Chapter 19: Couples (1)
September 7:
"Subaru, let me clean your ears for you."
Natsuki Subaru froze for a moment, then suddenly remembered that yesterday he had indeed mentioned how inconvenient the tools there were for ear cleaning, and had also talked about his past experience with professional ear cleaning.
"Now?"
Reinhild nodded.
"Here?"
"Isn't it okay?"
"No, it's just that professional ear cleaning usually has the person sitting in a chair while the cleaner sits next to them. It doesn't seem like we have the proper setup here, right?"
Subaru looked around at the flower field and then at the large tree behind them.
"You won't cut me, right? Just lie down here."
Though her voice was soft, seeing Reinhild pat her thigh, Subaru understood her meaning. Even though he had gotten used to holding hands while walking or leaning on her while eating, this action still slightly exceeded his comfort zone.
"All right, I'll leave it to you."
Seeing Reinhild shy, Subaru suppressed the urge to run away and lay down on the picnic mat, letting his head slowly rest on her thigh. Both of their bodies shivered slightly at the contact.
"All right, I'll start now."
"Mm, got it."
Reinhild picked up a cotton swab and carefully inserted it into Subaru's reddened ear. Feeling the foreign object, Subaru's previously calm body instinctively shivered.
"Subaru, don't move."
"Ah, sorry."
Seeing Subaru relax, Reinhild carefully pushed the cotton deeper, then gently pulled it out. The earwax that would normally require several tools to loosen was instantly crushed and stuck to the cotton.
"How does it feel?"
"Ticklish, but really comfortable, and there's none of that drill noise."
Noticing the curiosity in Subaru's tone, Reinhild tapped the cotton in her hand, then held it out to him.
"All right, I'll continue."
She carefully pressed the slightly shy Subaru back onto her leg and pulled cotton from a different position. Finally, she used slightly dampened cotton to pick up the remaining traces.
"All done, the other side now."
Reinhild patted Subaru's back. Subaru, completely relaxed, turned halfway, and his nose accidentally bumped against her stomach.
Reinhild's feelings: OoO
Subaru's feelings: OvO
Time seemed to stop; neither moved. Reinhild's face instantly turned bright red.
"Um… Subaru, if you stay like this, I can't move. Please move back a little."
"Ah, ahhh!"
Hearing her shy voice, Subaru snapped out of it and jumped back a good distance—if Reinhild hadn't blocked him, he would have fallen.
"Um, I…"
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean it. I'll continue. Don't move."
Reinhild continued, but because of her strength, she could feel Subaru's gaze on her stomach, making her movements slightly unstable.
—No, no, no… this is just ear cleaning, calm down.
Taking a deep breath, Reinhild's heart steadied, and she finished the ear cleaning several times faster than before.
Looking at Subaru standing up, Reinhild felt a tinge of disappointment.
"Subaru, how does it feel?"
"Really comfortable, and I didn't realize there was so much. No wonder it came out when I woke up yesterday."
"All right, I'll clean your ears periodically from now on."
Subaru blinked at Reinhild's shy tone, then quickly caught on.
"All right, I'll leave it to you, Rein-chan."
September 9, morning:
Shouts and screams.
Maybe because there were too many items loaded, or because it went too fast, Subaru watched the dragon carriage in front of him tilt sideways toward them.
—Danger!
His mind issued a warning, and he instinctively grabbed Reinhild beside him, preparing to roll to avoid it.
Of course, Subaru only managed the first step of the series of mental commands. He turned and hugged Reinhild—but her body was as immovable as a rooted tree.
—Oh no!
Subaru realized the mistake he had just made.
As he expected, Reinhild had already been preparing to stop the tilting carriage with her hands—but Subaru suddenly appeared between her and the carriage.
—So hard!
He instinctively struggled a little, but Subaru's arms could'nt move her, as she was an iron pillar.
Reinhild immediately realized her extraordinary strength had kicked in.
—What do I do?
Even if it were a real iron hoop, Reinhild could open it, but she knew that would probably break all of Subaru's fingers. Glancing around, she saw others nearby.
"Sorry!"
She said, pushing a little with her right foot to disrupt Subaru's unready balance. Reinhild quickly spun, and thanks to Subaru still holding her, his body rotated midair and landed back on the ground. Reinhild, with her back to the carriage, kicked backward forcefully.
Boom~~~
A loud crash. The carriage first tilted to the left, then swayed a few times before stabilizing.
"Sorry, Reinhild, I caused trouble."
Subaru finally released her and hurriedly apologized.
"It's fine. You were protecting me, right?"
Reinhild smiled, holding Subaru's hand.
"Let's leave before anyone reacts."
Quickly leaving the scene, Reinhild finally stopped.
"Reinhild, is your foot okay?"
Subaru asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, but the heel of my shoe broke."
Subaru then noticed Reinhild's right shoe; the heel had split in the middle rather than just snapping.
—I didn't expect it to break. I thought it wouldn't… well…
"Because it was a backward kick. If it were forward, it would be fine."
Seeing Subaru's doubtful expression, Reinhild instinctively explained.
"Oh, forward kicks are okay? Then it must be inconvenient for you to walk like this, right? I felt it a bit when we left just now."
"Ah, that's because we were in a hurry. I can fix it now…"
Reinhild stopped moving her left foot and hesitated, looking at Subaru squatting in front of her.
"Since this happened because of me, let me make it up to you."
Hesitating for a moment, Reinhild leaned onto Subaru's back, holding his shoulders.
"Is it heavy?"
"Not at all. I can continue our date like this without any problem."
"No, let's just go back directly."
Noticing people watching, Reinhild buried her head against Subaru's back and whispered.
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