("If you ever run into some trouble, you can come find your neighbor, me, for help.")
Thinking of that beautiful young man who was not only extremely handsome but also impressively reliable, Katsuragi Shouko hurriedly stood up and went out the door.
Arriving at Hikari's front door, she raised her hand and knocked.
A few seconds passed, but there wasn't the slightest response from inside.
Seeing this scene, Katsuragi Shouko immediately felt downhearted.
She suddenly remembered that maybe it wasn't yet time for classes to be over, so Hikari was probably not at home, and she decided helplessly to go back.
But just then, the door in front of her suddenly opened.
Seeing that familiar youthful and handsome face appear before her eyes, Katsuragi Shouko's eyes for some reason grew moist, while her lips overflowed uncontrollably with saliva, soaking her clothes.
"Hik… Hikari-kun!", Katsuragi Shouko softly spoke, her voice strangely hoarse, carrying an irresistibly seductive allure.
"Mrs. Shouko, are you alright?", Hikari asked when he saw her flushed cheeks.
"I… can I say it inside first?", Though her words were polite, Katsuragi Shouko's delicate hand had already pressed against Hikari's chest and pushed him into the house.
Once inside, she even reached back and shut the door.
———
Her palm pressed against his solid chest, Katsuragi Shouko's body gave a little tremble, and without meaning to, she pushed Hikari further into the room.
Seeing this abnormal state, Hikari half-resisted but still let her enter.
Helping the staggering woman to sit on the sofa, Hikari poured her a glass of water, "Mrs. Shouko, go ahead. What's going on with you?"
"It's like this. Today I got off work early and did a thorough cleaning at home, then I drank a cup of tea, and then…", Katsuragi Shouko roughly recounted her afternoon. The more she spoke, the hotter her cheeks grew.
"I… I think I've come down with something, maybe a fever. Hikari-kun, can you get me some fever medicine?", As a wave of feminine perfume swept over, Katsuragi Shouko suddenly sat down beside him, stumbling in her voice as she requested.
Looking carefully at her complexion, Hikari shook his head, "Mrs. Shouko, I don't think taking fever medicine will help. Because it might not be a fever. You might have been dr*gged."
Those seductive brows furrowed tightly at his words.
Hikari thought she was considering how, why, and by whom she'd been dr*gged.
But instead, Katsuragi Shouko tilted up her head, her flushed cheeks pressing against his arm as she whispered, "I don't know if I'm sick or dr*gged, I just feel so hot, like I'm burning up. Hikari-kun, please, help put out this fire…"
Hearing this, and feeling her increasingly improper movements, Hikari understood.
Mrs. Shouko wasn't thinking, her brain was fried. She was delirious.
As he straightened up a bit, he saw her loosening the collar of her blouse, by instinct trying to cool herself down.
Immediately, Hikari brought a basin of cold water, soaked a towel, and wiped at her face and neck in an attempt to clear her head.
But it didn't work much.
No sooner had he finished wiping than Katsuragi Shouko leaned against him again.
In his ear, her magnetic, hoarse voice begged incessantly.
"Help me… Hikari-kun… help Auntie, won't you… help Auntie…", That husky plea, like a witch's chant, was nearly impossible to resist.
And as she spoke, she pulled loose her hair tie.
The black hair that had been bundled up tumbled down like a waterfall, spilling across her pale shoulders, adding even more seducti*n to her already mature charm.
Clinging tightly to him, unwilling to let go, Katsuragi Shouko left Hikari no choice but to ask, "Mrs. Shouko, you're not well. Let me try using acupuncture to detoxify you, alright?"
"Yes… anything's fine, Hikari-kun… just make Auntie not feel so hot anymore… anything's fine…", Her beautiful eyes were completely glazed, reason abandoned.
With no other option, Hikari pulled out silver needles with one hand while gripping her with the other, preparing for acupuncture.
"It might hurt when I stick the points. Try to bear it, Mrs. Shouko," he warned.
"I'm not afraid… I'm not afraid of pain-AH!", She had barely said the words when a sudden, sharp pain radiated from the acupuncture point, forcing a scream out of her lips.
The pain shocked her head back to fleeting clarity.
Seeing Hikari administering needles, her eyes widened and she gave a token struggle.
But acupuncture once begun cannot be withdrawn unless the needle brings blood, so Hikari pressed forward mercilessly.
That glimmer of clarity vanished, and she fell once more into her fevered frenzy.
Seeing her body growing hotter under the effects of the dr*g, Hikari used both hands and mouth in concentration, driving thirty-six needles into her points within seconds.
