บท 54: Ch 54. Aoyama Nanami's Depression
Following Hoshimi's instructions, the stiff Nanami Aoyama carried out each step robotically.
"Alright, the rest is just repeating the previous steps. Do it your way, Nanami. I'll watch some TV."
Hoshimi, feeling a bit parched, squinted his eyes and stared intently at the television.
"..."
Beside him, Nanami Aoyama, now given the directive to "freestyle," gradually regained her senses.
Looking at Hoshimi's pale skin covered in massage oil, her face instantly flushed red, and her body heated up.
Did she do this? She actually did something like this.
Massaging Hoshimi-kun's entire body, doesn't that mean...
"Ugh~"
Nanami Aoyama's fingers twitched slightly. She closed her eyes, unwilling to think any further.
But even with her eyes shut, her sense of smell didn't shut down. On the contrary, with her vision temporarily blocked, her sense of smell became even more acute.
The rich fragrance of the massage oil permeated the air, assaulting her nostrils constantly.
The thick, dense scent of the massage oil mixed with other aromas caused Nanami Aoyama's thoughts to wander.
A fresh tea tree scent... This was the massage oil's aroma—intense and thick, the most prominent scent.
Then there was a subtle gardenia fragrance from her recent body wash.
Lastly, there was a faint scent, a mix of fresh fruit and wood, reminiscent of an orchard basking in sunlight.
Flowers blooming, trees growing, fruits swaying, sunlight shining...
Looking around, everything was incredibly beautiful.
So, this must be Hoshimi-kun's scent.
With her eyes closed, Nanami Aoyama's nostrils flared as she greedily inhaled Hoshimi-kun's scent from the mix of fragrances.
"Ugh~"
Suddenly, Nanami Aoyama seemed to realize the irrationality of what she was doing.
Her face reddened as she bowed her head, her hands, now slick with massage oil, earnestly massaging Hoshimi-kun's back and waist.
Time passed quietly.
After an unknown amount of time, Nanami Aoyama seemed to hear soft snores.
She carefully opened her eyes and saw that Hoshimi-kun had fallen asleep without her noticing.
"Ah~"
She let out a long sigh of relief, her heart finally slowing down to a normal rate after beating rapidly for so long.
Listening to Hoshimi-kun's soft snores, Nanami Aoyama first wiped her hands with a towel, then took the remote and muted the TV.
Then, she sat beside him, staring at Hoshimi-kun's sleeping face in a daze.
After a while, she seemed to remember something, hurriedly took out her phone, and checked the time.
It was already 8:30 PM. Normally, she would be on the train heading home by now.
But now...
Nanami Aoyama glanced at Hoshimi, deciding to wait a bit longer.
When Hoshimi-kun wakes up, she would say goodbye before leaving.
If Hoshimi-kun didn't wake up, she would wait until the oil completely evaporated and then drag him upstairs to his bedroom to rest.
However...
Looking at her slender limbs, Nanami Aoyama felt a bit dejected.
With her physical strength, she probably couldn't carry Hoshimi-kun upstairs. If she dragged him, it would definitely wake him up.
If waking him up was inevitable, it would be better to wait a bit longer and let him rest a while more before waking him.
With this thought, Nanami Aoyama seemed to remember something else.
She quickly got up and searched for the air conditioner remote in the sofa cushions.
After a while, she found the remote in the corner of the sofa. She adjusted the central air conditioning to a comfortable 24°C.
Then, she thought for a moment and increased the temperature to 26°C.
Hoshimi was sleeping bare-skinned, so it was better to keep the temperature higher. Better to be warm than catch a cold.
After everything was done, Nanami Aoyama sat back on the sofa, staring at Hoshimi's side profile in a daze.
Time slowly passed, and her gaze shifted from Hoshimi's side profile to his white hair.
The more she looked, the stronger the impulse in her heart grew.
She wanted to touch Hoshimi-kun's hair...
Hoshimi-kun's hair was soft and smooth, a rare natural white. It seemed like it would feel nice to touch.
The thought grew stronger, and Nanami Aoyama leaned forward, her hands gripping her knees, itching to touch it.
"Ugh~"
But after much deliberation, Nanami Aoyama chose to give up.
She had already done enough today. She couldn't do anything else...
Continuing further would lead to mistakes... serious mistakes...
Nanami Aoyama bit her lower lip, looking down at her no longer delicate hands.
In middle school, her hands were just as soft and fair as any other girl's.
But after over a year of hard work in high school, her hands had lost their delicacy, falling behind her peers...
"..."
Nanami Aoyama rubbed her hands together, feeling the slight roughness of her skin.
The light in her eyes gradually dimmed...
...
Meanwhile, on the 15th floor of the apartment building.
Exhausted from her muscle stretching exercises, Yukinoshita lay on the sofa.
Staring at the ceiling, she inexplicably thought of Hoshimi.
That jerk must be sore all over now. He spent both days of the weekend in intense training. With Hoshimi's weak physique, he must have collapsed as soon as he got home.
But this was not the time to rest. He needed to do muscle stretching exercises to relax his body, then replenish energy, get a massage, and finally enter deep sleep to rest.
If he went straight to sleep... he would probably wake up in the morning too sore to move...
With this in mind, Yukinoshita frowned.
Should she remind Hoshimi to massage himself and relieve the soreness? To avoid affecting tomorrow's training.
After some consideration, Yukinoshita decided against it.
First, she didn't have Hoshimi's contact information, so she couldn't remind him.
It was impossible for her to go knock on Hoshimi's door to remind him, right?
That was out of the question! Even if the sky fell, she wouldn't go to Hoshimi's house!
Second, she figured Hoshimi wasn't that dumb. What she could think of, Hoshimi probably could too.
Besides, Hoshimi was still holding a grudge and planning to get back at her in their tennis practice tomorrow.
In that case, Hoshimi would definitely find a way to recover.
Third, if Hoshimi really didn't think to relieve his soreness, it would be a good thing for her.
At least she would have a sure win in their practice tomorrow.
"Practice..."
Staring at the ceiling, Yukinoshita's thoughts drifted far away.
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