Chapter 167: Three Wishes, Fulfilled at Once
"Whew..." Akira exhaled a long, slow breath, pulling his wandering thoughts back to the present moment.
He could feel it. He was just one step away from fully grasping the Transparent World. While a slight barrier remained before he could claim complete mastery, the underlying rhythm of it already pulsed faintly in his mind. It felt like peering through a dense morning fog; though the finer details were still obscured, he could already make out the distinct outlines and shifting colors of the world beneath the surface.
He only needed a little more time to settle his state of mind. Or perhaps, he mused, just a touch of external stimulation to pierce that final layer of mist and step entirely into that supreme world of martial awareness.
Lowering his gaze, Akira gently rested his chin against the crown of Shinobu's head. "Shinobu," he murmured, his voice softening. "Thank you."
"We have lived under the same roof for three years now. What is with the sudden gratitude?" Shinobu asked, tilting her head back to look up at him.
"It is clearly your birthday today, yet you have been the one looking out for my feelings this entire time. I have not even properly thanked you for that, so why are you getting all sentimental over a few simple words from me?"
"I..." Whatever emotional momentum Akira had just built up was instantly washed away by her pragmatic retort. The subconscious sense of debt that had been taking root in his chest was snuffed out before it could even sprout a single leaf.
Shinobu blinked, a sudden thought seemingly crossing her mind. Her red lips parted slightly. "In that case, I suppose I need to express my gratitude for this as well."
"You do not need to..."
Before Akira could finish his sentence, Shinobu cut him off. She had clearly already rehearsed this next scene in her head. Her fair complexion, already flushed with a healthy vitality, took on a deeper shade of pink, making her look utterly enchanting under the warm, golden glow of the setting sun.
Those striking purple eyes glared up at him, masking a deep layer of shyness. "Oh, stop talking and close your eyes."
"Hmm?" Akira blinked, still a bit dazed by the sudden shift in atmosphere. He tilted his head in mild confusion.
"Hurry up. Do as I say."
Only then did the realization hit him. He finally understood exactly what form Shinobu's so-called gratitude was going to take.
Obediently, Akira closed his eyes. He slightly loosened the arms he had wrapped around her waist, bent his tall frame downward, and waited in the quiet evening air with a heart full of expectation.
He felt her small hands, which had been resting against his waist, begin to crawl upward, inching their way toward his shoulders. The petite figure in his arms gently pushed up onto her tiptoes.
However, after those delicate hands struggled to hook over his shoulders, the upward momentum completely stopped.
Akira realized the problem immediately. Even though he had bent his upper body down to accommodate her, he was simply too tall. Currently, he stood at nearly 1.9 meters. Within the entire Demon Slayer Corps, only the towering Stone Hashira, Gyomei, and the muscular Sound Hashira, Uzui Tengen, surpassed him in height, and Tengen was only taller by a hair.
Shinobu, on the other hand, barely scraped the 1.5-meter mark. On normal days, whenever she bickered or played around with him, she perfectly embodied the literal definition of beating his chest with little fists. Unless Akira actively cooperated and lowered himself drastically, she simply could not reach any higher. Even young Kanao had practically caught up to her in height by now.
Right now, Shinobu was straining her calves to the absolute limit, standing on the very tips of her toes, yet her hands still could not comfortably wrap around the back of his neck. Her face remained a frustrating distance away from his.
A sudden streak of playfulness flared up in Akira's chest. Feeling those small hands tugging at his uniform, trying to force him to lower his posture just a fraction more, he locked his muscles and remained as immovable as a mountain. The expectant expression on his face now carried the faint, suppressed twitch of a teasing smile.
Shinobu instantly caught onto his mischief. Her already blushing cheeks flared into a brilliant, furious scarlet.
Her temper sparked to life. She knew full well that if she just spoke up and acted a little spoiled, Akira would instantly melt and cater to her every whim like a fool. But her pride absolutely refused to let her do that.
Gritting her teeth in sheer annoyance, she dropped her heels back to the ground. Then, before Akira's brain could even register the shift in her stance, she coiled her legs and jumped straight up from where she stood.
Her hands successfully locked around the back of his neck, pulling herself forward just as her lips collided violently with his.
