Ia Noona (3): An Unknown Ceiling
1. An unknown ceiling.
·····What the hell. Why an unknown ceiling? And why the hell is there a chandelier right above my head? What if it falls? I wouldn't be able to sleep with that thing hanging there.
As I rolled my eyes around, lost in pointless thoughts, I realized I was lying in bed. Not just any bed, but an incredibly luxurious one—plush, cozy, warm without being stuffy, the absolute pinnacle of comfort. Just lying there filled my body with vitality. It had to be some kind of rest artifact. Those things were ridiculously expensive, and money alone wouldn't get you one. I'd seen plenty of them while working as a butler at the Rate family estate, and the head butler had taught me how they made their way into those homes. So I knew. The owner of this bed was no ordinary person.
·····Hmm. Among the people who might put me to bed like this and own something like this·····.
Suddenly, I remembered vomiting blood and passing out. In that situation, only one person could've brought me here. And if it was her, she wouldn't leave me alone like this. She had to be close by.
I turned my head, and there it was—one corner of the blanket covering me sticking up unnaturally. Found her.
“·····.”
I'd figured she wouldn't be far, but this close? I hadn't expected that. Now what the hell was I supposed to do?
The moment I realized someone was lying next to me, I started hearing the ragged breathing and gulping swallows I hadn't noticed right after waking.
“Haa···· haa···· sniiff···· huuuh··· gulp. slurp. Huuuuh·····.”
She was under the blanket, sniffing my scent and drooling like crazy. This was a real dilemma. If it had been Ska, I'd have jammed my toes right into her pussy mound and blasted her with Rabbit Hole sparks. But this wasn't some easy pushover like Ska. This was the toughest person I knew to deal with. I'd received a lot from her, too. Same with Dr. Emme—once someone did me a solid, it was hard to treat them roughly.
That was normal, sure, but in my case, it went a bit overboard. Beyond not being able to be rude, even if they screwed me over somehow, my first thought would be, 'Well, they did me a favor before. Maybe I should let this slide.' Of course, if it was something like the hypnosis app I'd used for half a year turning out to be fake, or her blowing up the ceiling of the penthouse I'd bought on loan, I wouldn't just sit there. But even then, I'd unconsciously give a benefactor one more chance.
In that sense, I didn't want to ruin the happiness of this person under the blanket, sniffing away so diligently. She'd saved my life, after all. Yeah, fine. Let her do whatever.
I grabbed the edge of the blanket and yanked it off.
There she was: Ia Noona, face flushed, wearing a black negligee.
She'd been so lost in my scent she hadn't noticed me waking up. Her eyes went wide at the suddenly exposed blanket. Then she started babbling to smooth things over.
“E-eh? P-Paster? Wh-when did you wake up? Ah, w-wait, that's not it. I was just, um, checking your condition more closely·····.”
I stared steadily at Ia Noona, spouting her lame excuse, and called her name.
“Ia Noona.”
“Y-yes!”
At my single call, she jolted upright in bed like a pig poked with a hot needle, looking at me with anxious eyes.
Goddamn, that's cute. Was this really the woman who'd uppercut my penthouse ceiling to oblivion? A smile crept onto my face at this side of Ia Ris I'd never seen—always so composed and capable.
Her flustered look was so appealing that I set aside my earlier plan to just let her be and tossed out a mischievous question.
“What're you doing there?”
“Eh? W-well, I was examining you····.”
“Under the blanket?”
“Th-that was····.”
She'd openly admitted having special feelings for me, but crawling into a sleeping person's bed to sniff them and swallow drool? That was still a bit much for our relationship. She knew it too, so at my prodding, she clamped her mouth shut and just fidgeted with her intertwined fingers.
“Ugh····· Um, Paster. It's like·····.”
Ia Noona's face turned tomato-red as she kept flapping her lips, trying to come up with an excuse. It reminded me of her last time at my (former) place, regretting after going berserk—a milder version.
Time to stop teasing. Push too far, and I might not even get the bones. I let out a chuckle and spread my arms wide toward her.
A pose that screamed, 'Come here.' She panicked in a whole new way, eyes going wide again.
“Huh?”
Her blank, cute voice asked back, not getting the hint. It was a different flavor from Lapis's charm—my lips curled up on their own. As I smiled, she seemed to catch on, mouth half-open.
“E-eh? F-for real?”
“For real what? You said you were examining me. Wouldn't it be better up close?”
“Y-yes?! Ah, th-that's! I mean! U- huuuh. Whaaat!?”
Even after all that, she was cupping her cheeks, floundering. Ia Noona seemed like the type with high attack but zero defense. Even with the table set, she couldn't pick up the spoon. That's what made her cuter.
Her gap moe had my lips refusing to behave. She wasn't like Ska, Lapis, or Silk Blond, who'd given me grudges. She was one of the few who'd treated me well. Yeah, she'd wrecked my place, but she'd promised to take full responsibility, so no hard feelings there. The only hitch was her unnatural possessiveness····· but whatever, I could live with that. It hadn't hurt me yet.
People were free to feel what they felt. Unless it showed and caused damage, rejecting someone for their thoughts alone was wrong.
Anyway, with all those likable traits, Ia Noona was one of the few I just wanted to treat well and see happy.
Since I'd decided to let her do as she pleased, might as well spoon-feed her. Still holding my arms open, I said to Ia Ris in a bold, concise, slightly commanding tone:
“Come here. Now.”
“·····Y-yes.”
Finally, at the direct invitation into my arms, her lips twitched into a grin as she snuggled right in. My left arm became her pillow, my right a gentle press on her waist.
“Heehee····· huehet.”
She liked it— an unstoppable smile bloomed on her face. I tucked her brown hair under my chin to trap her fully, then pulled the blanket back over, creating a space just for us.
With her own little world made, Ia Noona buried her face in my chest like a colt off the reins, letting out the world's happiest laughs.
“Haaah····· hee. Hehehehet.”
Flustered a second ago, now fully immersed. How was her reaction the exact same as Ska's, Lapis's, or Silk Blond's? Was this really just possessiveness? Did all S-rank awakeners show it like this?
Her clear laughter, blissful expression, flushed skin like she was in love—none of it seemed purely possessive. If not possessiveness toward me, then why'd she quit her lavish spending? Eyeing some other toy? But the timing lined up too perfectly with when she started treating me extra nice.
What the hell? My head spun with the sudden question. Time for some healing. And right there in my arms was healing incarnate: my cute older noona. Perfect.
As I lifted my right hand from her waist to stroke her soft brown hair, our eyes met—hers, deep brown.
·····Huh?
Why was my body trembling?
The cozy, warm, heart-fluttering vibe flipped to suspense in an instant. For some reason, the light had vanished from her eyes. Just like right before she'd demolished my penthouse ceiling.
“N-N-Noona? Wh-why are your eyes like that?”
“·····Yeah. Why, I wonder.”
“Eek·····.”
Hiiik. C-casual speech·····! She was using casual speech·····! When Ia Noona dropped formal, it meant she was fucking pissed. My house could go flying. Facing her like that, I froze like a mouse before a snake, right arm awkwardly raised.
To my rigid self, Ia Noona asked in a voice no longer warm:
“·····Paster. I noticed while we were pressed close. Why do I sense Ska Rate and Lapis Julie's mana on you?”
Ah, here it comes.