"Take off your school uniform first. Be careful not to get it wrinkled."
Miko instructed.
Natsuki removed his uniform. "What about the shirt underneath?"
"Keep it on. No need to take it off." Miko's gaze was listless. "Hurry up and lie down. I need to step on you, then I still have homework to do, and I need to prepare dinner later... So annoying."
"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Miko."
Natsuki folded his uniform neatly, placed it on a nearby chair, then lay face-down on the floor, turning his face toward Miko.
Her legs were very pale.
The girl's skin was especially snow-white right after a bath.
Looking up from below, Miko's legs appeared even more straight and slender.
Thinking about how he was about to be stepped on by these legs, Natsuki's heart felt... completely unmoved.
Probably because he'd already been stepped on back in middle school?
"Should I start?"
Miko covered her chest with her right hand and asked softly.
"Go ahead." Natsuki lay flat. "Please be gentle at first."
"What do you mean 'be gentle'!"
Miko couldn't help but retort. "A pervert who likes lying on the ground being stepped on would be happier the rougher it is, right?"
"..."
Miko raised her right foot. Her round, cute toes curled slightly like cardamom buds. Her snow-white foot arched gently as she carefully stepped onto Natsuki's back. Her pretty face reddened as she asked softly:
"How does it feel?"
"Too light." Natsuki quipped. "Even a cat stepping on someone uses more force than you."
"That was just one foot." Miko puffed up her cheeks slightly. "Now I'm going to stand on you."
Quietly taking a breath, Miko carefully stood on Natsuki's back. A subtle emotion suddenly arose in her heart.
(Natsuki has grown up too. His back is so much broader than that summer...)
"How does it feel now?"
Pushing the subtle emotion to the back of her mind, Miko asked again.
"Hmm..." Natsuki was silent for two seconds, his tone becoming meaningful. "Miko, I have a question I want to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"First promise you won't hit me."
Miko furrowed her brows slightly, her tone suspicious. "What are you going to ask?"
"Promise first."
"Fine, I promise. I definitely won't hit you."
"Then I'll ask..." Natsuki's tone was tactful. "Your current weight is over fifty kilograms, isn't it?"
"..."
Miko's pretty face immediately hardened, and she stomped down hard.
Weight was a forbidden secret for girls. Asking such a question clearly meant he was calling her fat!
She couldn't hold back.
Even a lazy salted fish would get super angry!
Crack.
"It's breaking, it's breaking." Natsuki hurriedly said. "My waist is breaking."
"That's fine. We can just remove it and donate it to someone who needs it."
"Lady Miko is magnanimous and forgiving. Please pardon me."
"..."
After stepping on his back for a while, the room door suddenly clicked open, and an elementary schooler peeked in.
"I heard strange noises from downstairs, so I came up to check..." The elementary schooler's eyes went wide, his face showing an expression of disbelief. "Sis, you're actually playing SM games with Natsuki?"
Hey, hey—you're an elementary schooler. How do you know so much?!
"We're not playing that kind of game! You've got the wrong idea!" Miko's pretty face rapidly turned red as she hastily denied it.
Even a lazy salted fish would get embarrassed being caught red-handed by her own little brother.
Natsuki sat up. "Your sister is just helping me with a back massage."
"You don't need to explain. I understand." The elementary schooler silently closed the door, leaving only a meaningful look behind. "Sis, you and Natsuki can keep playing. I promise I won't tell anyone."
Click.
The door closed.
Miko wanted to rush over to explain. In her haste, she suddenly lost her footing.
Natsuki reacted quickly, catching Miko with his body from below.
Thud.
A muffled impact sounded.
Miko landed directly on top of him. Her silky hair cascaded down, and the pleasant scent of shampoo and body wash flooded Natsuki's nose—an exceptionally nice fragrance.
"..."
Their eyes met.
The air suddenly went quiet.
The temperature between them rose imperceptibly.
Click.
The door was pushed open again.
"That was too loud." The elementary schooler peeked in, his expression blank. "I still need to do homework with my friend. Sis, you should just go to Natsuki's room to play."
"Also."
"Use protection. If you accidentally get pregnant, Mom will definitely have a headache."
Miko's pretty face flushed crimson. She quickly sat up, unable to help but shout:
"You're an elementary schooler! How do you know so much?!"
"What's wrong with being an elementary schooler?" Kyosuke Yotsuya's tone was calm. "Miki, who lives at the street corner, has already had three boyfriends."
Miko Yotsuya: "..."
Indeed, one shouldn't underestimate elementary schoolers.
Natsuki recalled the Hundred Kills mission from a few days ago. He'd thought Kaguya Shinomiya would win a hundred matches in a row, but she'd encountered several formidable elementary school prodigies along the way who had beaten the young lady senseless.
"Anyway, things aren't what you think." Miko took a deep breath and thought of an excuse. "Natsuki said his back was sore, so he asked me to step on it for him. That's all."
Natsuki nodded. "Whatever your sister says, that's what it is."
"Natsuki, please hurry up and start dating my sister." Kyosuke sighed and turned to look at Natsuki. "If you wait any longer, she'll become an unwanted old woman."
Miko clenched her pink fists, the corner of her eye twitching:
"Kyosuke!!"
"..."
Bang.
The door closed.
The elementary schooler's footsteps thundered downstairs.
"Let's call it a day for now." Natsuki sat up and reached back to support his waist. "Come to my room tomorrow."
"I'm not going." Miko turned her face away. "Have Kyosuke step on you tomorrow."
"Kyosuke is too light. I'll still need Lady Miko to save me from my suffering."
Natsuki put his clothes back on and felt a warm current appear around his waist, slowly spreading to his limbs. Clearly, the trampling energy was gradually converting into bio-energy.
He clenched his right fist. His strength did seem to have increased slightly.
Natsuki was quite satisfied.
Getting stronger just by lying flat—it really was a divine skill!
Natsuki went downstairs to the living room. Miko's little brother and an elementary school girl who lived nearby were sitting together doing homework, looking quite close.
"Kyosuke really is way more capable than you." Natsuki turned to look at Miko and quietly quipped.
Miko's gaze was listless as she reached over to pinch Natsuki's waist. "You can go home now."
"..."
Natsuki said his goodbyes and left, returning home.
"I'm home."
Walking to the refrigerator and opening it, there was indeed another rotting evil spirit head inside.
These things were probably like Arctic penguins—they just loved staying in cold environments.
"You... can see me?"
A hollow, murmuring voice came from the evil spirit head's mouth.
Natsuki said without changing expression, "I can."
"You... can see me?"
The evil spirit head froze. Crimson light suddenly appeared in its eyes as it lunged out of the refrigerator, mouth open wide to bite.
"If you can see me... I can eat you!"
Natsuki silently activated his Evil Spirit Repelling aura, directly purifying and eliminating the head spirit.
The night passed without incident.
The next day.
School.
The moment Natsuki walked into the classroom, the ice-sculpture girl Kaguya approached him. She bit her lower lip lightly and explained her purpose.
"...After school this afternoon, there's something I'd like to ask you to help with."