"Mm, I'll go get a cooling mat," Hikari let go of Miss Mira's hand and was about to turn and go fetch a cooling mat to lay on the floor.
But Miss Mira suddenly stopped him.
"Wait," Hikari turned his head.
Tsubakihara Mira patted the pillow beside her, "Come up and sleep."
Hikari hesitated slightly, "Miss Mira, I'll be fine sleeping on the floor."
Tsubakihara Mira repeated, "Come up and sleep."
"The floor won't feel cold to me," Hikari explained.
"I don't want you sleeping on the floor. Get into bed quickly. Hikari-chan, you don't listen to me anymore? As I thought, kids turn rebellious when they grow up. You won't say it, but in your heart you must hate this adult to death, right? And here I've been acting like your mother all this time, boohoo…", Tsubakihara Mira pretended to be about to cry.
Hikari had no choice but to sit on the edge of the bed and lightly pat her back, "No, no, I don't dislike Miss Mira."
In a second Mira's tears turned to laughter; like sun after rain, a hundred charming expressions bloomed on her delightful face. She reached out and hooked his arm with hers.
"I know, Hikari-chan isn't rebellious and doesn't hate me, you're just embarrassed because you're older."
"But don't you think, when you were little you often slept with me. Back then you clung to me every day and cried if I made you sleep with Yuna or Nina. The time you slept in the same bed with Auntie should be more than with any other woman, right?", Miss Mira lay on her side, propped her cheek with one hand, tilted her head and smiled at Hikari.
"Uh… well…", Hearing Miss Mira use the past to hint at something that sounded like it carried not a little meaning, Hikari rubbed his nose and was momentarily speechless.
"All right, tonight you'll sleep with Auntie in the bed! I watched you grow up, just like your mother. What's there to be shy about. Hikari-chan, you don't want an earthquake to happen again at night and Auntie to get hit by the chandelier, do you?"
"Fine," Seeing Miss Mira still tightly holding his arm as she spoke, Hikari had to nod in agreement.
"Hehe…", On Mira's exquisitely beautiful face a girlish, cute smile suddenly appeared, leaving Hikari slightly stunned.
Seeing that slightly scheming, charming smile, Hikari even entertained an unrealistic suspicion. Maybe the earthquake just now was staged by Miss Mira to trick him into sleeping together.
While Hikari's mind wandered in all sorts of directions, Miss Mira had already taken off her shawl and jacket and, dressed as she usually slept alone in light clothing, lay down on the pillow.
She also helpfully removed Hikari's extra shoes and so on, arranging him to lie down.
Then she reached to pull up the blanket at the foot of the bed and tucked it over Hikari.
The blanket, carrying Miss Mira's rich fragrance, covered him. Although it smelled nice, Hikari still felt a little uneasy.
He turned his head and saw Miss Mira carefully smoothing out the creases in the blanket and sheets.
Needless to say, from this situation it meant the two of them were not only sleeping in the same bed tonight, but would surely be sharing the same blanket.
This feeling made the now-grown Hikari feel a little off-kilter.
"What's the matter, why are you staring at me, Hikari-chan?", After tidying the corners and pillows, Miss Mira turned and, seeing Hikari's expression, asked him with a bright smile.
"Nothing, it's just that Miss Mira is very gentle and very capable," Hikari smiled.
"Really? Hikari-chan's compliments make me very happy," Miss Mira said, then suddenly scooted her head a good bit closer to Hikari, turned her body sideways and looked at him.
"Miss Mira?", Hikari looked at Tsubakihara Mira with surprise.
Because under the soft blanket, a hand suddenly reached toward him.
The hand that reached out happened to rest on Hikari's waist.
Seeing his surprised expression, Miss Mira smiled, said nothing, and placed the other hand as well.
With both arms wrapped around Hikari, her ample body moved a little closer.
Suddenly hugged without a word, the mature feminine scent wafted in; Hikari moved instinctively.
The hot vigor of youth rose; feeling Hikari's apparent attempt to pull away, Tsubakihara Mira smiled and said, "Hikari-chan, I always sleep hugging a pillow, you know. Today you took the place of the stuffed toy, so you have to take the toy's place and keep me company."
