Sakura and Ino were both leaning back against the steps at the edge of the hot spring pool.
While chatting, their feet would occasionally sway gently, stirring ripples across the surface of the water.
Although their figures could not compare to Hinata's and it was hard for them to float in the hot spring pool, especially Sakura. Calling it completely flat would be a bit too much, but there was only a slight rise and fall.
However, in other areas they were in no way inferior. First there was the near-perfect abdominal line at her lower belly, and then those long, slender thighs that appeared faintly beneath the hot spring water.
Their calves were also slim and graceful, and their little feet were crystal clear and delicate.
If seeing Tsunade and Yugito made Aoba imagine being stepped on by them, then when seeing these two girls, all he could think about was how to hold them carefully in his palms and cherish them.
Then, Aoba fell into thought.
He was thinking that according to what Yakumo had said yesterday, Sakura and Ino must also have their own plans.
After all, they were already at a hot spring, and one with mixed bathing at that.
So should he be a bit more proactive? After all, with delicious food right in front of him, doing nothing seemed like a terrible waste.
But he was also worried that it might disrupt their plans and lead to a bad experience.
However, Sakura and Ino did not give him much time to think.
The two of them stopped their conversation at the same time, then exchanged a look and nodded in unison.
The next moment, Sakura, who had previously only had her head above the water, stood up directly.
Then she stood in front of Aoba with her hands on her hips.
"Sakura?", Aoba stared at her blankly.
A few strands of pink hair clung to her rosy cheeks, and sparkling droplets of water slid down her graceful… flat curves, exposing snowy white skin in front of Aoba.
Because his attention had been focused on her little feet earlier, Aoba only now realized that the swimsuit she was wearing looked kind of sexy if someone else were wearing it.
"Aoba-kun, let's have a breath-holding contest!"
Sakura said with a bright smile.
"Breath-holding?", Aoba looked at her in confusion.
"Yeah. Let's compete at holding our breath. Whoever wins gets to order the two losers to do one thing. Anything at all is fine. How about it? Isn't that fair?", Sakura even blinked at him, looking as if she were tempting him.
"Sounds good. I want to play too."
Ino spoke up in agreement.
Aoba looked at Ino, who was acting like a hype man, and found it a little funny.
This was probably part of their plan.
But winning meant he could order the two of them to do one thing, anything at all. He felt like his passion was being lit.
"Are you sure you want to compete with me in holding your breath?"
Aoba reminded them, "My lung capacity is very large."
"Of course!"
Sakura nodded immediately, looking full of confidence.
Her personality this past year had been influenced quite a bit by Inner Sakura.
"I'm fine too!"
Although Ino was not as confident as Sakura, she still chose to participate without hesitation.
She felt that winning or losing did not really matter, because Aoba-kun's gaze when looking at her feet just now had been completely undisguised.
As long as Sakura did not win, it was fine.
That could count as fair competition, right?
"Then let's compete."
Aoba said with a smile and raised three fingers.
"I'll count to three, and we'll start right away, okay?"
Sakura and Ino nodded seriously.
A breath-holding contest itself did not require any special preparation. After swimming to the deeper middle area of the hot spring pool, they were already ready to go.
When Aoba bent down one finger, the three of them inhaled deeply at the same time.
When the last finger went down, they all dove in together, plunging into the hot spring pool.
Because it was natural hot spring water and the temperature was relatively high, the three of them closed their eyes while holding their breath, otherwise it would be easy to hurt their eyes.
Then each of them silently counted time in their hearts, while also sensing the situation of the other two around them.
If this were a normal breath-holding contest, the final winner would definitely be Aoba.
But the competition only specified holding one's breath, and there were no other restrictions.
Inner Sakura appeared directly beside Sakura, informing her of Aoba's and Ino's directions.
Then Sakura first slowly moved toward Ino. Her fingers flexed, and when they reached Ino's waist, she suddenly pressed in and started tickling her.
"Pfft! Wah! Ah!"
Ino's held breath was instantly disrupted, and she even choked on a mouthful of water. She cried out and hurriedly stood up.
"Sakura! You… how can you do this?"
After seeing clearly who was causing trouble, Ino said angrily.
This was not what the two of them had agreed on.
After knocking Ino out of the competition, Sakura also swam over to Aoba and had already started attacking him.
First came tickling.
Aoba, who was holding his breath, had already noticed Sakura's actions toward Ino, but he did not care.
With a body like steel, how could he lose to something like this?
Sakura also found it very strange.
'Why is it not working?'
Waist, soles of the feet, armpits… Sakura had used every trick she had, but Aoba showed no reaction at all.
Instead, she herself was about to run out of breath from all the movement.
'Forget it.'
Seeing that there was really no way, Sakura chose to give up and directly placed her hands on Aoba's waist and abdomen, beginning to enjoy this rare benefit.
"Sakura, what are you doing?"
Before Aoba could say anything, Ino could not hold back anymore.
'Doing something so envy-inducing… how hateful.'
Even though she was already out, she could not just watch Aoba get bullied, so she also pounced over, wanting to pull Sakura's hands away.
But her hands kept roaming over Aoba's abs, and she could not push Sakura away at all.
"..."
What could Aoba even say?
Sakura and Ino's fangirl attributes were a bit too strong.
But if they were only fangirling over him alone, that was really cute.
Letting the two girls' little hands move around on his body, Aoba just needed to wait until Sakura popped her head out of the water, and he would naturally win this game.
He had already started thinking about what to make these two adorable girls do.
"Hm?"
However, right as he was thinking, his eyes suddenly widened underwater, and then with a splash, he burst out of the water.
With one hand each, he lifted Sakura and Ino out as well, like picking up kittens.
Then he squinted his eyes and questioned, "Who was it?"
"Huh?"
Ino blinked, completely confused.
"..."
On the other side, Sakura was staring blankly at her own palm, occasionally making a grasping motion, murmuring to herself.
"So-so amazing."
The answer was already obvious.
The corner of Aoba's mouth could not help but twitch.
It would have been fine if they just took a little advantage, but someone had reached for a place that should not be touched.
The key point was that the force was not light at all.
Luckily his constitution was extraordinary. Just that one move earlier, if Ultraman had come, he probably would have lit up a red warning light.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.