chapter 14

Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I always liked that phrase. It was both silly and inspirational.

"Not bad!" Benitsubasa howled as she lobbed yet another fist-sized rock at me. This time, I didn't even need to look to see where it was going. I stepped to the side and casually avoided the second rock she'd hidden right behind the first.

How did I know it was there?

That was a question I could see plastered on her face.

"What about this!" Benitsubasa shouted as she picked up another rock and squeezed. One rock turned into a dozen tiny stones. She reeled back and tossed them all at me.

It was like a tiny shotgun and each stone was packing enough force to at least draw blood. Yet… this power of mine rose up to the challenge. The more stressful the situation, the more of it I could draw.

Each tiny stone arced a line through the air. If I jumped left, one would hit my ankle. If I dodged to the right, half of them would strike my face. As a dozen possible paths raced across my mind, the buckshot of rocks drew closer.

There!

I stepped forward, digging my foot into the ground and pulling up a loose branch. With a bit of effort, I kicked it in front of me. Three rocks struck it and their path was diverted. From there, all I had to do was duck and slide forward.

I hit the ground with a gasp and a bit of a headache. Using that power was like using a muscle I barely touched. The pain quickly vanished and I was good to go a second later, but maybe doing that in quick succession might not be a good idea.

"That was like something straight out of an action movie!" Benitsubasa said with an excited laugh. "It was awesome!"

"Action movies?" I said as I stood and sucked in a breath,

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "Like Enter the Dragon or Fist of Fury!"

God, those were such old names. I only barely got the reference, though, maybe the movies weren't that old in this universe?

"Are those old movies?"

A small blush raced across her cheeks.

"So what if they are? They're great movies, you know!"

Ah, so they were!

"I guess I should have seen that one coming," I said with a small laugh. "You do like to punch and kick stuff."

She rolled her eyes and stepped forward, giving me a look as she held her hips. She was like a little honey badger ready to face off against a lion. At least that was the image I had of her in my mind. Benitsubasa was someone that wouldn't take shit from anyone, not even me. She was the one giving shit.

"Did my motivation help you at all? You really did pick up some speed after that."

I nodded.

"It did and I think it's about time we stop for today."

Training was all nice and good, but we'd been here for a few hours already.

"By the way, I'm not good at massages," she pointed out. "I know that's what you wanted, but, uh, I hope you're fine with some trial and error."

Oh… I hadn't thought of that. I hadn't thought about that at all!!

"I-It's fine," I said with a cough. "Anyways, let's head back down."

Benitsubas nodded and started walking back the way we came. A second later, she stopped and turned to me with a small grin.

"You know, you're always the one showing off. How about I try showing off this time?"

I raised a brow, casually walking up next to her.

"What do you have in mind?"

She grinned and reached out, grabbing onto my wrist tightly.

"I'll show you once we're at the edge of the mountain!"

That didn't sound fun. Not at all.

—————

Flying was something I could do, but I hadn't really put much effort into learning it. Aside from vertigo and difficulty, I didn't want to accidentally slam into a building or something.

"Yeaaaah!" Benitsubasa shouted as the two of us fell from the sky.

I held on to her for dear life, though, I think that was her plan in the first place.  A sense of weightlessness bounced around in my stomach and as we got closer to the ground, she landed on a random tree's branch and then jumped into the air again.

"Isn't this the best way down?!" she yelled again with a maniac grin.

If there was any doubt that Benitsubasa was an adrenaline junkie before, well, there wasn't now!

I just hoped she was a bit slower with that massage…

————————

"You sure we really need this stuff?" my Sekirei said with a frown. "Having oils and stuff on my fingers is… disgusting."

"It's either that or you do it raw and I don't think that'll be very good for my muscles."

"Y-Yeah," she said after a moment.

We kept walking, ignoring the flock of people going about their day. The walk back promised a reward for a hard day's work. Unfortunately, bad always came with the good.

We turned a corner and I nearly had someone smash into me. The girl looked frantic, almost as if she were being chased by some sort of monster.

"S-Sorry," she said and quickly ran off, rushing across the streets.

Benitsubasa's hiss was like that of a snake.

"Bitch nearly made me drop the bottle!" she said and started walking after her.

"How about no…" I said and grabbed her hand. "I think we've had enough craziness the past few days, right?"

She blew a sigh and nodded.

"Fine. Let's head home then."

And, for once, there were no more distractions on the way home. Hans was awake and about, but there really wasn't much to say about that. Like me, he was training his powers.

Without delay, Benitsubasa took me to her room and had me lay face down on her bed.

"You're cleaning all of this up, alright?"

I laughed.

"I guess it's only fair. Alright. Let's see what you have."

Her small fingers pressed down on my back. For the first few moments, it actually felt good. But then I heard a small pop.

"Oops. Are you ok?"

I let out a whimper.

"I-I'm fine. Just be a bit more gentle…"

She laughed nervously.

