I Sealed Sukuna’s Finger#342+343: Good Morning, Darling—Sayaka's Good Things

From sunrise to blazing daylight, when Bokue Keikain opened his eyes, it was already his customary eight in the morning.

Pitter-patter—

For him, this night had undoubtedly been peaceful and uneventful.

After all, he'd set the barrier covering the entire island himself. No one knew better than Bokue the strength of his own barriers.

The thing is, beyond rules in this world, there's also the concept of power levels. Like in Dragon Ball—the Kamehameha wave fired by young Goku in the early series wasn't even in the same dimension as the one from GT's Super Saiyan 4 red-furred Goku.

Though the technique was identical—just a simple energy release—the difference in the users' strength led to completely different results.

Barriers worked the same way. Though it was the simplest, most basic defensive barrier that even Keikain family children could use a little, in Bokue's hands its strength could withstand planet-busting attacks.

In other words, even if Earth itself exploded, the small island they were on would remain perfectly intact.

Well then, five more minutes...

Looking at the ceiling that was no different from his memory, Bokue considered and decided to snooze a bit longer.

Not like there was any reason to get up early anyway.

Even hotel checkout times extended to eleven in the morning.

However, just as the youth was about to close his eyes again, La Folia's voice suddenly came from beside him.

"Good morning, Bokue-kun."

Hmm?

Under normal circumstances, Bokue would have just casually replied "good morning" and left it at that. But somehow, Bokue unexpectedly noticed this voice seemed to be coming from way too close to him—even the slightly warm, moist air from her speaking could gently brush against his ear.

As if she were speaking right next to his ear.

"..."

He reopened his eyes and turned to look left.

In Bokue's field of vision, less than twenty centimeters from his face on the left side of the bed, a certain silver-haired princess was lying on her stomach. Her smooth, pale arms extended from under the covers, crossed and folded on the pillow. Her head rested in the cradle formed by her arms, tilting as she looked at him with narrowed eyes and a smile.

"I have a question..."

"You can't say things like that."

Bokue had barely started speaking when La Folia stopped him.

The silver-haired princess wagged her finger with an expression of disappointment at his lack of refinement.

"When you first wake up in the morning, you can't say boring things like 'I have a question' to the girl beside you in bed. You should say 'Darling, you were amazing last night' instead."

"?"

Bokue slowly formed a question mark.

That was exactly the problem! Why were you here beside his pillow?!

Weren't you in another bed when the lights went out last night?

Pitter-patter—

"...That phrase isn't meant for situations like this."

After a moment's silence, Bokue covered his forehead.

La Folia, on the other hand, looked curious.

"Really? But when I was in the palace, my handmaidens always told me that if I shared a bed with someone of the opposite sex, I should say that when I woke up. I remembered it, but since I never had the chance, I'd never tried it. Now that I finally have an opportunity, I wanted to test it out. Hmm... is something wrong?"

"..."

Well, from a certain angle, it was indeed correct.

After all, if things had progressed to sharing a bed, they were probably already lovers or beyond. Saying that phrase upon waking wouldn't really be problematic.

But their current situation was obviously rather special, not falling under those conventional circumstances.

In fact, La Folia appearing in his bed was already an extremely strange situation in itself.

"So getting back to the point, why are you in my bed, La Folia..."

"Oh right, speaking of which, Bokue-kun really loves to be pampered, doesn't he?"

"?"

As if sharing a psychic connection, both started speaking simultaneously. Bokue, who'd wanted to ask about the cause of the current situation, stopped because of La Folia's words.

Loves to be pampered? Him? What the hell?

"Don't look so unconvinced. I'm being serious."

La Folia hummed proudly.

"Last night after I slipped into your covers, Bokue-kun actually took the initiative to hug me. They say sleeping positions reflect a person's subconscious personality. I didn't expect that while Bokue-kun seems a bit aloof when awake, you're actually quite proactive."

"...Really?"

Bokue suddenly had an ominous feeling.

