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Main Story 18 - Hiori’s Room

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Hiori slowly opens the door to her room.

“This is my room.”

“Ooh...”

The room’s atmosphere is refreshing and calm. Is it because the carpet and cushions are in cool colors? But, there is a stuffed calico cat lying on the bed, and mini figures and small stuffed animals on her study desk, so the room also has a cute atmosphere.

The room is clean and the bookshelf is neatly organized. So, there is a sense of freshness and coolness here.

“It's a wonderful room. I like how it feels like I can relax here.”

“Thank you very much. Would you like to look at the bookshelf?”

“Yeah.”

I go to the bookshelf with Hiori.

This bookshelf is more impressive than the one in my room. It contains not only novels and light novels, but also manga, illustration collections, and photo collections of animals, flowers, and landscapes. Also, it also contains things that don't seem like published books... maybe albums or something.

“It's an impressive bookshelf. There are a lot of books here. The volumes are lined up properly... To say it in the Hiori-style, it's a beautiful bookshelf.”

“Thank you very much. I organized my bookshelf after I got home the day before yesterday. Some of the works were not in the correct order of volumes.”

“I see. ...From the look of this, there are a lot of romance works here, aren't there?”

“Yes. Some are rom-coms between men and women, some are girls love and some are boys love. Among the girls love and boys love works, there are some that I follow at Saaya-san's recommendation.”

“I see.”

Come to think of it, the person herself said before that she loves homosexual works. She must have preached to Hiori about this. I can easily imagine that.

“I've read about two-thirds of the light novel I borrowed from Akito-san the other day. It's quite interesting.”

“I'm glad you thought it was interesting.”

“I think I'll return it during the consecutive holidays or right after. I'll bring something to drink, so please take a look at the bookshelf. If you find any books that you like, you can read them. By the way, what would you like to drink, Akito-san?”

“Then... Can I have an iced coffee, please? Black.”

“I understand. Please put your belongings anywhere you like.”

“Got it.”

Hiori temporarily leaves the room.

When I look inside the room again... it’s quite a spacious room. I think it's bigger than my room. I take a deep breath and... it smells good.

I place my bag on the cushion closest to the bookshelf and look at the bookshelf again.

Unlike the bookshelf in my room, there are a lot of shoujo manga and boys love manga and novels here. There are also some teen love works here. But, I know some of the shoujo manga here because they were on the bookshelf in my room or my sister lent them to me.

I pick up the first volume of [Akime Chijinchou], one of the shoujo manga I also own. It’s a work about ayakashi. It’s a bestseller that has been adapted into several TV anime series and even a theater anime.

“As expected, this manga is really interesting.”

I haven't watched the early anime series in a while, so maybe I should watch it again after all these years.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Hiori comes into the room carrying a tray with two mugs on it. She places the mugs of iced coffee on the table and the tray on her study desk.

“Thank you, Hiori.”

“No, no. By the way, what book are you reading, Akito-san?”

“Volume 1 of [Akime Chijinchou]. It's a manga I really like, you see.”

“I see. That manga was in Akito-san's room, wasn’t it? There were also other shoujo manga like [Bokumonogatari!]”

“I got hooked on those two by watching the anime. I also read some shoujo manga that I borrowed from my sister. Like this [Sweets Basket].”

“That manga is also interesting, isn’t it?”

Hiori approaches the bookshelf and tries to reach out her right hand for the [Sweets Basket] on the top shelf. Then,

“Ow-”

She lets out a small voice and lowers her extended right hand. She looked a little pained when she said ‘Ow’.

“Does your shoulder hurt?”

“Yes. I think it's probably stiff shoulders. I often get stiff shoulders after studying or writing a novel for a long time. Also, on days when I have physical education class too. Today I worked on my assignments all morning, and I also made lunch, so maybe that fatigue has built up.”

“I see. ...If Hiori is okay with it, I’ll give you a shoulder massage.”

As I make that suggestion, Hiori's eyes widen as she looks at me. Is it surprise? Or is it aversion? Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about touching her body, even if it was to relieve her stiff shoulders.

“Hiori, sorr──”

“Is it okay?”

Hiori asks, her voice higher than usual. I nod my head in agreement.

“I usually massage my mother and older sister. My mother in particular often has stiff shoulders, maybe it’s her constitution. That's why I'm good at massage.”

“I see. Then... can I leave it to you?”

“I got it.”

Let's do our best with the massage so that Hiori's stiff shoulders can be relieved.

To make it easier for me to massage her, Hiori sits on the chair at her study desk. Her back is straight and her posture is very beautiful.

I stand behind the sitting Hiori and gently grab both of her shoulders. As soon as I grab them, Hiori twitches and shakes.

“Did it hurt?”

