...
"Teio, aren't you leaving?" Seeing Tokai Teio standing at the door, Lucian couldn't help asking.
"Mm."
"Anything else?"
"Trainer, I... my foot hurts a little."
Sorry, Trainer...
But I still want to be a little closer to you.
"My foot hurts!?" Lucian jumped up from his chair as if startled, "How did it suddenly start hurting?"
Today's training had a physical checkup in the middle, so the intensity was definitely not as high as usual, and Lucian hadn't given Tokai Teio a leg massage.
"Where does it hurt? The ankle?" Lucian's brows furrowed tightly, "Can't walk now?"
"N-no, not that serious... maybe it just needs a little rest."
"Alright, rest a bit." Lucian helped Tokai Teio sit down, "Does it still hurt a lot? I'll take you to the hospital."
"No need!" Tokai Teio was startled, her voice rising sharply, but meeting Lucian's puzzled gaze, she guiltily hunched her back, "No need for the hospital, just... just a massage might fix it."
"Huh?" Lucian looked surprised, "Teio, you wouldn't be saying it hurts on purpose just to get me to massage you, right?"
"How could..." Tokai Teio instinctively wanted to deny it, but denying it would mean no chance, "Is that not okay? The trainer himself said he could massage me, and my foot really does hurt a bit."
"Teio, is it fatigue pain or injury pain?" Lucian was still worried and had to clarify.
"Fatigue pain."
"That's good—you scared me." Lucian breathed a sigh of relief, "Come sit properly here."
Tokai Teio felt increasingly guilty about her lie, "Mm."
"Do I need to help you take off your shoes?" Before Tokai Teio could answer, Lucian had already skillfully removed her shoes and held her still-warm feet, "Tell me, am I good to you? Massaging you every day and not charging you."
"Hehe, thank you, Trainer—Trainer is really good."
"And still arguing with me every day."
Lucian teased, lowering his head to seriously start massaging Tokai Teio.
The surroundings were unusually quiet; the evening crows' cries outside the window sounded especially clear, but Tokai Teio's restless heart was stormy.
One of her hands suddenly gripped the edge of the chair tightly, secretly lowering her head to peek.
"Teio, relax—why are your little feet so stiff?" Lucian suddenly looked up, his expression freezing—he hadn't expected Tokai Teio to lean in so close, "What's wrong?"
Tokai Teio responded naturally, "The crouching Trainer is much shorter than usual—I wanted to secretly pat the Trainer's head."
"No way—if you pat, I won't massage." Lucian not only refused but also reached out to pat Tokai Teio's head instead.
Tokai Teio pulled her head back, "Trainer won't let me pat, so I won't let Trainer pat either!"
"Doesn't matter—the pat just now was enough to transfer Teio's foot odor to my head." Lucian showed a smile of successful mischief.
"Stinky Trainer!! I don't have foot odor! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll..."
Tokai Teio suddenly choked, her attention drawn to an inexplicable image in her mind.
"You'll what?"
Tokai Teio snapped back, "I'll... make the Trainer smell if there really is foot odor."
"Yue~ I didn't expect Teio to be pretty gross."
"Trainer said it first!" Tokai Teio lowered her head, took a sniff, "Where's the smell? If Trainer doesn't believe it, smell it yourself."
As she spoke, she shifted her foot toward Lucian.
"Go go go—if you want to smell, smell it yourself—I'm not smelling." Lucian grabbed Tokai Teio's ankle, "Don't move around—do you still want the massage?"
"Got it~" Tokai Teio grudgingly pulled her foot back, "Looks like Trainer isn't a bt interested in girls' feet—Trainer passes the test."
"Oh? Calling me bt again—how can Teio be so sure? Maybe I'm just not interested in Teio's feet."
Lucian didn't look up, massaging as he spoke, completely missing how Tokai Teio's face suddenly darkened like a pool of stagnant water swallowing dead branches and insects.
After a long while, Tokai Teio finally spoke, "Trainer, do you privately massage anyone else?"
"Emmmm... rarely, I guess. Massages take a lot of time, so I let the medical team do it for them." Lucian didn't know why Tokai Teio suddenly asked but answered honestly.
Before, he used to massage Silence Suzuka specifically, but now she didn't need it at all and hadn't even mentioned it.
"Not even McQueen?"
"McQueen's family medical team is even more professional—she doesn't need me at all." Lucian suddenly pressed hard on an acupoint on the sole of Tokai Teio's foot, causing the unprepared Tokai Teio to let out a soft whimper.
"Trainer, why so hard all of a sudden?!"
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"What do you think!"
"If pressing that acupoint just now hurt a lot, it means Teio, you're a bit weak." Lucian said seriously.
"Huh?! How could I be weak?" Tokai Teio looked down at Lucian defiantly, "Trainer can do it again."
"Oh?" Lucian stared at Tokai Teio's expression, his hand silently applying force to a certain acupoint.
Tokai Teio's foot lifted, but she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and pretended it didn't hurt at all.
Lucian played around for a bit; seeing Tokai Teio's expression growing stranger, he stopped in time.
He was afraid Tokai Teio wouldn't hold back and kick him into the wall.
"Trainer, why stop?" Tokai Teio was now very fired up.
She wanted revenge—later she'd press that acupoint too and see if the Trainer was weak!
But she didn't actually hope Lucian was weak.
"Because..... Teio has already proven she's not weak at all."
"Hmph, stinky Trainer."
"You call me stinky every day—where do I stink? Teio can come smell."
Tokai Teio wouldn't mind leaning in to sniff the scent at Lucian's neck, but what Lucian extended was the hand he used to massage her, "Stinky Trainer..."
"Hahaha." Lucian continued massaging her.
Tokai Teio quietly watched Lucian for a while.
She had never before looked forward to the new year's arrival as much as she did now.
Her hungry eyes devoured Lucian's figure; in the place he couldn't see, Tokai Teio grinned, openly releasing the greed and possessiveness in her gaze.
Trainer, you can't blame me...
It's all because you're so good to me, so gentle...
...