So, how exactly had it come to this? I’d come here because Illness-san invited me to a tea party. No problems there; the tea was delicious and the conversation had been pleasant.
But somehow, the flow of the conversation had shifted, and now Illness-san was about to clean my ears...
"Um, well then, if you’ll excuse me?"
"Yes... please... don't hold back..."
Not wanting to keep her waiting forever, I tentatively lowered my head onto her lap. Of course, I knew that Illness-san was far stronger than me and that the weight of me lying there wouldn't bother her at all. Even so, perhaps because of her petite stature—or perhaps because I was just nervous about the situation of receiving a lap pillow from her—my movements were stiff as I lay back.
The first thing I felt was the high-quality fabric of her long skirt, followed by the soft sensation of her thighs and a faint, gentle warmth.
I was facing away from her, but for some reason, I felt strangely flustered.
"Well then... I shall begin..."
"Ah, yes. Please do."
I’d had my ears cleaned while using a lap pillow before, like with Kuro, but this felt a bit different.
Perhaps because Illness-san herself projected such a strong maternal aura, like a composed older woman, I found myself feeling strangely restless.
A moment later, Illness-san began. True to her reputation, she was masterfully skilled, and the sensation was incredibly soothing. Even without me saying a word, she cleaned exactly where I wanted at the perfect timing; it was a truly blissful moment.
"...I am sorry... for suddenly suggesting such a thing..."
"Ah, no, not at all. For me, it’s... very pleasant. I was just a little surprised."
"I see... Since Kaito-sama always forgives my selfishness... I may be becoming a bit bold. I had... held back until now, but..."
"Um, does that mean you’ve wanted to do this all along? Give me an ear cleaning, I mean?"
As usual, it wasn't selfish in the slightest, but Illness-san was indeed being uncharacteristically proactive today. It gave me a different impression of her than usual.
Judging by the way she spoke, it wasn't that this was a random whim; it felt like she had wanted to do this for a long time but had been restraining herself.
"Yes... It is greedy of me... but I find myself wanting to do... more and more things for Kaito-sama. Even now... I am allowed to take care of so many of your personal needs... but I wonder if I should say that desire is a thing without limits... I end up thinking... 'more... more...' without meaning to. Truly... I did not know... that I was such a greedy person..."
Illness-san spoke with a self-deprecating chuckle, but as always, she wasn't greedy at all. After all, her "greed" boiled down to a desire to serve me even more than she already did. Far from being greedy, she was someone I felt lacked personal desires to a degree that was almost startling.
"...What are you saying? You aren't greedy at all. In fact, it's so the opposite that it's surprising. You're really free to be more selfish and make more requests of me, you know?"
"Kuhihi... Kaito-sama... please do not spoil me too much. Even now... I am troubled and perplexed by my own changes... so if I end up wanting to do this and that on top of everything else... it would be quite a problem. However..."
She paused for a moment, stopping the ear cleaning to gently stroke my head as she spoke in an incredibly kind voice.
"...Thanks to Kaito-sama... I feel like I might be able to come to like... this greedy version of myself."
Those words seemed to carry a deep, heartfelt affection for me... and I don't know why, but it left me with a strangely ticklish, warm feeling in my chest.
Serious-senpai: "What's with these guys not being lovers at this distance!?"