“No. I just involuntarily twitched when my shoulders were touched.”

“I see. If you feel any pain while I'm massaging you, don’t hold back and tell me.”

“I understand.”

Hiori turns back to me and slowly nods. She is so beautiful.

Even through the vertical sweater, I can feel Hiori’s warmth in both of my hands. I can smell the sweet scent of shampoo from her long silver hair. My heart is pounding more and more. But I'm about to massage her now. Let's concentrate on that.

“Then, I’ll start.”

“Please take care of me.”

For now, I'll massage her like I do my mother and sister. I hope it suits Hiori.

I start massaging Hiori's shoulders. “Hau...” Hiori's sweet voice echoes through the room.

“Hiori, are you okay?”

“It was a little painful. But it feels like it's loosening up...”

“For the time being, should we proceed like this?”

“...Yes. Please...”

Her speaking voice is more coquettish than usual. It makes me want to hug her from behind, but let’s work my reason properly. ‘Right now, I'm Hiori's masseur’, I suggest to myself.

After that, I continue to massage Hiori's shoulders. Seeing that she feels some pain, she’s pretty stiff.

“Your shoulders are stiff, huh? You must have worked hard doing your homework and making lunch. I'll give you a good massage as a thank you.”

When I say that, Hiori shakes her head without turning towards me.

Occasionally, I hear Hiori’s sweet voices like “Nn...” and “Haaa...” while massaging her shoulders.

“It feels so good... Akito-san...”

“That’s good to hear.”

I guess it's proof that it's loosening up. Also, with so many sweet voices leaking out, wasn’t that “it feels so good” a foul? My instinct to hug her from behind is going to overpower my reason that has been operating at full capacity.

“What do you usually do when your shoulders get stiff?”

“I often massage myself. Sometimes I have my mother or Nanami massage me. But, Akito-san’s massage feels the best. As expected of someone who has massaged their mother and sister. You are very good at it.”

“Thank you.”

She sure is telling me happy things like “feels the best” and “you are very good at it.”

It just occurred to me that if Himura-san sees this situation, she will be extremely jealous. She might ask to change places with me. Also, she might massage other parts as well, not just her shoulders. If she’s going to massage her, I feel like it's best if someone else is there, like me or Hazuki-san.

“Do your shoulders get stiff, Akito-san?”

“Mine don't usually get stiff. Maybe after a long time of doing assignments or studying for exams.”

“I see. That's nice. They don’t get stiff after your part-time job? There are times when you have long shifts on holidays, right?”

“I think I got stiff shoulders before I got used to working. I don't have that problem now. I wonder if it's because I take regular breaks now.”

“I see. I'm jealous.”

There's nothing better than not having stiff shoulders after all.

As I continue the massage, the stiffness in Hiori's shoulders begin to loosen considerably. Also, the heat coming from Hiori's body is stronger than when I started massaging her.

“Hiori, how is it? It seems like your stiffness has loosened up though.”

As I ask that, I take my hands off Hiori's shoulders.

Hiori slowly rotates her shoulders. I hope it’s easier than before the massage.

After rotating her shoulders for about 10 seconds, Hiori turns back to me.

“The stiffness and pain I had in my shoulder have gone away. Thank you very much.”

“You're welcome. I'm glad your shoulders feel better.”

I'm happy that I can use the skills I've cultivated over the years by using it on my family for Hiori.

“From now on, if I feel something strange about my shoulder when Akito-san is around, can I ask Akito-san for a massage?”

“If you’re fine with me, I'd be happy to.”

“Thank you very much.”

Hiori stands up from her chair and gently pats my head. Hiori’s cheeks are flushed, and the corners of her mouth turn up slightly.

I sit on the cushion where I placed my bag earlier, and Hiori sits on the cushion by the bed.

I take a sip of the iced coffee that Hiori brewed for me.

“It has a strong bitterness and is delicious.”

“That’s good. My body was getting hot from having my shoulders massaged, so the cold coffee tastes really good.”

“Haha-, I see.”

“...By the way, Akito-san. What are we going to do now?”

“Actually, I brought the Blu-ray of Miyabi-sama. The day before yesterday, we were only able to watch it halfway at my house. So I brought its continuation until the final episode of the first season. I say that, but there's more than half of it.”

“I'm so happy. I wanted to watch Miyabi-sama's anime again with Akito-san. I have the recording of the TV broadcast, but I'd like to see the commercial version. Let's continue our viewing party of the first season of Miyabi-sama's anime.”

Hiori said with a higher tone of voice than usual. I was right to bring the Blu-rays that I couldn't watch at home the day before yesterday.

We begin watching the continuation of the first season of Miyabi-sama's anime. Just like that day, Hiori and I are sitting next to each other.

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