My Gift Is “Beauty”. I Think It’s Useless, but It Seems to Be an S-Rank Gift With the Strongest Buff Effect for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 3: Skill "Fat Burning"

Chapter 3: Skill “Fat Burning”

“Three A-rank adventurers from the <Tenchi Guild> have conquered another dungeon! This time, it was a ‘Lower A-Class Dungeon’ in Shinjuku, Tokyo. With their beautiful looks and incredible strength as adventurers, they are the talk of the town!”

The next morning.

While eating breakfast in the living room before heading to school, a news report about adventurers played on the TV.

The screen showed three beautiful girls from a guild called <Tenchi Guild>. Each of them possessed powerful gifts, and for a while now, they had been the object of Hiroyo’s admiration. They still looked young, and their exact age was unknown, but their appearance suggested they were high school or college students.

Gifts were essentially natural talents. A person’s growth depended on their own effort, but the upper limit was practically set in stone. From what he had heard, the three of them had gifts related to swords, fire, and lightning.

Despite not having a healer in their party, they always challenged dungeons and annihilated monsters with sheer firepower.

“…………”

Up until the day before yesterday, watching news about adventurers had been the highlight of Hiroyo’s day.

He had believed that one day, he would fight in dungeons, make a name for himself, and earn money.

“You’re brooding again. ‘Mental Heal.'”

Sitting across the dining table, Hiroyo’s mother, Honoka, moved her finger slightly and cast her skill’s magic. A gentle green light descended onto Hiroyo’s head, washing away his gloomy thoughts.

“Mom, thanks.”

“It’s okay. But you shouldn’t hold everything in. You have to let your worries out.”

“Yeah.”

Honoka’s gift was “Mental Stability.” One of its derived skills, “Mental Heal,” eased dark emotions and brought clarity to the mind. It was the perfect skill for times of emotional instability. Honoka made use of her gift by occasionally working at a mental health clinic.

She still didn’t know what Hiroyo’s gift was. But from the look on his face when he returned from the appraisal, she had figured it out—he had received a gift that wouldn’t allow him to become an adventurer.

Since he was little, he had dreamed of becoming one. Understanding that his dream would never come true, Honoka didn’t say anything, but she quietly comforted him in her own way.

(I wonder if I can use my gift to help others too…)

Little by little, Hiroyo’s thoughts were changing.

He could no longer become an adventurer. But just like his mother had helped him, maybe he could be useful to someone. Yesterday, Hibiki had proven that by appreciating his skill.

At school, Hiroyo and Rindo Hibiki didn’t talk to each other, even when they saw each other.

For the past six months since entering high school, they had never spoken at school, so this was normal.

However, when Hiroyo entered the classroom, their eyes met briefly, and he felt as if they had shared some kind of understanding.

Perhaps because of that, a notification sound rang from his smartphone shortly after.

“Looking forward to after school again today.”

Hiroyo was surprised when he saw the message.

The skill only needed to be used twice a week for its effects to work. It didn’t have to be today.

After thinking for a moment, he replied.

“Got it. Where should we meet?”

“Just come straight to my house.”

“Alright.”

Hiroyo wasn’t used to going directly to a beautiful girl’s house.

And now, it was set that he would go two days in a row. His heart wouldn’t stay calm.

He then overheard Hibiki and her friends talking.

“Hey, does my skin look any different today?”

“Hmm, not really.”

“What’s up? Did you change your skincare products?”

“Fufu… something like that♪”

Chatting with the top-tier girls in the class, Hibiki seemed concerned about her skin.

But just as Hiroyo had explained to her yesterday, she needed to continue the treatment for a while. There was no way there would be a visible change after just one day.

Hibiki laughed as she talked.

Before he realized it, Hiroyo couldn’t take his eyes off her.

And so, after school.

Hiroyo arrived at Hibiki’s house, their designated meeting place.

When he rang the doorbell of the standalone house, Hibiki came out.

“Hey! Come in, come in!”

“Excuse me…”

Invited inside, Hiroyo was led straight to Hibiki’s room on the second floor.

But today, something was different from yesterday.

“Oh, this…? Now that I think about it, I’ve been getting the skill for free, right? Since using your skill must be tiring for you too, I thought I should at least prepare some drinks and snacks.”

On the low table were some potato chips, other snacks, a two-liter bottle of juice, and two cups.

“Thanks. But I wasn’t expecting anything in return, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

(Just getting to spend time with a beautiful girl is more than enough of a reward…)

To Hiroyo, this situation itself was already a huge reward.

Besides, Hibiki trusted him enough to invite him into her room. And thanks to her, he was gradually finding a new sense of purpose after losing his dream of becoming an adventurer.

“Really? But I just felt like I should do something too.”

With every conversation, Hiroyo’s impression of Hibiki kept changing.