Back home, Kuroka often refused to sleep properly, especially in the mornings when he wasn't awake yet but his body had already "raised the flag." She'd sneakily start operating directly, so after it happened enough times, Bokue had developed a certain instinct—automatically hugging any female within reach while sleeping, like some kind of magnetic effect.

And what happened after the hugging didn't need to be explained.

Everything was automatic, no brain involvement required.

In other words, he could fill a certain perverted cat to the brim even while dreaming.

"So... La Folia, is your body okay?"

Bokue asked tentatively.

"Hmm? I'm fine."

Seemingly not understanding the youth's hint at all, La Folia tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh my, is Bokue-kun worried about me? But don't worry, my body has absolutely no problems at all. After a night's rest, I've completely recovered."

"Good that there's no problem."

Hearing there were absolutely no issues, Bokue immediately relaxed considerably.

After all, with his size and intensity, so far only Nagisa with her True Ancestor-level recovery ability could completely handle it. Even someone as strong as Lady Venelana or the well-trained Kuroka—if he got serious for one round, they'd easily end up only able to walk by supporting themselves against walls the next day.

As for pure, innocent maidens like La Folia without any healing-type Sacred Gear protection—if he'd accidentally done something to her in his sleep, she'd probably already be trembling with legs shaking, eyes rolled back, and unconscious.

There was no way she could be having a normal conversation like this.

Pitter-patter—

Huh?

The subtle water sounds came again. Having heard it several times since waking up, Bokue finally became somewhat concerned and couldn't help asking:

"By the way, La Folia, do you hear water sounds in the room?"

"Oh, right, that should be..."

Reminded by this, La Folia seemed to come to her senses, turning sideways and raising her head to look toward the bathroom where the water sounds were coming from.

The bathroom light was on, a girl's silhouette projected on the door—tall and graceful.

Hmm? So Sayaka had a habit of showering in the morning?

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

Meanwhile in the bathroom, the pitter-patter of water echoed through the not-so-spacious interior.

Sayaka Kirasaka stood with one hand braced against the wall, face flushed crimson, chest heaving as she took small, careful breaths. She let the warm water cascade down, plastering her long hair to her shoulders, looking thoroughly disheveled.

"Stupid Bokue..."

"Pervert Bokue..."

The War Dancer muttered under her breath, barely above a whisper.

Not that anyone could blame her.

For a pure maiden who'd not only never been intimate with anyone but actively avoided contact with the opposite sex her entire life, nearly two hours of continuous peak experiences had left her completely exhausted—both physically and mentally.

The whole thing had been ridiculously coincidental too.

Sayaka vaguely remembered how someone had initially just been practicing parallel parking outside, going back and forth repeatedly. But gradually, as if being controlled, she'd found herself involuntarily moving along with the rhythm. Then suddenly, without warning, he'd turned the wheel and crashed straight through.

After that, it became completely unstoppable. And by the end, everything had just... gulp!

Recalling those moments, the War Dancer girl couldn't help biting her lower lip, her free hand gently pressing against her still-flat abdomen.

Though nothing showed externally, only she knew the truth.

That scorching, filling sensation.

Look, just because she had androphobia didn't mean she was some naive little girl who didn't understand these things, okay?

If anything, her fear of men meant she understood male behavior better than most.

Having all of that just... surge inside like that—that's how women get pregnant!

If she really did end up pregnant... wait, what would be a good name for the baby?

No no no, this wasn't the time for such thoughts!

Suddenly realizing her mind had wandered completely off-track, Sayaka shook her head frantically, trying to fling the excess thoughts from her brain.

The real issue was how she should face Bokue Keikain going forward.

Should she pretend nothing happened? Or come clean about everything?

And most importantly—what exactly did she feel toward Bokue?

Hard to say, but definitely not dislike. Zero aversion. Maybe even... liked him a little?

If someone had asked yesterday, Sayaka would never have admitted any of this. But after half a day plus a full night together on this deserted island, she had to acknowledge she'd changed.

At the very least, if she truly felt nothing for Bokue, seeing him embracing Princess La Folia wouldn't have driven her to separate them.

So what should she do now...

