Qiluo set her empty pudding cup on the table and stood up. Misa Tachibana thought she was leaving and flipped to the next page of her inventory sheet, only to find the girl walking around behind her.
“Store Owner, you mentioned earlier that the labels fall off easily.” Qiluo reached over to a nearby utility shelf and grabbed a spare roll of adhesive tape. “There are still several boxes of new stock in the warehouse. Let me reinforce the labels before I head out. It's not like I have anything else to do after work anyway.”
“You don't need to work overtime for something like this—”
“I've worked at other part-time jobs before and specialized in applying these labels.” Qiluo spun the roll of tape around her finger, already heading toward the warehouse. “Besides, it's hard for you to put pressure on your left hand, and your shoulder must get sore when you reach high with your right hand, doesn't it?”
Misa Tachibana had thought no one would notice that detail.
The fluorescent lights in the warehouse were brighter than those in the breakroom. Qiluo squatted in front of the shelves, unboxing the newly arrived drinks box by box. She used the tape to secure the labels to the exact same spot on the outside of each cardboard box, then peeled off the old labels, folded them neatly, and set them aside.
Sitting in her wheelchair, Misa Tachibana helped by handing her tape and double-checking the batch numbers. The two of them worked together with a synergy that was better than expected.
During a brief pause in their work, Qiluo took the opportunity of passing the tape to purposely brush against the back of Misa Tachibana's hand. At the moment of contact, her detection array captured a faint fluctuation of mana.
Did anyone really think Qiluo Tian Gong would work overtime?
She only wanted to stay a bit longer to get a better grasp of the Store Owner's mana.
After all, she was the type of person who would get angry at anyone who forced her to work overtime.
She lifted a newly labeled box onto the shelf and asked without turning around, “Store Owner, you said earlier that your shoulder gets sore when the weather is bad. The wind has been really strong the past few nights. Has it been aching for days now?”
“...You're quite observant.”
“Occupational hazard.” Qiluo folded the empty cardboard box, stuffed it into the recycling bin, and patted the dust off her hands. “I used to do physical therapy for people, like acupressure and massage. If you trust me, I can give you a quick massage. I'm no professional, but it's better than just enduring it.”
Misa Tachibana fell silent for a moment, then rolled up her sleeve, revealing a pale wrist.
“Then I'll trouble you.”
She turned sideways, her back to Qiluo, her left shoulder leaning slightly forward—a posture that showed she was willing to leave herself completely vulnerable to another person.
Telling a bold-faced lie with a straight face, Qiluo placed her hands on Misa Tachibana's shoulders.
She didn't know the first thing about massage. Her only experience remotely related to "physical therapy" was using her mana to help clear her mentor's magic circuits in her original world. Every single time, it had ended with her mentor complaining she was too heavy-handed and smacking her on the back of the head.
But this was all just an excuse so she could make physical contact and examine the mana scar beneath her left shoulder.
Standing behind Misa Tachibana, Qiluo gently rested her hands on her shoulders.
They had had brief physical contact before, but she had only been able to capture scattered fragments of mana then.
Now that she had an excuse, she could openly keep her hands on Misa Tachibana's shoulders. She dialed the precision of her detection array to the absolute maximum.
Qiluo began kneading Misa Tachibana's shoulder with her thumbs in circular motions. At the same time, her detection magic coated her fingers like a thin, transparent film, mapping out the flow of mana around Misa Tachibana's shoulder perfectly in her consciousness.
Misa Tachibana's shoulders instinctively tensed up at the initial touch, but she quickly relaxed them and lowered her head.
“Has anyone ever massaged this for you before?” she asked as she kneaded.
“...No. I had a rehabilitation therapist when I was in the hospital, but that was treatment, not a massage.”
Misa Tachibana's voice sounded much more relaxed than usual. It was hard to tell if it was because Qiluo's technique was actually that good.
At least, Qiluo herself believed it was because of her skill.
“Then you can come to me more often in the future.”
Qiluo's hands worked the area between Misa Tachibana's left shoulder and collarbone. Although her collar blocked her view, she could clearly feel the flow of mana beneath the skin.
Pressing down gently, she found it buried very deep. It would have been impossible to discover without concentrating intensely on her investigation.
“How about here? Does it feel sore?” She pressed down on that spot again.
“A little, but it's not bad.”
“It's just an occupational hazard,” Misa Tachibana said, brushing the topic aside without any emotional fluctuation in her voice.
“I used to work on a factory assembly line. I repeated the same motion too many times, and it left me with this shoulder issue.”
Store Owner Tachibana, you really are a habitual liar!
But Qiluo still didn't expose her.
Misa Tachibana's shoulder tensed slightly when she pressed that spot, only to quickly relax again.
“What about here? Is it sore?” Qiluo slowly moved to different spots.
“...A little.”
Qiluo felt the fluctuation of mana beneath her fingertips grow slightly stronger. It was indeed responding to her pressure.
This discovery lit up a corner of her heart. The circuit could still react to external mana stimulation.
That was a good sign.
The Store Owner probably just thought her old injury was being massaged and wouldn't think any deeper of it.
Qiluo switched to using her palms to rub the entire shoulder area.
“Store Owner, do you usually live alone?”
“Yes. A studio apartment, not far from here.”
“So what do you usually do when you get home after work?”
“Watch TV, occasionally look through old photos.” Misa Tachibana paused. “What about you? Since you live alone, how do you usually handle meals?”
“Convenience store bentos, or ordering takeout. Sometimes when I'm lazy, I just eat a pineapple bun.”
“You still need to eat your three meals on time. You're still growing.” Misa Tachibana's tone was exactly the same as when she lectured the three kids at the headquarters.
Qiluo suppressed a laugh, nearly letting slip, Is that what you tell Night Sakura and the others too? Fortunately, she managed to bite her tongue just in time.
Misa Tachibana closed her eyes.
Tian Gong's pressure was sometimes light and sometimes heavy, completely lacking any proper rhythm.
This child has definitely never learned how to massage.
But strangely enough, the areas she massaged were indeed growing warm.
Misa Tachibana was no stranger to this warmth. Many years ago, after every battle, her Contract Spirit would use a similar method to help relieve the tension in her neck and shoulders.
That little creature would perch on her shoulder, tapping the back of her neck while nagging, “You took an attack head-on again.”
She instinctively pressed her hand against her left shoulder.
Even the Association's best healing Magical Girls were completely helpless, and Tian Gong's technique was clearly a complete mess, yet it somehow worked. It left her not knowing what to say.
“Tian Gong, did you really learn massage before?”
“I'm self-taught. Is it really that bad? I told you I wasn't a professional—” Qiluo immediately pulled her hands back.
“No, keep going. It's better than I expected.” Misa Tachibana closed her eyes once more, feeling those clumsy hands knead her shoulders in circular motions, alternating between light and heavy pressure in the darkness.
This clumsiness actually put her at ease. If Tian Gong's technique were truly skilled, she would probably suspect that the girl had some ulterior motive.
Rate on N.U.
