Shouko began to feel a little uncomfortable. While Akira absentmindedly played with her hand, his eyes kept flicking downward—toward her bare feet.

They were home, so Shouko wasn't wearing socks. Her fair ankles had a soft pink tint, and her toes curled slightly, betraying her self-consciousness.

Embarrassed under his gaze, she wiggled her toes and mumbled, "Akira… don't stare. My feet are dirty…"

Snapped out of his thoughts, Akira quickly looked away, scratching his cheek. "Ah—sorry," he said lightly, trying to recover with a change of topic.

"Anyway… good thing we came back early today. Otherwise we'd have been out there frying in the sun like the others."

Shouko eagerly latched onto the new subject. "Miyoko said she even got a shade darker!"

The awkward moment passed, and the two quietly got back to their books. The first half of the evening was spent chatting and doing homework. Later, Akira turned into "Teacher Akira," helping Shouko review her recent lessons with his usual mix of seriousness and teasing.

Around 10:30, the alarm on the bedside clock went off.

Shouko let out a small yawn and raised her hand. "Teacher Akira, I'm sleepy."

Akira took off his glasses and gave her a sly grin, gesturing to his bed. "Perfect timing. I'm sleepy too. Let's go together."

Shouko looked at his face, then at the bed—then quickly stood up, gathered her things, and called out, "Pervert!" before running out of the room.

"Hey! I was just joking—don't fall!" Akira called after her.

But his warning only made her feet move faster as she disappeared down the stairs.

In the Living Room

Miyamura Shizuka, curled up on the sofa watching her drama, heard the pounding footsteps. She looked up just as Shouko skidded to a stop in the doorway.

"Why are you running like that? You'll fall! Did that boy bully you?" she asked, rapid-fire.

Shouko quickly waved her hands. "No, no! Akira didn't do anything! I've been running up and down these stairs since I was little—I won't fall. You don't have to worry."

To prove her point, she gave her chest a confident pat.

Shizuka poked her forehead. "It's always the ones who say that who fall the hardest."

Shouko stuck out her tongue with a sheepish smile. But Shizuka saw how tired she looked and decided not to press further.

"Alright, alright—go to bed. It's late."

As she turned to go back to her show, Shouko called out: "Godmother! Wait—"

Shizuka turned back. "What is it?"

Shouko hesitated, shifting her weight awkwardly.

"Um… I was wondering…"

"…Do you think the hand cream you gave me before works on… feet?"

Her voice faded more and more with each word, and her head dipped lower and lower.

Shizuka blinked. Had she heard that right?

Then, looking at Shoko's flushed ears, she instantly had a theory. She narrowed her eyes and asked cautiously:

"…Is that boy developing... peculiar interests already?"

Shouko's head snapped up. "Auntie! What are you even talking about?! This has nothing to do with Akira!"

Flustered, she darted away in her slippers, her embarrassment chasing her down the hallway.

Shizuka watched her go and sighed, now even more convinced something was up.

She glanced back at the TV. "Just one more episode," she muttered. "Then I'll go have a word with that kid. Today it's feet—tomorrow, who knows?"

Later, Upstairs

True to her word, as soon as the episode ended, Shizuka got up and marched to Akira's room.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Akira? You still up?"

"Yeah."

Click.

He looked over to see his mom stepping into the room, scanning it like a detective.

"…Why'd you even knock if you were just gonna come in?" he asked.

Shizuka smiled vaguely. "Courtesy."

She glanced around the room, found nothing alarming, then sat down. But instead of asking anything directly, she hesitated, twiddled her thumbs, and finally said:

"…Never mind. Forget it. You should sleep soon. I'm going back downstairs."

Akira raised an eyebrow. That was… weird.

Before leaving, Shizuka reached out and gently patted his head.

Akira stared at the door after she left, utterly baffled. She came in, acted like she was about to interrogate him, then left after slapping him on the head?

What just happened?

Meanwhile, Back at the Nishimiya House

Shouko passed through the living room and saw her mother still typing on her laptop.

"Mom, get some rest soon. Good night."

Nishimiya Yaeko gave her a brief glance, then said, "Drink the warm milk in the kitchen before bed."

"Got it."

Shouko found the glass on the table and drank it in a few gulps, then washed it, returned it to its place, and quietly headed to her room.

Sitting down on her bed, she pulled out the hand cream her godmother had given her and muttered:

"Hands and feet are pretty similar... so it should work, right?"

She stared at the little bottle. "…The effect shouldn't be that different anyway."

Without thinking further, she squeezed a bit into her hand and gently began to rub it into her feet.

"Still... I really don't get it. What's so interesting about feet?"

She looked at her own face in the mirror and pouted.

"Don't I look better than my feet?"

She paused.

"…Tomorrow I'll ask Miyoko. Maybe she knows if there's foot cream that actually works."

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POWER STONE!!!

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