Watching Sakayanagi Arisu's movement just now, even Shikime Natsu was momentarily stunned.
Those pale golden eyes of his widened a fraction, his gaze falling on Sakayanagi Arisu's flushed little face, on her faintly trembling lashes, on those purple eyes clouded with a mist of moisture.
Honestly, Shikime Natsu had never imagined Sakayanagi Arisu would actually do something like this.
After all, it was, you could say, entirely out of character for her.
That little princess who spent practically all her time bent on preserving her pride and her dignity had actually gone and kissed him on her own initiative, and with such a clumsy attempt at buying his silence, no less.
Even though Shikime Natsu had long harbored the idea of adding Sakayanagi Arisu to his harem, he hadn't expected that one day she would become this forward.
Could it be… that being sick really did come with some kind of buff?
As Shikime Natsu turned the thought over, the scene from the last time Kamuro Masumi had fallen ill drifted up in his mind.
Back then, Kamuro Masumi too, because of her fever, had gone soft and fragile all over, nothing at all like her usual cold self.
She'd grown clingy, dependent, gazing at him with those pitiable eyes, curling up in his arms like a sick little kitten, murmuring softly, "Don't go."
That contrast, that vulnerability and softness that belonged to a girl and that you could never, ever glimpse on ordinary days, had been laid bare without the slightest reserve while she was sick.
As for the Sakayanagi Arisu in front of him now… she wasn't quite so pitiable in the way she carried herself.
In fact, you could say that even sick, Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to hold on to that pride of hers.
Of course, perhaps it wasn't pride so much as a forced composure. Still, at the very least, the Sakayanagi Arisu of before would never have spent 100,000 Private Points to buy a single feeding service.
If that was on the table, then the pricey milk Shikime Natsu had offered earlier could be sold off too.
As the thought crossed his mind, a flicker of amusement passed through those pale golden eyes.
He reached up and touched the cheek Sakayanagi Arisu had just kissed.
The warmth of a girl's lips seemed to linger there still.
Then… Shikime Natsu gave a little laugh, his pale golden eyes fixed straight on Sakayanagi Arisu, and he spoke, slow and unhurried.
"So this is Sakayanagi-san's hush money?"
He paused, one corner of his mouth curling into something between a smile and not.
"If this is meant to be Sakayanagi-san's hush money… then it's nowhere near enough."
Hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu didn't fly into a temper.
No trace of displeasure or anger surfaced on that exquisite little face of hers.
She simply listened quietly to Shikime Natsu's words, a complicated light flickering through those purple eyes.
As if she'd known all along that Shikime Natsu would say something like this.
Of course, the embarrassment stirring in Sakayanagi Arisu's chest at this moment far outweighed her anger.
Her heart was still racing, racing fast enough that even she found it a little humiliating; her cheeks were still burning, burning hot enough that even she found it hard to believe.
The scene from that single instant just now kept replaying in her mind: herself tilting her head up, leaning in, the moment her lips brushed against Shikime Natsu's cheek.
That sensation, that warmth, that… inexplicable, indescribable flutter.
Just recalling it, Sakayanagi Arisu felt as if her brain were about to start smoking again.
But she couldn't lose her composure.
Not now, not here, not in front of Shikime Natsu could she show any hint of panic.
Sakayanagi Arisu drew a deep breath, then lifted her chin ever so slightly, a light glinting through those purple eyes.
The corner of her mouth curved into a faintly teasing arc.
In that smile there was a touch of her signature mockery, and a touch of the coquettish petulance unique to a girl, one that even she herself hadn't noticed.
"Oh?"
Sakayanagi Arisu let out a soft hum, a note of feigned indifference in her voice.
"Is that so?"
She tilted her head a fraction, those purple eyes gazing straight at Shikime Natsu.
Sakayanagi Arisu thought to herself, she'd already gone and kissed Shikime Natsu, so pushing her luck a little further shouldn't be any trouble, right?
After all, Shikime Natsu's attitude had proven everything.
Kissed by her, and yet he hadn't gotten angry, hadn't pushed her away, hadn't shown the slightest disgust or impatience.
Instead he'd said, "nowhere near enough."
What was that supposed to mean?
If a man had no interest in her at all, would he say something like "nowhere near enough" after being kissed by a girl?
He wouldn't.
A normal man's reaction would be either surprise, or awkwardness, or rejection, or… acceptance.
And Shikime Natsu's reaction had shown neither surprise, nor awkwardness, and certainly not rejection.
Wasn't this exactly… wanting things to go further?
As Sakayanagi Arisu turned this over in her mind, that already rosy little face of hers gained a few more degrees of heat.
