back!
Several minutes more passed.
Under the wave after wave of tingling numbness and feverish heat washing over her—
Kushida Kikyou felt as though every ounce of strength in her body had been drained dry, her legs gone soft, on the verge of simply slumping right down onto the floor of this cramped little tool box.
She could only, with difficulty, brace both hands against the metal wall in front of her, barely keeping herself from sliding down to the ground.
"All done."
Just as Kushida Kikyou was about to collapse, Shikime Natsu withdrew his hands and spoke to her.
"It's finished."
Hearing this from Shikime Natsu, Kushida Kikyou couldn't help but let out a breath, and then, flustered, dropped into a crouch and quickly threw her clothes back on.
Once she had done all this, Kushida Kikyou's gaze fell on Shikime Natsu. The girl's cheeks were quite ruddy at this point, but those eyes were still glaring death at Shikime Natsu.
"What happened in here tonight — you absolutely must take it to the grave. You are absolutely, under no circumstances, to tell anyone else! Otherwise…"
"I'll make you regret it!"
Having left Shikime Natsu with this string of warnings, Kushida Kikyou abruptly thrust out a hand and shoved the door of the tool box open with full force.
Then she made her getaway in a hurry, not looking back even once, going at a small jog straight toward the direction of the stairwell.
The night sea breeze did at least cool Kushida Kikyou's overheated cheeks down a little.
Soon enough, Kushida Kikyou was back in her own room. The two roommates of hers were still awake inside.
"Kikyou-chan, why are you back so late?"
Mei-Yu Wang noticed Kushida Kikyou and, unable to help herself, asked with a touch of puzzlement.
Kushida Kikyou's expression from the way home — embarrassed and exasperated — switched in an instant into a sweet, gentle smile.
"Earlier, when I was up on the deck, I bumped into a friend and ended up chatting with them about a few things. Before I knew it, I was running a little late getting back."
Kushida Kikyou smiled and launched into her explanation in an utterly relaxed tone.
Mei-Yu Wang and the other Class D student of course had no reason to doubt what Kushida Kikyou said.
Once she had finished her explanation—
Kushida Kikyou didn't linger long in the room. She smoothly shifted the topic and asked:
"By the way — there's no one in the bath at the moment, is there?"
Upon getting Mei-Yu Wang's affirmative reply that "no one's in there," Kushida Kikyou immediately fished out a change of clothes from her suitcase, then turned on her heel without hesitation and briskly walked into the bathroom attached to the guest room.
With a small "click,"
The bathroom door was firmly bolted shut.
It was only at this moment that Kushida Kikyou could let out a real breath of relief, and then she started peeling off her clothes. When she caught sight of the wet stain, Kushida Kikyou's face once again, helplessly, went scaldingly hot.
The massage that Shikime Natsu had just given her had actually drawn that kind of reaction out of her?
It was mortifying! This was utterly, completely mortifying!
If word of this ever got out — she might as well jump straight off this cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean and drown herself!
When her thoughts reached this point, Kushida Kikyou — her whole person, like a boiled shrimp — went so utterly red in the face that even her long, slim legs were trembling faintly.
But thankfully — no one else knew about any of this. Only… when Kushida Kikyou thought about how, inside that tool box, she had basically been groped all over by Shikime Natsu — it really was beyond humiliating.
Especially the way her own goods had been made bigger and smaller within Shikime Natsu's control — that was an experience Kushida Kikyou had never once had in her life: utterly humiliating, utterly infuriating.
But… Kushida Kikyou also had no choice but to admit that during the time Shikime Natsu had been massaging her back, she had genuinely felt extremely good.
Even more comfortable than getting a spa treatment — Shikime Natsu's palms, his fingers…
As Kushida Kikyou thought about that, that pretty little face of hers helplessly flushed bright red all over again. She hurriedly cranked the shower handle on,
and just let the warm stream of water lash with abandon against her body.
Under the cover of the loud rush of the water, she silently, savagely, over and over again, cursed Shikime Natsu in her heart.
"Scum!"
"You disgusting pervert!"
Inwardly she swore a quiet oath.
One of these days — sooner or later — she absolutely was going to make this Shikime Natsu fellow pay a painful price for his despicable behavior today!
A good half hour passed.
By the time Kushida Kikyou had finished her bath, changed into clean, fresh pajamas, dried off her hair, and walked back out of the bathroom—
She felt as though her entire mood had eased quite a bit.
At the very least, that lingering feverish, shameful heat that had been wrapped around her heart had been thoroughly washed clean away by the running water.
She lay down on that soft, comfortable big bed and looked up at the ceiling.
She quietly admonished herself in her heart.
Next time.
Next time, if she had to face this hateful Shikime Natsu fellow again—
she absolutely, absolutely had to be more careful, and absolutely could not let herself fall so easily into one of his impossible-to-guard-against traps and snares ever again.
Carrying this fierce sense of guardedness along with a faint, barely-perceptible trace of weariness—
Kushida Kikyou, who had been put through it for the better part of the night, finally, slowly, closed her eyes and sank into a deep sleep.
...
The next day, in the morning—
The sunlight scattered itself in dazzling brilliance over this luxurious cruise ship sailing across the sea.
The students, having gotten through the grueling Survival Exam, after enjoying a peaceful night's sleep, were now coming out of their cabins one after another to enjoy this cruise ship's extraordinarily abundant amusement facilities and free food offerings.
Since this was a stretch of relaxation time following the end of the exam, the teachers in charge no longer engaged in any strict supervision, letting the students move about freely across every area of the ship.
Late morning.
Shikime Natsu, who had slept until he had woken up of his own accord, was dressed in a set of casual clothes, leisurely strolling along the cruise ship's shopping and observation promenade.
In one hand he held a chilled drink he had just bought at the coffee bar. As he walked, he was enjoying the view of the deep blue seascape beyond the porthole windows.
And it was precisely at this moment.
A short distance ahead of him along the corridor.
A familiar figure — sporting that signature blonde side-ponytail, petite in build yet stylishly dressed — entered Shikime Natsu's line of sight.
It was Class D's Karuizawa Kei.
What surprised Shikime Natsu a little, though, was this—
The Karuizawa Kei right now, right at this moment, was not behaving the way she usually did at school.
She wasn't chattering and shopping away in a tight little female clique with her classmates Satou Maya, or Matsushita Chiaki, or any of those girls she usually got along with so famously.
Instead, she was on her own, both hands cradling a cup of milk tea, head bowed, looking as though she were turning over something in her mind, slowly walking along the corridor.
Seeing this scene, Shikime Natsu thought about heading over to say hello to Karuizawa Kei. But just as he was about to take a step, Shikime Natsu caught sight of the head-bowed, walking Karuizawa Kei colliding head-on with another girl walking the other way and knocking her over.
The girl who had been bumped over — Shikime Natsu recognized her — was from Class C.
____
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🔥 New history: A Martial Arts Master Will Never Be Humiliated
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