"Naga." Miku said in a coquettish tone, then buried herself in the newly laid-out soft bedding, kicking off her clogs and sticking her knees up. "Ah... my feet are so sore. Next time you wear a kimono and clogs, you have to remind me not to walk so far."
"It's all because you heard the food there was delicious, and you kept insisting on going." Naga laughed, hanging up her coat, taking off her shoes, and walking across the tatami mat to sit down next to her. "Shall I give you a massage?"
Miku turned her head to the side, squinting at him through the loose strands of hair that had fallen from her bun. "Um, please."
Holding her slender ankle, Naga carefully grasped her delicate, fair foot in his hands. Her bare foot was about the size of his palm, and her cool skin was very smooth. Because her toes were pointing forward, the cherry-red sole of her foot was slightly wrinkled, offering the entire instep to his palm.
Gently caressing her delicate skin, Naga's palms began to lightly massage her arches and ankles. He didn't actually know how to massage; he simply adjusted the pressure of his hands in response to Miku's soft humming, helping her move her tired feet.
"Mmm, this feels so good, Naga." Miku bit her lower lip, turned over and lay on the bedding, placing her feet on his knees.
Her gaze instinctively wanted to follow the skin above her ankles and delve into the depths of the kimono's hem. To distract herself, Naga turned on the television in the room.
Newly debuted comedians began performing their painstakingly crafted jokes on screen, with the audience responding with deliberate laughter under the direction of the staff. The handsome idols also joined in, bending over with laughter, using formulaic lines to string together one boring segment after another.
Aside from the sexy guests with pretty faces and hot bodies, this kind of variety show has absolutely no value to Naga.
Miku seemed to enjoy watching it very much. Perhaps because she rarely watched these kinds of things, she still laughed with a sense of novelty at many of the scenes that Naga could perform almost exactly as they were, covering her mouth with her hand until she laughed until tears streamed down her face.
After watching for a while, bored, Naga turned his gaze back to Miku. The relationship became a chain where Miku watched TV while he watched Miku.
During the commercial break, Miku noticed that Naga had been staring intently at her. Her face flushed red, and she said coquettishly, "You...you should watch TV properly. Why are you staring at me like that? It's so weird."
"The TV isn't as good as you." Naga could now utter flirtatious remarks with ease, and she had learned to match them with a serious expression to make it seem like a genuine compliment rather than a frivolous flattery. Naga was genuinely happy with her own transformation.
"Ugh." As he expected, Miku's face turned even redder. She turned her head away and continued watching the TV, raising her hand to undo the bun at the back of her head.
Her black hair was loose, the obi of her kimono was slightly loose, and the collar of her yuban was crooked, revealing a shallow hollow of her left collarbone.
Naga immediately heard his own breathing become heavy. He lowered his head, focusing his attention on Miku's feet, but those beautiful bare feet, even slightly more beautiful than Aya's, could easily ignite his sexual desire, given his foot fetish.
Unaware that Naga's gaze had deepened, Miku continued watching the noisy variety show on TV, chuckling to herself. When she laughed heartily, her beautiful feet trembled gently in Naga's hands, like a living work of art.
After watching for a while, probably intending to rest, Miku gently took off her earrings, placed them under her pillow to hold them in place, adjusted her posture slightly, and comfortably pressed her head into the soft pillow.
Naga, who was using the guise of a massage to play with the beautiful feet in her hands, heard her whisper, "Naga, um... when you asked me about my family, I didn't really mean to be angry with you."
"It's nothing, I'm not bothered by it anymore." Naga raised her head, then stood there stunned. Miku's black hair was loose, her kimono was a little messy, and her face looked a little dazed because of fatigue. Her expression and appearance... were exactly like the photo she had seen in her dream that day.
Fortunately, he was able to determine that Miku was definitely not the woman in the photo.
"However, I still need you to know." Miku sighed softly, a rare look of sadness on her face. "I… have been alone for a long time."
"Huh?" Naga stopped what he was doing in surprise. In his experience, a cheerful and cute girl like this didn't seem like someone who had lost her parents and was living alone.
She seemed to be exerting a great deal of effort to maintain her resolve. When she spoke, her slender fingers tightly gripped the obi of her kimono. "I... am not the product of my parents' love. I was simply unwanted when I was born. My mother tried to kill me by taking drugs, taking ice baths, and for half a month, repeatedly jumping from heights every day."
Miku stared at the ceiling, a faint smile playing on her lips, as if she were talking about something that had happened to someone else. "After learning all this, I wondered just how lucky I was to have grown up in my mother's womb and been born. When I'm unhappy, I tell myself, what could be more upsetting than my mother wanting to kill me before I was even born?"
She wiggled her foot and touched Naga's hand. "Don't stop...it felt so good just now."
"Uh, oh." Naga's hands continued to move, but her mind was completely focused on Miku's words.
As the big toe pressed against the sole of her foot, Miku hummed contentedly twice and continued slowly, "After I was born, my mother could no longer bring herself to hurt me. She told me, 'Miku, when I see you, my heart melts.' But I couldn't bring my mother happiness. From the moment she gave birth to me, she lived a life of humiliation, and her health deteriorated. The year I graduated from junior high school, she went to another world to find the peace and tranquility she had never been able to find."
"Then...your father..." Naga vaguely sensed something, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Never mind, let's leave it at that."
"I have no father." As expected, Miku gave the answer he had guessed. "My mother was raped and gave birth to me. My maternal grandfather's family also cut off ties with my mother because of the pregnancy. She was not even allowed to enter my maternal grandfather's funeral to pay her respects."
"Naga, this is my family. Although… not all of them." She was still smiling, pulling her foot back, getting up and snuggling into his arms, hugging his waist, resting her cheek against his chest, and whispering, "But they are all an illusion, they don't exist in my heart."
"Don't abandon me... You're all I have left." The last sentence was as faint as a firefly in flight.