She found herself thinking of those shoujo romance manga she'd been reading lately.
Ever since the Deserted Island ended, Sakayanagi Arisu occasionally read a few shoujo romance manga.
Truthfully, she'd never once touched that sort of thing before.
Manga stuffed full of pink bubbles, full of affected, saccharine dialogue, full of every hackneyed trope imaginable, was, in Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes, nothing short of an insult to one's intelligence.
But… for the sake of that fellow Shikime Natsu, Sakayanagi Arisu had gritted her teeth and read a few volumes anyway.
Because she truly didn't understand.
She didn't understand what on earth that fellow Shikime Natsu was thinking.
She didn't understand why so many girls were willing, of their own accord, to follow along at his side.
She didn't understand why, even when that fellow ground her teeth with fury, she still couldn't help wanting to draw closer to him.
So… Sakayanagi Arisu thought, perhaps through this kind of manga she could come to understand Shikime Natsu a little better.
And understand a little of those strange, tangled feelings between Shikime Natsu and his girlfriends.
Though after reading a few volumes, Sakayanagi Arisu decided the male leads in those manga were nothing like Shikime Natsu at all; those leads were gentle, considerate, devoted to one person, whereas Shikime Natsu? Vicious, sharp-tongued, a flirt through and through, quite literally one in the heavens and the other in the earth.
But some of the scenes still held a bit of reference value.
As the thought passed through her mind, a flicker of resolve shone in those purple eyes.
Since Shikime Natsu had said "nowhere near enough"… then she would simply give him more.
She'd already kissed him anyway, so doing something that pushed her luck a little further couldn't possibly matter, could it?
Comforting herself with that thought, Sakayanagi Arisu shifted her body ever so slightly.
Those fair, slender fingers gently caught the collar of her own pajamas.
Then she gave it a light tug.
The loose pajama top slid down a short way off her shoulder.
A fair, smooth, beautifully curved little shoulder appeared before Shikime Natsu's eyes.
That skin, like the finest mutton-fat jade, gave off a soft sheen beneath the lamplight.
That collarbone, delicate and slender, traced out the tender, graceful line unique to a girl.
Sakayanagi Arisu felt a thread of coolness against her bared shoulder, and that already crimson little face of hers now flushed so deeply it seemed on the verge of dripping blood.
But she didn't flinch. She lifted her head, those purple eyes fixed straight on Shikime Natsu, the corner of her mouth curling into an arc that carried a hint of provocation and a hint of teasing.
"So then…"
There was an airy, floating quality to Sakayanagi Arisu's voice.
"This 'more'… does Shiki-san have the nerve to take it?"
Those were, you could say, awfully provocative words.
In those purple eyes there was provocation, and there was also… panic.
No matter how composed, how indifferent, how utterly at ease Sakayanagi Arisu made herself appear on the surface, deep down she was still in a flustered mess.
Because she didn't know how Shikime Natsu would respond.
She didn't know whether this fellow would actually "take it."
She didn't know what she was supposed to do if Shikime Natsu really did "take it."
She was, in fact, genuinely a little worried that Shikime Natsu might just pounce on her outright.
After all… that fellow was the sort who, in a little cabin on the Deserted Island, right in front of her, had gone at it with several girls until the small hours of the night.
Something like that, that fellow was absolutely capable of doing.
As the thought crossed her mind, Sakayanagi Arisu's heartbeat quickened another notch.
Her fingers, without her meaning them to, clenched tight around the collar of her pajamas, as if ready at any moment to pull the fallen shoulder back into cover.
But on her face she still held that provoking smile.
Those purple eyes still gazed straight at Shikime Natsu, without dodging away.
Shikime Natsu looked at the Sakayanagi Arisu before him.
Looked at her pajamas, slid down a short way, looked at that fair shoulder bared beneath the lamplight, looked at that delicate, slender collarbone.
Looked at her flushed little face, looked at those purple eyes carrying both provocation and panic, looked at those faintly trembling lashes.
Then Shikime Natsu smiled, and a trace of mockery surfaced in those pale golden eyes.
He was in no hurry to say anything, only watched Sakayanagi Arisu quietly.
That gaze slid slowly from Sakayanagi Arisu's face down to her shoulder, then slowly back from her shoulder up to her face.
That gaze sent a prickle crawling all through Sakayanagi Arisu.
She felt as though she'd just done something rather stupid.
That fellow Shikime Natsu wouldn't actually…
Just as the unease in Sakayanagi Arisu's chest was mounting higher and higher, Shikime Natsu finally spoke.
"Is Sakayanagi-san trying to say I don't have the nerve to take it?"
