As a cultivator, keeping his body spotless was basic operation. Bathing was more of a spiritual enjoyment for him, so he naturally didn't need extra steps.
Little Mutsumi gently "mm"ed, not too disappointed. After pausing a moment, she added, "Then can I trouble Onii-chan to help wipe my back?"
"..."
Kaito was silent for two seconds.
'Is it an illusion?'
'I feel like I walked into some sort of trap.'
But seeing the green-haired girl's slightly dependent and hopeful gaze.
'Forget it. Since we are already bathing together, wiping the back doesn't seem like such a big deal.'
"I want it too," Unable to hold back, Raana raised her hand to join in.
Wiping one back was wiping, wiping two was still wiping, Kaito sighed and, in the end, didn't refuse.
Since backs were to be wiped, wearing bath towels wasn't an option.
Mutsumi brought a small chair from the living room and sat on it with her back to Kaito. Her smooth green hair was tied up, revealing a slender neck line. The tips of her delicate ears turned red from the steam, like cherry blossom petals blooming on spring branches.
She lowered her head slightly, hiding her expression. But from the tense line of her spine, one could tell the girl's heart was not quite calm.
"Onii-chan, I'm ready."
Kaito sat behind her, slightly lowering his head. He could see the girl's fair and delicate skin, her beautiful shoulder blades faintly visible, moving slightly with her breath, like a butterfly folding its wings.
The distance between them was extremely close. Though because of the angle he couldn't see anything particularly indecent, just the environment itself was enough to stir some thoughts.
Clearing all distractions from his mind, when he opened his eyes again, they were clear as water.
He gave a light "mm," just about to begin.
But right then, a rapid alert chime rang out.
He reached out, and the phone on the rack flew over on its own.
Unlocking the screen, a video call notification popped up.
[Caller: Nagasaki Soyo]
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Chapter 173: Soyo: Ten Rounds, Oh Ten Rounds!
Soyo?
To be honest, upon seeing that familiar avatar on the phone screen, Kaito had a feeling of inevitability.
After all, this girl who was as gentle and familiar as a newlywed wife, even though she was already doing her best to suppress her longing, still unconsciously showed herself to be very clingy when facing the boy she liked.
Sending messages and chatting during free time, or having long phone calls, were everyday occurrences.
Of course, Soyo grasped her measure very well, never forcibly intervening in her boyfriend's social circle, nor pointing fingers at his hobbies. Even when she threw a small tantrum occasionally, it was only when the two were alone, more like a harmless act of affection.
If there was a single flaw it would probably be that she remained overly enthusiastic about remedial lessons?
But that also varied from person to person. At least for Kaito, just based on Soyo's level of teaching, it was far from enough to make him feel pressured.
Even adding Yumiko wouldn't make a difference.
Though his cultivation wasn't at its peak, the foundation of the Nascent Soul stage was still there. The energy expended during normal activities was even less than what his physical body could recover on its own.
In other words, as long as he wanted, he could practically never feel tired.
Kaito didn't dislike Soyo's closeness. To him, a clingy girlfriend was also very cute.
It's just that the timing of this call was a bit inconvenient.
However nothing was unspeakable. Since he had a clear conscience, there was no need to hide anything.
So he had no intention of hanging up, nor any plan to hide anything. Right in front of Mutsumi, he directly and openly answered the call.
[Roppongi, a Luxurious Duplex on the Forty-Second Floor of a Tower]
In the bright bedroom with huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the girl in silk pajamas leaned on the bed. Her scattered brown hair gently flowed behind her like melted toffee. A few strands drooped off the edge of the bed, and her pale face was almost translucent under the phone's glow, while the smile on her lips lingered like catkins on a branch, never blown away by the wind.
"You were a bit slow to pick up today were you busy?"
["Good guess."]
The handsome boy on screen raised an eyebrow, ["Too bad, no reward."]
Whether there was a reward or not, Soyo didn't really care.
She just keenly noticed that the background on screen looked a bit off.
There was mist, the sound of water, and the surrounding environment looked like bathroom decor.
'Is he about to take a bath?'
Although they were already in a proper relationship and had done the most intimate things, encountering such a situation still made the girl a bit shy as she turned her eyes away and whispered, "Um, am I disturbing you?"
