The sun rose in the east and set in the west as always.
Two or three hours passed. The blazing sun that had been hanging high in the middle of the blue sky had now gradually sunk lower.
And the room that had been noisy for quite a while finally grew quiet.
Hikari lay on the soft big bed that originally belonged only to Jinno Sumire. He casually twisted open a bottle of shenbao brand Nutri-Express, took a small sip, narrowed his eyes slightly, then turned his head and teased Jinno Sumire who was lying beside him, "Aunt Sumire, weren't you a bit too impatient today?"
The priestess who was usually noble and cold had already gone limp like a puddle, lying there in a totally slack posture.
After hearing Hikari's words, her slightly unfocused pupils slowly came back to normal. Then, a little embarrassed and annoyed, she defended herself, "I… I wasn't in a hurry! I just wanted to seize the time to help the Jinno family spread its branches and leaves so that that old man will pass the family position to me. It's… it's not for this kind of thing itself!"
"I see," Hikari nodded and suggested, "Since Aunt Sumire doesn't like this kind of thing and just wants a child, how about doing IVF? I'm willing to provide what's needed for the procedure."
"N… no!", Jinno Sumire, her pretty face still flushed, immediately opened her mouth to reject his suggestion.
"Huh? Why?", Hikari looked at the priestess whose cheeks were red right now, looking extremely beautiful and cute.
"W… why? Of course it's because the success rate of IVF is low, and there are risks! I'm not that young anymore. I heard it's not good to do it that way at my age. Right, for the sake of the success rate and all that, we have to do it directly," Even though Jinno Sumire was a little red-faced and stammering, she still explained in a serious tone.
"So that's how it is. Since it's related to the success rate, then it can't be helped," Hikari nodded.
"Let's do it the way Aunt Sumire said. But Aunt Sumire's voice is always so loud every time. I was worried you were having a hard time," As he spoke, Hikari lightly stroked the slightly raised curve of the cold and elegant priestess's lower abdomen and smiled at her.
"Where are you touching!", Jinno Sumire slapped his hand away in embarrassment and annoyance, then warned him, "Other than when it's necessary, you're not allowed to put your hands on me randomly!"
"After all, I'm Little Ai's mother!"
Seeing that Jinno Sumire's lower abdomen was slightly swollen, the cherry lips at the corner of her mouth occasionally drooling, yet her face still wearing a serious and cold expression, Hikari really wanted to laugh.
But he still followed her lead and raised his hands in surrender, "Mm, okay, okay. Other than when it's necessary, I won't touch you."
"Come here. Help me up for a moment," The Jinno Sumire lying down suddenly spoke to Hikari.
"Hmm?"
'Didn't you say not to touch you unless it's for spreading branches and leaves?'
Hikari looked at Jinno Sumire in confusion.
"My… my legs are still cramping a little. It hurts. Help me," Jinno Sumire rubbed her sore and swollen thighs, knitting her brows helplessly at him.
"Alright," Hearing that, Hikari finally understood.
He moved closer to her, helped her sit up properly, and reached out to massage her numb and aching thighs.
Feeling Hikari's warm palm pressing and kneading, Jinno Sumire trembled slightly, but didn't say anything.
After all, he was helping her, and this didn't really count as anything.
Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't carried her on his shoulder just now.
If it's just a massage, then so be it.
Hikari controlled his strength very well, and his technique was quite skilled, even better than a few hours ago. So as he kept massaging, Jinno Sumire, who had been a bit tense at first, gradually began to enjoy it.
"Aunt Sumire, your legs don't feel sore anymore, right?", Hikari looked at Jinno Sumire, who was so comfortable that she had narrowed her eyes, and asked.
"Ah… right! They're not sore anymore," Jinno Sumire, who had almost fallen asleep from comfort, saw Hikari looking at her with a half-smile. Her pretty face reddened slightly and she quickly responded.
"Since your legs are back to normal, shall we make another contribution to the Jinno family, Aunt Sumire?", While kneading her legs that felt extremely nice to the touch, Hikari wrapped an arm around her smooth, fragrant shoulder and asked.
