1846 Until she falls asleep

“Okay. I’ll look after them for you, Onoda-kun. They’re lucky to have you. Their activity at the moment is pretty similar to yours. They’re out there collecting herbs and mushrooms. They’re not genuinely grown in the woods but planted for this day so there won’t be any accidents.” Sara said after I finished telling her about my girls. She even included what they’re doing at the moment.

So, they’re foraging in the woods, huh? I doubt they have competitions like in our area. There could only be a limited number of mushrooms and herbs to be picked. It should be a chore to plant all those within the woods before this day.

Thinking about it, that must be why she’s tired. They came here a day before us.

In any case, she truly listened to me even though most of what left my mouth was praise for them. She also kept herself awake even though I could already sense her consciousness fading away from her tiredness.

In her head, she dedicated herself to truly wanting to pay me back for my kindness.

“Thank you, Sara-san. I’ll owe you one.” I turned to face her and smiled.

Sara beamed and shook her head, not accepting my ‘thank you’. “You won’t owe me anything, Onoda-kun. Don’t forget. Your request is just my repayment for today.”

“Still, I feel like I can rest easy now that I have your guarantee.”

“As you should. I won’t go back on my words. I’ll find and tell them you asked me to look after them when I return.” Tapping my shoulder again, Sara assured me.

I placed my hand on top of her hand and gave it a squeeze, “How reliable, Sara-san.”

Thinking nothing of how I grasped her hand, Sara giggled in contentment.

“Am I now? But I like that kind of praise better than being called pretty.”

Upon hearing that, I couldn’t help the urge to tease her again.

“Hmm? Is that so? Well then, you’re pretty and reliable, Sara-

san.”

“This guy. Are you not listening to me?!”

Almost instantly, she pulled her hand out of my grasp and squeezed it in return. But her grip strength wasn’t doing anything. Still, I played along with her, maintaining my mischievous smile.

“I am. I listened to you. But you forgot what I said earlier, Sara-

san.”

“What is it? That you like my reactions?”

“Yes. That. You’re looking prettier every time I call you one.”

“... That’s not fair. What will you feel if I keep calling you handsome?”

“I’ll be flattered, of course. Especially since it came from a pretty woman like you.”

“Ugh. Onoda-kun. You’re bad for a girl’s heart.”

Raising a white flag, Sara-san couldn’t come up with a better comeback anymore. But that didn’t mean I would stop, right?

“Mhm. My girls often say that.”

“Yeah. I should’ve expected that coming from you.” Shaking her head while having a dry laugh the woman went to ruffle my hair as her last form of defiance.

“Giving up, Sara-san?”

“What else can I do? You’ll keep calling me pretty even if I told you not to. I’ll have no choice but to accept it.”

“A great choice.” I nodded before moving her hand out of my head. Soon afterward, I raised my butt and sat down in a small space not occupied by her body

Although she was surprised at that, she consciously moved a little to give me sufficient space not to slide down.

With her eyes following mine, we somehow ended up staring at each other in silence. And with my hand grasping hers, anyone would most likely find this situation as us having a moment.

Not gonna lie here, even though I didn’t mean to do anything but seeing her like this was pretty tempting. How is she this defenseless?

“Should I stay here until you fall asleep, Sara-san? Or should I go now so you can rest?”

Before the situation turned even more awkward, I brought up those questions. I knew I couldn’t stay here and only accepted her invitation to learn about my girls’ situation. An accident happened and the distance between us closed naturally.

Now, looking at her like this felt like I was also looking down at my girl who was in need of pampering. If I lost my reason here, this woman could become another name to the list of girls I stole.

“Uhm. That’s a hard choice, Onoda-kun.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re already comfortable in my presence.”

“But I am. This felt like that day you carried me on your back. It’s comfortable and soothing. I feel more secure with my presence.”

“Your boyfriend will cry if he hears you saying that, Sara-san.”

“Yes, he will. But I’m being honest here. I hate to admit it but you are miles better than him...”

This woman... She’s really speaking from her mind here and she’s not holding back letting me hear her thoughts. That guy could only blame himself for not being too reliable that his girl had started comparing him to someone she only met once.

“Alright. Let’s stop before you throw him away because of me.” I let go of her hand and placed a finger on her soft lips, stopping her from replying. Following that, I reached for her hair, or more specifically, her disheveled fringes, fixing them to the side. “Take a rest, Sara-san. I’ll stay here until you fall asleep. My free time is also about to end anyway. I’ll give up my chance to see them and try again in my next free time.”

Sara pursed her lips and nodded. For sure, she understood that I was taking a step back for her sake.

Still, I could say that I’m not particularly interested in her. However, my time here with her definitely made me more aware of her.

I caressed her cheek for a while before retracting my hand. However, she grabbed it and placed it back on her face before staring at me intently, conveying her intent to feel the warmth of my palm until she fell asleep.

I guess one more selfish request won’t hurt, right?

Just like this, time trickled slowly. Although her chest was beating loudly just a moment ago, her exhaustion soon took over. Her eyelids closed and her breathing returned to normal.

I’ll repeat it. She’s so defenseless. Who can fall asleep when someone you only met twice is sitting next to you? Maybe in her defense, she already felt more secure with me than with her boyfriend. And she trusted me enough that I wouldn’t take advantage of her defenseless state.

She’s lucky, I guess? If I were the same Ruki of the past, not only would she not be able to fall asleep, but she’d also be pressed under me while I took the liberty of pinning her with my kisses and gentle caresses. Of course, that was only going to happen if she accepted my advances.

At the present, I didn’t even take one and acted more behaved with my desire and perverted nature in shackles.

A few minutes later, I picked up a blanket from the pile of futons and draped it over her body.

I also placed a pillow at the side I vacated just in case she rolled in her sleep. That would at least prevent her from easily falling to the ground.

And there, after making sure that everything was in order, I caressed her cheek and lips one last time before turning to the door.

Upon exiting and securing the door, I casually walked out of the cabin area and returned to ours. Sadly, I didn’t run into Juri, Shio, or Eguchi-sensei even when on my way out.

But that’s fine, I’ll still have more chances later.