Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater

(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets)

It was days like these that made Natsuki Kuga glad that she was Japanese.

"Oh?" Shizuru asked as Natsuki voiced that sentiment while she marched into the living room, dropped her backpack on the floor, and flopped onto the couch. "And what has brought on this outpouring of nationalistic fervor?"

"My feet are killing me," her girlfriend declared, letting her house slippers wobble off her toes. "We ran in gym class this morning—you know, one of those things they call a marathon even though it's not that long. And then in the afternoon I was dumb enough to tell Yukino I'd run an errand for her and ended up going all over campus for an hour looking for some student council memo book. And my bike is in the shop, so I walked to and from school today as well." She looked plaintively up at Shizuru. "Is there any chance I could get a footrub?"

"Mmn, and what would Natsuki's aching feet give in return for this favor?"

Natsuki bit her lip, staring intently at her.

"Um, there's a sale on lingerie this weekend and I was thinking of getting something. You could come with and pick out a piece for me and help with the fitting and stuff," she offered.

Shizuru broke up into a fit of giggles. "Natsuki, I was just teasing. Of course I will give you a footrub."

"Hey, it's hard to tell with you."

"Ara, is that any way to speak to the woman who is about to put her magical fingers to work on you?"

Natsuki blinked at that, so Shizuru decided she was well repaid.

"Idiot," Natsuki murmured, though she said it so softly that in this case it wasn't obvious if she was directing the complaint at Shizuru or at herself. Smiling, Shizuru sat down at the end of the couch and patted her lap. Natsuki peeled off her socks and swung her feet up.

"You know, you never did explain why you were happy about your nationality."

"Well, in the West, they wear their shoes in the house, so I'd have to walk around in them even inside. Here, I can get out of those things and give my feet a break."

"I believe that Westerners are permitted to remove their shoes if they so desire, Natsuki."

"I've had a long day. Don't confuse me with your logic."

Shizuru giggled again. Really, Natsuki was in rare form this afternoon.

"Is logic really so confusing?"

Her fingers, meanwhile, were busy on Natsuki's feet, seeking out the sources of tightness and tension. She could definitely sympathize; the muscles were stiff and sore, and since unlike herself Natsuki was not at all a lazy person, Shizuru could only imagine how much her feet must have been bothering her in order to make her so crabby.

"It is the way you use it. That feels really good, though, so—ah!" She broke into a gasp as Shizuru's thumbs found the sweet spot in the sole, then shivered.

"Do you know, Natsuki, I did wonder about one thing. When I asked for a favor in exchange for this footrub, I was expecting you to offer something like doing the dishes or taking my turn with the laundry." Though she would certainly file away the idea of molesting Natsuki in the fitting room of a lingerie store for future consideration! "I didn't immediately expect you to skip to, shall we say, more intimate offers."

"Mmmmm," was Natsuki's somewhat inarticulate reply.

"It really does make me wonder. Now, if things were reversed, I can certainly imagine me leaping to such a suggestion."

"I don't think…you pouncing on me…counts as a favor."

"True; I happily do that anyway. But I'd have certainly tried it out as an offer. Now, Natsuki, on the other hand, while an affectionate girlfriend, is not a…"

"Lech? Pervert? Lust-crazed maniac?"

"…Although, she seems to find it quite easy to come up with descriptions."

"You've given me lots of-ooooh—excuse to practice over the years."

"So it makes me wonder. Could it be that Natsuki derives more than just relief from pain when I do this? Could there be an ulterior motive?"

"Shizuru, that's ridiculo—mmm!"

Shizuru smirked at her.

"Ara, ara, possibly Natsuki could be somewhat more convincing if she were not interrupting her denials with moans of pleasure?"

She was rewarded for that line with a truly shining blush of a kind she hadn't seen in several months. Shizuru was very happy that Natsuki was growing more comfortable with each passing day with love, sex, and their relationship in general, but she had to admit that it made her girlfriend a lot harder to tease.

"I…oh, dammit, yes, okay, it kinda does turn me on sometimes, all right? I blame those hands of yours. You're too good at doing things with them!" Natsuki let out a sigh. "I suppose that you think that's weird, huh?"

"I would never say that Natsuki's interests are strange, except possibly Christmas fruitcake. On the contrary, I was actually just wishing that I had a foot fetish."

"Er, honestly, Shizuru, I think I'm pretty much happy with you just having the fetishes that you already have…of which I've pretty much lost count, come to think of it."

"I really only have one fetish, you know."

"One fetish."

"Mm-hmm."

"One."

"Indeed, I have a very, very powerful Natsuki fetish." She reached out and tapped her girlfriend on the nose. It made Natsuki laugh even while she was rolling her eyes.

"Okay, I'll give you that one. Then what's the problem?"

"There is no problem. I merely thought it would be convenient if I happened to have a personal desire that complemented what you enjoyed."

"I see. And all right, I suppose if you got off on nibbling on my toes it would be pretty nice. But I'll take the Shizuru that I have instead of complaining about what you aren't. That's just stupid, otherwise…even if I know you well enough to know you're going to tease me forever about liking your footrubs a little too much."

"On the contrary." She gave Natsuki her most evil grin. "I would never say that Natsuki took too much pleasure from anything I did."

"…I'll give you that one." A sudden prickling sensation from her feet interrupted her before she could say more, and she looked down from Shizuru's face to see that the first, third, fourth, and sixth heads of a purple hydra had reached up over the end of the couch and were gently biting at her toes.

"Sorry, Kiyohime. I appreciate the thought, but it's really just not the same."

~X X X~

A/N: Happy (belated) Canada Day to my own Natsuki, who is also very fond of footrubs (albeit not for the same reason…which doesn't stop me from teasing her like this, of course!).