Massage 1

"Kujo-senpai, are you feeling okay?"

As I was relaxing after finishing dinner, Airi looked at me with concern.

(I've been asked a lot of questions similar to this lately.)

"I'm fine. I'm in perfect health."

"But you've been pounding your back a lot lately, and you've also been rubbing your shoulders."

"…Seriously? I didn't notice that at all."

I was perturbed for a moment, but I answered as blandly as possible.

It was exactly the same reply I had given to Kazuma the other day, but of course Airi didn't know anything about Kazuma, so there was no problem.

I thought I had made a conscious effort to avoid rubbing my shoulders at home so that Airi wouldn't find out, but apparently I had been doing it unconsciously.

I knew the cause of this, but I couldn't tell Airi that. Even more so since I didn't have any particular solution in mind.

The worried look on Airi's face clouded further.

"It's because you've been sleeping on the floor, isn't it?"

"It's just your imagination."

The only thing I could do was deceive her. If I admitted to it, then Airi would try to switch with me, which was absolutely not okay.

Rather than to allow such a thing, I was ready to continue sleeping on the floor even if the pain in my body became worse.

"Please don't lie to me. Normally your body doesn't rest well when you're sleeping on the floor."

"Even if that were true, there's nothing we can do about it."

"That may be true, but if you don't like it, please say something."

"I don't hate it."

This was the truth, and I really didn't mind. Better me than Airi to sleep on the floor.

When I turned away and rejected Airi's pursuit, I let out a big sigh.

"I'll say this. I don't want Kujo-senpai to suffer because of me."

"Don't say it's your fault, because I really don't think it's Ninomiya's fault."

It was I who insisted on sleeping on the floor so I wasn't going to blame Airi.

"But your body is in pain, right?"

"That is… well…"

Airi tilted her head as she raised her eyebrows.

It was actually quite painful for his body, so much so that he thought it was time to seriously think of some sort of countermeasure.

When I stammered, Airi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her expression became serious as if she had made up her mind.

"Then… Can I give you a massage?"

"Ahh…!?"

What was she saying all of a sudden? I couldn't make sense of it and made a dumb sound.

"You don't have to push yourself, okay?"

"I'm not pushing myself, I'm just thanking you for letting me sleep on the futon, please let me do it."

Airi's eyes were not smiling, and I could sense that she was determined not to back down.

"I'm doing it on my own, no need to thank me. In fact, you have already done a lot of things for me."

"Then I'll make sure to do it properly myself. You don't want to touch a man's body, do you, Ninomiya?"

"I want to do it, and if it's Kujo-senpai's body, it's fine. Please let me do it."

Airi said in a sincere manner. Then she bowed deeply.

It was hard to refuse, since I had done the same when I requested to hang the laundry.

In the end, I decided that it would be best if I asked her to do just a little and stop her immediately.

"Okay, then please do."

"Please leave it to me."

"Come Senpai, lie down."

"I don't mind if it's on the floor."

"That's no good."

For the first time in two and a half weeks, I laid down on the futon with my chin on the pillow.

The floor was fine for me, as I was going to make her stop soon anyway, but I didn't want her to get mad, so I decided to lie on the futon.

(Smells insanely good…)

The futon smelled sweet and flowery after such a long time, I guessed that Airi's scent had transferred to it.

I was conscious of Airi, and as I was trying desperately to slow my quickening heartbeat, a voice called out from above me.

"I'm going to start, please let me know if it hurts."

"Yeah, okay."

Ninomiya's chilly hand was touching my body, at first it seemed to be my arm.

She touched me fearfully, and it felt more ticklish than pleasant.

"How is my strength?"

"It's okay."

I only needed to let her do it a little bit, and I didn't need her to do it right.

So I lied, but Airi's voice sounded extremely annoyed.

"If you lie to me, I'll be very angry."

"… A little harder, please."

"Please be honest with me… Is this about right?"

"Yeah, that's about right."

It seemed like she didn't want the consequences happening if I lied. When I honestly told her how strong I'd like it, she spilled out her voice in dismay.

Airi changed the amount of force and resumed the massage after reaching the most ideal strength.

"It's very stiff. You're straining yourself, aren't you?"

"No, I wasn't…"

"Liar."

"I didn't even feel it."

"Good grief…"

I heard Airi's reproachful voice, but I continued to pretend to be ignorant. I was really glad that she couldn't see my face turning red.

When it came to massaging my waist, I couldn't help but make strange noises.

"Ooh, that feels good."

"Don't sound like a grandfather."

"It feels so good that it came out on its own. Forgive me."

She giggled, but continued.

She had already done enough for me, and I had to make her stop. However, it felt too good to stop.

