While she was talking, the oil application, which seemed to be preparation, had finished. My back, or rather, all the parts I could feel while lying face down, had a moist sensation.
With this explanation... what I should do next, what should be done to me... was clear.
Fumiko isn't the type to lie about such things. If so, the invisible 'fossilized fatigue' supposedly remaining in my body is something I can't ignore if I want to advance... and she can probably loosen and improve it.
Then the answer was decided. I decided to do everything I could to meet All Might's expectations, to grow worthy of being the successor of 'One For All'...
It was a bit embarrassing. Rather, I should feel disrespectful to Fumiko, who was seriously thinking about me.
Still face down, I moved only my neck and eyes slightly and said to Fumiko, who was looking down at me.
"...Please, take care of me."
"Yes."
And so the massage began... but... wow. Honestly, I underestimated it.
I thought it would be like a chiropractic adjustment, where you endure pain to restore a distorted body... but it was completely different. Rather...
"Ahhhh..."
(I, it's just incredibly comfortable! Weird sounds are coming out of my mouth!)
It felt exactly like she said earlier. The stiff muscles in my shoulders and back were kneaded and loosened by Fumiko's hands, returning to how they should be... as if unnecessary tension was disappearing and being naturally returned to my entire body. It was a strange sensation.
Even though I knew my body was different from before, it was warm, pleasant... somehow, I understood this was the original, correct form...
At first, I was tense and somewhat stiff, but now my body had completely entrusted itself to the towel mat and relaxed.
B-But any more than this... I can't show such a defenseless state! I should maintain some tension while being grateful for the massage, fuwaaaaah...
(I might fall asleep like this... I have to hang in there... don't lose! It would be too embarrassing to fall asleep here! I almost forgot, but I'm only wearing one bath towel right now!)
"Ah, it's fine if you sleep. Though I'm the one saying it, it's so comfortable you'd get sleepy, right? By the time you wake up, I'll have finished everything, including the front, so you need to rest and recover too. Don't push yourself."
...Wait. I definitely heard something I can't ignore.
Huh, the front too? Not just face down, but you'll flip me over and do the front too?
I did think a little that if she said she'd loosen the whole body, then abdominal muscles and such would be included... but... lying on my back in this state would be like ten times harder than now!?
Mainly because of the 'transformation' that had been a big issue until just a while ago. In this situation with just one bath towel, it's 100% impossible to hide. More importantly, men are like that in the morning, or pretty much when they wake up!?
I absolutely must not sleep...! No, even if I don't sleep, it's not necessarily safe... but no matter how much it's to become stronger, I must defend that one line!
It's okay, I should be able to do it! Don't think about enduring! Think about being sorry! Have the feeling that it would be rude to leave her, who's doing this much for me, and sleep alone! Hang in there, Midoriya Izuku!
I... I won't lose to a massage!
...I couldn't hold out against the massage...!
When I woke up, I was on a bed somewhere.
I had been changed into pajamas, properly covered with a futon, and laid there.
She said she'd lend me one of the guest rooms as a bedroom for me, so probably that.
It seems she carried me there after I lost consciousness... or rather, fell asleep unable to endure, and put me to bed. After properly changing me into pajamas.
...Let me say it again.
After properly changing me into pajamas.
"..."
She was the one who took these clothes from the changing room for the massage. So, it's good that she could prepare these clothes.
...The problem is that I was only wearing one bath towel during the massage.
Checking, I'm now wearing a shirt and pants. And pajamas on top of that.
And to wear these undergarments, I needed to remove the bath towel and then put them on.
In other words, that's what it means.
"Midoriya? Are you up... ah, you just woke up?"
As if timed, Fumiko appeared.
Seems she came to check on me. Looking at the wall clock, only about two hours had passed since I took a bath. It was still well before midnight.
I'm scared to ask. But... I have to ask.
"You were sleeping so comfortably, I thought you'd sleep till morning. Ah, want something to drink?"
"No, it's fine. Um... Fumiko?"
"Yeah, what?"
"You... changed my clothes, right... Fumiko?"
"Yeah, but... I couldn't just leave you like that. I was worried you'd get cold after your bath, even if you were warm."
"Did you... see?"
•••
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