The dusky evening sun streamed through the glass of the Ferris wheel, enveloping the three people inside, turning them into a sea of yellow.
And within this sea of twilight, a jade-like, lustrous white light flashed by, shattering the quiet atmosphere and sending ripples through it.
"Whew!"
Aoba also let out a long breath, leaning back lazily in his seat.
The round-faced girl with crimson earlobes, who had been holding her breath, also unconsciously relaxed once she sensed the matter was over.
Her previously tense heart gradually calmed down.
"Hiss!"
But after calming down, Tenten suddenly inhaled sharply with a hiss.
Seems she had a bit of a cramp.
"Tenten, are you okay?", Karin, who had been looking down at her own somewhat... condition, was startled by Tenten's sound.
Aoba also immediately sat up straight, asking worriedly, "Is it a leg cramp?"
He looked very experienced.
"Pervert!", Tenten caught on, glaring at him in bashfuly.
The scene from just now, which had made her blood race, flashed back into her mind. Her heart started thumping loudly again, and her breathing grew rapid.
Her gaze drifted slightly downward. Not only was there a cramp, but it was also soiled with a layer of dirty stuff.
'How am I supposed to go back like this?'
Noticing the look in Tenten's eyes, Aoba blinked.
He somehow produced a towel from somewhere, crouched down, knelt on one knee, and seriously began wiping for her.
At the same time, he was helping to ease the pain of the cramp.
"Huh?", This scene made Karin, who was standing to the side, freeze up all over again.
She had initially felt a slight sense of pride that Tenten would get a leg cramp from something like this.
With her Uzumaki clan bloodline, such a trivial matter naturally wouldn't affect her.
But Aoba's sudden action made her puff out her cheeks again.
'Damn it!'
'Is the Uzumaki bloodline actually such an inconvenient thing?'
Karin secretly gritted her teeth, but watching Aoba's serious expression, she felt extremely unwilling.
"Aoba-nii, I think my leg is cramping a bit too..."
.
.
.
"Tenten, Karin," After everything was over, Aoba also changed positions, sitting between the two girls, intimately holding them, using his cheeks to feel the warmth of the girls' faces.
"Don't touch me, you pervert," Tenten muttered, slapping his hand away and pushing his face.
Her tone held a small complaint, mixed with a bit of flustered shame. She hadn't quite recovered yet.
Besides, this guy had just touched feet with that hand, hadn't even washed it, there was still a smell on it, and he actually went and touched her face directly.
'What a pervert.'
But Karin didn't have such thoughts at all; instead, she snuggled against him even more intimately.
The sunset slowly descended, and Aoba had already dispelled the effects of the Sealing Barrier. The atmosphere inside the gondola returned to quiet. Both girls nestled in Aoba's arms, creating a fleeting sense of peaceful tranquility.
Although, all three of them had different expressions.
Tenten was still looking at her foot, now wearing its sock and shoe again. The cramp pain had eased a lot, but the sensation of being soiled with that dirty stuff from earlier seemed to keep popping back into her mind.
She felt she might not be able to forget this for a long time.
She might even have trouble walking properly later.
Right then, Aoba noticed Tenten frowning somewhat troubledly, the blush still hadn't faded from her round, cute little face.
He couldn't help but lean in stealthily, then directly went for her face. Not a kiss, but a gentle peck.
As if trying to suck her charming cheek into his mouth like jelly.
The bizarre sensation on her cheek immediately jolted Tenten's consciousness back to reality. She glared, giving him a light punch on the shoulder with displeasure.
"What are you doing now?"
The fierce yet adorable girl opened her beautiful eyes, her gaze filled with grievance and reproach, looking utterly charming.
"I just suddenly felt how incredibly cute you are, Tenten."
Aoba couldn't help but laugh, then turned her face and kissed her lips.
"Mmph!"
The girl felt both bashful and annoyed. Bashful at his words, annoyed that this guy was touching her face with his dirty hands again.
And after her lips were released, she even felt a bit breathless.
Tenten lay against Aoba's chest, again lightly pounding his chest with her fist, her voice sweetly chiding.
"You jerk, all you know how to do is bully people!"
Aoba held her, a smile appearing on his face, "This isn't called bullying, it's called liking."
"I don't care, you ARE bullying me!", Tenten pinched the flesh at his waist and didn't let go.
"Alright, alright, yes, yes, I'm a jerk, I was bullying you, okay?", Aoba surrendered.
"Hmph!", Tenten gave another light hum and finally released her hand.
Seeing Tenten's emotions had stabilized, Aoba turned his head to look at Karin. She had clearly been waiting for a while.
.
.
.
They didn't delay on the Ferris wheel for very long. By the time the three of them steadily landed, the sun had just set.
Karin, sitting by the door, stepped out first.
But when Tenten tried to stand up, her movement abruptly stopped.
That foot which had just been used to... and finally been covered in... now felt extremely awkward to her. She kept feeling as if something was crawling on it, afraid to put it down. [T/N: It is like this in the raw, I didn't do it.]
"Still hurts?", Aoba asked with concern.
"It's... it's okay," Tenten's face burned again.
The gondola couldn't stay stopped for too long, so Aoba simply picked Tenten up in a princess carry.
"Aoba?", Tenten exclaimed in surprise, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck.
"If your foot is troublesome, I'll just carry you out," Aoba carried Tenten out of the gondola in a princess hold, attracting quite a few glances for a moment.
He didn't pay attention to the looks from others, but quickly walked up to Karin, whose expression was already starting to look wronged, and explained, "Tenten's foot still isn't quite right."
"Oh," Although Karin was very unhappy, since there was a reason, she didn't make a fuss.
"Aoba, my foot is actually fine now, you can put me down," Tenten said, her face red, mainly because there were too many people around and she felt a bit embarrassed.
"Really?", Aoba asked again.
"Really," Tenten's feet touched the ground again. Although it still felt a bit strange, she could walk normally now.
Aoba had Tenten walk a few steps to make sure she was okay, then took them both to Ichiraku Ramen.
After simply having a bowl of ramen, they planned to head home.
And after seeing Tenten home, only Karin and Aoba were left alone.
Karin, who had been playing the shadow-stepping game, suddenly stopped and called out to Aoba walking ahead, "I'm tired from walking, Aoba-nii, can you give me a piggyback ride?"
Hearing this, Aoba was slightly taken aback, but didn't overthink it, crouching down a bit, "Alright then, hop on."
"Yay!", Karin didn't hesitate in the slightest, jumping on very cheerfully.
As she lay on his back, her legs swung back and forth.
"Stop squirming, if you fall off later don't blame me!", Aoba said helplessly, giving her a light pat.
"Eww~ Aoba-nii, you're so lewd, actually touching my butt," Karin not only didn't mind, but deliberately bit his ear, saying with a giggle.
Hearing Karin's somewhat cutesy, mischievous, and bold words, Aoba rolled his eyes. He simply pinched her, pretending to be surprised as he said, "This was your butt? I thought it was your leg. The feel is about the same, huh." [T/N: Fatality!]
"?", Karin stopped tee-heeing.
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