At this hour, everyone should already be asleep, right?
Megumin crept out of her bedroom on tiptoe, furtive as a thief; from nervousness, her eyes uncontrollably gave off a faint red glow, and in the silent hallway only the sounds of her breathing and heartbeat rose up.
So quiet—looks like they're all asleep. Good. Hurry up and get to Jhin's room.
Reaching the door without incident, she grabbed the handle and turned it with a little force—and found, just as she'd expected, the door wasn't locked. The corners of her mouth tilted up slightly, and she couldn't help feeling a bit smug.
Just as I thought… I really do know him well. His habit of never locking the door when he sleeps—I saw through that ages ago.
Megumin slowly turned the handle to make sure she wouldn't make a sound and wake the person inside; her breath seemed to halt along with the turning. In her eyes and in her mind there was nothing but the door handle, and the tense, thrilling sensation made the red glow in her eyes burn even brighter.
Only when the handle could turn no further did she pull back her attention, gently push the door open, and step inside.
Pardon the intrusion…
Closing the door behind her, she greeted him in her heart while creeping hunched-over to Jhin's bedside. She didn't stand up right away, but crouched there with an ear cocked, listening to his breathing to confirm whether he was only pretending to be asleep.
In the past, Megumin had been pranked plenty of times by his fake-sleeping—though most of the time it was the sad tale of her spotting Jhin asleep, going over to prank him of her own accord, and ending up getting pranked right back.
After all this time and no change at all… he definitely isn't faking it.
The long, steady sound of deep slumber nearly lulled the eavesdropping Megumin to sleep herself; she shook her head to drive off the drowsiness and stood up.
Jhin's usually expressive face had now gone very quiet, and the lines of his dashing, sword-sharp brows had softened a great deal too—the sight left her in a daze.
Come to think of it, not counting the fake-sleeping, this should be the first time she'd seen what Jhin looked like asleep. Unlike the daytime, when he always wore a mischievous smirk, the deeply slumbering him of the night gave off more of a calm, reassuring feeling.
This guy… if only he didn't love teasing me so much…
No, no, no—him NOT teasing me would be the scariest thing of all!
Megumin simply couldn't picture a Jhin who didn't tease people. For the present her, being teased and then taking revenge had become a kind of exchange and communication between the two of them—you could even say it had melded into everyday life.
If for some stretch of time he didn't act like a pest and come over to rile her up, she'd actually feel anxious and unsettled, suspecting that he might be cooking up something big.
Snapping back to herself and seeing Jhin lying there sleeping so soundly, Megumin grumbled under her breath: "Why am I the one worrying so much for you, while you, the person actually concerned, can sleep this soundly? Aren't you afraid of exploding?"
As she spoke, a wicked impulse seized her; all those thoughts of staying quiet and not waking him were flung clean to the back of beyond, and she simply grabbed a corner of the blanket and yanked it open with force.
Feeling a sudden chill in his sleep, Jhin groggily opened his eyes, and before he could get a word out, a soft, tender little hand carrying a faint fragrance clamped over his mouth, a pair of red pupils trailing tails of light meeting his gaze in the dark of night.
"Why won't you come to me to expel the venom? Answer me quietly!"
What nonsense was this chuunibyou mage spouting in the dead of night? That deep-fried onsen egg couldn't possibly have side effects similar to the Bubble Frog Fruit, could it?
The little hand covering his mouth moved away, letting Jhin speak: "What venom-expelling? Don't tell me you've gone and had an allergic reaction to a fried onsen egg?"
Still playing dumb—let's see how long you can keep up the tough act!
Megumin was thoroughly convinced that Jhin knew exactly what the consequences of not expelling the venom in time would be—after all, that book had been given to her by him, so there was no way he didn't understand its contents—but right now she had little patience for playing guessing games with him.
Megumin sprang into action at once, seizing his sleep trousers and tugging them down, then lightly pressing down with one little foot.
"!!??"
Jhin's brain simply crashed; he even began to wonder whether this was some pink-tinted dream brought on by suppressing himself for too long, relying entirely on meditation lately to chase away stray thoughts.
Megumin forced down the bashfulness in her heart, her pearly teeth biting hard into her lip, her cheeks burning as if set alight: "H-how's that? Now that it's come to this, are you still going to keep hiding the matter of expelling the venom?"
Her jade-fair, delicate skin in the moonlight transmitted a warm sensation through the thin fabric straight to his brain; Jhin's pupils abruptly dilated, his body temperature shooting up like a volcanic eruption, his breathing growing heavy, as if a boulder weighing a thousand jun were pressing on his chest.
The scorching heat coming from the sole of her foot felt as if it would scald her, yet it was laced with a faint, tingling current that made the foot she'd meant to pull away stick fast to the spot. Megumin clamped a hand tightly over her mouth, pressing back down the gasp that rushed to her lips, and unconsciously shifted her leg.
"Mngh." Jhin let out a low groan that seemed at once anguished and forbearing, the complicated expression on his face very much resembling the look on the boy in the manga when he first underwent the venom-expelling.
Just as I thought… he really is putting on a tough front!
On this evidence alone, Megumin grew all the more certain of the notion in her heart: Jhin had been enduring the torment of the venom inside his body all this while, and though no hint of abnormality showed during the day, the moment night fell deep he would find every means to rub the venomous snake alone, attempting to expel the venom.
What an idiot. He obviously knows the solution, so why won't he ask his companions for help?
This was a question Megumin understood without needing his answer: the venom-expelling method demanded a very high level of relationship between the man and woman involved—ordinary friends simply couldn't manage it.
But I'm different! Aren't I your partner-in-crime? Didn't you read that note with our daughter's name written on it? Why—why won't you come straight to me?
Her heart brimming with confusion, Megumin recalled the girl's movements in the manga and, doing a passable imitation, helped Jhin relax and expel the venom.
Only when her left foot grew sore and swollen and could no longer muster any strength—when she sat down on the bed to switch to her right foot—did she finally understand why the girl in the manga had even changed into a different outfit partway through.
So it was to expel the venom as quickly as possible!
In the room lit only by moonlight, Megumin had no idea how much time she'd spent; she only knew she was so worn out that she was drenched in sweat, the hair at her forehead soaked through. After who knew how much longer, by the touch on the sole of her foot, she sensed Jhin give a violent shudder—the venom had at last been expelled.
Both of them let out a long breath at the same time, as if a great weight had been lifted.
Megumin said nothing; disgusted by the sweat and stickiness all over the sole of her foot, she snatched up her slippers and ran out of the room. By now she didn't care whether she woke the others—the mission was complete anyway.
Jhin lay on the bed catching his breath; everything that had just happened was even more absurd than a dream. He took out that note with his daughter's name written on it and gave it another glance.
After we get back from Maple Sugar Valley this time, I should take the initiative to investigate [What Heads Toward Death].
Putting the note away, he went off to the bathroom to shower and changed all of his clothes while he was at it—after all, drenched in sweat as he was, there was no way to fall asleep in peace. After washing up, he returned to the room, saw that Megumin's footprints still remained on the floor, and so he mopped the floor over once more; only when all that was done did he get back into bed and go to sleep.
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👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Naruto: Is it reasonable to beat up an Otsutsuki with Hamon, right?
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone