Chapter 33
Tomomu Kanzaki had no choice but to comply, though his entire body stiffened where he stood, too afraid to turn around.
Behind him came the soft rustle of cloth, followed by the gentle splash of water being disturbed.
His mind involuntarily conjured the image of his teacher, completely naked and flushed with wine, stepping into the bath.
The next second, he pinched his cheeks really hard, forcing the stray thoughts away.
"A-Kan, come behind me."
"…"
Tomomu Kanzaki could only rely on memory to shuffle backward until he was behind Ruan Mei, eyes fixed straight ahead.
From this angle, even the slightest downward glance would reveal things he should never see.
It was too close.
He quietly took half a step back, keeping just enough distance that he could reach her shoulders with his arms fully extended.
Above the rim of the tub, Ruan Mei's bare shoulders were fully exposed in the misty steam.
The back of her neck was snow-white and smooth as satin, her skin flawless and delicate.
Her shoulders curved in soft, graceful lines, dotted with a few droplets of water that slid slowly downward, carrying a faint, healthy blush and a warm, lustrous sheen.
Tomomu Kanzaki had never seen anything like it. His face burned bright red on the spot.
This was completely inappropriate between teacher and student…
The feeling of teetering on the edge of something forbidden left his thoughts in chaos. He held his breath, hands frozen in mid-air, too scared to move.
"What are you waiting for A-Kan…? Hurry. Teacher's shoulders are so sore, Ruan Mei urged.
A sigh…
Tomomu Kanzaki let out a resigned breath, gritted his teeth, and steeled himself. His fingers finally touched her shoulders.
The sensation beneath his fingertips — soft, smooth, and supple — felt like caressing warm, flawless satin!
In that instant, Tomomu Kanzaki felt his heart would leap out of his chest.
"Your hands are burning, Are you okay? do you have a fever?"
"N-no, Teacher. Shall I start massaging your shoulders now?" At this point, it wasn't just his hands that were burning.
As a normal teenage, having a boner while massaging his Teacher who's a flawless beauty is supposed to be normal as a man, but as a student it's absolutely wrong!
"Mm."
He kneaded gently a few times before Ruan Mei spoke again.
"Too light."
"…How about now, Teacher?"
"Mmm~"
Ruan Mei let out a soft, contented hum. Her expression relaxed completely as she enjoyed her student's shoulder massage.
"That's perfect. Keep it just like that…"
Fifteen minutes passed.
Ruan Mei didn't tell him to stop, and Tomomu Kanzaki didn't dare make a sound, afraid of shattering the fragile calm he had only just managed to regain.
But he never expected that after half an hour, his teacher still hadn't spoken.
He hesitated, paused his hands, and only then realized she had fallen asleep.
Her breathing was steady and light.
This left Tomomu Kanzaki utterly conflicted.
What was he supposed to do now that Teacher was asleep?
He couldn't just leave her in the tub — it would be bad for her body.
After a long moment of indecision, Tomomu Kanzaki chose the middle path between doing nothing and doing too much.
He quietly slipped out of the bathroom to prepare a sobering soup. Maybe by the time it was ready, she would have woken up.
Unfortunately, he had miscalculated completely.
When he returned, he knocked lightly on the bathroom door three times and called out to her three times, but received no response. He could only slide the door open a crack, peek inside with one eye, then quickly look away, set the sobering soup aside, and walk in sideways while staring at the ceiling, using his peripheral vision to navigate.
"Ha… so something like this really happened…"
Ruan Mei let out a soft breath, her expression complicated.
It turned out the saying that people forget what happens while drunk was not without merit.
She had absolutely no memory of this event.
She could never have imagined that, as his teacher, she would get drunk and use her position to force her own student… to break the rules.
She could see at a glance that she had fallen asleep less than five minutes after Tomomu Kanzaki began massaging her shoulders.
She could also see exactly what her student had been thinking when he stopped moving and stood there frozen for so long.
He wanted to wake her, yet he felt sorry that she had worn herself out from days of sleepless research.
He didn't want to wake her, yet he was worried about leaving her in the water too long.
Ruan Mei's eyes remained clouded with complex emotions as she watched the memory of her student walk over and stand quietly beside her, waiting for what would happen next.
"Teacher."
Tomomu Kanzaki raised his voice slightly, trying to wake her.
No response.
"Teacher?"
Louder.
Still no response.
"…Teacher!!"
This time Tomomu Kanzaki gritted his teeth, patted her fragrant shoulder, and shook her harder when she still didn't stir.
The calm surface of the bathwater rippled from the motion.
"Teacher, if you don't wake up in ten more minutes, A-Kan will… will have to be disrespectful!"
Ten minutes passed.
"Teacher, please wake up…! If you still don't wake in another ten minutes, I'll… be disrespectful."
Another ten minutes passed.
"…Please wake up…"
The boy's still-youthful face was twisted into a pitiful, helpless expression.
Drunk people really were incredibly hard to wake.
"Ten… just ten more minutes…"
After repeated failures and retreats, Tomomu Kanzaki finally made up his mind.
He muttered a long list of warnings about the dangers of staying in water too long, then blindfolded himself with a towel and grabbed a large bath sheet hanging nearby.
"I'm sorry, Teacher… please forgive your student's rudeness!!"
Gritting his teeth, he reached into the tub with his left hand toward where he remembered her knees were, while his right arm slipped around her fragrant shoulders.
With gentle strength, he lifted her out of the water and wrapped the large bath sheet around her alluring figure.
Only then did he remove the blindfold, keeping his eyes strictly forward as he carried his teacher back to the bedroom.
He still wasn't skilled enough to walk through the manor blindfolded.
He carefully laid Ruan Mei on the soft bed, then went back to fetch the sobering soup and helped her drink it slowly while supporting her.
The entire process was as proper as it could possibly be. He avoided every place he shouldn't touch and refused to look at anything he shouldn't see.
In the end, he ran into another problem.
Teacher was only wrapped in a simple bath sheet. It seemed she would have to sleep like this, since he couldn't possibly help her change into nightclothes.
He had just pulled the blanket over and was about to cover her when Ruan Mei's eyelashes fluttered. Her eyes opened halfway.
Tomomu Kanzaki froze instantly, not daring to move.
"…Teacher, you're awake…"
"My feet feel a little sore. Massage them for me."
"This… you still have the assignment you gave me that I haven't finished. You should rest properly." Tomomu Kanzaki clung to one last shred of hope.
"Stand right there—"
"..." The boy gave a bitter smile.
"Come here. Massage Teacher's feet."
Tomomu Kanzaki could only walk back. After a brief hesitation, he sat on the edge of the bed, glanced once at his half-propped-up teacher, then quickly looked away again.
"Such a good boy~"
Ruan Mei lay back down and rested her delicate feet on Tomomu Kanzaki's lap.
"Teacher will reward you later…"
The boy was completely stunned by the sight.
Those ankles were smooth and supple, the skin like silk.
The dainty, exquisite feet.
The soles carried a healthy pink glow, and the small, rounded toes were plump and lustrous, like a string of pearls.
A faint, sweet fragrance drifted from them. No matter how steady Tomomu Kanzaki usually was, he couldn't stop his face from burning crimson.
The boy let out a long sigh.
Since he couldn't refuse, he had no choice but to… face it head-on.
Hypnotizing himself with that thought, Tomomu Kanzaki steeled his heart, took hold of those delicate feet, and began to knead them with practiced skill.
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