By the time Akira registered the sudden aerial assault, it was far too late to dodge. More accurately, if he had actually tried to evade, Shinobu would have lost her grip and plummeted right onto the dirt path.
Left with no other choice, Akira quickly brought his hands up, catching her waist mid-air to stabilize her falling form. But he could do absolutely nothing to avoid her vengeful, incoming kiss.
"Mmph!"
A muffled groan escaped both of them simultaneously. As their faces smashed together, neither had a single second to appreciate the softness of the kiss before a sharp wave of pain radiated through their mouths.
Akira's eyes snapped open. He found himself staring directly into a pair of shy, furious purple eyes, which were now brimming with unshed tears of pain at the corners. Glancing down slightly, he noticed that her previously pristine, rosy lips now bore a faint trace of blood.
A second later, the distinct, rusty tang of copper spread across his own tongue.
"Sorry."
Supporting her suspended weight securely with one arm, Akira raised his free hand and gently brushed the tiny tears away from the corners of her eyes with his thumb.
"No... it is not your fault..." Shinobu murmured, her composure returning as she quickly averted her gaze.
Her grand, romantic thank-you gift had turned into a clumsy disaster all because of a momentary surge of petty frustration. Her face burned so hot it felt like it might catch fire.
After a brief, heavy silence, Shinobu took a deep, steadying breath and forced herself to meet Akira's gaze once more. The hands resting around his neck slid forward, her soft palms cupping his jawline. Then, moving with deliberate slowness, she offered her lips to him a second time.
This time, neither of them closed their eyes. They stared directly into each other's gaze, the world around them fading away until only their own reflections remained in the other's pupils.
Their lips met again. It was a gentle, testing pressure at first, feeling out the contours and the lingering sting of their previous collision. Finally, their eyelids fluttered shut. They let the swelling tide of their emotions and unspoken thoughts pour entirely into the connection, their slightly heated breaths intertwining in the cool evening air.
Bathing in the dying light of the setting sun, the arms wrapped around each other tightened, pulling their bodies flush together.
"Ha... ha..."
Eventually, Shinobu broke the kiss, panting softly as she surrendered to the need for oxygen. She let her forehead drop against the side of Akira's neck. Her hot, rapid breaths brushed rhythmically against his skin, a sensation that was slightly ticklish, yet incredibly comforting.
"This is my thank-you gift, and also your birthday present. My first kiss." She paused, her chest rising and falling against his. "Well? Are you satisfied?"
When she looked up, her purple eyes were hazy and unfocused, but her lips curled into a smile that was equal parts mischievous and dead serious. She leaned in close, her lips hovering just millimeters from his ear, and whispered in a soft, dangerously seductive tone.
"If you were not always so stubbornly hung up on my age and such things, I would not even mind giving myself to you right now, you know."
To punctuate the statement, she blew a slow, gentle breath directly into his ear.
The sheer audacity of the action sent a jolt straight down Akira's spine, causing his breathing to hitch and turn noticeably heavier for a fleeting second.
However, his formidable self-control quickly took the reins. He calmed his racing pulse, adjusted his grip on her waist to ensure she was leaning comfortably against him, and looked her dead in the eye with absolute calm.
"Aren't you already mine?" he asked, his voice smooth and unwavering. "There is no need to rush into that kind of thing, right?"
"Mmph..."
Shinobu, who had been using every ounce of her willpower to suppress her own overwhelming shyness, was instantly and completely dismantled by that single, casually possessive sentence. Her brain short-circuited, effectively turning her into a human steam engine on the spot as her face flushed a brilliant, impossible red.
Seeing that she was on the verge of entirely overheating, Akira decided to show some mercy and smoothly changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, we should have just completed three highly intimate interactions between lovers all at once, right?"
Her mind still thoroughly muddled, Shinobu blinked in confusion and subconsciously took the bait. "Hmm? Which three?"
"The three classic intimate interactions between lovers are usually defined as: kissing, hugging, and being lifted high up into the air. And didn't we just..."
Akira let the sentence trail off, merely looking down at the petite girl suspended in his arms with a wide, thoroughly mischievous grin.
Realization dawned on her face. "We just... Akira, you big meanie!"
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