Mission

Excellen plonked herself down next to the recently-returned Tsuruko, who was sweating buckets. Sweat trickled down her skin, making a breathtaking sight for Excellen; especially when Tsuruko was in a half-dressed state. "...Sejjey, would you like a massage? You seem worn out."

"Ahn, sure!" Tsuruko innocuously replied

"U-Umm hey, Sejjey?" She wasn't sure if she should ask her or not, considering how weird it'd sound; though…"Uh, hey, should I remove the lower part as well? It's just that it'll be easier to massage if I do…"

Tsuruko simply nodded.

A faint shade of crimson crossed Excellen's face, as she responded, "…Alright, just please relax a little. Your body's stiffening up, you know."

"…Okay." Taking a deep breath, Tsuruko released the strength within her body. Calm down, she thought to herself. Realizing her body was about to be touched made her heart ring.

"Then, I'll start from the feet." Excellen inquired, as Tsuruko nodded in confirmation. While her heart throbbed at the moment, Excellen's hand touched Tsuruko's leg. Along with the slowly starting massage, the silk of the pajama between the two skins made an odd sound. Tsuruko could barely control the beat in her chest. She couldn't feel the sensation of the massage at all. That massage which uses all parts of the palm, comfortably released all the fatigue stored in her legs. Tsuruko, while being soaked by unspeakable pleasant feeling, let out a feverish sigh. "…This reminds me. Excellen, you're good with massages."

"Yeah. Thank you for the compliment." Finished with the calf, Excellen started to touch her thigh.

Tsuruko's heart skipped a beat for an instant, and then, as calmly as she could, she inadvertently slipped a Freud. "H-How is it? My body."

Excellen appeared absolutely flabbergasted at such a phrase, responding nervously, "Hmm? Aah, just like always, your legs really are long and slender; you have a flawless figure."

Hearing that, Tsuruko inflated her cheeks a smidge—But, that sulking face couldn't hold for even two minutes, because of the pleasant feeling of the massage.

From the back of the knee, to carefully loosen the thigh, Tsuruko let out a sigh in a trance. And then, having finished with the thigh joint and finally reaching the bottom, Excellen's hand stopped temporarily. "Aa—…that's, can I skip to the hip next?"

Tsuruko snapped, "N-No! Do that as well, p-please! That's…"

Excellen shied away, though she still complied. "O-Okay." Excellen nodded as if to steel her resolve, and then he took a deep breath. Still, Tsuruko felt rather embarrassed to be touched there. The noticeably big leap of her heart pained her as Tsuruko silently gulped to clear her mouth of saliva, as if to not let it be seen, and waited for Excellen to touch her rear. Since she was doing tightening stretches for thirty minutes each day, Tsuruko kept thinking it'd be fine… *Thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* Excellen's fingers were eaten by a soft bulge.

Although she was being massaged, Tsuruko was strongly conscious about Excellen's hand touching her rear, her face reddening as if it was being boiled. "I-Is it firm?"

"T-That's, right, it feels a little, firm…I think it's because you kick a lot..."

"I-Is that so…"

"Eyup…" Both Tsuruko Sejren and Excellen Kilekion were in a "what should I do" condition, and they continued the fumbling conversation.

Inside Excellen's head, her train of thought departed. "…Why is Tsuruko's skin so maddeningly soft?" …Something like that was going on. Wanting to move quickly to the hip, Excellen's massaging hand moved faster. But, by doing that, the soft elasticity was felt to the utmost of her palm, causing Excellen's face to redden on top of Tsuruko.

"T-Then, the hip…." Tsuruko stuttered; her entire body a shade of crimson.

"Y-Yeah." Excellen complied. Since it has come to this, she would have liked to be touched a little more, is what Tsuruko thought, but for her own shame that had almost reached the limit, she obediently consented to Excellen's suggestion. "Please tell me if it's unpleasant or painful."

"O-Okay." When Tsuruko's backbone was trembling, there was a little suffocating feeling, but overlapping with that, she was engulfed in a pleasantness as if her body had become lighter. Unlike when she was massaging Tsuruko's rear, Excellen took the time to do each bone one by one, and that caused Tsuruko to once again let out a pink sigh; today's fatigue was getting blown away after five-ten minutes passed and supreme bliss continued.

"Tsuruko." The moment that Excellen's hand reached the neck joint, she suddenly called out to Tsuruko.

"Kyaa…?" The voice that reached almost directly into her ears, and the breath from it, slightly brushing against her, made her body jump in surprise.

"Your hair sure is pretty as usual. And furthermore, it smells nice too." Excellen's eyes sharpened as she reached forwards.

"U-Umm you know, that's, because I use a good shampoo so…Kyaa!?" Excellen took Tsuruko's hair into her hand and started playing with it. With her fingers touching her nape, Tsuruko's heart got bewildered.

Unable to think properly, this suddenly fast approach made Tsuruko's heart to throb violently enough to hurt. Before she realized what was happening, Excellen had put her body on top of Tsuruko's, as if to cover her. She could feel everything, even the body temperature. "…Tsuruko…"

"…Yes?" Tsuruko weakly replied.

"...I need to tell you something personal."

"Ehhh?"

Excellen twitched for a moment—she wasn't sure how to deliver the words. "...Now isn't the time." She sighed to herself; there were more pressing issues at hand. Excellen resigned herself to the current situation. "Listen, we rescued Hikari. But dragons are drawn to her for some reason. Deen's friend said that his family can remove the thing that attracts dragons to her, but they're in Luin. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure!" Tsuruko answered Excellen truthfully and honestly, without any pause.

"Good. I think you'll be able to understand them more than I could."

"Ehh?"

"They're the Sejren family."

"...I've never actually met any of my family aside from Giselle before." Tsuruko blinked in confusion. "I'll ask her if she wants to go, too."

"No." Giselle Mercury soundly replied.

"Aww, why not?"

"Because I don't want to." Giselle went on, "I'm warning you now, stay away from those people."

"But why?" Tsuruko was full of questions.

"Reasons."

"What reasons?"

Giselle slammed her palm down upon the mahogany table. "I don't need to tell you. Don't trust them."

"But they're family!" Tsuruko argued back. "You can always count on your family to help you, no matter what."

"These people are a bad sort. Trust me—"

"How can I trust you when you've kept a metric crapton of secrets from me?" Tsuruko crossed her arms angrily. "I'm taking Hikari and I'm going to Luin with Excellen. That's the end of that." With that, Tsuruko began to leave.

"Listen to me, Ethel Sejren. If you go out that door—"

"Dad's family will help us! ...It's almost like you're telling me that I shouldn't trust anyone, or just be a lonely, grumpy old lady."

As Tsuruko stormed out of the classroom, Giselle swirled around on her chair to face the window—simply letting out a deep sigh before burying her face in her hands.