[Present time - infirmary]
Horikita's perspective.
It's clean—immaculately so. White walls, polished metal cabinets, and a bed in the center covered with pristine white sheets.
Kaito gently lays me down on the bed.
"Alright, try to get some rest,"
"Haruka and Kotori will sort you out."
He gives me one last reassuring smile before turning to leave.
"Wait," I call out.
Kaito pauses at the door, turning back to look at me.
"Yeah? What's up?"
Ah... I said that on impulse. Now what do I say? He's looking at me, waiting. I don't know what to say. He's just... looking at me, and my mind goes completely blank. My heart is beating too fast.
"I... um..."
For some unknown reason, what he told me earlier reverberates in my mind.
"Do you like my feet?"
Kaito blinks. Once. Twice. The gentle, reassuring smile on his face vanishes, replaced by a look of profound, unadulterated confusion.
"...Huh?" I blurt out, my face instantly turning a shade of red so deep it feels like it's generating its own heat.
Wrong! That's not what I wanted to say! Why did I say that?! That wasn't it at all!
My brain blanked and pulled up the most random, embarrassing thing he said—'I wouldn't let a beauty walk around barefoot'—and then my mouth just… ran with it in the worst possible direction. My mind screams at me. What have I done?! Why?!
Kaito just stares at me, his handsome face a perfect mask of utter bewilderment.
His mouth opens slightly, then closes.
"Your... feet?" Kaito repeats slowly, as if the words are a foreign language he's trying to translate.
My face burns. I want to die. I wish the corruption had just taken me! I can't take it anymore. I pull the white sheet over my head, hiding my face from the world.
"J-Just forget I said anything!" I squeak from beneath the sheets, my voice muffled and trembling with embarrassment.
"It was... a mistake! I didn't mean it!"
I can hear the silence in the room. It's heavy, suffocating, and filled with the ghost of my own stupid question.
I can feel Kaito's confused stare piercing through the thin fabric of the sheet. Why isn't he saying anything? Why isn't he leaving? Just go! Please, just leave me here to die of shame!
I hear a faint chuckle. It's him. He's laughing at me. I pull the sheet tighter.
"Well, I haven't really had a chance to look at them," Kaito replies, his voice carried with an amusement that is both gentle and utterly infuriating.
"But now that you mention it…"
My body freezes under the sheet. *No. Don't you dare.*
I hear his footsteps approaching the bed. My heart beats fast against my ribs. He wouldn't. He *couldn't*.
The edge of the sheet lifts. Just a little.
I peek through the tiny gap between my fingers.
Kaito is standing beside the bed, his gaze directed downwards.
"It's hard to tell from all the dirt," Kaito says, placing his left hand on his chin in a thoughtful pose.
He's looking at my feet.
My dirty, bare feet.
"Maybe if we clean them up, I can give you a proper answer."
I feel my entire body stiffen. My toes instinctively twitch. He's… he's actually considering it. He's not laughing anymore; he's looking at my feet with a genuine, analytical curiosity that is somehow a million times more embarrassing than being laughed at.
And he's right. My feet are filthy.
"Let's see..." Kaito mutters to himself.
"I suppose it would be better to have clean feet before sleep."
He's going to… clean my feet? Here? Now?
"W-Wait!" I stutter.
"You don't have to do that!"
Kaito raises an eyebrow.
"You're the one who asked,"
"It'd be rude not to answer, right?"
"B-But—"
Kaito walks to the door and exits, leaving me alone in the room with my racing heart and the fire still stinging my cheeks.
"B-but that's not what I meant!" I protest weakly to the empty doorway.
He's gone. He actually left. And he's coming back to… to clean my feet. My face feels like it's on fire.
I want to sink through the mattress, through the floor, through the very foundations of this underground base and cease to exist.
What is wrong with me? First the 'tsundere' comment, now this. I am a warrior of the Profound Inverse Flowing Style, a demon of the Underworld, not… not this stumbling, blushing idiot who can't even form a coherent sentence in front of a handsome man.
