Chapter 15: This is the best feeling ever… phew

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Translator: Soafp

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“What are you doing, you little naked-running brat?”

I said that as I approached the two of them.

“Ah, Masaki-kun!”

“…You!”

The moment Aisaka saw me, she moved away from him—Honda, I think his name was—and ran over to my side.

I had no idea why Honda was approaching Aisaka now. It was impressive, in a terrible way, that he could still speak to her after what he had done.

“I might not be the most reliable guy, but stay behind me.”

“…Masaki-kun.”

Well, even without relying on hypnosis, a man wanted to show a girl his cool side.

With Aisaka behind me, looking strangely moved—or perhaps emotional—I stared back at Honda, who was glaring at me.

He was still as handsome as ever, but the shame of having run naked in public was now permanently attached to him. Everything he had built up until then had probably come crashing down.

“I've heard all kinds of rumors. Sounds like you did something pretty incredible.”

Honestly, I could not deny that everything going well lately had gone to my head a little.

Maybe my words and expression looked especially provocative, because Honda raised his voice so loudly it was as though he might spit while shouting.

“You… Ever since I met you, something has been wrong. Everything went wrong because you had to stick your nose in where it didn't belong, you b*****d!!”

It was true that things had gone strange after I spoke to him. Even though he remembered none of it, he had correctly sensed that I was the cause.

Still, Honda himself did not understand why he had done those things. Maybe he wanted to blame me for everything so he could convince himself it was not his fault.

“I don't know. You're the one who went crazy and did all that on your own, aren't you? And how do you have the nerve to talk to Aisaka now?”

“…Shut up. This has nothing to do with you. This is between Mari and me!”

What the hell did he mean, “between Aisaka and me”? I was the one who wanted to call him a b*****d.

This was only my guess, but Honda probably had nothing left in his life right now. He may have thought that Aisaka—his former girlfriend, someone he had looked down on—would be someone he could rely on.

There was no point talking to him. I wanted to punch myself for letting my phone battery die.

“Why are you standing between us as though you're our equal, anyway? Know your place, you piece of trash. What, are you trying to look good in front of Mari?”

Until a moment ago, he had been consumed by anger. Now that he had calmed down a little, he was insulting me with an air of superiority.

It pissed me off. I was seriously considering making him do something that would ruin his life without mercy.

That was when it happened.

Aisaka suddenly stepped in front of me. Then a sharp smack echoed through the air.

“…Whoa.”

Aisaka had slapped Honda across the face with all her strength.

The force was apparently enough to make Honda—who had been talking as he pleased only moments ago—fall silent. The intimidation radiating from Aisaka was so intense that even I found it frightening.

“Enough already. If you say one more horrible thing about Masaki-kun, I will never forgive you. I'll make you regret it, no matter what it takes.”

“…Damn it.”

Apparently intimidated by Aisaka's glare, Honda turned around and ran away.

“…Did you even need me here?”

The words slipped out.

Of course, I would still have stepped in once I saw Honda bothering Aisaka. But if she could drive him off like that from the start, I could not help thinking she should have done so.

After that, I thought we would part ways right away. Instead, we stopped at a nearby park.

“Want to talk for a bit? What do you think?”

She asked with an uneasy expression, so I nodded.

We bought two drinks, sat on a bench, and gulped down the cold juice to soothe our dry throats.

Maybe the tension from earlier had faded, because I opened my mouth with a casual remark.

“Seeing you just now made me think you didn't need me at all. Still, it would be nice if I could really act cool and decisively like a man in situations like that.”

“That's not true. You told me to stay behind you and protected me. That was really cool, Masaki-kun.”

“…Is that so?”

She said it with such a beautiful smile that I became embarrassed.

Come to think of it, that was the first time I had ever stood in front of someone to protect them. Before, I had always had the reassurance of the hypnosis app.

Maybe the fact that my body moved to protect her even without it meant I had genuinely gained some confidence and courage.

“I think he still looks down on me. No matter what he did, he probably thought I would still obey anything he said.”

“I thought so too. But didn't that slap just change a lot?”

“Yeah. He probably won't come again. And if he does, I think I'll go to the police next time. After all, he basically already has a record.”

Aisaka said while laughing.

I believed Aisaka had finally escaped Honda's influence, both physically and emotionally. Still, emotional wounds could reopen without warning.

I had worried that encountering Honda might revive Aisaka's trauma. But it did not seem like I needed to worry.

“Hehe… Hey, Masaki-kun.”

“What is it?”

I was probably letting my guard down more than I ever had before.

“There's something I've been wondering about for a long time. He became like that, and then my circumstances suddenly changed… Could it be that you did something to help me?”

“…”

It was an incredibly difficult question to answer, and I froze.

I had never told Aisaka how I helped her. She was not supposed to remember it, either.

So although she might have been confused by the sudden changes in her life, there should have been no reason for her to thank me—because she did not know what I had done.

“What are you talking about? I didn't do anything.”

“Then why did he say those things?”

…Right. From the things Honda had said, it was obvious I was involved somehow.

But I could not tell her about hypnosis. I could not remain silent forever, either, so I gave up and decided to explain it vaguely.

“I saw it by chance—the scars on your arms.”

“…You did?”

“Yeah. If you were cutting yourself, it meant you were carrying some incredibly serious worries, right? I kept thinking about what would happen if it got worse. I couldn't just stay still, so even though I thought it might be intrusive, I looked into things within the limits of what I could do.”

“……….”

“Then I found the guy who was saying horrible things about you in town, and the girl he was with… Ah.”

At that point, I realized I could not explain one critical part.

Even if I explained why I had wanted to help Aisaka, it was impossible to explain Honda's transformation.

Apparently, my brain only worked properly immediately afterward.

“…Hehe. I see.”

But Aisaka seemed satisfied with that answer and looked ahead.

I had expected her to question me further, so I felt almost deflated.

“The important thing is that you acted for my sake, right? Then there's something I need to say—thank you.”

“…Yeah.”

Please stop smiling like that. It was completely unfair.

Once again embarrassed, I looked away from Aisaka.

I had never expected to be thanked, nor had I planned to tell her what I had done. Yet somehow, this was how it turned out.

Still, being thanked like this made me happy.

“Then… is there anything you want me to do for you?”

“No, really. You don't have to worry about it—”

“You can touch my br**sts, if you want.”

“!?”

Before I could even react with “What are you talking about?”, I understood what she had said, and my eyes were immediately drawn to her chest.

At some point, she had undone the top two buttons of her blouse. Her generous cleavage was now fully visible.

“What do you think?”

“…No, no. That's seriously not okay!”

I had only ever touched her when she was hypnotized, which was why I could do it.

If she consciously gave me permission, of course I wanted to. But my mind told me that it was wrong.

My heart, however, was apparently honest. I could not take my eyes off her.

“It's only touching. It's not like anything will be lost. Look, I'm touching you too.”

She lightly patted my shoulder.

“…Then… is it really okay?”

“Yeah. Go ahead?”

I could not resist the urge.

More than that, the fact that she was the one giving me permission made me strangely excited. My energy rose.

My nostrils flared, and I felt my breathing grow rougher, but I could no longer stop.

It would be rude not to accept her invitation. Here I go!

“…Whoa.”

“Ah…♪”

For me, the sensation was both familiar and not familiar at all. But as expected, they were large, soft, and felt incredible.

At that moment, I was so absorbed that I did not look at Aisaka's face.

I did not notice what kind of eyes she was watching me with—or what expression she wore.

“…So it really is these hands… These hands are the ones that saved me…!”

A dim, hidden feeling began to run wild, and now no one could stop it.