“You want me to check for scars, huh…” Lily muttered hesitantly.
“Please, Lily…” Haihime said as she buried her face into the pillow.
A scar would require treatment from a topnotch onmyōji, and since Lily was worried about Haihime’s condition, she agreed with her proposition in the end. “All right. I’ll do it.”
Haihime had already changed into a casual, blue kimono by now, as her original dress had become tattered.
Haihime undid her kimono’s sash’s front knot, following which she allowed Lily to raise her kimono all the way up her smooth, curvaceous legs, right up to her waist.
“I had a feeling you had gone commando…” Lily blushed.
Responsible as she was, Lily approached Haihime’s a̲s̲s̲ and scrutinized it well despite feeling embarrassed1.
“Your butt is spotlessly clean, Sister Haihime. I don’t see any scars on it,” Lily answered frankly.
“Is that true? It still hurts a little, to be honest,” replied Haihime.
“Igarashi really crossed the line in my opinion, but worry not, as I’ve avenged you. She got her just desserts in the end, and it should’ve taught her that even Thrones must stay in line with morals. You wouldn’t have been able to sit up for two weeks had I not used the life-recovery pill to heal you,” Lily added.
“Thank you so much, Lily…” Haihime expressed her gratitude with a short breath.
“Don’t say thanks, Sister Haihime. We’re sisters, you know, and my reason in battle is to protect my sisters.”
“You won’t hate me for being weak, would you, Lily?”
“Of course not. Don’t be silly now, Sister Haihime. You’re not weak, and also care for me a lot. I cherish you a lot,” Lily stated frankly.
Haihime felt a current pass through her when she heard Lily’s words. Her face flushed and breath quickened as she asked, “Can you massage my butt, Lily?”
“Hah?”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll get better sooner as long as you massage it. Can you do me this favor, Lily?” Haihime asked in a mellow, ringing voice.
Lily blushed and looked at Haihime’s flawlessly smooth skin. Although the two were sisters, she still found it inappropriate to massage Haihime’s butt. However, Lily felt that it would be too cruel for her to refuse Haihime’s request when she had undergone torment just recently. Besides, Lily also wished for her to get better sooner.
“Okay.”
Lily reached out to touch that luscious piece of a̲s̲s̲ with her slender fingers and felt Haihime tremble2.
…
…
Outside Ayaka’s residence.
A water stream flowed down from the dark sky suddenly and made towards the residence’s gates with Ayaka standing on it, her outfit fluttering against the wind.
“Welcome back, Ms. Ayaka!” The gatekeeper greeted her with a kneel.
Ayaka had ordered Murasaki to guide the samurai accompanying her and told the onmyōji to return before she had used her wooden sandals, a magic treasure, to produce a water stream, and flew back to her residence, shortening the distance with a speed several times faster than that of a horse.
“Is Lily back home?” Ayaka asked the gatekeeper.
“Ms. Lily returned just now, Ms. Ayaka,” the gatekeeper answered.
“Lily!” Ayaka commanded the water stream and flew right inside. Although the stream of water flew slower now, it was still fast enough to reach the back courtyard in the blink of an eye.
Ayaka landed on the steps of the study pavilion, as she knew Lily would have returned here after coming back and rejoiced when she saw her sandals at the entrance.
“Lily!” Ayaka opened the study pavilion’s door jovially but found no signs of Lily inside. She then went to her bedroom and found it empty all the same. Although Ayaka was certain that Lily was here, she was still unwilling to locate her instantly with a spirit probe and began opening the doors of the pavilion’s rooms in succession, going all the way up to the final room in the corridor.
“Lily!”
Ayaka saw the side view of the white-clad, straight-haired girl who she had missed all this time sitting in seiza within the room when she opened the door. However, her first love had a seductive older woman with long, blue hair lying face-down underneath her at the moment, with her hands on the older woman’s butt3.
The sight had dumbfounded Ayaka so much that she froze up in front of the door for a good while, not knowing what to say.
Lily also never expected someone to open the door so suddenly. She raised her head when she heard it open and saw Ayaka standing in front of the door.
The soft, warm mass within her hands reminded Lily of the situation’s gravity when she saw the passionate look on Ayaka’s face turn into a deadpan one.
Lily blushed and tensed up as she called out to her, “Ms. Ayaka…”
She thought of getting up to greet her, but it was not convenient for her to get up right now.
“I see that you’re back,” Ayaka said in an icy, indifferent tone, making it sound as if she were greeting one of her retainers who had journeyed far to carry out an order.
“Haihime’s injured, Ms. Ayaka. She was in a tattered state when I…”
“I still have some business to deal with. Come to my room tonight and give me a detailed report at that time,” Ayaka closed the room’s door with a slam and left with an icy air around her, lending no ear to Lily’s explanation.
“…returned.”
The room filled with silence in the next moment.
“Lily…” Haihime got up and fixed her kimono before directing a worried look towards the door. “Was that Ms. Ayaka just now? She seemed to be in a bad mood. I hope she didn’t misunderstand us.”
Lily’s mind was focused on how to weather through the night when she would go to report.
“I’m sorry for causing such a misunderstanding, Lily. I’ll go and clear it right away.”
“Don’t go!” Lily grabbed Haihime’s shoulder, “Promise me you won’t, or else you might just end up dying!”
“What?”
“Anyway, it’s best for you to stay within the room and recuperate well. Leave the rest to me.”
“A-All right. If you say so.”
Lily left the room after that, leaving behind Haihime alone in the room with a crafty smile on her face.
“Heh. It almost felt as if we were having an affair behind Ms. Ayaka’s back…” Haihime stroked her a̲s̲s̲ lightly as she soliloquized4.
…
…
Lily went to bathe after exiting the room, as it had been a long time since she had the opportunity to bathe in a safe, luxurious hot spring like the one in Ayaka’s residence. She then returned to her room and waited for nightfall.
Although giving Ayaka a report was most likely just a formality, Lily felt very nervous about it for some reason.
“The question is whether she summoned me just for a report.”
Lily had been really looking forward to reuniting with Ayaka after experiencing untold hardships and braving untold dangers. It would be a lie to say that she had not thought about her even once during those days, and there were also many more important matters that she needed to discuss with her.
She never expected she would reunite with Ayaka under such circumstances, though, and found it hard to come up with an explanation.
“Hmm. I wonder what outfit I should wear. As I’m not heading into battle, the celestial maiden’s undergarment is out of the question… Hold on. Why the heck am I racking my head over which underwear to put on when I’m visiting Ms. Ayaka late at night just for a report?”
