Did Rin really go through with it?! I was just joking!
Hearing the strange noises coming from the room next door, Yakumo Yukari's pupils trembled slightly.
Even though she immediately covered Chen's ears, the vague yet suggestive sounds still made her restless. Taking advantage of a lull, she did her best to coax Chen to sleep as soon as possible.
Seeing Chen gradually close her eyes, Yukari felt the urge to open a gap and peek inside. However, fearing she might witness something sinful, she hesitated.
Meanwhile, Patchouli's face was burning red, her fingers nearly tearing the pages of her book. She simply couldn't focus.
Since her room was closer to the adjacent bed, the sounds were even clearer to her than to Yukari.
With every whimper Marisa let out, Patchouli felt an unbearable tingling sensation all over her body, as if Remi were crawling on her.
'Damn it, was this why Yukari switched rooms?!' Grinding her teeth in frustration, Patchouli finally lost patience and knocked on the wall.
But instead of silence, she was met with Marisa's nearly broken scream. The entire wall trembled for a moment.
Patchouli's pupils shook as she gulped.
Did she knock at the wrong time?
Then, the next second—
"Yaaaahh—! I surrender! I really su—mmph!"
"I heard my bones snap! I swear I did!"
"Help! Pachy! Yukari! Reimu! Someone save me—!"
"You damn dog! I'll fight you to the death!"
"Waaaah! I was just joking! I know I was wrong!"
Marisa's increasingly miserable cries echoed through the room, making both Yukari and Patchouli freeze.
Wait… why do these screams sound… different from before?
Yet despite Marisa's pleas, Rin remained unfazed, continuing his chiropractic massage session.
"Stop howling. I'm fixing your bones; most people would kill for this kind of treatment."
"This is my family's secret technique. I'm only letting you experience it because you're the top employee. Don't forget to pay up later—staff get a generous 20% discount."
"I'd rather not have this 'privilege' at all—!!! Stop it, you're gonna break something for real!"
"Can't you just massage me without the bone-cracking part? Please?!"
Marisa's voice was now laced with a mix of sobbing and hysteria.
With her pain sensitivity multiplied tenfold and Rin's highly professional realignment techniques, she had never felt such agony in her entire life.
She had always tried to do good in her life—why was she suffering like this?!
Hearing her protests, Rin simply smacked her soft, fair thigh with a pat.
"Nice try. Chen's next door—you better not say anything inappropriate in front of a kid."
Marisa shuddered, barely able to let out a few whimpers of protest before Rin suddenly leaned in close.
A hushed whisper, laced with an almost hypnotic allure, echoed in her ear.
"Of course, if you want to experience the full massage… we could always try it when no one's around."
Marisa's breath hitched.
She recalled her completely unhinged state during the massage session earlier, her gaze shifting awkwardly.
If no one was around, what would happen to her then?!
Just as she was debating whether or not to bring Rin home tomorrow, a sharp jolt of pain from another bone adjustment yanked her thoughts back to reality, making her forget all about the future.
Forget tomorrow—surviving today was already a victory!
The screaming lasted for an entire hour before finally dying down.
When Rin emerged from the room, Marisa was sprawled motionless on the bed, looking as if she might perish at any moment.
Yet, as the pain subsided, an overwhelming sense of lightness and relief washed over her like a tidal wave.
Marisa felt weightless, as if her body had been completely purified, shedding all burdens.
'Maybe… doing it again wouldn't be so bad?'
As soon as the thought surfaced, her mental defenses wavered dangerously.
Meanwhile, next door, Yukari and Patchouli, upon hearing the last of the screams, finally let out a sigh of relief.
Damn it.
By the end of it, even they felt like their bones were being pounded with tiny hammers—sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily—always teetering on the edge of breaking.
They were definitely going to have nightmares about this.
But at least… it was over.
Patchouli let out a deep breath, closed her book, placed it beside her pillow, and burrowed under the covers, peacefully shutting her eyes.
As time slowly passed and drowsiness overtook her consciousness, a strange drilling sound suddenly pierced through the wall, stabbing directly into her eardrums.
What the hell was that noise?!
Patchouli's bloodshot eyes snapped open in rage as she stared at the adjacent room in disbelief.
The room that had just fallen silent was now erupting with the sound of construction work, an electric drill screeching non-stop, relentlessly tearing at her fragile nerves.
…Was this… Marisa snoring?!
How the hell was that a sound a human could make?!
Patchouli's face turned green. She yanked her pillow over her head, desperately trying to block out the absurd snoring.
Thankfully, it worked. The drilling sound faded slightly.
Just as she began to relax, however, she heard the rumbling of a tractor rolling into her ears, completely obliterating her last shred of sanity.
Her fists clenched—her knuckles turning white.
Why didn't Rin just kill that thing earlier?!
Her blood pressure skyrocketing, Patchouli slammed her fist into the wall.
BANG!
"Ugh—!"
A whimper escaped her lips as she recoiled, curling up into a ball from the pain.
At least… the tractor noises had finally stopped.
But the next second—an even louder jackhammer sound erupted from the other side of the wall, completely shattering her reason.
That's it! I'm gonna KILL this damn beast!!!
Patchouli shot up from her bed, only to nearly collapse from the sudden movement.
As she stormed out of her room, ready to murder someone, she spotted Rin casually strolling toward the living room, carrying his blanket like he was heading to a safe zone.
Patchouli's eyes lit up as she immediately called out—
"Boss!"
"Hm?"
"Ahem… Boss, you worked hard today. You must be exhausted. You should take the room—you need proper rest. I'll just make do in the living room."
Rin gave her a look and gestured toward the construction site-level racket coming from the bedroom.
"Patchouli… listen to that noise. Do you really not feel guilty saying that?"