I'm right.

I swear I'm right.

I knew it all along.

I am seeing in me now

The things you swore you saw yourself.

- Dashboard Confessional, Vindicated - Spiderman 2 Movie Soundtrack (2004)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Back at Rio's flat, Leanne peered over the back of the sofa upon hearing the front door open. She'd been dozing where Hank had left her, with wine and teacakes nearby. Through sleepy eyes, and waves of burgundy hair, she assessed the situation.

"Oh, you guys! It's raining?"

"Sukoshi," Rio said, with water clouding her glasses. "A little."

Leanne hopped to her feet and fetched two towels from the bathroom. Rio used one on her hair and the other on the dog.

"Ach," Leanne said, scolding quietly to herself while fetching a third towel for Hank. She smiled big as pie while he dried his shaggy mane. "So. Our guests are staying?" she asked.

Rio's eyes darted between the two, until Hank answered Leanne. "I'm gonna head for home. I need new clothes and stuff."

Leanne's smile didn't fade. "You can clean up here. Take a shower! It's okay!"

A silent gasp parted Rio's lips.

"I'm going to talk to Aika," Hank said to Rio, as well as to Leanne. "She'll know what to do with, ah… about Milton leaving you with Bumbles."

Leanne put in her two cents. "I'd very much like to see her again. Invite her over! She's nice!"

After giving a submissive head bow, Rio took the towels to the kitchen. "Aika doesn't go places," Rio said to Hank as she walked away. "She never leaves her apartment."

"I think I can get her…" Hank began, before Rio interrupted.

"She's not going to… ah ē to. You know. Walk the dog."

Leanne acted tipsy, from both wine and drowsiness. "Why do we have a dog, again, anyway?"

Rio ignored Leanne and continued speaking to Hank. "Aika has done what she can."

"What has she done? I've been with you all day!"

Rio strode up to stand directly beneath Hank's chin. "She has given me you," Rio hissed between clenched teeth, as if by doing so it would prevent Leanne from overhearing.

Sensing confrontation, Bumbles yipped and jumped. Leanne also stepped in, to stand between the two. Speaking her mind about Rio, who hung her head obediently, Leanne addressed Hank.

"If Aika and Rio had you all day, I will now take over. Warm up in the shower and I'll dry your clothes."

"Honestly, Leanne, and thank you. I'm just going home."

"Nonsense!" She laid her hands on his shoulders, to better look him in the eye. "You said so yourself. Aika gave you to Rio. You stay for the night."

"Ah… Actually, Rio said that."

"Whatever." Leanne walked away, to address the room in general. "Listen up! Either Hank and the dog stay here, or Hank and the dog go home. There is no other way."

Rio's gaze rose from the floor. "What?"

Leanne turned to face her, speaking with firm love. "I'm tired, Peeps. I'm drinking, and I have wet dog." She smiled knowingly. "Now, I also have a man. I can deal with it if we keep them both."

For Hank, being with Leanne was again becoming a chore. Still, after spending another day with so many beautiful women, he didn't understand why he wanted to go back to the crap place he called home. The single room he was standing in was as big as his whole flat.

"All right," he said. "I'll stay. I'll sleep on the couch."

"Nonsense!" Leanne said again. "Look at the size of you! If Rio can't make room, then you may have my bed." Her cat-like grin told Rio that, with a man in the house, she had no intention of sleeping on the sofa.

Hank was too tired to notice. "Thanks, but what about you?" he asked with concern.

"What about me, what?"

"Where will you sleep?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On what side of the bed you choose."

"All right, Itazura-mono!" Rio said to her horny roommate, while pushing Hank towards her room. "Get moving, Loverboy! You're staying with me!"

Hank only moved an inch before digging in his heels. He looked at Rio over his shoulder. Then, with a big step forward and another to the side, he broke free and turned to face her. After staring her down, and before Leanne could butt in, he bowed humorously.

"Saki dōzo," he said, sweet as pie, motioning for Rio to lead the way.

Rio's honey skin glistened with embarrassment. She marched into her room, not bothering with the light. If Leanne was drowsy, Rio was dead tired and couldn't get in bed fast enough. With Rio out of the way, Hank and Leanne shared a grin. He gave her another kiss on the forehead as she squeezed him hard by the hips, her hair caressing his face.

"Go," Leanne said while not releasing him, demonstrating strength. "She's waiting for you."

Hank followed after Rio. In the darkness of her room, she was flinging her clothes at a hamper already brimming with laundry. Still wearing her chemise and slip over her bra and panties, she picked up a pair of fuzzy pajama bottoms from atop her well-made bed. The bottoms made Hank smile, for they were covered with cartoon images of Happy Rabbit. Once in those, Rio tossed her slip at the hamper and dove into her bed. She left Hank standing in the doorway, partially lit from the light in the hall.