Hearing this, Hikari found it hard to believe, "Miss Mira, at your age you still like hugging a stuffed toy to sleep? Yuna and Nina probably don't anymore."
Seeing his disbelief, Tsubakihara Mira said cheerfully, "Hikari-chan doesn't believe me? The doll is in the wardrobe, you can go open it and see. But there are also some of Auntie's more private clothes in there, you'd be embarrassed if you saw them."
"But since it's you, Hikari-chan, you can look, just don't take anything secretly. If you happen to need any of Auntie's clothes during puberty, just tell Auntie and Auntie can give them to you~"
At Mira's words Hikari was left speechless.
So: she claims she sleeps with a toy, but it's not visible in the room.
When asked where the toy is, she says it's in the wardrobe.
But then there are private garments in the wardrobe that she's embarrassed to show.
If he had some unspeakable dirty curiosity and insisted on looking, Miss Mira seemed tolerant enough to accept it, provided he was honest.
After all that, Hikari had nothing to say.
He could only let Miss Mira hold him like a pillow, like a stuffed toy.
Even resignedly, he snuggled closer toward her.
Feeling Hikari lean further into her embrace, Miss Mira didn't feel uncomfortable. Instead she patted his head with a smile, seemingly quite pleased.
"Auntie is going to sleep now; tonight you absolutely must not gr*pe."
"Of course. If you can't help it, tell Auntie, but you mustn't act on your own~"
Miss Mira lightly tapped Hikari's nose and said with a smile.
"Mm," Hikari smiled wryly and nodded.
"When you slept with Auntie back then, you were just a tiny little thing. Now that tiny thing's so big and so strong…", Miss Mira pinched his face and squeezed his sturdy arm, remarking with a laugh.
"Miss Mira, you still look so young, seems even more beautiful," Hikari smiled and said.
"Thank you for the compliment, Hikari-chan."
Hikari expected she might blush or modestly look away, but instead Miss Mira touched her smooth cheek, squinted her eyes in delight, and hugged him even tighter as a sort of reward.
They talked a little longer. Miss Mira's bright eyes gradually closed, and she actually fell asleep.
Listening to her even, adorable breathing, Hikari turned his head to look.
Outside, the faint moonlight filtered through the blinds and fell on that flawless, exquisite sleeping face; long lashes fluttered, like a moonlit fairy or a goddess who had slipped down to earth.
Leaning over, Hikari planted a quiet kiss on that jade-smooth, pretty face, tucked the blanket more snugly over her, and closed his eyes to sleep.
———
[The Next Morning]
Upon waking, Hikari felt something heavy on his back. Turning, he saw a sleeping figure tightly hugging his body.
It turned out Miss Mira had really used him as a pillow.
Feeling the softness against his back and the mature fragrance, the just-awakened Hikari felt two heads' worth of headache.
He lifted the blanket and, body burning with heat, quietly slipped out of the big bed and tiptoed out of Miss Mira's room.
Only after brushing his teeth and washing his face did he feel the heat in his body subside a little, but that distinctive youthful eagerness still wouldn't settle.
Holding his head high, Hikari looked up at the clock on the wall.
"It's almost the time I arranged with Reina, Ruri, and the others. I should head to the train station."
Hikari quickly packed and prepared to rush to the train station.
He had agreed with the three gyaru yesterday that this weekend, today, Saturday, he would go to Ruri's apartment party.
The three gyaru were naturally excited about the party; Hikari felt fine about it too.
But after sleeping beside Miss Mira last night, having been used as a pillow all night, he now just wanted to see those three playful gyaru immediately.
Ten years drinking ice won't cool the ardour of youth.
With that passion, Hikari left the Tsubakihara house and soon arrived at the train platform where he had arranged to meet Kurumi and the others.
Standing by the tracks in the waiting area, Hikari didn't see the three gyaru.
Before he could open his phone to message them, Yukina sent a note saying the train was slightly delayed and should arrive soon.
Hikari wasn't anxious and sat down on a bench beside the waiting area.
