I Sealed Sukuna’s Finger#455+456: Taking Good Care of Senpai, Marrying Off the Daughter?

"Bokue really is... completely merciless~"

Having caught her breath somewhat, Saeko Busujima raised her face toward the young man who'd returned to normal size.

Then she struggled to straighten up, arching her back and extending her neck to blow gently near Bokue's earlobe, lowering her voice.

"Do you like these clothes that much?"

"Well, who could help it when they look so good on Senpai?"

Bokue looked down, raising an eyebrow.

This was the truth. Unless in combat, Saeko normally always gave the impression of a composed, proper swordswoman—perfectly fitting the traditional Japanese cultural definition of a virtuous woman in every aspect.

But precisely because of this composure and tradition, when she wore sexy lingerie completely contrary to those qualities, that beauty amplified to its limit.

Simply put: overwhelmed.

"Th-thank you..."

Under the young man's praise, Saeko's already flushed cheeks deepened further. She couldn't help shyly lowering her head slightly, though the corners of her mouth still rose into an uncontrollable arc.

She didn't know smooth talk, so when faced with the young man's compliments, what she showed was her most genuine, essential reaction.

"Ah, but it's a bit unfortunate."

Bokue suddenly said.

Hmm?

Saeko looked up somewhat confused, then heard the young man continue.

"Like I mentioned, I have other business later. So I need to leave shortly. If I didn't have to go anywhere tonight, I could've kept going with Senpai until bedtime."

"...!"

Only then did Saeko remember that Bokue bringing her to Itogami Island was just incidental. They'd gone too hard earlier, making her practically forget about this.

Though if it meant going until bedtime...

Gulp.

Saeko swallowed quietly.

As someone who'd personally experienced it, she knew how terrifying that hour and a half had been. The expression "constantly flying without coming down" was no exaggeration.

She usually didn't sleep until around eleven at night. Even counting from five in the afternoon to eleven, that was six hours—double the three-hour duration.

To go continuously that long...

Just thinking about it made Saeko feel like she'd explode.

She'd absolutely break!!!

"In that case, how about I help Senpai with dinner before leaving? That way you won't have to cook yourself."

A lightbulb appeared above Bokue's head.

"Is there anything you'd like for dinner, Busujima-senpai?"

"N-no need..."

Saeko's flushed cheeks shook slightly as she softly declined.

"I'm not actually that hungry. For dinner, I'll just rest a bit, take a bath, then make myself some pottage."

"Pottage?"

Bokue seemed somewhat surprised.

Though he wasn't someone who needed rich meals every time, having just pottage for dinner wasn't necessarily wrong, but wouldn't only pottage be a bit too plain?

Still, since Senpai said so, naturally he'd respect that.

"Alright then, I'll go make you some pottage now. What side dishes would you like?"

"N-no need..."

Still shaking her head.

Saeko rarely stammered like this, but this time she seemed to have some unspeakable difficulty.

"I said I'm not really hungry right now. Even if you make it and leave it there, it'll get cold. I'll make it myself when I'm hungry later..."

Not hungry?

Bokue found this strange. When he'd returned to the Keikain estate that afternoon, Saeko hadn't looked like she'd just eaten anything. Then they'd just expended so much energy... how could she not be hungry?

"Plus, don't you have other business? Just go ahead. If I get hungry later, I'll handle it myself."

"Hmm~ alright."

Though Bokue said this, his hands still lifted Saeko up in one motion before standing from the bed.

The instant his toes touched ground, golden magnetic field power rapidly spread across the bedroom floor. Wherever it passed, the "impact marks" covering the floor disappeared one by one.

Saeko was startled by this action contradicting his words.

"Wait, what are you—"

"Taking a bath."

Bokue carried the swordswoman in his arms across the floor toward the bedroom door, then turned to open the bathroom door on the side connecting the bedroom and living room.

"Regardless of whether you'll be hungry later, Senpai, you still need to bathe, right?"

With that, he carried Saeko into the bathroom and closed the door behind them.

A few seconds later, Saeko's shy yet slightly flustered voice came faintly from inside.

"W-wait, Bokue, what are you—"

"After all, I'll be helping Senpai bathe. Holding you with one hand would be inconvenient."

"I know that, but...!!"

Before she could finish—

<><><><><><><><>

Just like that, Bokue stayed at the dorm until six-thirty.

Of course, before leaving he still cleaned up all the remnants throughout the dorm, including opening windows for ventilation and air purification.

Finally, after closing the windows and doors again, turning on the AC to adjust to a comfortable temperature, and settling Saeko—whose three mouths had all been filled to absolute capacity—into the covers, he departed.

❁❁❁❁

Scene change—

meanwhile, at a hotel in downtown Itogami Island.

"Ah~ I wonder if Bokue-kun will come tonight."

Beneath the luxurious amber glass chandelier, a certain princess's sighing voice echoed through the hotel suite's living room, which was suffused with the faint fragrance of red wine.