Kaito shook his head, just about to say something when the cat girl beside him suddenly leaned in.
["Onii-chan-chan, the water is still too hot eh?"]
Her gaze met Soyo's on the screen. She tilted her head, showing a thoughtful expression, "It's that woman from last time."
When she first met Kaito at the ring, Raana had tried to snuggle closer, but was stopped in time by the gentle and kind Soyo.
Because of that, she had a deep impression of that face.
"Raa Na-chan?"
Soyo was also stunned.
'Isn't Kaito-kun supposed to be in the bathroom?'
'So who can tell me why that stray cat is also there!"
Seeing the brown-haired girl's confused and dazed look, seemingly so shocked she couldn't speak, Kaito cleared his throat and decided to get straight to the point.
["Actually, not just Raana, Mutsumi is also here."]
He slightly turned the camera. Although it only captured half of the familiar green hair, it was enough to confirm her identity.
Mutsumi lowered her lashes and sighed in her heart.
She had barely sneaked halfway and already got caught red-handed.
At this point, pretending not to know anything clearly wouldn't work. After a moment of hesitation, she still leaned into the camera, gently raised her hand, and greeted, ["Soyo, good evening."]
Soyo: "..."
Soyo: "?"
[Ten Minutes Later]
"So what you mean is, this wasn't the first time you and Raana-chan bathed together. Mutsumi found out, so she joined in, and that's how it turned out like this?"
Kaito nodded.
Though there were a few differences in detail, that was essentially how it happened.
Finally understanding the ins and outs, Nagasaki Soyo remained silent for a long time after getting a clear answer.
Raana was just a humanoid cat, naive and ignorant of worldly matters, and still quite young. She wasn't particularly worried about her as a threat.
But Mutsumi was different.
Soyo had very complicated feelings about this friend.
On one hand, as the one whose boyfriend was being stolen, she should have been furious, ["I treated you as a friend, and you actually want to sleep with my man?"]
If today she dared to bathe with him, wouldn't she dare to eat him tomorrow?
But on the other hand as the main culprit behind the birth of the Mortis personality, Soyo felt deep guilt toward Mutsumi.
If it weren't for her showing off and provoking Mutsumi's emotions, making her develop a fear of being left behind, things wouldn't have developed this way.
It was precisely because of this guilt that Soyo found it hard to say harsh words to this quiet and reserved girl.
And also she seemed to lack the right to criticize Mutsumi.
After all, if we trace things back, she was the one who, knowing Kaito was already dating Miura, still refused to give up, the "bad woman."
If she could do it, of course others could too.
Of course, the reasons for Soyo's change of mindset went far beyond that.
In the past, the reason she didn't want to share the boy she liked with others. Besides the natural possessiveness between lovers, was also because she worried that Kaito's energy was limited, and if she herself wasn't even satisfied, how could she let others have a share?
But now, Soyo no longer had that concern.
If there had to be someone after her if it was Mutsumi, it was better than an outsider. At least she knew her well, and they could get along.
That said, she still felt every bit as jealous as she should.
Soyo gently bit her lip, her beautiful lake-blue eyes full of misty resentment.
'No matter what Mutsumi has done behind my back'
'When it is my turn, I will definitely reclaim it all from Kaito-kun, TENFOLD!'
'Is it just his imagination?'
'Why did it feel like Soyo's look before hanging up was a little familiar?'
'Back when she dragged me into the room and left Mutsumi alone in the living room to wait, didn't she wear that same expression?'
Kaito was silent for two seconds.
'Soyo is she also, like Yumiko, have developed some strange fetish?'
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Chapter 174: There is no more time to mourn Soyo, next isBOCCHIS TURN!
Mutsumi originally thought Soyo would be very angry, at the very least would condemn her a couple of times.
The speed at which Soyo calmed down, however, far exceeded her expectations.
No one knew what Soyo thought of, but the expression on the face kept changing, shock, confusion, anger, guilt... many emotions that should contradict each other intertwined together, yet instead of exploding like a fuse burned to its end, they miraculously dissipated.
Only, Mutsumi did not become relaxed because of this.