The rhetorical question came out of Shikime Natsu's mouth carrying an indefinable sort of pressure, and Sakayanagi Arisu's heart clenched despite herself.
The light in those purple eyes of Sakayanagi Arisu's flickered without pause, looking terribly flustered; at the very least, hearing these words from Shikime Natsu, and after meeting his gaze, she felt as if her whole self had come somewhat undone.
Sakayanagi Arisu drew a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
Then she lifted her chin a fraction, a flicker of stubbornness passing through those purple eyes.
"But of course."
There, now the provocation had been flung out directly, and there was no telling how Shikime Natsu would react.
Still… going by Sakayanagi Arisu's own understanding of Shikime Natsu, she was probably in for it now, since Shikime Natsu was absolutely not the type to be provoked and then simply let it slide.
Every single time she provoked that fellow Shikime Natsu, he'd respond, and he'd make her pay for it dearly.
Of course, even so, Sakayanagi Arisu didn't mind. A cunning glint flashed through those purple eyes, the arc of her mouth curving a shade more pronounced, and she added:
"…Though."
"What a pity, though. Right now I happen to be ill."
She tilted her head a fraction, those purple eyes watching Shikime Natsu as if to say: there's nothing you can do to me, is there?
"So…"
Sakayanagi Arisu deliberately drew out the trailing note, a touch of smugness in her tone.
"No matter how great Shiki-san's nerve may be, it's of no use."
This was exactly what Sakayanagi Arisu enjoyed: teasing Shikime Natsu a little, leaving that fellow itching with frustration and yet utterly helpless.
And then, once she'd finished teasing him, she'd simply retreat. She was a patient right now, after all, and patients came first.
Surely Shikime Natsu couldn't possibly do anything too outrageous to an ailing patient?
As Sakayanagi Arisu smugly turned this over in her mind, a sly light glinted through those purple eyes.
Yet Shikime Natsu, watching that smug look of Sakayanagi Arisu's, felt the smile at the corner of his mouth deepen a few more degrees.
In those pale golden eyes, the light of mockery grew all the more distinct.
Then Shikime Natsu gave a little laugh and spoke, slow and unhurried.
"Very soon, Sakayanagi-san will be back to full health."
His voice wasn't loud, but his tone carried an unfathomable certainty.
Hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu was momentarily stunned, and confusion welled up in those purple eyes.
Very soon? What did he mean?
She was running a fever right now, so how could she possibly recover any time soon?
Wait, at this point Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help recalling Shikime Natsu's rather peculiar massage technique. The massage technique could treat physical ailments in her body, but surely it couldn't cure something as minor as a fever or a cold?
No, could it be that a minor illness was even easier to cure?
Sakayanagi Arisu grew flustered all over again. No way, had she overplayed her hand?
This fellow Shikime Natsu… what nonsense was he spouting?
While Sakayanagi Arisu was still sitting there dazed, Shikime Natsu's long fingers had already pressed against her body, moving fast. All Sakayanagi Arisu felt was that, with each touch of Shikime Natsu's fingers, a warm current flowed from the points he pressed and surged into her body.
That current, warm and gentle, coursed through her like a stream of heat.
Everywhere it reached, the aching, the fatigue, the dizziness brought on by the fever were swiftly fading away.
Even without touching her own forehead, Sakayanagi Arisu knew clearly that her fever must have broken, without a single lingering aftereffect.
Which was to say… that vile fellow Shikime Natsu could have had her recover this quickly all along, and yet he'd deliberately taken her 100,000 Private Points and made her play the part of a proper patient?
And Shikime Natsu withdrew his hand, then once again looked at Sakayanagi Arisu with that smile that wasn't quite a smile.
Sakayanagi Arisu's excuse of being ill no longer existed, so… what would happen next?
Did Shikime Natsu really have the nerve to make a move on her?
Surely it wouldn't go that far?
The relationship between the two of them hadn't warmed to that degree yet. Even though, during her 0721, the person Sakayanagi Arisu had thought of was Shikime Natsu, she'd never imagined a situation like this would arise so quickly.
She wasn't prepared yet.
Still, Sakayanagi Arisu drew a deep breath and readjusted her state of mind once more.
"I never expected Shiki-san to be this impatient. Didn't you say before that you had no interest in my meager figure? And yet now you can't even wait? Or is it that Shiki-san means to give me a little scare, when in truth you haven't got that much nerve at all?"
Even though Sakayanagi Arisu was in quite a flustered state within, the words that came out of her were still brimming with provocation.
And just as Sakayanagi Arisu finished speaking, the distance between Shikime Natsu and her grew closer.
____
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