He had assumed that top-tier girls looked down on lower-status classmates and treated them like insects. After all, he had seen plenty of girls like that in other classes. Because of that, while he admired popular girls, he never had a positive impression of them.

But Hibiki spoke to him as an equal. She wasn’t just trying to exploit his gift.

It was only natural that his view of her was shifting.

After that, while eating snacks and drinking juice, they moved on to today’s topic.

“I want you to use the ‘Fat Burning’ skill today.”

Hibiki spoke while crunching on potato chips—completely contradicting what she was saying.

“…………”

“Oh, you totally just thought, ‘She’s saying one thing and doing the opposite,’ didn’t you?”

“I mean, snacks definitely make you gain weight.”

“It’s fine for today! It’s my last supper!”

It was a bit hard to believe, but since she had originally prepared the snacks for him, he decided to let it slide.

“But… are you sure?”

Hiroyo recalled what had happened yesterday.

She had unbuttoned her uniform shirt, revealing her bra and cleavage. And for him to use the “Fat Burning” skill, he had to directly touch her bare skin.

“……I trust you, because it’s you, Takanashi-kun.”

“—!”

Hibiki’s face turned slightly red as she spoke. Seeing that, Hiroyo’s heart skipped a beat.

“I’ve never been in my underwear in front of a guy before… Of course, I’m embarrassed too…”

“Ah… uh…”

“Ahh! You just thought that I don’t have a boyfriend, didn’t you? That’s right! I’ve never had a boyfriend before!”

Hibiki started talking about herself even though no one had asked.

She stuck out her tongue playfully, and even that gesture seemed cute to Hiroyo.

“…Takanashi-kun, yesterday, even when I was in that state, you didn’t do anything weird… If it were some sleazy guy, he probably would’ve just kept going and…”

“I-I would never do something like that! Besides, abusing a skill is a crime! I would never do it!”

“I-I see… You’re a gentleman.”

Hiroyo, who had seriously wanted to become an adventurer, could never forgive the misuse of skills. Ever since people started developing gifts, laws had been established, and anyone caught abusing their skills would be arrested as a criminal.

“I don’t know if I’m a gentleman or not… but I’ve never had a girlfriend either, so I don’t really know how to act around girls.”

“Ohh~~ Hehe.”

“What are you laughing at?”

Hibiki covered her mouth and chuckled after learning that Hiroyo had never had a girlfriend.

It felt like she was making fun of him, but for some reason, he didn’t mind.

“We’re the same.”

“…Is that a good thing?”

“Who knows? But—maybe it’s better for me right now that you’re not used to being around girls.”

It sounded like she meant that she didn’t have to worry about being attacked.

Even though he understood that, yesterday’s Hibiki had been too much for his eyes. She had been that revealing.

“—The places I want you to work on are my arms, stomach, and legs. Oh, and my waist… and my butt too…”

Hearing that, Hiroyo swallowed hard.

“Then… can I ask you to do it?”

Hibiki, who had been sitting on the carpet, stood up and took off her ribbon.

Next, she unbuttoned her shirt from the top and let it drop to the floor. Finally, she unzipped her skirt and was left in just her underwear. Today, her underwear was white, different from yesterday.

“————”

“This is embarrassing… Say something.”

“W-what am I supposed to say?”

A beautiful girl standing in her underwear.

Yesterday, she had said she was worried about her stomach, but her waist had a beautiful curve. However, her thighs were a little thick. If anything, that alone was enough to make Hiroyo feel aroused. And her bra held her large chest, which he couldn’t bring himself to look at directly.

“Maybe… ‘You’re cute’ or something?”

“Do you need to say that just to use your skill?”

“Ugh… It doesn’t matter! Just say I’m cute, and I’ll be happy!”

She expected Hiroyo to behave like a gentleman and not do anything inappropriate, yet she wanted him to call her cute while she was in her underwear. It felt a bit contradictory, but even Hibiki herself didn’t fully understand why she had said it.

“…You’re cute.”

“~~~~~~!”

“W-why are you blushing now?”

Even though she was the one who made him say it, Hibiki blushed.

Seeing her unexpected reaction, Hiroyo’s body grew hot, and he started sweating.

“…Enough already, just get started!”

“Seriously… I don’t get girls.”

Cutting off the conversation, Hibiki moved to the bed and lay down on her back, resting her head on the pillow.

Hiroyo climbed onto the bed as well and sat down near her legs.

“Do whatever you need… I won’t resist.”

“Got it.”

Her words sounded suggestive, but just like yesterday, Hiroyo cleared his mind of distractions and focused on meeting Hibiki’s expectations.

Placing both hands on Hibiki’s thighs, he said:

“Skill activation—’Fat Burning.'”

A soft, white glow emitted from his hands, and the fat-burning massage on Hibiki began.