"Let's start with your legs then…"

Yeah, that was a good idea…

"Is here good? Or should I go lower?"

…

"You're grabbing my ass…"

"Oh! Sorry!" she said and went down to my thighs.

I took a breath.

I wasn't someone that got massages very often. Still, I liked to think I could tell the difference between a good one and a bad one.

Benitsubasa's fingers dug into my back, squeezing the flesh and pushing muscle in a way that made me wince. She really wasn't all that good.

I was a bit embarrassed to say that a small part of me actually like that.

"How's that?" she asked, stopping the massage for a moment.

I took a calming breath, not wanting to stutter. It would definitely make her feel bad if I just straight up said something like that. Still, she'd also be angry if I lied… man, this was hard.

"It feels like your fingers are woodpeckers," I said with a small chuckle. "I thought you'd have more practice. Don't you use those a lot?"

In the end, I decided on a small joke. It had the truth but said in a way that didn't sound so bad.

It was really surprising what effect a change of tone could have.

"W-What?" she stuttered and her arms pushed down on my spine.

Bad pain! Bad pain!

I winced and held onto the bed.

"T-That's a bit too rough!" I said with a nervous laugh. "Was my joke that bad?"

"Y-Yep!" she quickly said. "Besides, what's wrong with me having stiff fingers, huh?!"

"Nothing at all!" I said quickly, hoping to prevent any more unwanted pain.

She huffed and pressed her hands down again, but this time her grip was softer.

"So, have any tips then?"

Tips? A small smile started to worm its way across my face.

"Well, rather than trying to push me into the ground, try moving up a bit slower?"

She nodded and started again. This time, her fingers didn't put nearly as much pressure as before. It was honestly too light.

"A bit harder," I said.

"Wait, harder? Weren't you complaining that I was doing it too hard before?"

I laughed.

"I mean, yeah, but now It's too soft."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you messing with me?"

I smiled.

"Not at all. Massages are really hard to pull off, you know! Gotta get the pressure just right and all that."

She huffed and tried again. This time, she moved down to my legs. She clamped down on them and started moving from the top of my thigh to the bottom. There was definitely more pressure and I bit my lip to hold back a small gasp.

It was almost perfect. That only lasted for a few seconds before she inevitably pinched something. I winced and let out a small gasp.

She stopped immediately.

"Sorry," she said with a sigh. "Maybe we should stop?"

I shook my head. So soon? Nah.

"How are you going to learn then? Practice makes perfect!"

Again, she rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure you don't just want a pretty girl to keep touching you?"

Wait, did she really-

I turned around and saw her staring at me, mouth open and a blush on her face.

"Don't say a word!" she hissed. Yeah, I thought so.

"Have you ever heard of a freudian slip?" I teased.

"A what? No, but I can tell from that smug face of yours that you're making fun of me!" she growled and pushed me back down onto the bed.

"Let's see how funny it is when I 'practice' all over your other leg!"

And she did not hold back. Thankfully, she did know some restraint. It definitely hurt, but not enough to make me ask her to stop. By the time she'd finished with my second leg, it felt like they were made of jelly. I found it oddly relaxing.

"H-How's that?" Benitsubasa said through tired breaths.

"P-Pretty good," I answered, carefully pushing myself off the bed. The second my feet touched down my legs nearly buckled. I clung to the bed and used it to push me up.

"Say, since you gave me such a good massage, how about I give you one in return?"

Her eyes instantly narrowed.

"What? You want to get revenge?" she said, crossing her arms and staring at me suspiciously. "I'm not an idiot, you know!"

She could really be paranoid.

"Nah," I said dismissively and waved off her concern. "I really do want to thank you for the massage."

"But it was bad…" she replied, blinking in confusion. "I mean, you're not lying, but still…"

I took a small breath and put a smile on my face. Confidence, Lee. Confidence!

"Yeah, but just like how you can't keep your hands off me, I can't keep mine off you."

It was such a cheesy line that I could feel my teeth rotting away. Did people actually flirt like this? God, It was so cring-

"Fine," Benitsubasa said. She crossed her arm and looked sideways with a small blush. "It's not a surprise at all. But I'm not going to be as forgiving to you, alright!"

Wait, that worked? No, wait, of course, it did. She was a Sekirei and while that didn't mean she'd do anything I wanted, it did mean she really liked me.

I gulped. Benitsubasa got on the bed, back facing me.

"So, do you know as much about massages as me?" she asked curiously.

I stepped closer as the feeling began to return to my legs.

"A bit more," I said. "I've seen some stuff on TV and read a manga or two."

"There are manga about massages?"

I nodded and applied some of the oil onto her bare back. It took me a second to realize she didn't have eyes on the back of her head.

"Yep. It was this comedy about some guy wanting to get revenge by massaging someone to death."

"…"

"Sometimes I really worry about you…" Benitsubasa said in a whisper.

Yeah, yeah.

