Compared to most high school boys, Hikari's house could actually be considered clean and tidy.
But in the eyes of Hisato, a full-time housewife, it was still somewhat dirty and messy.
Hisato immediately said to Hikari, "Hikari-kun, thank you so much for being willing to lend Aunt money. Thank you very much."
"Aunt really doesn't know how to express how she feels. Your house looks a little messy, so let me help clean it. You're usually busy with school and training, right?"
Looking at the earnest light in Hisato's beautiful eyes, Hikari understood that she wanted to express the gratitude she couldn't put into words through her actions.
So he didn't refuse and simply nodded, "Okay, then I'll trouble you, Aunt Hisato."
"But I can't let you help for nothing. Since you're going to clean my place, let's calculate it according to the rate for a cleaning service and deduct it from the money you borrowed from me."
Hearing that, Hisato quickly waved her hands, "No! No! That's not what Aunt means! I just think it's a little messy and wanted to help clean it up. I'm not charging anything!"
Hikari smiled, "I know that's not what you mean, Aunt Hisato, but I don't like taking advantage of other people's labor."
"Besides, Aunt Hisato, you said yourself that you're still a housewife and haven't found a job. If you don't accept the money, when are you planning to finish paying back what you owe me?"
"You've been a full-time housewife for several years, right? People have their specialties. I live alone, and I really do get lazy about cleaning."
"How about this? Whenever I need help and you have time, come over and clean the house."
"Every time you clean, I'll pay you the market rate, or we can deduct it directly from the loan. What do you think?"
Hearing Hikari's suggestion, Hisato was immediately tempted, but she still wanted to refuse.
After all, Hikari had already helped her so much.
Taking money from him to help him with things made her feel guilty.
But what Hikari said made sense.
After becoming a housewife, she really had been out of society for several years.
If she suddenly went out looking for work now, she had no idea when she would find something suitable.
It would be better to work as half a nanny and cleaner for Hikari. Earning something was still earning something.
Sometimes, insisting on something without the ability or confidence to back it up was just another form of avoidance.
As for pride and dignity, they had already disappeared when she, an older elder, took the initiative to borrow a large sum of money from a much younger junior like Hikari.
So in the end, Hisato nodded with a red face and some embarrassment.
"Okay, let's do it the way you said, Hikari-kun. As long as you need it, Aunt will come help clean."
"Really... thank you so much, Hikari-kun. You're truly Aunt's great benefactor."
Hikari waved his hand, "You're exaggerating, Aunt Hisato."
After reaching what could barely be considered a mutually beneficial arrangement, and finding a stable way to repay her debt to Hikari, Hisato looked very happy.
The lifeless feeling brought on by despair faded away. Her beautiful fair face became rosy again, looking bright like a blooming peach blossom.
With her mood improved, she enthusiastically began cleaning and tidying the house.
As a professional full-time housewife, Hisato worked very efficiently.
And because she was grateful that Hikari had lent her money, she even made an effort to clean difficult corners without a single complaint.
After casually watching for a few moments, Hikari left her to it and continued his workout.
He planned to shower after she finished cleaning.
Because Hikari had agreed to lend such a large amount of money, Hisato was deeply moved and cleaned very seriously the entire time.
At first, she was completely focused and free of distractions.
But after seeing Hikari start exercising, her eyes couldn't help drifting in his direction.
His workout movements were simply too intense, even somewhat exaggerated.
Especially when she saw that his abdomen was loaded with a thick stack of weight plates that looked very heavy, yet he could still easily and quickly perform hip bridges and similar exercises, Hisato's face turned slightly red.
"That's... way too much...", Hisato swallowed.
The rag in her hand continued wiping the cabinet, but from the corner of her eye she couldn't help secretly glancing toward Hikari.
Although Hisato had never experienced that kind of thing, she planned to wait until marriage.
But as a woman whose body had already fully matured, someone her age naturally knew certain biological facts.
She didn't even dare imagine how happy her niece Shinomiya Natsuha's nights must be with Hikari as her boyfriend.
"No! No! No!"
"What am I even thinking about!"
"I should hurry up and finish cleaning for Hikari-kun!"
"He trusted me enough to lend me so much money."
"I can never repay this kindness from Hikari-kun."
"I can't let down his trust!"
Forcing herself to look away, Hisato turned around and continued cleaning seriously.
What Hisato didn't know, while she had been surprised by Hikari's strength and physique, the figure she was showing off at that moment was equally striking.