Perhaps it was the sixth sense unique to girls, she always felt that Soyo's current attitude was more like the calm before a volcanic eruption.
However, even if Soyo really had other plans, that's a matter for later.
To this doll-like beautiful girl, at the moment... there's undoubtedly a more important matter.
"Onii-chan," Looking at the video call that had already been hung up, she tilted her head, her long hair soaked by water gently hanging down, like dewy green pothos, "Can you... continue helping me wipe my back?"
Since the sneak away had already been discovered, at least she couldn't give up halfway and waste all previous efforts.
Right?
[The Next Day]
Ding~ Dong~
Accompanied by the crisp end-of-class bell, Shuka's lunchtime officially arrived.
"Kaito-kun, do you want to go to the cafeteria for lunch together?", The girl with dreamlike beautiful cherry-pink long hair smiled brightly, showing two sharp and cute tiger teeth.
"Chihaya-san?", Kaito came back to his senses and gently shook his head at her.
"Why do I always feel like you look so spiritless... Are you sick?", Today still full of energy, Chihaya Anon supported her chin with both hands, somewhat worried, "If your body really feels bad, I can accompany you to the infirmary, okay?"
"No, not that kind of thing," Kaito was silent for a while before saying, "Just... I had a bit of insomnia last night, so I had to resort to some special methods to fall asleep."
"Eh?"
Anon tilted her head, 'Special methods?'
'W-Wait a second!'
'Speaking of which, I have indeed seen similar rumors on certain emotional forums. Boys in puberty at this age, during quiet nights, would use a kind of... method to quickly exhaust themselves to help with sleep...'
'C-Could it be, Kaito-kun does that kind of thing too?'
"What are you imagining?", Seeing this pink-haired baby dragon blush so abruptly again, Kaito sighed and tapped her little head.
After coming out of the bathroom last night, he changed into pajamas, returned to his bedroom, collected the moon essence for the day, and was about to rest.
Not long after, little Mutsumi followed over.
At first, the girl would find some seemingly reasonable excuses, like "afraid of thunder" or "had a nightmare." But perhaps because the number of times they slept together recently had increased, she stopped finding excuses. Every time it was bedtime, she would very naturally hug her little pillow and knock on his door.
Habit is truly a scary thing. Even Kaito subconsciously accepted this situation and didn't raise objections.
Later, Raana also became unwilling to be left out and insisted on sleeping with him too.
A single bed squeezed with three people, one can imagine how tight the space was.
Little Mutsumi was still okay; her sleeping posture had always been very well-behaved, neat and proper, never causing trouble.
But the cat-girl's sleeping posture was more... wild.
Like a koala hanging on his chest, even drooling a very suspicious transparent liquid from the corner of her mouth.
Kaito did try adjusting her sleeping posture, but usually couldn't last more than a few minutes before the silver-haired girl in deep sleep would instinctively return to her original position.
Just like a resilient spring, no matter how hard you press, it always bounces back.
With his cultivation level, he had long lost the physiological need for sleep. Even if he didn't sleep for months straight, it wouldn't be a problem.
So the reason he looked spiritless was more due to mental exhaustion from being tormented by the cat.
Especially after waking up and finding his pajamas soaked in that transparent liquid known as "drool," the silver-haired girl who had half her body collapsed onto his chest, her milky white nightdress crumpled up above her navel, exposing a segment of blindingly white slim waist, and her legs restlessly draped over his knees, like a clingy octopus.
Thankfully, people's physiques aren't all the same. If it were an ordinary person being pressed on all night like that, they might've been sore all over and even walking would be difficult.
"Ahahaha, I-I just thought of something happy...", Realizing she misunderstood something, Anon gave two awkward laughs and hurriedly changed the topic, "Let's not talk about unhappy things anymore. Kaito-kun, how about I tell you a joke?"
Kaito raised an eyebrow, "Sure, go ahead."
Anon cleared her throat and said seriously, "Once upon a time there was a big dummy, who really liked to say 'no.' No matter what others asked, she always said no. Have you heard this joke?"
'Hmph! To reestablish my tall and perfect goddess image as smart and graceful Anon-chan, I even specially did homework last night.'
