Chapter 7: Strange Wake-up Service

Early morning, everything revived. The chirping of insects and cicadas faded away, replaced by a few rooster calls and the soft whispers of birds.

The sun showed half its face, its morning rays illuminating the land, driving away the darkness and silence.

A few strands of sunlight poured through the window, falling on Sairi’s profile and the drool at the corner of her mouth, reflecting with shimmering sparkles.

Hilvia was already awake. Opening her eyes, she looked at Sairi’s adorable sleeping face and softly said, “It’s time to wake up, little sister Sairi~”

“Eh… hehe… just one more bite…”

Sairi didn’t respond to Hilvia. Instead, she turned over, lying on her side and continuing to mumble cute sleep talk.

“You really are hopeless!”

Hilvia sat up, leaned over, and gently patted the chubby cheeks on Sairi’s face. “Time to get up now, little sister Sairi~”

“Uh… mmm? No… don’t… let me… sleep a bit longer…”

Sairi did hear Hilvia’s words, but her drowsiness was stronger than Hilvia’s coaxing. After saying this, she immediately went back to sleep.

Seeing this, Hilvia paused for a moment, suddenly thinking of a fun idea.

Then Hilvia lowered her head as well, quietly pressing close to Sairi’s cheek, and whispered in a teasing, playful tone right by her ear, “It’s time to wake up, little sleepyhead. Today’s the day we go out shopping and eat delicious food. If you don’t get up, then Big Sister Hilvia will have to take action~”

Even after this, Sairi lay there as if nothing was happening, making a few “huff huff” breathing sounds. Hilvia knew it was time to take stronger measures.

“You chose this yourself, little one~”

Saying that, Hilvia pressed her face against Sairi’s, her left hand scratching under Sairi’s chin and pinching her cheeks.

More importantly, Hilvia launched an assault on Sairi’s ear!

Hilvia didn’t know where she pulled it from, but she took out an ear pick. Carefully, she inserted it into Sairi’s ear, constantly poking and tickling the ear canal, occasionally blowing softly, “Hoo~ hoo~”

Of course, Sairi’s body was still very fresh—there was no earwax at all.

“Ugh!”

Sairi suddenly twitched. This sensation instantly reminded her of the special ear-cleaning service she once experienced, feeling really ticklish and delightful.

Seeing Sairi’s reaction, Hilvia became even more delighted. Deciding to go all out, she continued to use the ear pick to explore other sensitive spots inside Sairi’s ear, while continuing to blow air softly.

“Ugh ugh ugh! No… no more! I’m up, I’m getting up! Big Sister Hilvia, please stop!”

However, Hilvia was in no mood to let Sairi off so easily, continuing to tease her ears while intensifying the tickling by scratching Sairi’s sides and pinching the soft flesh around her waist.

“Don’t move. Although I specifically picked a soft ear pick, if you move violently, something might go wrong.”

“I… I really messed up… I’m awake now… please spare me… Big Sister Hilvia…”

Sairi’s current state was strange. She felt like her body had not only shrunk and softened, but had become extremely sensitive. Ever since yesterday’s contact with Hilvia, this feeling had only grown.

Not to mention Hilvia’s current actions—Sairi was panting heavily, her face flushed red, wanting to push Hilvia away, but afraid the ear pick would hurt her eardrum.

The tickling in her ear felt so good and so comfortable that Sairi curled her small feet, toes touching and bent, her entire body going limp.

(Ear cleaning really feels amazing! When I get to the Capital, I definitely have to try it!)

W-what… what’s going on? Why am I this sensitive? It feels like… my body is melting. Sairi didn’t know whether this reaction was due to her body itself or Hilvia’s excellent ear-cleaning skills.

Thankfully, Hilvia understood Sairi’s condition. Her original goal was only to wake her up; now she was just teasing her a little and it was time to stop.

So after a few more pokes, Hilvia finally stopped. Without the ear pick, Sairi began trembling wildly, breathing heavily with a flushed face, no longer daring to move recklessly.

“All right, time to get up. Today we’re going shopping and having fun.”

“D-darn it! Big Sister Hilvia just loves teasing me!”

“Well, you kept refusing to get up. If you had gotten up right away, would it have gotten this bad?”

“But you were just looking for a chance to bully me, right? You definitely were!”

“Well, that’s because little sister Sairi is just too adorable. Besides, we agreed yesterday to go shopping this morning, didn’t we? Are you having second thoughts?”

“Of course not! I’m getting up now!”

“All right, don’t be mad. Today I’ll take you to eat something delicious. There are so many yummy little soup dumplings in town~”

Hilvia even ran her hands back and forth over Sairi’s head. Though Sairi protested with her mouth, in her heart she actually quite enjoyed it, pouting but accepting Hilvia’s touch.

“Okay, get out of bed and get dressed.”

“Okay!”

The two got out of bed to change.

Although they were still in pajamas, after yesterday’s ordeal (which Sairi was sure about), she was no longer so sensitive—at least no nosebleeds or brain overloads that left her speechless.

After all, they had bathed, washed their hair and faces together yesterday; having been through it all, what else was left to fear? At least that’s what Sairi thought.

Sairi put on the white short-sleeved shirt and jacket Hilvia had bought. When she tried to put on other clothes, something felt off.

“Uh… Big Sister Hilvia, where did these white tights and pleated skirt come from? I don’t remember seeing them yesterday during the fitting.”

“Oh, those? That pleated skirt is one of mine, and the tights too, although I usually prefer black.”

Sairi’s senses immediately went on alert, realizing the two pieces she was holding were actually lightly used items that a typical pretty girl would wear… even though she had never really thought about such things before.

“Ah? You mean these skirt and tights have been worn before? Am I going to wear secondhand clothes?”

