Within that ambiguous scent of post-bath freshness, there was a hint of faint alcohol, drifting through the air.
Matsuda Jinpei stood up, strode toward the door, then, for some unknown reason, suddenly slowed his pace. Putting on an air of nonchalance, he calmly pulled the door open.
“You're back.. Kisaragi?” After Matsuda Jinpei opened the door, Kisaragi Chiyo's face suddenly enlarged before his eyes, startling him so much that even his curls bristled slightly, becoming even more frizzy.
"What's wrong with you?" Matsuda Jinpei caught the collapsing Kisaragi Chiyo, feeling a bit at a loss. The warmth of her body leaning into his chest caused his heart to race uncontrollably, as if he had just been bumped by something soft with just the right amount of pressure.
"I'm fine." Kisaragi Chiyo shook her head, attempting to stand several times using Matsuda Jinpei's strength, but she failed each time. Finally, as if throwing a tantrum, she leaned her entire body weight against him.
Her originally fair cheeks were flushed, as if scalded by flames, the skin exposed outside her clothing was even warmer than usual.
“Matsuda.”
Kisaragi Chiyo leaned her head against Matsuda Jinpei's chest. He half-closed his eyes, feeling as if a ball of fire was burning in his stomach, gradually spreading to his limbs and other parts, to the point that his brain felt dizzy.
"So hot," Kisaragi Chiyo murmured in a low complaint, reaching out to pull at the collar of her yukata, only to be swiftly caught by the quick-handed Matsuda Jinpei.
"Wait.. have you been drinking?" Matsuda Jinpei frowned. Although he could smell alcohol on her, it was so faint it was almost dissipating into the air; at first, he thought Kisaragi Chiyo had simply accidentally brushed against it.
Thinking about it now, Kisaragi Chiyo's current behavior was clearly that of someone who was drunk.
Upon hearing Matsuda Jinpei's question, the young man whose hand had been caught tilted his head up in confusion. The hair at his forehead was brushed aside, revealing a pair of beautiful heterochromatic eyes that were currently gazing at Matsuda Jinpei with a bewildered look.
"I did drink a little." Under the influence of alcohol, Kisaragi Chiyo's brain became sluggish, it took a great deal of effort for her to understand what Matsuda Jinpei meant.
"I really only had a tiny bit." The young woman raised her hand, using two fingers to indicate a small distance, then stared at it seriously before narrowing the gap between her fingers even further.
".." Matsuda Jinpei looked at Kisaragi Chiyo, who was practically hanging off him, with a complex expression. All the words he had prepared to say had turned into a sense of helplessness and softness.
"Anyway, let's go inside first." Matsuda Jinpei supported Kisaragi Chiyo, leading her into the room.
*
“How are you feeling now? Can you sit up by yourself?” Matsuda Jinpei helped Kisaragi Chiyo sit down by the edge of the bed. Just as he was about to pour a glass of water for this drunken fellow, his hand was gripped tightly by the other the moment he pulled it away.
Matsuda Jinpei had never realized that Kisaragi Chiyo could be so strong.
"No." After drinking, the young man's consciousness wasn't entirely clear, he chose to refuse without a second thought. He nuzzled his head into the other's neck, his moist, warm breath brushing against the skin, before finally settling into a comfortable position nestled in his arms, remaining motionless.
“.. Kisaragi.” Matsuda Jinpei felt a tightening thirst in his throat. His voice was low, his gaze was deep as he looked at the young man in his arms, one hand resting on his shoulder while the other supported the other's waist.
As the breath rose and fell against the sensitive and dangerous area of his neck, Matsuda Jinpei felt as if he might be a little drunk himself, perhaps due to the faint scent of alcohol lingering on Kisaragi Chiyo.
"It feels good." Kisaragi Chiyo let out a sigh of contentment, much like a young animal, as he gently rubbed his nose against the skin just above the other's collarbone, pressing his cheek against it with satisfaction.
After his burning cheeks touched the slightly cool skin, the sensation was no different from drinking an ice-cold soda in nearly forty-degree heat.
Matsuda Jinpei froze completely. He wanted to have Kisaragi Chiyo move her head away, but his body defied his will, his hands subconsciously tightened his embrace around the person in his arms.
"So noisy." Just as Matsuda Jinpei decided to indulge himself for a little while and enjoy this brief, special moment, Kisaragi Chiyo, whose head was buried in the crook of his neck, suddenly lifted her head and murmured softly.
His eyebrows furrowed, his narrow, willow-leaf eyes half-lidded, looking as though he might fall asleep at any moment. His hair was slightly disheveled from the recent movement, he had chosen to take off his usual silver earrings due to the hot spring.
“What..” Having not heard clearly, Matsuda Jinpei looked at Kisaragi Chiyo with a look of confusion.
