Rina’s back had long since broken out in a thin layer of cold sweat.
She really couldn’t understand how the other party could speak in such a calm, gentle tone while saying words so full of intimidation and torment.
The moment she thought of that warning about her fingertips, the pain she’d suffered before replayed at lightning speed in her mind.
A piercing ache spread along her finger bones, dense stabs of pain seizing her nerves, so vivid it felt like it had just happened.
No.
Absolutely not.
No matter what, she never wanted to go through that again.
Hisaki watched as Shiro shook her head frantically in panic, like a rattling toy drum.
“Then it all depends on how Shiro behaves from here on out.”
Rina looked down at the bath towel hanging loosely from her body. The fabric had already slipped down to her shoulder and arm, and only by desperately clutching the edge with her fingers was she barely able to keep it from falling.
Hisaki didn’t rush her. She simply stared quietly with those dark red eyes at the fingers gripping the fabric, then slowly lifted her gaze to meet Rina’s flustered line of sight again.
“Still planning to keep hiding?”
Rina’s fingertips trembled uncontrollably. Shame and fear twisted together and surged into her heart. Her fingers clutching the towel tightened and loosened, but in the end, she still didn’t dare let go completely, only letting the fabric hang loosely across her shoulders, exposing her slender, fragile shoulder line.
The warm orange lamplight fell on her, making her look even thinner and more pitiful.
Rina squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
She didn’t dare look at Hisaki’s expression, didn’t dare face her own embarrassing state in this moment. With nowhere to rest her gaze, she could only keep her eyes firmly closed.
Endless regret churned over and over in her heart.
If only she hadn’t impulsively come up with that plan to cater and please, if only she’d stayed quiet and obedient, if only she’d never tried to run away on her own, if only…
But there was never a chance to do things over in this world.
Hisaki watched the slender, trembling figure before her without a word. She reached out, slipped her hands under Shiro’s armpits, and gently lifted her into a horizontal carry.
The familiar sensation of dangling in midair washed over her. Rina instinctively curled up, pulling the towel tighter around herself, but Hisaki held her back and knees steadily, making every attempt to squirm or struggle utterly useless.
Hisaki gently set Shiro down on the soft bed.
“Sit still and behave.”
Rina obediently did as she was told, bending her knees to sit on the edge of the bed, her hands placed primly on her knees.
The other side of the mattress sank slightly. Hisaki lay down in front of her, her head resting against the pillow, her dark red eyes gazing up quietly from below at the girl sitting beside her.
Rina looked at the person lying before her, her mind going completely blank.
“Wh-What should I do?”
She frantically searched her mind for any sense of how to interact with someone. Having been bedridden with illness for years, she rarely got close to anyone, and she had no idea how to please someone enough to calm their anger.
“I… I don’t know how. I have no experience at all.”
Rina’s voice was soft and light, full of helplessness.
Hisaki watched her small face, written with panic and confusion, and guided her gently.
“Start by doing what I say. Come closer, and help me massage my shoulders.”
Rina lowered her gaze to Hisaki lying on the bed. The other’s expression was relaxed and composed, as if she had long anticipated this scene.
She took a deep breath, carefully shuffled to the other’s side, her fingertips nervously gripping the bedsheet beneath her, hesitantly reached out, and gently placed her hands on Hisaki’s shoulder and neck.
“You can begin.”
Rina’s hands moved stiffly up and down in slow presses, her movements clumsy and awkward, like she was going through a mechanical rehabilitation exercise.
After a few presses, something felt off. She changed angles and repeated the motion, still at a loss. She stole a glance at Hisaki’s expression from the corner of her eye.
The other’s expression was far too calm, so calm that Rina doubted whether she was actually trying to please her, or just stiffly performing irrelevant motions.
And that was exactly the truth.
Hisaki felt the clumsy, unskilled pressure of those small hands on her shoulder and neck, her heart utterly unmoved.
Shiro’s movements were gentle, her rhythm rigid, her touch hesitant and timid, with none of the relaxed, intimate atmosphere.
But that pure clumsiness and inexperience actually stirred a full sense of tenderness in Hisaki’s heart.
She could tell that Shiro truly didn’t understand anything, not that she was deliberately pretending to be well-behaved.
“That’s enough. Stop.”
Hisaki reached out, gently took Rina’s wrist, and moved those still fumbling little hands away from her shoulder.
Rina stared at her blankly, her eyes full of the dazed question, “Did I do something wrong?”
Hisaki didn’t explain further. She lifted a hand to support Rina’s back gently, guiding her to shift further onto the bed.
“Lie down. Relax.”
Rina obediently lay flat on the bed, her silver-white hair spread across the pillow. She pressed her legs together slightly and folded her hands lightly over her stomach.
The next second, Hisaki turned onto her side, propping herself up beside Rina. She leaned forward slightly, her shadow softly covering Rina’s slender frame.
Rina hurriedly turned her head away, not daring to meet those deep, dark red eyes.
“Look at me.”
Hisaki’s voice fell from above. Rina could only stiffly turn her head back, staring straight at the face so close to hers.
Her sky-blue eyes were filled with panic and helplessness, clearly reflecting the face drawing closer and closer.
Hisaki lowered her head slightly, her forehead gently pressing against Rina’s.
Rina’s mind went completely blank in that instant. Her breathing rhythm shattered entirely, and the air in her chest felt like it had been sucked out all at once.
She instinctively raised a hand and pushed weakly at Hisaki’s shoulder, over and over, but the other’s body was as steady as a rock, showing no sign of giving ground.
The suffocating panic kept growing. She instinctively bit down hard on her lower lip, her force slipping out of control, a faint red blooming on her lip.
By the time Hisaki slowly pulled back, Rina’s lower lip was already bitten red, with a trace of glistening moisture clinging to the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes were veiled in a thick layer of mist, her vision blurred. The ceiling, the light, the figure before her—all of it swayed continuously.
She gasped in large, ragged breaths. The tension in her emotions was too intense, and she inhaled too sharply, choking on her own breath.
She turned to the side and buried her face in the pillow, unable to stop a violent fit of coughing, her whole body trembling slightly.
When her breathing settled a little, she lay back flat on the bed.
Her lips were faintly red, glistening wet under the warm light, and the pain in her lower lip still throbbed faintly.
A hoarse, soft voice squeezed out from between her lips. After that violent coughing fit, her mind was still groggy and muddled.
Hisaki looked down at the girl beneath her. Her sky-blue eyes were brimming with tears, with leftover teardrops from the choking cough clinging to the corners of her eyes.
Her reddened, slightly parted lips radiated helplessness, and trails of moisture streaked down her cheeks in glistening lines.
Cold.
Hisaki let out a low chuckle, leaned down slightly, and gently wiped away the unshed tears at the corners of Shiro’s eyes with her fingertip.
“This is only the beginning, Shiro.”
Her lips brushed against the girl’s ear as she whispered softly, her tone as gentle as if coaxing a child to sleep, yet the pressure hidden in her words made Rina’s whole body tremble.
“You still have a long way to go before you’re completely settled down.”