Early, the next morning—
Aoba opened his eyes.
Shizune was lying sideways in the crook of his arm, eyes tightly shut, sleeping extremely soundly.
The blush on her face had already faded, only the strands of hair stuck together proving that last night's battle had been anything but easy.
Aoba looked at Shizune, his gaze couldn't help but shift downward, and he couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
Then he reached out his hand and made a measuring gesture.
He realized Shizune seemed to have grown up. Last night was too rushed, he hadn't noticed.
Just as he was feeling like something was poking at his conscience, Shizune sleepily opened her eyes.
And what she saw was Aoba, face full of curiosity and mischief.
"Aoba, what are you doing so early in the morning?"
Even though she had mostly gotten used to it, she still felt her cheeks flush red, "I…I still have to go to work later. If you're not feeling well, then go find Konan."
"I'm not, I just feel like Shizune-neechan, you seem to have grown up," Aoba looked seriously at Shizune.
Immediately, Shizune's snow-white skin flushed with a tempting blush.
"I…I've always been this big, okay," Her tone carried a trace of annoyance.
Shizune didn't want to admit that among all the women, she was the most plain and ordinary one.
"Really?", Aoba forced back his laughter, "I thought it was thanks to me."
"No it's not!", Shizune slapped away Aoba's hand and stood up from under the blanket.
The quilt slid down her silky skin.
Her fair skin was exposed to the air, only those long beautiful legs looked as if they had been tortured by interrogation.
Even her exquisite jade feet were covered in bruises, with some spots seeming like ointment had been applied, looked like she had used every skill in the book.
"Honestly, you really don't know how to be gentle."
Shizune complained while using her mystical palm technique to erase the marks, "What if someone notices?"
Aoba looked innocent, "I wanted to be gentle, but it was Shizune-neechan who kept saying…mmph!"
"Shut up!", Shizune lunged forward and covered his mouth, 'Does this guy really have to humiliate me like this?'
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault," Aoba apologized honestly, looking like everything was his mistake.
Only then did Shizune let go, satisfied.
After finishing healing all the marks on her body, she spun once and asked, "There aren't any places I missed, right?"
"Mm, all healed."
"Good. You go wake up Tsunade-sama, I'll prepare breakfast."
Saying that, Shizune put on her clothes and left the room.
Aoba could only wait a little longer. Right now it wasn't very convenient for him to get up.
———
After splashing his face with cold water again, Aoba came to Tsunade's door.
He thought about it, then decided not to knock. Instead he directly turned the handle and walked in.
Maybe he'd find some evidence not cleaned up in time.
"Still sleeping like that."
Aoba gave a helpless smile.
He didn't find any evidence, only saw Tsunade sprawled messily across the bed.
Suddenly he remembered when he was a child, being used as a hugging pillow. Those were painful yet happy days.
For a moment, Aoba felt nostalgic for the past.
He completely forgot his original purpose.
He picked up the quilt and covered Tsunade, then crawled in himself.
But no matter how careful his movements, they still woke Tsunade.
She woke from her dream.
The first thing she saw was Aoba. After a few seconds of dumbfounded staring, she drew back the foot she was about to kick out and asked, "Why are you in my bed?"
"I came to wake you up."
Aoba blinked his innocent eyes.
"So this is how you wake me up?"
Tsunade glanced down at the hand hugging her a little too freely, her face showing a dangerous smile.
"I'm reliving childhood."
Aoba answered with a serious face.
"Heh," The next second, he was pulled into Tsunade's embrace.
"Then I'll let you relive it properly!"
Aoba only felt the fragrance fill his nose.
Then came a long-lost suffocating sensation.
Feeling Tsunade's actions, Aoba simply put both arms around her waist as well.
"You!"
Sensing his increasingly unruly behavior, Tsunade immediately grew alert, 'This didn't happen back then.'
Aoba ignored her, his actions growing even bolder.
"Wait!"
Tsunade grew anxious, "Shizune might come by."
"It's fine."
Aoba gently caressed Tsunade's smooth, soft skin.
This softness was different from Shizune's. It was more like cotton candy, even softer.
"Shizune-neechan went to cook. She won't be back for a while."
"You—", Before she could finish, Aoba had already blocked her lips.
———
"Tsunade-sama, why are you the only one coming out? Where's Aoba?", Shizune looked at Tsunade walking out of the bedroom alone, feeling a little puzzled.
"Don't mention him, that brat wore me out," Tsunade scratched at her messy hair, her tone full of impatience.
"Oh," Shizune didn't plan on pressing Tsunade's bad mood, but her expression quickly turned strange, "Tsunade-sama, later remember to cover it up."
"What do you mean?", Tsunade looked at Shizune, puzzled.
"You'll know when you look in the mirror later," Saying that, Shizune went back into the kitchen.
Tsunade, full of question marks, entered the washroom and examined herself over and over.
Only when she tugged her nightgown down a little did she notice the marks.
"This brat, is he part dog?"
———
"Hoo—", Elsewhere, inside another room, only Konan's faint breathing could be heard.
At this moment, she was lying flat on her back, chest rising and falling slightly, completely exhausted.
The fatigue from yesterday's training still hadn't faded. Early this morning, she had practiced again.
Now she was truly burned out.
Aoba sat at her side, holding a glass, silently drinking water to rehydrate.
"Konan-neechan, have some water."
When Konan had recovered enough, Aoba leaned over, took her hand, and pulled her up from her lying position.
He let her lean against him, one arm around her waist to support her head on his shoulder, then brought the glass to her lips.
Konan drained the whole cup of water in one breath, finally easing the soreness in her throat.
"You bad guy, you got Shizune all fired up, and then came to me for relief, didn't you?"
"Shizune-neechan has to go to work later. Besides, didn't I ask you first, Konan-neechan?", Aoba actually felt a little guilty, because it was Tsunade who had provoked this fire.
Konan rolled her eyes. She just hadn't expected that even lying flat could be this exhausting.
After a moment, Konan suddenly thought of something, and asked, "During this time, you haven't been hiding anything else from me, right?"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.