Aoba's gaze lowered, "Yugito, you aren't…"
Yugito immediately reacted, turning over to get off of him.
However, Aoba naturally wouldn't give her this chance.
He directly pressed forward, pinning Yugito down on the sofa.
"You… what do you want to do?"
Yugito put on a show of struggling intensely, but her pushes against Aoba were weak and feeble.
Aoba easily restrained Yugito's hands, leaning closer bit by bit.
"You…", Yugito, watching Aoba get closer and closer, chose to close her eyes, intentionally or unintentionally tilting her small face upward.
Aoba felt a bit speechless; this had already become the standard procedure between the two.
This wasn't their first time; they had kissed countless times over the past year, and quite a few times were initiated by Yugito herself. Yet, she still insisted on putting on this act of half-resistance.
'Tsunderes are really troublesome.' [T/N: Most annoying of all]
Aoba couldn't help but sigh. At the same time, he felt that he couldn't keep indulging Yugito like this.
Thinking this, he released Yugito's wrists and flicked her forehead with a not-too-light, not-too-heavy snap.
Stunned but not brain-damaged.
"Ah!", Yugito cried out in pain immediately, covering her slightly reddened forehead, gritting her teeth as she looked at Aoba in confusion.
"What was that for?"
According to their previous experiences, the procedure shouldn't have been like this.
"This is your punishment. Be more careful with the massage next time, or I'll dock your pay."
"You!", Yugito could only glare at him.
Aoba ignored her, got up, and left the sofa.
Yugito was slightly taken aback and subconsciously asked, "Where are you going?"
'Aren't you going to continue?'
"Taking a bath," Aoba responded nonchalantly.
"Oh," Yugito thought he meant to continue after his bath, so she sat on the sofa, waiting for Aoba to finish showering.
When Aoba came out after his bath, he saw Yugito sitting cross-legged on the sofa like a little cat.
As soon as he appeared, her gaze fell upon him.
Aoba couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, "Is there somewhere I didn't wash clean?"
"N... no," Yugito turned her head away somewhat flustered.
Aoba smiled slightly, didn't say anything, and slumped down onto the sofa beside her again.
Then, there was no further action.
After Kin finished cleaning the kitchen, she glanced at the two on the sofa and then went to clean the bedroom.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the living room became somewhat silent.
Yugito kept sneaking glances at Aoba, but Aoba just sat on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting, as if he had fallen asleep.
"You... do you still want a massage or not?", Finally, Yugito couldn't hold back anymore and asked in a small voice.
No response.
She leaned closer to carefully observe him for a while; he seemed to really be asleep.
"This bad guy!", Yugito muttered discontentedly under her breath.
'Is he really that tired from last night? He can fall asleep just sitting on the sofa.'
Looking at Aoba's face so close to hers, Yugito suddenly felt a wave of inexplicable irritation.
"Should I carry this guy back to the bedroom?", Yugito hummed lightly, nibbling on her lips.
Aoba, seemingly sound asleep, breathed evenly; his lips were fuller and more moist than Yugito had imagined.
Because even when they kissed, she always kept her eyes closed, this was the first time she had observed some details of his face up close.
"Indeed, this guy is a bit more cute when he's quiet," Yugito examined the "sleeping" Aoba, cautiously reached out to poke his cheek, and then, as if possessed, said, "If only he could stay still like this forever."
"Hmm?"
'Is it my imagination, or did his eyelashes seem to twitch?'
Sunlight streamed in from the window, casting the thick eyelashes into fine, fragmented shadows.
She poked him again, found he still didn't react, and finally felt relieved.
Because if she usually did this, she would have definitely been pinned down on the sofa long ago.
She started observing him again.
Looking at Aoba's face, for some reason, Yugito suddenly felt her heart pounding.
Her heartbeat was already fast originally, but now it was beating even faster, as if a cat was scratching inside her chest.
The hand that was poking his cheek had, at some point, slipped down to his lips.
If she wasn't desperately pursing her own lips, she probably wouldn't be able to suppress her breathing sounds now.
Feeling the soft, yielding texture under her fingertips, an idea stirred in Yugito's heart.
She tiptoed to the bedroom door, checked on Kin's progress, and then sneaked back.
Sitting back in her original spot next to Aoba, she propped herself up on one arm, used her hand to tidy her hair, tucking the strands on one side behind her ear.
Looking down at the sleeping Aoba under the bright sunlight, she lowered her proud head.
Who told this guy he even kissed Kin, yet left her hanging on the side.
The distance closed little by little.
This was actually Yugito's first time actively kissing him; it felt indeed a bit better than being passive.
Because Aoba wasn't moving, she could do whatever she wanted.
'Hmm? What's that coming into my mouth?'
Yugito, who was still carefully experimenting, suddenly felt something enter her mouth.
Her eyes flew open, meeting Aoba's ruby-like ones.
"Mmph!"
Yugito was startled and instinctively tried to pull back, to push him away.
But Aoba took the opportunity to press her down onto the sofa instead.
Yugito resisted a little at first, but later she became the more aggressive one.
Only, this kiss lasted for who knows how long, as if it would go on until the end of time.
Even with a ninja's astonishing lung capacity, Yugito felt almost suffocated.
Just as she was about to run out of breath, Aoba finally let her go.
"Hah—"
Yugito gasped for air.
"Were you trying to suffocate me?"
"Weren't you quite enjoying it?"
Aoba said with a laugh, then hugged her and lay down right there beside her.
The living room sofa was big enough for two people to lie on, because Uzuki Yugao and Konan also quite liked the sofa as a scene sometimes.
Yugito, looking at his somewhat cheeky expression, couldn't help but punch his chest again, saying somewhat angrily, "You, why were you pretending to be asleep?"
"Wasn't it because you're always so passive? I wanted to see if you would take the initiative for once."
"I... I take what initiative? Don't you lump me in with someone like Kin!", Yugito's eyes darted away.
Aoba looked at her full of mockery, "Then why did you sneak a kiss while I was asleep just now?"
Yugito's expression froze instantly.