Episode One Hundred and Twenty-Five
When was the last time I had my ears cleaned?
As a child, I used to have them cleaned at the ENT clinic.
I remember the cool, funnel-like metal tool and tweezers being used to swiftly remove the wax.
After starting primary school, I kept them clean myself, glancing sideways at my mother who was always busy with Shizuku.
So having someone clean my ears while resting my head on their lap might be a first.
“Gently now, gently.”
“Shigure-san, aren’t you being a bit too worried?”
“But, yikes!”
A dry scraping sound echoed.
A ticklish sensation made the inside of my thigh tingle.
“Shigure-san, don’t move.”
“But it tickles—”
“Hmm?”
Ibara’s eyes gleamed ominously at my slip of the tongue.
Ah, I have a bad feeling about this.
“Scratch scratch scratch.”
“W-w-wait, Ibara⁉︎”
“Mmph. Shigure-san, how is it? Your ears… feeling nice?”
“It’s… not exactly nice, more like… tingly?”
Each time the barbed tip scraped up my inner ear, I was hit by an indescribable sensation.
It was a little scary, but still.
This… felt good.
“Ah, up there, stop…”
“Wow, that’s erotic.”
“Eh?”
It wasn’t erotic, though.
It was just that… I let out a sound without meaning to.
True to her confident demeanour, Ibara’s touch was delicate.
Sometimes gentle, sometimes forceful, she stimulated my sensitive spots.
“Hyah!”
“Now, now, don’t move, dear~”
“…Ugh, there… yaan…!”
“…Hey~, are you doing this on purpose?”
“Of course not… mmmph!”
“You really are a natural, aren’t you?”
Saying this with an exasperated tone, Ibara didn’t stop her hands.
“Just a little longer, hold on. You mustn’t struggle until it’s properly finished.”
There was something suggestive in the tone of her voice.
Looking up, I saw the corners of her mouth turned up unnaturally.
“Um, Ibara. This is kind of scary…”
“It’s alright, Shigure-san.”
Why did that angelic smile feel so utterly ominous?
“I just want to soothe you, Shigure-san. I don’t hold a single grudge about all that tickling and embarrassing stuff you did to me, none whatsoever.”
“Hii!”
She absolutely is holding a grudge.
Ibara bent down sharply. Her breath brushed against my earlobe.
She was so close, her lips could touch my ear with just one more push.
“Shigure-san.”
A strangely low, whispering voice.
Perhaps because he’d just finished brushing his teeth, a faint scent of mint lingered.
“Shigure-san’s ears are really beautiful.”
“Eh, ah… r-right? Well then, I suppose that’s it for now.”
“Of course not.”
A soft, sucking sound as she drew in breath.
“Huuu.”
“Hii!”
A shiver ran down my spine.
An intense sensation, like feathers tickling exposed nerves.
“Wha— no way, stop it—”
“Mmph. ‘Stop it’, you say. Shigure-san, you sound like a schoolteacher.”
“Don’t tease adults—”
“I’m not teasing. Just blowing out your earwax.”
“…You’re definitely lying…”
“Honestly, honestly.”
Again, the sound of inhaling.
I gripped the hem of my clothes tightly, bracing for the sensation.
Huuu.
“Mmmph.”
A shiver ran down my spine, from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers.
“…Ugh… Ibara, that… I don’t want that anymore…”
“Oh, I see.”
Relieved by her unusually understanding and compliant reaction, I let out a sigh of relief.
It was right after that.
“Ahm”
A wet, squelching sound.
Something soft, damp, and slimy covered my earlobe.
“Wh-what⁉︎”
“I’m licking your ear.”
“Why⁉︎”
“Because I feel like it.”
A soft sucking sound as she drew on the cartilage before pulling away.
“I thought stimulating the ear’s pressure points might help relieve stress.”
“There’s no way anyone in this world would have their stress relieved by having their ear licked…!”
“Eh? There must be! Besides, I read it online. Apparently, gently nibbling the ear pressure points with your tongue and teeth is effective.”
“…Really?”
“Of course not. I just wanted to lick them.”
She declared it without a hint of guilt, leaning in again.
Before I could ask if that lie meant anything, before I could even think of a retort, my ear was enveloped by something hot and wet.
“Mmph. Remember? That time before, when Shigure-san gave my ears lots of massages?”
“Don’t talk like that…!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I remember, I remember, so—”
“That time, you touched my ears a lot and made me feel good, right? So today, I’ll do it for you.”
“Well, as a massage, right?”
“Of course.”
A slick tongue traces the entrance to the hole.
Chu, lips suck up the opening of my ear.
Both sensations are unbearable, and my knees buckle involuntarily.
Chu, a lip-smacking sound, and the lips pull away just a little.
“I remember perfectly well. Naughty things are off-limits until graduation, though.”
Her whisper at my ear made my chest flutter.
Her breath touched my saliva-damp skin, cool and tingling.
“But,” Ibara continued,
“This isn’t a naughty thing. It’s just cleaning your ears, spoiling Shigure-san. So it’s alright, right?”
“It’s fine, uhh!”
“Doesn’t it feel nice? Don’t you like it?”
“Ah, no—”
My ears burned. The sound of kisses echoed repeatedly: chuu, chuu.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”
I couldn’t suppress the heat rising to my cheeks.
My parched throat made a gulp sound.
“…………No.”
Those tawny eyes stared intently at my face.
“……………………Well, no……but—”
“So, it feels good?”
What was that, rubbing salt in the wound?
I couldn’t help but look away.
But.
In the end, after a long hesitation, I gave a small nod.