It was the weekend and not very early, so the platform wasn't too crowded. Not like the usual sardine-can crush.
Sitting alone on the bench, Hikari was about to pull out his phone to tell Miss Mira he wouldn't be going out to eat today.
Just then, a portly middle-aged man in a suit with a sizable belly sat down beside him.
Hikari ignored him and continued composing his message.
The chubby man, seeing Hikari put his phone down, casually struck up a conversation, "Handsome, out for the weekend?"
Hearing the polite tone, Hikari glanced at him. Seeing the man's chubby face smiling like a chrysanthemum, he nodded slightly, "Yeah, out to play. Uncle, are you going to work?"
Hikari asked politely, not expecting that this uncle would then launch into a long litany of grievances as if combo-attacked.
"Not to work, just got off work! Weekend, it's the weekend! But our boss made us come in before dawn to do overtime again, said this place and that place need fixing and it's our responsibility."
"You're young. I'll tell you, being a wage earner is tough! Often we're called to work overtime with no extra pay, and my superior says I complain too much, that I dislike hardship. Says we should be responsible, positive, and push our limits."
"He can say that easily! If work were so simple, there wouldn't be so many people in Japan jumping off buildings to die!"
"Our pressure is really huge. This job's inhuman. If I didn't have old folks and kids depending on me, I'd want to jump off a building!"
Hikari fiddled with his phone and half-listened to the man's jabbering, occasionally nodding politely.
When the man finally finished, Hikari replied casually, "Yeah, these days who doesn't have pressure? I pity you, Uncle…"
Hikari was only being polite, but upon hearing this the fat man suddenly smiled and pulled out a pink flyer showing an attractive woman in black stockings.
Leaning close, the man whispered, "Yeah, my pressure's so bad I'm doing a side job. Hey handsome, help an uncle out with my side gig. Bubble baths, interested? Just down that little alley, mature women, older sisters, all kinds, lots to choose from~"
'Well, so he'd been waiting here. What a long and weird sales pitch.'
Seeing the flyer of the enticing but somewhat generic black-stocking beauty, Hikari finally understood why the man had been chattering.
Glancing at the flyer, Hikari shook his head, "I'm not interested."
Seeing Hikari glance and refuse without even taking the flyer, the man, who had thought it a sure sell, got anxious.
He guessed Hikari looked like a young man full of vigor this morning. Thinking a bit, he leaned in and low-voiced, "Handsome, you don't like older ones?"
"Listen, we don't have many girls your age working here, but we do have JK part-timers, you know. You'd really like them, all top-tier JKs. If you come, you might even run into a classmate, doesn't that sound exciting?"
Hikari shook his head again, "Even less interested."
This uncle was certainly bold and shameless, but he couldn't stir an iota of interest in Hikari.
After all, Hikari had already been involved with many JKs at school, Natsuha, Akane, Sakuramiya sisters, Kanade… almost all top-tier JKs, so the uncle's pitch truly held no appeal.
No matter how florid the uncle's words, Hikari paid them no mind.
The uncle couldn't believe a young man would be uninterested in bubble baths. He figured most guys who say no are either shy or stingy. As for this one claiming he knows several beautiful high school girls, what a cheapskate.
Seeing Hikari unmoved, the uncle surmised he must be genuinely short on cash. He decided to spare the young man's face and stop pushing.
At that moment a train arrived.
As people flowed off, three stylishly dressed gyaru, each with different fashion but all very pretty and well-shaped, stepped down from the train.
This trio was a sight that left many men in the waiting area a bit dumbstruck.
That youthful, lively aura was irresistibly attractive to men of all ages. Men are consistent creatures: from eighty to eight, they always like eight*en-year-ol*d gi*rls.
Seeing those three pretty, fashionably dressed gyaru, the fat uncle grew a bit excited and hurried over.
Working in this line and being older, he wasn't that stirred by the three girls, unlike other men. Still, girls dressed like that often needed money and were prime candidates to recruit as employees.
If he could recruit beauties of that level into the shop, the boss would give him a big bonus. His wife and kids would praise him to death.
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