Author's Note

Hello again, I'm having a blast writing this little story so much. Nagatoro is probably my favorite romance manga ever, no doubt. I'm just happy that I get to take a little spin on it myself, especially since it makes y'all happy too.

Music of the day

Don't toy with me Miss Nagatoro! - Buchou

Uploaded

(01/09/2025)

Legend below

"Good morning, Senpai..." = Normal Speech

''Keep your head high!'' Normal Thoughts

Rated-M

M rating for mature themes, nudity, romance, adult themes, mentions of depression.

Chapter 6

Taking care of Senpai

She was shivering beneath the blanket, legs crossed over one another as she held the steaming cup of hot chocolate in her long slender fingers. It hadn't been more then a minute after she'd let the boy in that she felt what little strength she had left leave her, legs quaking underneath her as she cuddled back up to her bed like a moth clinging to the warmth of her home.

But, the hot chocolate felt heavenly sliding down her throat, little sips gulped down making the pain the small contractions her throat made a decently worthy trade off. Didn't help the general sense of weakness that seemed completely pervasive throughout her body.

Everything ached…

And what's worse, she'd invited her Kōhai into her freaking bedroom while they were alone and omg what was she thinking?!

Was something along the lines of thought running through her head right about then, but the other was just how awful she felt too.

"I-I'm sorry…" She looked up from the hole she'd been burning into her bedroom wall at the sound of his voice in her ears, ringing out like a gong going off at the sound of his voice. "I wish I could do something more to help you…" He muttered softly, rubbing the back of his neck as he found it difficult to ignore just how bad she was feeling while he sat there perfectly fine.

She groaned into her cup, the sound alone making her throat sting. "D-Don't worry about it." She croaked quietly, sounding more miserable than he'd ever heard her. It was a far cry from the spunky spry girl he was used to, and seeing her sitting there like some sort of zombie just wasn't right.

He nervously bit his lips, sitting a little straighter from where he'd been resting on the ground beside her bed. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" His lips moved before his brain could contemplate whether or not it was a good idea to offer himself, but he wasn't going to back out now that he'd arrived.

"I-It's really fine. Gosh you're such a worry wort, Kōhai…" She smiled, coughing immediately after. Ok, she wasn't fine. There was no chance of hiding that.

She sniffed, hands shaking as she raised the cup to her lips. "M-My feet are killing me…" She murmured with a scratchy voice, not giving her own words much thought. She'd pushed herself too far the other day at the gym, otherwise she couldn't really understand where she'd caught this cold from.

She seemed to miss the way the teen's eyes widened, a smile on his face. "I could give you a massage…?" He offered helpfully.

Her eyes widened, as if finally registering the boy in her room. "Y-You would?" She asked quietly, wondering if she was hearing things. ''D-Did he seriously just offer to give me a m-m-massage?'' If her face wasn't already hot it was certainly burning now, embarrassment flooding her.

His cheeks tinged red, but he didn't look away. "My mother is on her feet a lot at work. Every once in a while I massage her feet for her since she's too exhausted after work. I-If you want I could do your legs too-"

He trailed off when he heard her shifting atop her bed, sticking out her right leg as if asking without words. He blinked, eyes roaming the length of her slender legs before trailing up them to her face, finding her nervously looking away. She was nibbling on her lips, blinking back and forth between him and a space on her wall. "I-If you… I-If you don't mind…" Her voice was barely audible, but it was clear as day for him.

He swallowed thickly, heart thumping in his chest as he turned his attention back down to her foot hanging tantalizingly close to his face. She wiggled her toes a little beneath her thin black socks, as if beckoning him forward. Forcing back his nerves he found his hands reaching up to gently cup just above her ankle, a small gasp slipping past her lips a the feeling of his hand on her bare skin. He slid her sock off a moment later, her little black painted toenails undeniably adorable.

''Wow, even her feet are cute…'' He noticed absentmindedly, cheeks flushed as he held her foot in his hands. The girl was practically squeaking in embarrassment at the situation she'd found herself in, but couldn't bring herself to pull away when she saw him grab the small bottle of lotion she'd left by her nightstand.

Either way, she found resistance futile the moment he began to gently roll his thumbs together in the sole of her foot.

And…

Well…?

There was certainly no way she was ever going to be able to live down the loud pleased moan that slipped past her lips before she could stop it, eyes threatening to flutter closed as he rubbed soothing circles around her sole. His eyes snapped up to hers in concern, worried that he'd hurt her.

Oooh!

But it was the opposite.

So much so that she couldn't even put it into words.

Yet mortified at the noise she'd made in front of him she hid her face behind the cup of hot chocolate. "K-Keep going." She whispered huskily, swallowing thickly to hold back the moan that was threatening to slip out.

