“I’m a bit tired.”
“Yeah… feels like I’ve used muscles I don’t normally use.”
That day, after finishing the fitness test, Yuzuru and Arisa were relaxing in his room.
Yuzuru’s flat conveniently lay along Arisa’s route home from the stadium where the event had been held.
It made for the perfect stop on the way back.
“I know what you mean. It’s not like we did that much exercise… but it’s a strange kind of fatigue, isn’t it?”
As she said this, Arisa rolled her shoulders slightly.
Then she tilted her neck side to side…
…and gave her own shoulder a few light taps.
“…”
“…”
“…Do you want me to rub them?”
After a brief silence, Yuzuru finally asked. Arisa looked a little awkward.
“Um, well… yes.”
She nodded honestly, her ears tinged faintly red.
“If you’d just say so, I’d be happy to do that anytime.”
Saying this, Yuzuru moved behind her and began lightly tapping her shoulders.
Arisa let out a soft, pleased sound.
“Ahh… that’s nice. Yuzuru-san, you could probably make a living as a masseur.”
“If my family ever falls into ruin, I’ll consider it.”
Trading light jokes, he pressed her shoulders a bit more firmly.
A faintly sultry, comfortable sound slipped from Arisa’s lips.
“You really do get stiff shoulders easily, don’t you?”
“Yes… well… after exercise, or after studying, they just feel kind of tight…”
Her shoulders were indeed a little stiff.
Not rock-hard, but noticeably tense.
“If it’s that bad, maybe I should get you a massage machine.”
“A massage machine?”
At his casual suggestion, Arisa tilted her head in confusion. Yuzuru hurried to clarify.
“N-no, I mean a proper one—not anything dodgy…”
“…? Are there massage machines that aren’t proper?”
Her innocent question made him avert his gaze.
Dug my own grave there…
“N-no, nothing like that. I mean… more like a massage chair.”
“Oh, like the ones they had at the pool we went to during the holidays? Aren’t those expensive?”
“We’ve got a few old ones at home.”
“Oh, really…”
They were ones his grandfather and father used.
Though “used” might be a stretch—despite buying the newest models whenever they came out, the older ones just ended up sitting around unused.
“If I can use one, I’d love to… Ah, but I might end up hanging around your room every day.”
“I’d be more than happy. You could just move in.”
Arisa bait.
For some reason, that phrase popped into Yuzuru’s mind.
“…Fufu, thank you. I’ll think about it.”
Arisa let out a small laugh.
In truth, Yuzuru had his part-time job and couldn’t always be around—but it was just a bit of lip service, a joke.
And Arisa took it as such.
“But… why do they get this stiff, I wonder?”
“Well… probably because they’re big.”
“…What is?”
“Ah, well…”
Arisa turned to look at him, giving him a flat stare.
Her jade-green eyes pierced into him.
Scratching his cheek, Yuzuru gave in.
“…Your chest?”
Arisa let out a sigh.
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
She glanced down at her own chest.
Perhaps because of the gym uniform, the contours seemed more pronounced than usual.
“…Is it really that inconvenient?”
“Well… I’ve had them for so long—and they sort of just grew without me noticing—so it’s not like it suddenly became inconvenient… but they do get in the way sometimes. It’d definitely be easier without them.”
“Do you ever wish they were a bit smaller?”
“Hmm… maybe smaller would be easier, but if they were smaller, I might wish they were bigger instead.”
“So you’re satisfied with what you’ve got?”
“Well… I don’t think they’re bad.”
All things considered, it seemed like a net positive for her.
Then, after scratching her cheek, Arisa asked him:
“What about you, Yuzuru-san?”
“…About your chest?”
“O-of course. What else would it be?”
She lowered her gaze shyly.
Meanwhile, Yuzuru’s eyes drifted to her chest.
The fabric was pushed up noticeably by the fullness beneath, with a faint outline of a white camisole visible through it.
“I think you’ve been blessed with something truly magnificent.”
“I-is that so… Well, yes, I suppose. You do like them big…”
Yuzuru had never explicitly said he liked them big.
But Arisa already knew that “large breasts, etc.” had been among the conditions for their engagement.
“W-well… within reason?”
“…Are mine… satisfactory?”
“That’s… of course. More than I deserve.”
“I-I see… that’s… good…”
As she spoke, Arisa’s pale skin flushed bright red.
From the tips of her ears to the nape of her neck, she was tinged rose.
But perhaps out of sheer embarrassment, she fell silent after that.
Yuzuru called her name a few times, but got no reply.
With no other choice, he quietly continued massaging her shoulders.
“…U-um.”
After a long pause, Arisa finally spoke.
“…What is it?”
“You… like my chest, right?”
That was her question.
“Well… yes, I do…”
More accurately, he liked Arisa as a whole.
But that didn’t make it untrue.
“Th-then…”
Her gaze wavered slightly.
Then, in a faintly trembling voice, she said—
“Would you… like to touch them?”
Yuzuru’s hands froze.
