A few strands of loose hair fell from the sides of her ears, the ends still dripping water…
She had just come out of the bathroom, a faint, almost imperceptible steam still rising from her body…
She paused at the door, casually dried her hair with the towel from the cabinet, then folded the towel and placed it in the laundry basket.
Her gaze first landed on Rinna’s face to confirm she was still awake, and then she noticed Rinna’s expression…
Hisaki’s visual system had an extremely sensitive ability to capture such minute discordant information.
She walked over, her bare feet making almost no sound on the tatami.
The mattress swayed gently the moment Hisaki climbed onto it, and the edge of the blanket pressed slightly inward under her knees.
Rinna watched the posture as Hisaki approached her, and suddenly felt a very peculiar visual effect…
Hisaki didn’t lie down flat from the side of the bed. Instead, she faced Rinna directly, her knees spread and braced on either side of Rinna’s body, then pushed herself up with her hands…..
She shifted upward one step, then another…
And then she stopped.
Hisaki’s face hovered less than twenty centimeters above Rinna’s.
The warmth from her just-showered body fell downward, and the close-range envelopment made the scent of gardenia flowers thicker and more intimate…
Rinna instinctively raised her eyes to meet Hisaki’s.
Hisaki’s dark brown pupils were both clear and deep…
Then Rinna’s gaze drifted downward a little…
Completely unconsciously.
Under the bent posture, the collar of Hisaki’s bathrobe sagged slightly, revealing a small patch of collarbone between the black fabric and her skin—and further down…
Rinna’s breath stopped for about half a second.
She snapped her gaze back up, staring intently at Hisaki’s face, not daring to look down again.
She opened her mouth to say something to divert attention from this awkward situation, but when her voice squeezed out of her throat, it had already become weak and unstable in frequency.
“Wha—what’s wrong, Xiao Xiao?”
Hisaki had caught every tiny trajectory of Rinna’s gaze just now, but she didn’t call her out on it.
She simply silently confirmed to herself that this posture did indeed allow Rinna to see what she wanted to see.
At that moment, a small voice inside her urged her to press on, to close the distance to zero, but she pushed that voice down with equal force.
No.
Not now.
Rinna’s body can’t handle it.
Every word Dr. Qi Lai had said was etched into Hisaki’s mind, and the materials Hisaki had looked up on her own gave her a brutal, precise conclusion.
Given Rinna’s current physical condition, if she did that kind of thing with Rinna now, it would basically be impossible to carry out.
Emotional excitement or even mild physical exertion would make Rinna feel chest tightness and palpitations, with a risk of fainting. Afterward, she would show fatigue symptoms for a day or two, and might even get sick.
After treatment, there would be significant improvement, but no complete cure.
Only very gentle, short-duration passive activities were allowed. Any active exertion, intense movements, or frequent repetitions were absolutely forbidden.
If Rinna showed any discomfort, they must stop immediately, or there could be life-threatening danger.
At that thought, Hisaki’s throat tightened slightly.
Can’t.
Not now.
But when she lifted her head again and gazed at the light pink blush on Rinna’s fair, smooth face, and Rinna’s eyes—slightly widened from nervousness, looking at her without knowing where to look…
Suddenly, she felt that even if she could only go to the gentlest extent, even if she had to proceed cautiously, stopping every second, as long as she could be with Rinna…
That alone would make her very happy.
Hisaki didn’t answer Rinna’s “what’s wrong” question.
She just slowly, with the utmost gentleness, lowered her body down.
In a dependent motion…
She turned sideways, pressed her cheek against the lower part of Rinna’s chest, then slid down a little, and finally lightly rested her head on Rinna’s stomach.
Rinna could feel the warmth of Hisaki’s cheek transmitted through the thin fabric of her pajamas to the skin of her abdomen, warm and cozy…
Hisaki lay there quietly for a long time, the rhythm of her breathing gradually synchronizing with the rise and fall of Rinna’s abdomen…
One person slowly exhaled the air from her chest, and the other gently inhaled it.
It was as if her entire body weight had suspended itself at the slightest critical point that would not press down on Rinna.
Rinna looked at Hisaki lying on her stomach.
Hisaki’s crown was directly facing Rinna’s chin, the black part in her hair particularly clean and sharp after the bath, her scalp emitting a faint warmth.
Rinna couldn’t help but secretly laugh to herself…
Xiao Xiao is always so careful with me, calculating her force down to the knuckles, afraid to pinch or press too hard. She’s never really let anyone do anything for her.
Now, seeing her like this, it was as if Rinna was taking care of her instead.
Then, in the posture of lying on Rinna’s stomach, Hisaki gently opened her lips.
Her voice came out muffled from the extremely close distance above Rinna’s abdomen…
“Can I… hold Rinna to sleep?”
Rinna looked down at Hisaki’s head on her stomach, the dark hair whorl appearing especially round under the light.
“Of course you can…”