His worries were soothed by her assurance to keep going, so he did. He zoned out as he gently rolled her foot around in his hands, slowly rolling one thumb from her heel to her toes before swapping to the to the other only to repeat the motion again and again.

He hadn't even noticing that her hot chocolate had been forgotten on her bedside stand, her other foot sliding into his view as she lay down, legs hanging off the side of her bed. Taking this as his cue to continue he swapped to her left foot, doing the same to it as he had to her right.

The room was quiet for a while after that, save for the little mewls he absentmindedly noticed as his thumbs brushed over a particularly sensitive spot over and over. Eventually, however, his hands moved up to hers calves, her legs tensing up as he sensually assaulted the points of tension that had likely been bothering her for quite some time.

''She should seriously take care of her body more. Her legs are so tense…'' He thought with a wave of worry washing over him, thumbs digging into a certain spot on her calves that had ripped a groan from the older girl's throat.

''But her legs are so well cared for, not a hint of dry skin anywhere. I bet she uses lotion every day to keep them this way.'' He noticed absentmindedly. That when he realized that he'd somehow gone from giving her a foot massage to a leg massage without asking her. Mortified, he quickly recoiled as he looked up, expecting to see her fuming with him.

The apology died on his tongue when he her passed out on the bed, quietly snoring away without a care in the world, a little smile on her lips. He blinked in surprise, heart racing in his chest before he calmed down. Standing up, he carefully grabbed the blanket she'd half draped over herself, gently moving it so that she was fully covered.

''She looks so peaceful…'' He thought with a little smile, watching the slow rising of her chest with every breath that she took. At least until he realized what he was doing and his cheeks turned red.

He shook his head, turning away sharply.

He should probably leave now…

Leaving while the two of them were alone and she was asleep was the responsible thing to do.

Yep…

Just leave her to sleep and go home alone.

Just like he always did.

…

…

…

But he didn't want to.

He wanted to spend time with her, stay by her side until he knew she was going to feel better. He didn't expect her to fall asleep so suddenly, but he also didn't want her to wake up only find that he'd gone home in the meantime. He still had to go over today's lessons with her so that she didn't fall behind on schoolwork.

Hands clasped together nervously, he tapped his thumbs together repeatedly in thought, glancing around her room. She had dishes everywhere, an empty ice cream carton on her nightstand, a half eaten bowl of soup on her bookshelf, and takeout on the other.

Maybe she'd appreciate it if he cleaned up a little, seeing as she was too ill to do so herself?

With that thought in mind he carefully went about gathering her trash and dishes, cleaning up her room before sneaking off to find her kitchen.

The door creaked to a close behind him, leaving him in silence in her hallway as he quietly walked off towards the kitchen. He seemed to miss the pair of eyes looming over his shoulder, watching him from the shadows as he left.

Smiling to himself he set her dishes in the sink, humming a little tune to himself as he took it upon himself to clean what had been left out. It was only after he'd figured out where everything went, which took a minute or two, did he finally turn around.

The strangled scream that nearly exploded out from his mouth would've surely shattered windows and awakened the sleeping beauty in the other room were it not for the hand that was suddenly clasped over his mouth to stop that from happening. He felt his brain halt at what he saw standing before him, a taller, more mature bodied Nagatoro.

Just without the ear piercing or the hair clips…

And she was real scary looking right about now.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Someone sneaking around my little sister's bedroom while she's all alone and sick, completely defenseless…" She clicked her tongue, narrowed eyes pinning him to the spot. "I ought to call the police on you, little creep." She whispered with an eyebrow raised in challenge, as if demanding he explain himself.

His eyes widened in horror. "W-W-Wait! I think this is just a b-big mistake!" He whispered loudly, making sure to stay quiet what with the sleeping girl the room over. "Nagatoro-Senpai invited me in!" He explained quickly, squeaking when she leaned forward into him, feeling as if her eyes were going to turn him into ashes.

"Oh really? What are you supposed to be? Her boyfriend?" She laughed with a mock sound, as if asking him to prove her wrong. "Hmm, you are kinda cute though. Maybe I'll just keep you for myself…" She hummed lowly as she leaned just a tad closer.

His face flushed as he raised his hands in surrender. "W-W-W-What? No no no, we're just friends! Honestly! My Sensei a-asked me to bring her the schoolwork she missed today a-a-and Gamou-san said she was sick so she gave me these pills and then I bought her hot chocolate cause I assumed her throat was sore from the cold and then she invited me inside cause s-she said she wanted some company and then I gave her a foot massage cause I felt bad that she wasn't feeling well and then you scared me and-"

He had to stop to catch his breath, his complexion returning as he supplied his lungs with some much needed oxygen, feeling as if he was being interrogated by some scary secret agent.

She simply raised an eyebrow. "Geez, she wasn't kidding when she said you were skittish when a girl got all up in your face." She giggled, stepping back as she leaned against the counter across from him.