"It feels really good. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

When I expressed my gratitude, she replied with a heartfelt look of joy.

After being massaged for a while, my eyelids started to get heavier and heavier.

When I was getting quite sleepy, Airi asked me,

"How are you feeling? Do you feel relaxed?"

"…Mmm…"

I tried to answer, but I was too sleepy to respond. I couldn't open my eyes, and my consciousness sank.

Airi's scent, which had made me so nervous, was now a material to help me sleep comfortably.

"Thank you for everything, Kujo-senpai."

Just before I fell asleep, someone called out to me in a caring manner.

I let go of my consciousness without being able to reply, thinking that I should be the one to thank her.

I woke up to the sensation of his body being touched, and when I opened his eyes, I was on top of the futon.

Remembering that I had fallen asleep while being massaged, I woke myself up.

His body, which had been in a lot of pain, was feeling much lighter.

"You woke up?"

"Sorry, I feel asleep."

"No, it's okay."

I checked the time and saw that an hour had passed since the massage started.

I remembered the sensation I had just felt. It seemed that she had been massaging me until right before I woke up. Thinking that was a possibility, I asked her,

"Did you massage me for an hour straight?"

"No, I didn't go that far. I took a break here and there."

"You should have stopped after I fell asleep. You must be tired."

It must have been tough to massage for an hour straight, even with breaks. I didn't even think I would be able to do that much.

I hadn't intended to fall asleep in the first place, but the urge to sleep overcame me.

I asked Airi laboriously, but she gave me a smiling, pleased look.

"I'm a little tired, but I had a lot of fun."

"Fun? Why?"

I really wasn't sure what she enjoyed about massaging me. There should be nothing fun about touching my body.

After all, I had a normal body with no special features. I was neither muscular nor fat, nor was I too thin.

When I asked her why, Airi said with sincere admiration.

"I was massaging while thinking, 'So this is what a man's body looks like. It's totally different from mine.' "

"Of course. No matter how normal my body is, I'm still a man."

"Yes, I realized that."

Even though I didn't have any features, she could at least tell the difference between male and female bodies when she touched my body.

She was surprised at the difference between men and women, and I felt uncomfortable.

"By the sounds of it, you've never touched a man before."

The fact that she was interested in the differences of their bodies meant that she had never touched anyone else before.

I thought that since it was Airi, she must have had a boyfriend before and had already touched him before.

"It's a first for me. I've never touched my father or anyone else like this before."

"That's surprising… Can I ask you one question?"

"You want to know If I had a boyfriend and if I had touched him before, right? No, I haven't. I never have and I never will."

"Sorry… That was an unnecessary question."

She said that with a cold look in her eyes, it had been a while since I stepped on a landmine.

I regretted it, knowing that I shouldn't have asked it after all, but Airi laughed and shook her head.

Although she almost never gave a cold look towards me anymore, such an expression did not make me feel very comfortable.

"No, I don't think you could help being curious. Don't worry about it."

"But was it okay for you to touch me? Even though you wanted to thank me, you didn't have to do it if you didn't want to."

I had asked her beforehand, and although she had said that she was fine with it, she might have been pushing herself too hard.

"I don't hate it. I told you I had fun."

I looked at Airi's face and saw that she had a beautiful smile on her face and she really didn't seem to mind.

I hadn't thanked her properly since the massage was over, so I should probably give her a proper thanks.

"I see… Thank you."

"You're welcome. By the way, I haven't gotten your feedback, how did it feel?"

"I don't have to tell you, do I?"

She asked me with what I thought was a teasing smirk on her face.

I had complimented her on how good it felt during the massage, and I even fell asleep. I didn't have to say how it felt.

I didn't want to say it again, because it would be embarrassing.

I looked away as if to deceive myself, wondering if my thank you from earlier was not enough.

"No. Please tell me so I can help you in the future."

"What do you mean, in the future? You're going to do it again?"

"Of course. Don't change the subject. Now, tell me how it felt."

The expression in front of me turned into a sly smile, as if she already knew what I thought.

Lately, my heart has been getting worse, because she occasionally makes teasing expressions like this.

And apparently she was going to massage me again.

It felt really good, and to be honest, I would like to be massaged again, but it would be a mistake to tell her that.

It looked like I would need to get used to it.

But for now, I had to tell Airi, who was waiting for my feedback.

"... Felt good, it was great. Thank you."

"Fufu, is that so? You're welcome."

I could feel my cheeks heating up as I told her that, and she smiled happily, almost like she was beaming.

As I looked away from Airi's face, I thought that if I could see that kind of expression on her face again, it would be worth the embarrassment.