"N… no need! It's getting late. I still have to go to the shrine later!", After hearing his words, Jinno Sumire paused for a moment, then hurriedly shook her head.
"Alright," Hearing her say so, Hikari didn't linger. He let go of her and stood up with a smile.
"Wait!", Seeing that Hikari was about to leave, Jinno Sumire, hurriedly putting on her clothes, called out.
"What is it, Aunt Sumire?", Hikari, now fully dressed, turned around and looked at Jinno Sumire, whose hair was messy and cheeks flushed. She wasn't as noble and elegant as usual, but she looked even more charming.
"You helped Auntie so much. Take this," Jinno Sumire stuffed something hard and thin into Hikari's hand.
"This is?", Hikari looked at the card that seemed like a bank card and glanced at her in confusion.
"There's five hundred thousand inside. Treat it as the reward for me asking you to… to give me a child," Jinno Sumire said with a red face, a little embarrassed. Then she added, "From now on, every time I trouble you, I'll give the same reward."
Looking at the bank card containing five hundred thousand, then at this cold and elegant, wealthy priestess Jinno Sumire, Hikari, who had also felt quite refreshed just now, couldn't help but laugh helplessly.
"Aunt Sumire, there's really no need. You helped me before. I'm just helping you now. It's only right."
"And you're Little Ai's mother. How could I take your money?"
Hearing that, Jinno Sumire immediately shook her head, "Precisely because I'm Little Ai's mother, I must give you this money."
"Hikari-kun, Little Ai likes you. In the future, you two should get along well."
"Auntie and you… we're just in a very proper transactional relationship. So don't think too much. Just accept the reward."
"After all, you get tired every time too. You should buy more nutrition to replenish your body."
Seeing how insistent she was, Hikari had no choice but to accept the bank card.
Only after he took it did Jinno Sumire let him leave the room.
———
Walking out of the Jinno residence and looking at the sunset slowly descending at the horizon, Hikari smiled and shook his head.
Well, a rich woman is a rich woman. As the person in power of the Jinno family and the shrine's priestess, Jinno Sumire definitely counted as wealthy.
Being with a rich woman like this was quite comfortable too. Enjoying himself without any burden and even getting money afterward. Although Hikari didn't really care about this amount of money now, the feeling was still pretty good.
"Being a kept man doesn't seem so bad?", Thinking about how he had always been popular with older women, this thought popped into Hikari's mind. But it was just a teasing thought that flashed by, and he left the Jinno residence with a smile.
———
On the other side, after Hikari left, Jinno Sumire, who had planned to head straight to the shrine, eventually took off her uniform again and walked into the washroom.
There was no choice. The feeling on her body was just too sticky and uncomfortable.
And there seemed to be quite a noticeable smell as well, so she had to wash up.
After all, they had done high-intensity exercise for two or three hours. Her throat was even dry and hoarse.
With her mouth dry and her body sweating and losing a lot of fluids, even if she had her own natural fragrance, it would be hard for her body scent not to become strong.
Worried that if she went to the shrine and some shrine maiden might notice something, Jinno Sumire decided to take a good shower before going to Ino Shrine.
After all, Jinno Ai was at the shrine today.
She absolutely didn't want Jinno Ai to find out about her pulling Hikari to "exercise" together today. Otherwise, that would be bad.
"Hoo~"
Turning on the shower, the warm and cool water sprinkled down from the top of her head. As the stickiness gradually washed away and she became dry and fresh, Jinno Sumire let out a comfortable breath.
According to her usual habit, when she bathed, she would throw work and trivial matters out of her mind, enjoy the act of bathing itself, and wash both her body and mind clean together.
But today, as she washed, her thoughts couldn't help drifting back.
Thinking about how during today's exercise, she had really been too lousy, far from satisfactory.
Being completely outmatched by a young man like Hikari, no matter which "position" or rhythm, she had been overwhelmed in every way. Jinno Sumire felt somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.