I hear the door open again. I don't dare look. I just squeeze my eyes shut and pray for a swift end.
I hear the soft sound of something being placed on the floor beside the bed.
"Alright, Horikita," Kaito says, infuriatingly calm.
"Let's get those feet cleaned up, shall we?"
I peek from under the sheet.
He is kneeling on the floor next to the bed, beside a small plastic tub of steaming water.
And a small, clean-looking white towel rests on his left shoulder.
There's also a bar of soap on the side of the tub.
I stare at him, speechless. He's actually doing it. He's kneeling on the floor, ready to wash my feet.
"...You don't have to do this," I whisper.
"I can do it myself."
"You could," Kaito agrees,
"But you're exhausted. And besides," He adds, picking up the bar of soap,
"I'm already here. Just relax. Think of it as… part of your recovery. You wouldn't want to sleep with dirty feet, would you?"
His voice is so reasonable, so calm, it leaves no room for argument. It's not a command, just a simple statement of fact. And he's right. I am exhausted.
My protest dies in my throat. Slowly, hesitantly, I push the sheet down to my lap and press myself up into a sitting position on the edge of the bed.
My feet feel clumsy and exposed, and my toes grip inwards with self-consciousness.
Kaito doesn't seem to notice my discomfort, or if he does, he doesn't comment on it.
He gently takes my right foot in his hands.
His hands are warm and steady, his fingers calloused but surprisingly gentle.
Heat floods my face as he lifts my foot and slowly lowers it into the steaming water.
"Ah..." A soft sigh escapes my lips as my foot sinks into the welcoming warmth.
It feels… incredible. The tension in my leg begins to melt away, soothed by the gentle heat.
"Feels good?" Kaito asks, his voice soft.
I nod, unable to speak.
"Alright, let's get this dirt off," He says, picking up the bar of soap. He rubs it in his hands before applying the foam to my foot.
His fingers work gently but firmly, rubbing the soap over my instep, around my ankle, and between my toes. The sensation is… strange. It tickles, but in a pleasant way.
Then, he moves to the sole of my foot. His thumb finds the sensitive center, applying a slow, circular pressure that melts the last of my resistance.
"Hnngh..." The sound is stolen from my throat, a small, involuntary moan of pure pleasure.
Kaito pauses for a second.
"Sensitive there, huh?"
My entire body flushes. I can't even nod. I just stare at his blond hair, completely blank.
He chuckles softly and continues his work, his touch now a bit more delicate, more aware.
Every stroke of his fingers is precise, methodical. He's not just washing them; he's… cleaning them. With a focus and care that I've only ever seen Lenah apply to sharpening her blade.
It feels too good. The combination of the warm water, the gentle massage, and his focused attention is sending shivers of pleasure up my leg.
My back curves gently, my toes flexing in the warm, soapy water.
After he finishes with my right foot, he gently lifts it from the water and wraps it in the clean white towel. His touch is so delicate, so careful, as he dries my skin.
Then, without missing a beat, he takes my left foot, lowering it into the now slightly murky water.
By the time he's done, I'm a mess. My face is a deep crimson, my breath comes in short, uneven pants, and I feel a wetness between my thighs that has nothing to do with the water. I am completely limp in his hands, and he hasn't even noticed.
"There," He lifts my left foot, drying it with the same gentle precision he used on my right.
"All clean." He places my foot gently back on the bed beside the other one.
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kaito says, looking up at me with a soft smile.
I can't answer. I can't even nod. The words "not so bad" are a galaxy away from the truth. It was… overwhelming. Devastating. Soaking. My mind is a blank slate, wiped clean by sensation.
All I can do is stare down at him, my lips slightly parted, my breasts rising and falling with each shallow breath.
Kaito's smile falters slightly, his brow furrowing with a hint of concern.
"Hey, are you alright, Horikita? Your face is really red."
He reaches out, his hand moving toward my forehead...
"You don't have a fever, do you?"
No... D-Don't touch me!
If he touches me now... I... I'll...