"So noisy." Kisaragi Chiyo repeated once more. She lifted her eyes to look at Matsuda, a slight, mischievous smile playing on her lips, like a cat that had successfully stolen a snack.
"I mean your heartbeat, it's too noisy, Matsuda-kun." Kisaragi Chiyo spoke in a lazy tone, with a hint of nonchalance.
"I'm starting to wonder if you're actually drunk right now." Matsuda Jinpei froze for a second, staring at the young man's face, before a low chuckle escaped from his throat.
Kisaragi Chiyo, whose questioning was being met with doubt, did not look very happy. He narrowed his eyes, wanting to say something, but his attention was quickly drawn back to the pair of cat ears nestled in the curly-haired man's hair.
"What is that.." Kisaragi Chiyo's eyes slowly widened, staring intently at that pair of rounded, cute, triangular cat ears that twitched from time to time.
“Cats twitch their ears because they are excited and agitated,” Kisaragi Chiyo said, forcefully recalling everything she knew about cats, “and this situation usually occurs at the threshold of a cat's hunting excitement.”
"So.. am I the prey this time?" As Kisaragi Chiyo said this, her tone was incredibly certain, possessing the effortless confidence of a top student being called upon to answer a math problem on the blackboard.
“If I say yes, what do you plan to do?” Matsuda Jinpei found Kisaragi Chiyo's post-drinking personality truly interesting, he couldn't resist the urge to tease her, so he deliberately issued a threat: “If you can't give me a satisfactory answer, then the monster will eat you.”
Starting from the head, swallowing you whole, just like a snake eats its food.
Oh?" Kisaragi Chiyo tilted her head upon hearing that, staring at Matsuda Jinpei for a few seconds before laughing again. "Then you'll have to discuss it with Hara—whether it's first come, first served, or half each?
Matsuda Jinpei: ".."
You.. never mind." Matsuda Jinpei sighed, hesitating for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "I'm starting to believe you really are drunk now.
"Is that so?" Kisaragi Chiyo rested her chin on her hands, a thoughtful expression crossing her face; she was still not quite satisfied with Matsuda Jinpei's answer.
I am indeed drunk, but everyone who is drunk says they aren't, so normally, I should be saying that I'm not drunk.
That's right!" Kisaragi Chiyo said, nodding vigorously after she finished speaking. "I'm not drunk, besides, I only had that one single glass of alcohol.
“What kind of alcohol were you drinking?” Matsuda Jinpei asked curiously, wondering what exactly Kisaragi Chiyo had been drinking to make her personality turn so childish and stubborn.
Japanese sake provided by the inn," Kisaragi Chiyo said seriously, gesturing with her hands to indicate the amount. "It was about this much, one cup.
Matsuda Jinpei was momentarily speechless after seeing that, because based on the size of the cup Kisaragi Chiyo had gestured, the amount wouldn't exceed fifty milliliters at most, the alcohol content of the sake provided by the inn was generally not very high.
So, this guy can't handle even a single drink.
"So, are you going to sleep now?" Matsuda Jinpei lifted his hand from the other's shoulder, his cold fingertips brushing against the human's burning cheek. The flush on both sides had not receded; instead, under the light, it lent a beautiful color to the young man's features.
"Matsuda, are you cold?" Kisaragi Chiyo did not answer, but instead turned the question back on Matsuda Jinpei.
“Do you want to feel a bit warmer?” Kisaragi Chiyo placed her hands on Matsuda Jinpei's shoulders, her head slowly leaning in close, her voice so soft as she spoke that it was almost impossible to hear the content without listening intently.
"When I was coming back, I passed by the hotel's common lounge and heard a group of people chatting." Kisaragi Chiyo mimicked Matsuda Jinpei's movements, using her own hand to touch his face.
“I heard them saying..” Kisaragi Chiyo said, her voice getting lower and lower, until Matsuda Jinpei had to lean his ear in close.
"What did they say?" The cat ears atop Matsuda Jinpei's head perked up, looking completely focused.
“They say that a kiss can make a person heat up.” Kisaragi Chiyo's lips brushed against Matsuda's ear as she breathed those few words.
The voice drifted lightly into the air; that single sentence alone was enough to serve as a fuse to ignite everything.
The teal eyes instantly widened, as if seeing something unbelievable. Matsuda Jinpei felt as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly surged through his body, leaving him numb from head to toe, inside and out, with a tingling sensation even in his fingertips.
The sound of his heartbeat grew even louder.
"Kisaragi." Matsuda Jinpei subconsciously licked his lips, one hand supporting her head while the other gripped her waist.
Within the beautiful teal irises, the pupils excitedly constricted into thin, vertical slits. Black shadows gradually swallowed the light sources in the room, weaving together into an inescapable abyss of a cage.