Foul blood was coaxed out, then he pulled the tainted needles free and replaced them with fresh ones.
Over and over, Hikari worked tirelessly at his skilled acupuncture art.
———
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Kareki Tsunetaka, his fat body lumbering out of a darkened room, hurried downstairs.
This shut-in had not left his house in years, but today, for some reason, maybe out of anger, he actually put on slippers and stepped outside his long-sealed door.
Sunlight struck his face, blinding him despite it being afternoon.
Ignoring his discomfort, he rushed to the door of his neighbor, Hikari.
"My dr*gged s*w can't have gone far. Most likely, she hid in this bastard's house!"
Though a shut-in, Kareki Tsunetaka's mind sometimes still worked. He carefully checked the doorway.
Sure enough, he spotted one of Katsuragi Shouko's slippers.
"Damn! That worthless w*man really ran into another man's house?"
His fists clenched, his fat face twisted with fury.
He raised his fist high to pound on the door, then froze mid-air.
Because honestly, he didn't dare cross people outside.
He had seen Hikari before: tall, sturdy, dangerous. A threat. Fear gnawed at him.
Still, thinking of Katsuragi Shouko hiding there nearly made him explode.
His plan had been simple enough. If he couldn't take her himself, the hidden cameras at home would catch damning footage of his stepmother with another man.
But she had actually fled next door, ruining everything.
No chance to act himself, no incriminating video either.
Unforgivable! Maddening enough to kill him.
"Wait… wait! Maybe she didn't go inside. This is still class time. A high schooler shouldn't even be home yet!"
A spark of hope lit his mind.
"Maybe… maybe she just ran past in panic and dropped her shoe here…"
Picking up the slipper, Kareki Tsunetaka held tightly to this thought, his face regaining hope.
But as he passed near Hikari's window, he heard strange sounds inside.
The curtains were drawn, the windows shut tight, yet faint feminine cries, pained, m*aning, anguished, escaped.
"That… that really is Katsuragi Shouko's voice!"
He pressed his ear to the wall, not hearing much but sensing enough, together with his gut instinct, that his face turned utterly ashen.
"Damn! Damn! Damn!"
"That s*w Shouko, damn her! That maggot Hikari, damn him too!"
"I'll kill you both!"
In rage, he kicked the wall, only to yelp and clutch his foot in pain.
In the end, he lacked the guts to knock on the door, slinking back bitterly to his long-shut home.
———
Inside Hikari's house, the scene was a mess.
Because of the acupuncture therapy, both Shouko's and his coats and shirts were strewn across the floor.
The sofa was soaked and stained with her sweat and drawn blood.
But at least, after the session, her burning symptoms eased.
With his help, most of the poison had been purged from her body.
On the damp sofa, she panted softly, trembling a little, like a dog with its tongue out. Years without acupuncture had left her body unaccustomed.
But thanks to Hikari's skill, she was unharmed.
After a bit more comfort from him, her restless body finally calmed.
"Feeling better now, Mrs. Shouko?", He helped her sit up.
"Ah! Y-Yes, I'm alright…", Though her limbs still felt weak, her senses had returned.
Her face remained flushed, but from shyness now, not dr*gs. She kept her head bowed, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
After putting her clothes back on, she finally dared to continue.
With her voice no longer hoarse and seductive, but back to its usual soft tone, she murmured:
"Um… I'm sorry, Hikari-kun, I forced you just now… I really didn't mean to. My mind was blank… I'm sorry… I…", She stammered in guilt, unable to explain clearly.
But Hikari already understood well enough.
Helping once is like building seven pagodas of merit, and seeing her bruised thigh, he felt he hadn't lost out.
So he nodded, "It's alright, Mrs. Shouko. I know exactly what was going on just now. You had no choice. It was just an accident. I'll keep it a secret."
"Oh yes! Yes! It was an accident. Th-thank you, Hikari-kun, for helping me dispel the… n-no, thank you for keeping it secret!"
"Shall we just pretend this never happened?", he suggested kindly.
"Yes!", Her face crimson, she nodded again, "Let's pretend it never happened."
"I'm so sorry, Hikari-kun," Thinking of his youthful, handsome face, Shouko, who saw herself as nothing more than an aunt, bowed deeply before him.
He quickly pulled her up, "No need, Mrs. Shouko. I already said I don't blame you."
"Uu…", Feeling again the warmth of his hand through her familiar skin, Mrs. Shouko was overwhelmed with shame and gratitude, nearly brought to tears.
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