Because she had turned around to clean, she was currently facing away from Hikari. Her round and full buttocks, were perfectly within his line of sight.
And the pair of long, shapely fair legs beneath her skirt were just as eye-catching.
Fortunately, Hikari had already seen plenty.
If it were someone less experienced, they might already have pitched a tent by now.
Or even pounced on her and crossed the line.
Just as Hikari finished his workout, Hisato also finished cleaning.
After all, it was already evening, so it wasn't convenient to clean too thoroughly.
"Hikari-kun, I've basically finished tidying up. If I mop the floor tonight it won't dry easily, so I'll come back tomorrow and give it a proper cleaning."
"If there's nothing else, Aunt will head home first."
Perhaps because the two of them were now, to some extent, in an employer-employee relationship, Hisato specifically asked before leaving.
"Okay."
Having just finished exercising, Hikari nodded.
He picked up the warm water that Hisato had thoughtfully poured for him earlier and took a sip, then leaned back on the sofa, planning to rest a bit before taking a shower.
Hisato had already been preparing to leave.
But when she saw Hikari leaning back to rest after exercising, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
She took a few small steps behind him and said somewhat shyly, "Um, Hikari-kun, Aunt saw that you just finished working out."
"How about... how about Aunt gives you a massage to help relax your muscles?"
"Aunt heard that getting a massage after exercise helps muscles recover better."
Hikari turned around in confusion. "Hm? Aunt Hisato, you know how to give massages?"
"I do... I do!"
Hisato nodded first, then said somewhat embarrassedly, "Although I only learned recently by watching videos online when I was bored at home, and I've never actually given one to anyone before, I really studied seriously."
Then she added, "Um, Hikari-kun, don't misunderstand. This massage... doesn't have to count as paid work..."
"You've already helped Aunt so much. Aunt is really grateful. I just want to help you. There's really no other meaning."
Looking at how nervous she seemed, Hikari smiled.
"It's okay. Massage isn't easy work. It's both a skill and physical labor. It definitely has to be paid."
"How about this? Every time you massage me, let's count it as twenty thousand yen," Hisato was immediately shocked.
"T-Twenty thousand? That's way too much! No, no!"
Looking at her repeatedly waving her hands, Hikari smiled, "It's not that much. Professional massage therapists outside charge even more than that."
"But I'm not a professional...", Hisato lowered her head, her face red, still feeling very embarrassed.
"Then if we don't count the massage work, how long would it take you to pay off your debt just by cleaning?", Hikari suddenly asked.
"I... well...", Hearing his words, Hisato froze.
Her cherry lips moved a few times, but she had no answer.
"Alright, alright. My shoulders are already starting to ache. Aunt Hisato, come massage them for me."
Seeing that she was still hesitating, Hikari urged her again.
"Okay! I'll come right away."
Hearing his urging, Hisato finally made up her mind and agreed.
A strong look of gratitude appeared on her face again. In her view, Hikari didn't really need her massage services that much. He was only giving her another opportunity to earn money and repay her debt faster.
That made Hisato both grateful and guilty. Deep down, she didn't want to take advantage of him and would rather massage him for free.
But Hikari wasn't wrong either. If she stubbornly refused payment to save face, when would she ever finish repaying what she owed?
She should first get through the immediate difficulty and then think of ways to repay Hikari-kun later.
Hisato once again firmly remembered another kindness from the young man before her.
Rubbing her slightly sore eyes, she quickly walked behind Hikari.
She placed her two fair hands on his shoulders and carefully began massaging him.
Because she was somewhat small compared to Hikari and lacked practical massage experience, she had to stand very close while massaging him.
And because she was especially well-endowed, some contact between her body and Hikari's head became unavoidable during the massage.
As Hikari sat on the sofa, he could feel the back of his head occasionally being lightly bumped by something soft carrying a faint fragrance.
Because Hisato was focused on the massage, and was constantly thinking about the techniques she had learned on YouTube, she didn't notice it at first.
But after all, they were impossible to ignore.
'One center, two key points, right there.'
After Hisato came back to her senses, she gradually began feeling that something was a little strange.
When she noticed what was happening, her face immediately reddened.
After realizing there were two problems with her massage posture,
Hisato tried to adjust slightly, hoping to avoid direct contact with the back of Hikari's head.
But due to objective factors such as her build, arm reach, and lack of massage experience, if she wanted to continue giving Hikari a strong massage, certain collisions were unavoidable.
She even realized that if she wanted the massage to be more effective and stronger, she would have to get even closer...