Rio's head appeared from beneath her covers. She divvied up five pillows, putting two on the side of the bed near Hank.

"And no hanky-panky, Mister, or you'll end up on the floor!" she said, loud enough for Leanne to hear.

Leanne smiled while admiring Hank's butt, framed in Rio's doorway. "I've got the feeling he'll be on the floor no matter what," she said to Bumbles, loving him up with another towel.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I don't have anything to wear," Hank said to the back of Rio's head.

She was lying on two pillows while hugging a third. With a great noise and effort, she rolled over to face him.

"Honestly," she said gruffly. "What do you want me to do?"

"I could sleep with Leanne."

Rio became more civil. "I don't have anything close to fitting you. You have a t-shirt? Hai? Under your other shirt? Can you sleep in underwear?"

As soon as the words left her lips, she knew what he would say. After all, she'd brought him breakfast every day at Milton's.

"I don't wear clothes to bed."

Rio groaned while rolling over, again facing away. "Really, Hank-sama? Really? Can't you make an exception?"

"I also don't have clothes for tomorrow. I'm not sleeping in what I have to wear when I wake up."

Rio bit her tongue, knowing better than to speak.

"I need a shower, too."

"You can use mine!" Leanne said, eavesdropping on Hank's half of the conversation.

Rio flopped over to again face Hank, this time holding up her head. "I don't care, you see? The shower's over there." She motioned with her eyes. "There are soaps and towels and everything. Probably a hanger on the hook of my door you can use." She plopped down on her pillows. "Do what you want. I'm tired. I'm really very sorry."

"Yeah, I see," he grumbled, giving her hospitality a failing grade.

He turned his back to her, and she watched him remove his shirt straight up and over his head using just one hand, like the way she saw him do during their first morning together at Milton's. After partially closing the door, he found the hanger on the hook and placed his shirt upon it. Then bending slightly at the waist with his butt still facing her, he removed his t-shirt the same way—straight up with just one hand.

While Hank hung his t-shirt on the hook, Rio softened her gaze. He was definitely handsome—tall and strong, but not overly-muscled. She marveled at the way his supple body flexed, his naked torso back-lit from the light beyond.

Her physical response to him taking off his clothes came as a surprise. "We have a home gym you can use in the morning if you want," she said.

He turned to face her, undoing the brand new studded leather belt she had given him. "I might like that," he said to her gaping eyes. "Thanks."

"Yeah… ah," was all she could utter as he unzipped his fly.

After Hank had pulled off his damp black jeans, Rio wondered how she was going to keep her brains up in her head. Hidden in the darkness, she breathed hard through her mouth, panting like a dog.

"You're going to have to either turn around or get naked yourself," he said. "I'm taking off all my clothes."

"Ach, hai!" Rio rolled over, though her hormones told her to strip. "Do what you want. I'll be asleep before you know it."

"Well then, good night. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yes Hank-sama," she said, her face stuffed in a pillow. "Good night."

He closed the door after hanging his pants on the hook. Finding it too dark to see, he cracked it open a slit to let in a sliver of light. He then stripped off his socks and boxer briefs as Rio fussed and rustled, knowing full well what was happening. If she caught one whiff of the way he smelled after he'd been outside all day, and was now wet from the rain, she feared she may never fall asleep. More than that, she worried about what they might do if he also stayed awake.

Bumbles skittered restlessly as Leanne held him by the collar, crouching in the hall while watching Hank undress. Each time Hank closed Rio's door further, Bumbles went more bananas. When the poor dog could take no more, Leanne sent him on his way with a happy shove.

"Sweet dreams in there, you three!" she called as a warning to the couple.

She grinned ear to ear as Bumbles caromed off the walls and doors, and everything else between it and Rio. The dog didn't stop bouncing off things until it had jumped on her.

"Get off, you lummox!" Rio shouted, shoving the dog to the floor.

Leanne continued teasing as Hank again closed the door. "Behave yourselves! No barking!"

While ridding herself of Bumbles, Rio caught a glimpse of Hank slipping into her bed. Unfortunately, or perhaps not, she also caught a whiff of his entire, naked body.

Oh my God.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Okay! That is THE END of The Book of KINDNESS, the third Light Novel in the series! The Book of ABSTINENCE is next!

And I do believe, for Rio's sake, that it can't come soon enough. 👑💕🎀

The Book of KINDNESS - Chapter ELEVEN

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