Looking down at her fingers, wrinkled from the continuous water exposure, Sayaka sighed softly with complicated emotions. Feeling the temperature on her cheeks finally dropping somewhat, she turned off the shower.

Bracing against the wall, she turned and grabbed a fresh towel from the rack, wrapping it around herself. After shaking the water droplets from her feet, she exited the shower stall, crossed the bathroom, and reached for the door.

Click—

The handle turned down. As Sayaka appeared in the bathroom doorway looking out at the bedroom, the other two were still on the bed. They seemed to have awakened while she showered—one lying down, one propped up, chatting back and forth.

Sayaka: "..."

Acting all intimate like that!

All her previous doubts and confusion evaporated instantly. Seeing this scene, the War Dancer girl felt only a sour taste rising in her heart. Suddenly forgetting all about her weak legs and sore waist, she stomped across the floor leaving wet footprints, marching to the bedside where she cleared her throat loudly.

"Princess La Folia, you're awake, I see."

"Hmm? Of course~"

The silver-haired princess, still chatting with the young man beside her, turned her head with a puzzled tilt.

"I've been awake for a while now, just talking with Bokue."

"I see. Then could Your Highness please get out of bed?"

"Eh? Why?"

"Because it's getting late. Time to get up."

Sayaka emphasized the words "get up" particularly heavily.

Without question, for royalty like La Folia who'd received elite education from childhood, not only was staying up all night forbidden—sleeping in was absolutely prohibited.

"Oh, that makes sense. Let's get up then."

Agreeing without hesitation, La Folia threw off the covers to climb out of bed.

But she'd clearly forgotten one crucial detail—she was currently completely naked. The towel wrapped around her before bed had long since been displaced during their night of embracing, now lying on the floor beside the bed.

If she threw off the covers now, obviously she'd—

"Wait, Your Highness, please—!"

"Hmm?"

"Hey..."

Within one second, all three voices rang out in succession.

First La Folia froze mid-motion at Sayaka's shout. Then Sayaka yanked the covers forcefully, trying to wrap them around La Folia. Meanwhile, from the inner side of the bed, Bokue—realizing what a certain War Dancer was attempting—also tried to voice a warning.

But the covers were pulled away regardless.

As the bedding transformed into a cloak enveloping the silver-haired princess, Bokue—who'd been relying on those covers for concealment—lost his last shield.

The young man's well-defined muscular form lay exposed to the air, along with his proudly raised battle standard.

"Kyaa!"

"Wow..."

Sayaka and La Folia's exclamations rang out in sequence.

One was embarrassed shock, the other surprised curiosity.

Bokue silently covered his face.

This was Kuroka's fault—always stripping his clothes while he slept. By now, Bokue had gotten so used to sleeping naked that even if he wore clothes to bed, he'd find them automatically removed by morning.

Worse, he'd only realized this the instant the covers were yanked away. Too late by then.

"Y-Your Highness, please don't look! You'll get sties!"

Face burning crimson, Sayaka's first instinct was to cover La Folia's eyes, meeting fierce resistance from the silver-haired princess.

"No, just let me look a little, let me see..."

"Absolutely not!"

One trying to cover eyes, the other fiercely resisting.

During their struggle, La Folia lost her balance and tumbled from the bed, covers and all, dragging down Sayaka alongside her.

A tremendous thud echoed through the room, the floor itself seeming to tremble slightly.

"Ow ow ow..."

"Sorry, sorry! Are you alright, Sayaka?"

"I'm... probably fine. Just got my stomach squashed a bit. Anyway, Your Highness, please go to the bathroom and change. Last night's laundry should be dry by now."

Without wasting more words, Sayaka scrambled up at top speed, helped the fallen princess to her feet, and unceremoniously shoved her toward the bathroom.

Then slammed the door behind her.

Really now...

Watching this scene play out like some fast-forwarded comedy sketch, Bokue pressed his palm to his forehead once more.

Whatever. Time to get up anyway.

With that thought, the young man shifted to the bedside.

But just as Bokue was about to step down from the bed, he inadvertently glimpsed a small puddle of cloudy white liquid on the floor below.

Hmm? That looked familiar...

Could it be...

Hiss~