“Ah, stuff is expensive. In a small frontier town like this, clothes like these are really pricey and hard to get. Even if styles exist, they’re rare and ugly.”

“You know, frontier areas don’t see as much trade or people flow as the Royal Capital or developed places. Few merchants come here, so you’ll just have to bear with it.”

“Uh uh… this… clothes Hilvia wore before… wouldn’t it… wouldn’t it…”

“Don’t worry, they’re all washed clean. If you don’t believe me, you can take a closer look.”

Sairi brought the tights up to her nose and took a sniff. There was no strange smell at all, just a faint fragrance—probably from the detergent.

Fine, I’ll wear them!

***

After everything that happened yesterday, how could she still be afraid? Real men face things head-on!

Since she was already this close to Hilvia, all she had to do was not cross that psychological hurdle. What passes through the body passes through the mind!

“All right, I’ll trust you this once, Big Sister Hilvia. I’ll wear them.”

“I wouldn’t harm you. Little sister Sairi is so cute—seeing you in pretty clothes makes me happy enough.”

With that, Hilvia continued putting on her own clothes.

(Ugh, ○○) Even so, putting on these clothes was hard to accept. Sairi slowly lifted one foot and slipped the tights on. As she pulled it up, she grumbled silently, This feels so weird!

Also, how long had Hilvia worn these? Was there anything stuck to them? Could there be something left behind? Sairi’s mind raced with thoughts.

But putting on the tights was easier than she expected—so silky smooth. Her small foot slid to the bottom without any resistance.

Usually in her previous life, socks would end up crooked or scratched by toenails, which was painful.

Seeing one foot done, Sairi felt a strange sensation. Though the tights looked thin, they were cool and slippery, very delicate and comfortable.

Curious, she wiggled her small foot a couple of times to see what was going on.

Hilvia, already dressed, noticed everything. This kid was so clueless.

“Little sister Sairi, are you curious about something again? Like, whether my scent remains on the tights~?”

“Uh! Of course not, I’m just curious about the texture…” Sairi quickly finished putting on the tights, then slipped into the skirt and tied it up.

“Well, these clothes are from when I was still in the Royal Capital of the Human Kingdom. You definitely won’t find such fancy things in this remote place.”

Eventually, Sairi slowly finished dressing and followed Hilvia to wash up.

“All right, I’ve already got a toothbrush, cup, and towel ready for you.”

Sairi took the toothbrush, cup, and towel, nodding while eyeing them carefully.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. These are new. I bought them when I got your clothes yesterday. Stuff like this is still sold around here.”

“Okay, okay! Let’s wash our faces and brush our teeth together!”

They turned on the water and squeezed toothpaste onto their brushes.

Originally, Sairi had been wondering what was the same and what was different about this world—did it have shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes?

But now she was relaxed about it. If it exists, she’d use it. If not, she’d deal later.

Surprisingly, the usually slow Sairi washed very quickly.

Before Hilvia could carefully brush her own two rows of teeth, Sairi had already fumbled through a few strokes, splashed water on her face, and was about to leave.

“I’m done!”

Sairi turned to leave the washroom.

“Stop! Is that how you brush your teeth and wash your face?”

Sairi froze, looking confused at Hilvia. She slowly opened her mouth and asked, “What’s wrong, Big Sister Hilvia? I already finished washing, didn’t I?”

“Brushing your teeth a few times without any foam means you’re done? Splashing water on your face and calling it clean? That’s too careless. How can a girl be like that? You have to wash carefully and slowly.”

“But… I never really cared about this stuff before, and I always did it like this… hehe… I thought no one was watching.”

“How could no one be watching? Now that you’re with me, I see you every day. You have to wash properly.”

By then, Hilvia had finished brushing and rinsing. She grabbed Sairi’s hand and pulled her in front of the mirror.

Then she squeezed toothpaste on Sairi’s brush, wet it, pried open Sairi’s mouth, and started brushing. Up, down, left, right, cleaning thoroughly.

“Uh… Hilvia… Sister, that’s a bit rough… mm mm…”

“Don’t talk. Be careful the toothpaste foam doesn’t get into your windpipe.”

Sairi quieted down, accepting Hilvia’s hands-on brushing service. Honestly, it felt a bit violent—Hilvia brushed so hard it could probably strip paint off a wall.

“Rinse your mouth.”

After brushing came rinsing. This step was fine but Hilvia still scolded Sairi because, just like in her previous life, Sairi rinsed and spit loudly with weird hacking sounds.

Hilvia lectured her on proper ladylike behavior.

Next was washing her face. Hilvia told Sairi to lower her head, then rinsed her face with warm water. She took two pumps of a milky white liquid from a different bottle than the shampoo.

Hilvia spread the liquid in her hands, worked up a lot of foam, then gently massaged every corner of Sairi’s face with professional skill.

After rinsing thoroughly several times with warm water, she handed Sairi a towel to dry.

“Wow, finally done! Washing like this is so complicated and troublesome.”

“This is just the basics—brushing teeth and washing face. Not to mention making you handsome or beautiful, it’s at least about staying clean. We haven’t even started makeup yet, which involves powders and lotions, for both boys and girls.”

“Ah? That complicated?”

“Everything has its price. No one’s born perfect. If you want to be beautiful or handsome, you have to spend time and effort grooming yourself.”

“Are we going to put on a bunch of makeup later too?”

“No, we’re not going anywhere fancy or big events. Just ordinary shopping. A little powder and lotion will do.”

“Uh, so that’s still makeup, isn’t it?”

“This is bare face, already quite simple. I’m only doing it because little sister Sairi is so cute.”

Uh… here we go again… Hilvia’s corny lines always pop out unconsciously. Sairi felt she was pretty immune by now. Maybe she should try this on Hilvia someday?

Sneak attack! This time, there really was no comeback.