He blinked in confusion, making his best impression of a fish as his brain struggled to catch up.

She smirked, chuckling cutely as she gave him that same narrow eyed smile he'd come to expect from Nagatoro. "What? Surprised?" She asked knowingly. "I knew why you were here. Saw the homework by the front door and overheard you two talking. Just felt the need to grill my baby sister's new boyfriend, you know how it is." She explained with a laugh, sure to keep her voice down.

Naoto's expression fell once he realized that he was being toyed with again, heart finally calming down once he was sure that there was no confusion.

''Sheesh, she's just like Nagatoro-senpai…'' He thought dryly, ignoring how the way she was smiling was making his cheeks hot. But there was still one thing he needed to clear up. "I-I'm not Nagatoro-senpai's boyfriend…" He cleared his throat, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "P-Please don't go spreading any rumors…" He didn't whine.

Boys don't whine.

The smirk on the older woman's face faded slightly, but it was still there. "Oh? I was sure I'd hit the nail on the head with that one." She hummed curiously, studying him like he was a piece of prime rib.

"We're just friends." He clarified with a huff, turning away. He didn't understand why saying that made his chest hurt, however…

"Are you trying to say that you don't find my sister attractive?" There was an underlying hint of a threat there, that he was sure of. He'd been around enough girls to pick up on the subtle shifts in their tones to know that much.

"W-W-What?!" He guffawed in horror, sputtering as she leveled a glare at him. "T-That's not what I'm saying a-at all!" His face was positively burning right about now, face so red it was starting to turn dark. What was with these girls and reaching the wrong conclusion?

"Oh? So you're saying she is cute enough?" She smirked, leaning forward as she cornered him again.

His eyebrows twitched violently. "E-Enough for what?" He squeaked, feeling like a tiny mouse held within the paws of a house cat.

"Cute enough to date. Cute enough that you'd want to kiss her, and tell her she's special. Cute enough to take her out shopping and treat her like a good girlfriend should be treated. The list goes on, Kōhai…" She teased, eyes practically glowing. "Cute enough to want to… touch her. Cute enough to want to… kiss her?" She accentuated her words, pinning him to the spot. She must've gotten the response that she'd wanted to get from him, because she smirked in victory afterwards.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the words just couldn't quite come together. The unintelligible squeak that slipped out made the older woman devolve into laughter, holding her stomach as she bent over in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. His face lit up in shame at the realization that he'd fallen into a familiar situation, becoming the butt of the joke much to his chagrin.

He flushed in embarrassment, but the frown on his face couldn't be hidden despite his desire to find the nearest cliff and disappear. "Nagatoro doesn't see me that way. S-So don't go making up fiction about something like that…" He murmured under his breath, tears prickling the corners of his eyes as he brushed past her, the hurt in his voice apparent.

The older woman's giggles died down when she heard the door open behind her. She did feel a little bad about teasing him so much, but she did get her answer. The nerd certainly had feelings for her baby sister.

She just had to make sure he didn't run away like all the others had in the past.

And speaking of…

"Ah ah ah! I don't think so." She tsked playfully, snagging him by the back of his shirt, pulling him back to the pits of her domain. "I'm just teasing you. Didn't mean to upset you so much." She apologized, the mean girl demeanor fading away into something much more gentle, beautiful.

Something far more delicate. "Here, let's start over. My name's Misaki Nagatoro. I'm Hayase-chan's older sister." She introduced with a kind smile, the other attitude nowhere to be seen anymore.

Deciding to return her kindness with kindness himself, he blew out his nerves with a shaky sigh. He went to introduce himself too, but something she said caught his attention. "Hayase… chan?" He murmured in confusion, eyes slowly widening when he placed who that name belonged to.

The older woman's smiled. "That's right. Don't tell me she's been too shy to give you her first name?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, only to smile when his face heated up, giving her the answer she was seeking. She shook her head. "Good grief. Come on inside. I'll get you something to eat." She offered kindly, taking hold of his hand as if silently telling him not to leave. He seemed anxious, but eventually gave in and followed her back inside.

However his mind was completely elsewhere, drawing the newly acquired name in his mind. ''Hayase…'' He thought with a little smile, imagining the name floating above her trademark grin. ''Gosh… even her name is cute.'' Came the absentminded thought.

"I had gone out to shop for some dinner supplies when I saw you come back. Do you wanna help me make Shabu-shabu tonight? It's Hayase's favorite." She grinned, reaching up to grab the pots from the cupboard.

His eyes widened, setting his bag back down by the entrance. "S-Sure." He cleared his throat, moving to join the older woman's side. The idea of waking Nagatoro up with a steaming bowl of soup was an idea that he really, really wanted to do…

Chapter

6

End