La Folia currently had herself completely curled up on the sofa, leaning back against the soft cushions while gazing up at the ceiling. Her legs tucked to one side beneath her skirt, both placed on the sofa. Large expanses of snow-white skin were covered by her skirt hem, leaving only her pearly, jade-like toes barely breaking through the skirt's boundary to expose themselves under the lamplight, unconsciously swaying gently to the rhythm of her speech.

"Um... possibly."

Sayaka Kirasaka stood beside the sofa, her expression subtle as she watched the certain silver-haired princess who'd completely transformed into a shut-in.

Since Itogami Island was now entirely Bokue Keikain's private property, the visa expiration issue that had previously required rushing back home had been resolved completely.

Precisely because of this, La Folia had been thoroughly enjoying herself on Itogami Island these past days to the point of forgetting about returning home. Though summer vacation's end loomed ahead, she showed absolutely no intention of going back.

As long as La Folia didn't return home, Sayaka Kirasaka had to continue serving as her bodyguard.

Though this wasn't necessarily bad for Sayaka herself.

After all, if La Folia went home, her bodyguard duty would end, and where her master might assign her next was anyone's guess.

At least staying with La Folia meant she could see Bokue a bit more.

Right, speaking of going home...

"Princess La Folia."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"About returning home..."

Sayaka hesitated somewhat.

She knew La Folia didn't particularly like discussing matters related to going home, so these past days she'd barely mentioned it around her.

But now that she'd thought of it, asking seemed more appropriate.

After all, as La Folia's personal bodyguard, even without control over her charge's schedule, she should at least have the right to know.

"Oh, you mean about going home, Sayaka."

However, this time when the homecoming topic came up, the certain silver-haired princess's tone seemed exceptionally relaxed.

"No need to rush anymore. I already spoke with Father and Mother on the phone a couple days ago about this."

Eh?

A large question mark appeared above the Sword Shaman girl's head.

Phone call? When did this happen?

"Uh, and then?"

"Nothing much after that. Father and Mother called to ask when I planned to return. I just happened to tell them about my current situation here."

La Folia paused at this point.

"Then they allowed me to continue staying on Itogami Island~"

???

That relaxed about it?

Sayaka couldn't figure out the specific situation at all.

"So what exactly did you mean by 'current situation,' Princess...?"

"My relationship with Bokue-kun, of course~"

Bringing up this topic, faint crimson finally appeared on La Folia's pale face.

As she spoke, she raised her hand to support her cheek, using her fingers to hide the blush—looking somewhat shy.

"Well, since nothing's actually happened yet, I was relatively conservative when telling my parents. Just informed them we'd currently reached the 'sharing a bed' stage..."

Pfft!!

Sayaka nearly spat blood.

This is what you call "relatively conservative"?! If that's conservative, how open would open be?!

"Th-then what? Did your parents say anything, Princess?"

"Hmm~ they said... wait, I just remembered!"

As if suddenly recalling some missing piece, La Folia made a soft sound.

"I remember I also told Mom and Dad about how Itogami Island completely belongs to Bokue-kun now, plus what you told me before about Bokue-kun single-handedly suppressing the Warlord's Domain."

"Then my parents completely agreed to let me continue staying on Itogami Island. Plus, they said they wanted to establish friendly relations with Itogami Island through me. Something about... wanting to set up an embassy?"

By the end, La Folia sounded somewhat uncertain, softly muttering a couple sentences.

Sayaka: "..."

She thought to herself—what kind of friendly diplomatic relations is this? This is clearly marrying off their daughter!

Though she didn't need to say this out loud. Given the certain silver-haired princess's current psychological state, telling her this would basically be a reward.

"So when exactly is Bokue-kun coming? Once he arrives, I need to tell him about this~"

After the brief recollection came even deeper longing. Having finished speaking, La Folia was about to lie back on the sofa and start rolling around again.

I feel like La Folia is increasingly developing toward being a lonely little wife keeping the house...

Watching from the side, Sayaka couldn't help mentally complaining.

Well, though she herself wasn't much better off.

Thinking carefully, this was already the third or fourth day since Bokue had left Itogami Island, right? Adding the day La Folia got stood up earlier, they'd gone nearly a week without meeting.

That guy... he's not having so much fun with some woman in Kyoto that he forgot everything, is he?

Just as Sayaka reached this thought, golden light suddenly flashed through the suite's living room.

Immediately after, the young man's familiar voice came from behind her.

"Sorry, I wanted to come earlier but got delayed a bit. Have you two eaten dinner yet, Sayaka, La Folia?"

"!"

"!"

Two exclamation marks appeared simultaneously above both girls' heads. Sayaka instinctively turned to look.

But the instant the young man's figure entered her vision, someone launched from the sofa behind her, leaping up with arms spread wide mid-air. Her large princess dress hem fluttered up with the wind, blocking Sayaka's view.

It was La Folia.

Perhaps pent up from not seeing him so many days, she directly flew into the young man's embrace without caring about any sense of propriety, hugging him tightly.

"Bokue-kun, you're finally here!"

"Haven't eaten yet—we were waiting for you."