My hands met her back. She flinched slightly and buried her face into the pillow.

I swallowed and gently squeezed her side, causing her to wiggle under the pressure. She was like a really smooth and seductive worm.

It was time to see how good I could be at this…

My fingers glided across Benitsubasa's skin as smooth as they could. For her part, she barely let out any noises. It was no surprise that she was far better at taking pain than me. As a member of the disciplinary comity, she was used to fighting.

No. As a martial artist, her body was well-toned and firm. Even with her facing away from me, I could see more muscle on her back than anything I ever had. It was a bit emasculating, to be honest. Even if she was a girl, she'd spent so much more time than me doing physical activities.

"You don't need to treat me like some dandelion," she said with a huff. "I can barely even feel your hands."

And that was my cue. I pressed down harder, moving her muscle and flesh forward. This time, she did let out a small gasp. It was cute.

"A bit lower," she mumbled. I nodded and moved from her back down towards her hip. Benitsubasa was a petite girl, but that didn't mean her body was childish. She had curves in the right spots and her skin was smooth as butter. There wasn't a single imperfection that I could see. Well, aside from a few tiny scars near the inside of her stomach.

Those didn't count in my eyes.

My fingers brushed against her hips and I felt the moment a small tinge raced down her back.

"How am I doing so far?" I asked.

She took a moment to catch her breath.

"Half the time it's like you're trying to rip chunks out of me and the other half it's actually pretty nice."

I winced. Alright, yeah. What was I expecting?

"But keep going," she said. "You had me give you a full course, so I expect that I'll get the same!"

The cheeky tone in her voice had me smiling. I nearly laughed.

"Gotcha," I said and kept moving my hands around her hips, pressing inward and down where I thought would be good. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing. At most, I had some half-remembered knowledge from a pamphlet or something.

Use my thumb here, press down with my knuckles there. I really was just blindly guessing.

With a nod to myself, I moved my hands off her hips and down to her legs. As they passed of her butt, I hesitated for a second. A mighty blush rushed across my cheeks. Slowly, I-

"Can you do my legs next?" Benitsubasa said, her face still buried in that pillow.

I coughed and put my hands on her thighs.

"Right away."

She nodded and squirmed as my fingers dove in between her legs. It was surprising how thin they were and even more so how much muscle was crammed into them. Yet, they were also soft and plump.

How did she do it?

I squeezed down and she let out a soft whimper. Or was it a moan?

"Too hard?"

She took a second and then shook her head.

"I-It's fine, but don't do it any harder…"

So it was a bit too much then? Alright.

I tried it again, just a tad gentler this time. Moving from the top of her thigh, I slowly worked my way down to her calves. Just like every other part of her body, they had a good muscle tone but somehow kept that nice, round shape.

By the time I finished, Benitsubasa's body had relaxed a bit more.

"I never knew massages could be this nice," she whispered. "If I feel like this when you don't know anything, then I bet it'd be a lot better If you did know…"

Maybe.

I took a calming breath and started moving up to her shoulders. It was the last part and-

My fingers accidentally brushed against her ass. For a second, I was sure she was about to turn around and glare at me. Well, maybe not that, but she'd probably be a bit upset, right?

Instead, she twitched and remained silent.

…

I couldn't help myself. Maybe I was just a pervert, but I'd never been in a situation like this. My hands gently cupped her butt.

If she didn't like it, then she'd say something right? Obviously, I'd stop…

My probing squeeze didn't have her rounding on me like the stereotypical tsundere someone might see her as. Instead, she just laid there, quiet.

With trembling hands, I started massaging her ass. I did promise her a good massage, right?

She was small and her ass wasn't the biggest, but she definitely had one. They were like soft, round hills perfectly shaped to fit in the palm of my hand. One could just lose themselves squeezing and moving them around. A very small amount of resistance pushed against my hands as I kneaded them like bread.

Maybe I was having a bit too much fun.

I pinched them a bit and then Benitsubasa actually said something.

"C-Can you do my shoulder now?" she asked, her voice quivering.

I thought about it for a moment. I wanted to keep doing this, but maybe she'd had enough? And so, with some disappointment, I tore my hands away from her rear and gripped her shoulders. She stayed quiet as I pushed my fingers into her skin.

I'd only been doing this for a dozen minutes or so, but I had learned a little bit. Sometimes she twitched, but not out of pain. Other times she winced and I could tell why.

It was… an interesting experience, that was for sure.

When I finally finished, my hands were probably as sore as her muscles. My skin was a bit red, even with the oils I'd used.

But it had been so worth it.

Benitsubasa wobbled herself out of bed. She had better luck keeping herself standing than me.

"I-I think I'll go take a shower," she said with a slightly hazy expression. "T-Thanks for the massage."

I nodded.

"Any time."

She smiled.

"I'd like that."

With that, she walked past me.

…

Holy shit. I can't believe that happened.

With a grin, I slowly walked back to my room.

Today had definitely been great.