Bonus chapter unlocked by your Power Stones!
...
Crap!!!
Ain's beautiful eyes flew wide open as she watched the glass of water drop, inching straight toward Arton's most sensitive spot.
All those related scenes from the doujins in her diary copy grew clearer and clearer in her mind because of what was happening right in front of her.
Just thinking about that scene where she opened her mouth and ate something made Ain's mouth start to water, her throat working unconsciously.
The falling glass wasn't even that fast for someone of Ain's level.
All she had to do was reach out and she could easily catch it.
And yet, for some reason, she just stayed frozen where she was. Only her eyes moved, tracking the glass as it dropped—down, and further down.
Just when Ain was sure the glass would land exactly where she'd pictured…
A strong hand shot out like lightning and snatched the falling glass out of the air.
In that instant, Ain herself went completely still.
"Ain, what's wrong, Ain?"
"How could you be so careless?" Arton—owner of that arm—turned around and looked at her in puzzlement as he spoke.
"Captain…, how did you manage to catch the glass?"
Hearing his voice finally snapped Ain back to her senses. She looked at Arton, then at the glass of water in his hand, and couldn't help asking in confusion.
"Hm? Isn't that normal?"
"For someone like me, being able to sense where falling water is going is perfectly normal. At that kind of speed, I could've caught it even with my eyes closed."
Arton paused for a moment, then looked at Ain with even more suspicion.
"Speaking of which, you're the weird one here. Even if you're not as strong as I am, that falling speed is absolutely within what you can handle."
"You didn't manage to grab it at all—are you troubled by something?" Arton asked.
"…" Ain felt her face heat with embarrassment.
This was nothing like how the story went in those lewd books. Wasn't the glass supposed to land perfectly on the target groin?
Then she'd use her hands to wipe him off…
And after a little while, she'd move on to the next step, using a way that would stimulate Arton even more—relying on her talent with her mouth.
Now the whole scene had veered completely off her expectations, and she honestly had no idea what she was supposed to do next.
"Spacing out again? Still lost in your thoughts?"
After Arton drained the glass in one go, he saw Ain still standing there in a daze and couldn't help asking.
"N-No, it's nothing, Captain." Ain waved her hands quickly as she spoke. "I don't have anything on my mind."
"Nothing on your mind, huh. It's written all over your face." Arton put the empty glass down as he spoke. "Let me guess—you're still feeling wronged that you went through all that before and still didn't get a template?"
"N-No, that's not it." Ain shook her head again.
"It's not? Then are you worrying about Zephyr's future?" Arton pressed.
"I am worried about Teacher Zephyr's future, yes," Ain said. "But at least just now, I wasn't thinking about that."
"So you are thinking about something. It's fine. You can just say what's on your mind."
"I've already acknowledged you as a trainee crewmember of the Flameblade Pirates." Arton gave her an encouraging look as he spoke. "I think you can afford to be a bit bolder, Ain."
"Be a bit bolder, huh…" Ain's eyes focused, and she nodded. "You're right, I should be bolder. I already made up my mind, after all."
"Exactly… Wait, what are you—?"
Arton stared in surprise as Ain suddenly ducked straight down under the desk in one smooth motion.
Ain tilted her head back and gave Arton a sly smile. Then she reached both hands toward her target.
Yeah. All she needed now was to be bold. Whether there was water there or not didn't matter at all.
As long as she could make Arton pay more attention to her, it was a good thing.
With that thought in her heart, Ain took a deep breath and skipped straight to the final step.
She closed her eyes, quietly taking it all in, silently licking it all.
Arton was first shocked, then pleasantly surprised.
Then he planted both hands on the desk… and silently began to contemplate life.
Chapter 456 – You've Got Someone on Arton's Ship?!
"Mmmph, mmmph!"
Ain's hands were placed on either side of her body as she let out muffled sounds, her mouth too full to speak clearly.
After quite a long while, when Ain finally felt that it had come to a stop… she was at last able to tilt her head back, letting her jaw relax for a brief moment.
However, the instant she lifted her head and noticed Arton looking down at her… Ain immediately opened her mouth again, displaying everything inside for Arton to see.
Once she felt Arton had gotten a good look, Ain finally swallowed all the nutrients down into her stomach.
It didn't end there. Feeling that a bit of it had accidentally dribbled out at the corner of her mouth, Ain, who had always hated wasting food, quickly extended her tongue and curled every last drop back into her mouth.
The sight made Arton feel unexpectedly moved.
As a chef, of course he wanted to see his diners be as thorough as Ain.
"Are you full, Ain?" Arton asked.
"F-Full… not yet." Ain had originally wanted to say she was full, but she considered that Arton might still be in the mood.
Faced with that possibility, even though her stomach was already full, she chose to give a negative answer.
"In that case, how about a little more?" Arton asked, testing the waters.
"Mm-hm." Ain smiled softly and lunged forward once more.
Arton closed his eyes again, once more preparing nutrients for Ain while quietly contemplating life.
…
At the same time, elsewhere.
New World seas. Underworld, Happy Street.
"Morgans, you finally deigned to call me, did you?"
Hearing Morgans' voice come through the Den-Den Mushi, Stussy spoke in a distinctly annoyed tone.
"Huh? Why do you sound like you've got a bone to pick with me?"
Over in the Grand Line branch office of the World Economy News Paper, Morgans frowned in puzzlement at the sound of her voice.
"I do have a bone to pick with you, Morgans." Stussy said.
"That's strange. Haven't we always gotten along just fine before? So why are you suddenly so mad at me?" Morgans asked.
"You'll have to ask yourself what you did." Stussy gave a cold snort as she spoke.
"What I did…?" Morgans furrowed his brow, and his mind jumped to how he'd let Stussy's name slip while he was on Arton's ship.
Could it be that? No, it shouldn't be—there was no way Stussy could know about that. Doubt stirred in Morgans' heart.
He had only just left Arton's ship not long ago, and what he'd said earlier had only been heard by Arton and Arton's crewmates.
Unless Stussy had someone placed on Arton's ship, how could she possibly know what he'd said there. Morgans shook his head, about to reject that idea—when a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
"Wait a second… don't tell me you planted someone on Arton's ship?" Morgans' eyes went wide as he asked Stussy.
"Hm? What makes you think that?" Stussy asked, frowning.
"Well then what were you hinting at just now?" Morgans pressed.
Stussy went quiet. She was far too smart—she understood instantly why Morgans had jumped to that conclusion.
She had been about to explain, but before she could, Morgans suddenly started talking a mile a minute on the other end of the Den-Den Mushi, like he'd just taken some kind of stimulant.
"Of course! The way you're getting such accurate information on Arton is seriously suspicious!"
"Right now, even the World Government is having a hard time getting information on Arton, but somehow you can."
"If you tell me you didn't plant anyone on Arton's ship, I'm not buying it." Morgans said firmly.
"…You might as well just say I know Arton personally. That'd make it even easier for me to get information." Stussy said, exasperated.
"Hey, that's possible too." Morgans' eyes lit up.
Hearing that, Stussy was speechless and covered her forehead with one hand, shaking her head.
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