What annoyed her even more was that although the rhythm of the exercise had been completely in Hikari's hands, she, who usually preferred to take the initiative, seemed to enjoy that.
"No, next time I must win over Hikari-kun in this aspect!", Jinno Sumire lightly bit her pink lips with her white teeth.
Then she suddenly froze.
"No, why am I thinking about this?"
Jinno Sumire suddenly came back to her senses and realized that she seemed to have truly become somewhat intoxicated with her deep and shallow exchanges with Hikari.
She had clearly said that what was between them was just very proper mutual help, a transaction.
Her goal was clearly to use this to ascend to the position of head of the Jinno family and take control of it.
Using Hikari to help the Jinno family spread its branches and leaves should only be a method.
She shouldn't be constantly savoring the matter itself.
But right now, she really couldn't help recalling it. It seemed she truly had become too immersed in it, cared too much about it.
Under the washing of the cool water, Jinno Sumire's face suddenly felt a bit hot.
The warm stream of water carried a burning sensation as it slowly flowed from her lower abdomen down to her knees and calves, and finally onto the floor.
Jinno Sumire, a little embarrassed and annoyed, clenched her thighs, pressing her nails hard into them, deciding that next time with Hikari, she must change this.
"Next time I must purely do it just to help the Jinno family spread its branches and reproduce!"
———
On the other side, Hikari had no idea that after enjoying herself and entering sage mode, Jinno Sumire had actually begun reflecting.
Of course, even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
Because just like many people who become saint-like after sage mode but turn hungry again a few days later, Hikari knew that before long, Jinno Sumire would want to call him over again to help spread branches and leaves.
After leaving the Jinno residence, Hikari took out his phone and checked it. Seeing that Aoi had sent him a message saying she had something and wanted him to come over, he immediately headed to the Asakawa house.
However, when he arrived at the Asakawa house and walked into the living room, he found that only Suiren was sitting on the sofa. He didn't see Asakawa Aoi.
After greeting each other, Hikari asked Suiren, "Suiren-nee, where's Aoi?"
Suiren subconsciously replied, "Didn't she say she was going to find you to play?"
Then she looked at Hikari with a guarded expression and asked, "Hikari-kun, why are you suddenly looking for Aoi?"
Seeing her rather serious look, Hikari said helplessly, "Nothing much. Just chatting with her. Why are you reacting so strongly, Suiren-nee?"
Hearing that, Suiren's pretty face turned red. She glared at Hikari with some embarrassment and annoyance, "Because who knows what you'd do when looking for Aoi! I already know you two are only one step away from crossing the final line."
"And your self-control is so bad. Last night you said you'd just stay at the door and not go in, but in the end… in the end you actually..."
Thinking about how she had already made such a huge sacrifice for the two of them yesterday, and just now Asakawa Aoi said she was going to find Hikari and even wanted to hand herself over to him, Suiren felt anxious and angry.
This kind of thing, where you've already paid a huge sunk cost to achieve your goal but might still lose both husband and soldiers, was something no one could accept.
"No, before you see Aoi, you have to come upstairs with me first!", Suiren suddenly stood up and grabbed Hikari's arm.
"Suiren-nee, you…", Hikari looked at her and vaguely understood her intention.
"At your age, you can't let it affect your studies. So if you want to play, let big sister do it instead," Suiren lightly bit her lip and pulled Hikari toward the stairs.
Just as Hikari had guessed, after pulling him upstairs, Suiren took him into her own bedroom.
After closing the door, Suiren pulled Hikari to sit at the edge of the bed.
"Alright, whatever you want to play, let big sister accompany you and help you. You're not allowed to mess around with Aoi!"
"Alright," Seeing Suiren acting like an older sister and being quite proactive, Hikari couldn't really refuse.
"And… what happened yesterday was just an acci… accident. We can't go that far again!", Suiren warned.
"Okay," Hikari narrowed his eyes slightly and gently pressed on Suiren's head. At a time like this, there wasn't much he could say.
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