“Kissing isn't just about this.” Matsuda Jinpei stared at Kisaragi Chiyo's rosy lips; he now knew exactly how soft they were.
“Do you want me to teach you?" Matsuda Jinpei asked softly, his eyes cast down.
His fingers sank into the youth's hair, the sensation of his cold fingertips pressing tightly against the scalp made Kisaragi Chiyo shudder.
As long as Kisaragi showed any sign of reluctance, even if it was just a moment of hesitation or a slight frown, Matsuda Jinpei thought to himself that he would immediately let go, acting as if nothing had happened.
In that case.." Kisaragi Chiyo pleaded with utmost sincerity, "I'm counting on you, Instructor Matsuda.
Please, teach me.
"Very good." A smile that even he himself hadn't noticed curled the corners of Matsuda Jinpei's lips. He lowered his head, his gaze fixed intently on the other person.
I like students who are passionate about learning.
Then next.. is educational guidance.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you for the support, my little angels! Mwah 030
Chapter 64
First of all
Kisaragi, open your mouth.
Matsuda Jinpei was a patient and good teacher; he did not choose to use a crude and forceful method immediately, which would have prevented his student from even having a chance to react before being force-fed all the teaching content.
“Did you know?” Matsuda Jinpei released Kisaragi Chiyo's head. In front of such a thirsty student, restraint was no longer necessary.
One of the most sensitive areas of the human body is the lips.
Matsuda Jinpei's cool fingertips pressed against her soft lower lip, his calloused pads rubbing against it repeatedly in an ambiguous and suggestive gesture that caused Kisaragi Chiyo's breathing to unconsciously quicken.
She kept her head tilted back, her lips slightly parted at Matsuda Jinpei's request, making it difficult for her to speak.
"The surface is covered with a vast number of god-level nerve endings, making it extremely sensitive to stimuli such as touch, temperature, pain." The curly-haired man spoke at a slow pace with clear articulation, as if he were truly a dedicated and responsible teacher.
“After that, close your eyes.”
The cool fingertips moved away from the lower lip, slowly upward, until they landed between the eyebrows. Finally, his entire palm covered her face, completely obscuring Kisaragi Chiyo's vision.
For the sake of the teaching experience," Matsuda Jinpei's voice came from above, "this is necessary.
Well, Kisaragi Chiyo's eyelashes fluttered uncomfortably; as an instructor, he always had his reasons, he only needed to cooperate.
After her vision was deprived, her other senses became much clearer.
Kisaragi Chiyo felt Matsuda Jinpei slowly approaching, his breath falling upon her face, the hands clamped around her waist tightened slightly, like a snake constricting its prey; Kisaragi Chiyo remained perfectly still, following Matsuda Jinpei's instructions to keep her movements motionless.
Time stretched infinitely in the darkness. He didn't know when the next step of the lesson would arrive; every minute and every second, in that brief yet long wait, sparked endless imagination.
"Will you be nervous?" Matsuda Jinpei's voice fell against his ear. He didn't choose to move on to the next step immediately, but instead turned to bite the young man's earlobe.
Sharp teeth ground against that soft flesh with moderate pressure, a tingling numbness wrapped within a faint sensation of pain.
Kisaragi Chiyo gripped Matsuda Jinpei's arm tightly. His body tensed for a moment the instant the other man bit his earlobe, before he slowly forced himself to adapt and relax.
“Matsuda..” Kisaragi Chiyo felt the breath falling against his ear, like unruly feathers, burrowing straight inside. The strange sensation made him instinctively want to withdraw from this uncontrollable situation.
"Don't move." Matsuda Jinpei released the young man's earlobe and kissed his ear, followed by a series of cool kisses falling one after another upon the young man's burning cheeks.
"Kisaragi, have you forgotten?" Matsuda Jinpei chuckled softly. At a distance so close they were almost pressed together, Kisaragi Chiyo could feel the vibrations from his chest as he laughed.
We are currently in a teaching session; what are you supposed to call me?
Matsuda Jinpei had to admit that his rare, wicked side was surfacing at this moment; he loved seeing the other person look so embarrassed.
“..” Kisaragi Chiyo fell silent for a few seconds. Her grip on Matsuda Jinpei's arm tightened slightly more, her mouth opening and closing before she finally spat out two words in a fit of self-abandonment: “Instructor.”
"Instructor Matsuda." Kisaragi Chiyo called out again, his brow furrowed like a student who had encountered a difficult problem and was at a loss, having no choice but to seek guidance.
That.." Kisaragi Chiyo hesitated, asking with a hint of uncertainty in her voice, "Instructor, you seem to have something—
Before the last few words could be finished, Kisaragi Chiyo felt a sudden bout of dizziness. The palm covering his eyes moved away, instead pressing against his shoulder and pushing him backward.