Kosaki couldn't believe she was suggesting this herself. But it was already too late, she couldn't take back her words, right?
"Sure."
Unaware of her embarrassment, Eiji accepted the offer. Coincidentally, he was feeling tired and in need of relaxation.
"Alright then, excuse me."
Calming her racing heartbeat, Kosaki climbed onto the bed, sat behind Eiji, and began massaging his shoulders with her gentle hands.
"How's that?"
"A bit more pressure."
"Um."
Kosaki exerted more force in her massage.
"Not bad."
After a while, Eiji began to feel pleasure.
"Your shoulders are very stiff, Kamiki-kun." Kosaki remarked.
"Anyway, I visit many places. Most of my time is spent traveling in the car. Even I can get tired."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Hearing that, Kosaki felt Eiji was more humane than she had thought.
(That's right. Although Kamiki-kun is strong, he's also human. He can get tired like a normal person and also needs rest.)
Since her younger sister avoided Eiji, Kosaki took it upon herself to deliver sweets to him. Of course, such tasks were usually handled by the Gojo Residence's servants, but she wanted to do it personally to repay his kindness.
In the past four months, she felt she and Eiji communicated more than with Haru.
Kosaki also observed his recent busyness and worried he might collapse from exhaustion. Therefore, she offered the massage.
"Enough, Kosaki-san. I'm fine, you can stop."
After 15 minutes had passed, without needing to turn around, Eiji instructed her to stop. He could see that Kosaki's hands were starting to tremble from fatigue.
"But I can still—"
"Don't push yourself."
Before Kosaki could argue, Eiji interrupted her.
"Um."
"..."
Eiji thought the girl would leave immediately after the massage session. To his surprise, Kosaki held his head with both hands and placed it on her lap.
A lap pillow!
"What are you doing?" He asked calmly, without enthusiasm, as the man accepted the lap pillow from the beautiful girl.
This wasn't the first time he had been given a lap pillow. Since childhood, Naomi, his nanny, often made him lie on her lap.
"Kamiki-kun, don't you like it?" Kosaki asked with a face as red as an apple.
"It's not a matter of liking or disliking, you still haven't answered—"
Eiji's words were cut off by the gentle strokes on his head.
"My mother used to do this to me and Haru when we were little whenever we were tired after playing all day. Kamiki-kun, are you sleep deprived? The bags under your eyes are quite prominent."
"..."
Eiji just remained silent and let her care for him gently.
"You know, Kamiki-kun, maybe I'll never be able to repay your kindness in my lifetime. So, let me satisfy my selfishness."
Kosaki always wanted to repay her debt to him for saving her family. However, she knew her abilities were limited.
Compared to Eiji, who was considered an upper echelon in society, she was just an ordinary high school girl from an average family background.
After thinking for a long time, Kosaki decided to serve Eiji with her sincerity. Of course, she wouldn't mention this; she was afraid others would reject her.
"Do as you please." Eiji no longer cared.
"Um." Kosaki gave a faint smile.
After that, they didn't speak anymore; the chirping of birds outside and the gentle breeze became the melody accompanying them.
...
Unconsciously, Eiji fell into a deep sleep on Kosaki's lap. When he woke up, it was already night.
He found the girl also asleep in a sitting position. Perhaps due to his movement, Kosaki also woke up.
"Good night, Kosaki-san."
Seeing her wake up, Eiji got up from her soft lap.
"Good night, Kamiki-kun... Um, why are you in my room?"
Still half-awake, Kosaki was confused seeing him after opening her eyes.
"This is my room. You gave me a lap pillow, and we ended up both falling asleep." Eiji explained briefly.
"..."
Kosaki looked left and right; indeed, the room was not hers. After fully waking up, her eyes widened, her face turned as red as her ears, and she felt extremely embarrassed.
Even though they didn't do anything, the fact that they slept together in one room was an undeniable fact.
Thinking about this, her heart couldn't take it. She wanted to escape quickly. Kosaki didn't dare to face Eiji at the moment.
"It's already dark outside, I should go home soon. My mom and Haru will worry about me."
Making excuses to leave, she wanted to get up from the bed. Unfortunately, she miscalculated. Her legs were numb from sitting and providing a lap pillow for hours, and she fell flat on the floor.
"Ahhh..."
Reflexively closing her eyes, Kosaki waited for the pain she anticipated, but after a few moments, the expected pain didn't come; instead, her waist felt warm as strong arms encircled her waist.
"Be careful, Kosaki-san."
Eiji pulled her up and placed her on the bed.
"Thank you very much, Kamiki-kun."
For some reason, Kosaki felt her face heating up and her heart beating fast.
"You're welcome. Shall I escort you?"
"No need, I can go back on my own. After waiting for a while, the numbness in my legs will disappear."
"Oh."
The conversation ended.
The atmosphere fell silent again.
Eiji checked if there were any messages on his phone, while Kosaki held her chest and faced him, her heartbeat unheard by him.
"Well then, I'll go first. Good night."
Taking the empty plate from the table, she didn't wait for him to answer and left the room in a panic.
"Do I look scary?"
Rubbing his face, Eiji wondered why Kosaki seemed to be running away.
"Forget it, Naomi once said that a woman's heart is the most complicated and unpredictable thing in the world."
Stopping to think about this issue, he called for a servant.
After the servant arrived, Eiji asked him to call one of the attendants of the Gojo Residence.
It didn't take long for the person he was looking for to come to him.
"Good night, Kamiki-sama. What can I do for you?"
The person speaking was an old head butler, wearing a traditional black butler uniform, he was gentle in appearance, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.
He was Sebastian, the butler who had served the Gojo Family since the previous head of the family's generation.
Although only a servant, he held authority surpassing other servants, and even the members of the Gojo family respected him.
"I have a task for you, Sebas."
"Please tell me, Kamiki-sama. I will carry it out to the best of my ability."
"It's not a difficult task. A senior student is bullying Onodera Kosaki because his confession was rejected."
"I see. Should I eliminate him?"
Sebastian made a throat-slitting gesture.
"No need to go that far. If Onodera Kosaki finds out someone was killed because of her, she might experience psychological issues. Expose all the scandals of that senior student, make him and his family members rot in jail."
"Kamiki-sama is very wise. I understand."
Sebastian was touched by Eiji's concern for others. As someone who watched him grow up, he felt that the strict upbringing of the Gojo Family caused Eiji to feel less emotions like a normal person.
"Understood, Kamiki-sama can expect the results tomorrow."
After giving his respects, Sebastian left.
With the history and resources of the Gojo Family, it's not difficult to destroy a regular wealthy family.
"Well, let's have dinner."
Feeling hungry, Eiji called a servant to bring dinner to his room. Besides, he didn't have anyone to dine with in the dining room.