“Awesome,” I said to myself. “That should work on tight shoulders.”
“What kind product?” Noela asked.
It’d be faster to test it than explain it, so I spread some Warm ’n’ Loose on Noela’s hand.
“Groo?” She seemed puzzled.
“You’ll get it soon.”
“Arroo!” Her eyes widened—a sign that the product was working. “Warm, Master!”
“Yup! That’s what it does. Applying it to stiff, tight muscles warms and loosens them right up for you.”
Noela blew on the Warm ’n’ Loose on her hand. “Hot, Master.”
“Yeah, that’s deliberate.”
“Start fire,” she complained.
“Nope, that won’t happen. No worries.”
Curious, I touched the spot where I applied the Warm ’n’ Loose. It really was scorching. It wouldn’t be too weird to assume it could ignite. Then a wisp of smoke rose from Noela’s hand, and for a moment I saw flames.
“Gah!!!”
“Groo?!?!?!”
Panicking, I immediately smacked Noela’s hand to extinguish the flame and rinsed the Warm ’n’ Loose off. “Th-that was crazy.”
“Thought goner,” agreed Noela. She really was scared.
I’d never expected Noela’s hand to actually catch fire. Warm ’n’ Loose was way too effective. How strong is this stuff? I might have applied too much, but I diluted the prototype some, just to be safe.
“Want to try the weaker formula, Noela?” She quickly shook her head. I figured as much. That first test was probably a little traumatizing. Sorry, Noela.
Having heard our shrieks, Mina entered the lab. “Is everything all right, Mr. Reiji?”
“I developed a new treatment to relax people’s shoulder muscles, but it was too effective,” I replied. “I just diluted it now.”
“Wait—it really treats stiff shoulders?!” Mina’s eyes sparkled.
I hadn’t realized she wanted something like that so badly. If her shoulders had been bothering her for a while, I wished she would’ve said something. “Want to try it?”
“Absolutely!” Mina pointed at the specific spot where her muscles were knotted. “Right here.”
“Careful, Mina! Might cause fire,” Noela warned. Mina tilted her head, bewildered.
I explained the disaster that had unfolded moments ago. It would’ve been wrong to keep quiet, and after the first test, I was understandably wary. “When I tested the undiluted prototype on Noela, it started to smoke, and…”
“Flames!” Noela exclaimed.
“Well, Noela’s hand caught fire for a moment,” I concluded.
Mina’s expression was serious. “That means…it’s incredibly effective!”
She wasn’t the least bit scared—her desire to relax her stiff shoulders far outweighed any fear of fire. This issue must’ve been fairly major.
“Well, it’s weaker now, since I watered it down,” I reminded her.
“I’m fine with anything. Just spread it here, please.” Mina said, patting her shoulders.
“All right, you got it. I’m impressed by your nerves of steel.” I spread a little Warm ’n’ Loose on her skin. “Well?”
“Nothing yet. Ah… Oh! It’s getting nice and warm!”
“R-really?” The question I had though was at what temperature the gel would peak.
As we waited, Mina’s face gradually relaxed. “How can I describe this…? It feels like my blood’s flowing in all the right ways.”
“No flames?” Noela asked worriedly.
“None at all! I’m quite warm, though—like I’m in the bath.”
I touched the spot where I applied the Warm ’n’ Loose. It was much cooler than Noela’s hand had been minutes earlier—as Mina said, the temperature was almost bath-like. “How do your knotted muscles feel?”
“It’s hard to tell right now, but I think they feel better. And although that’s the only spot where you applied the new treatment, the rest of my body somehow feels warm too.” Mina wore an expression of pure joy, as if bathing in a hot spring.
“Excellent. Then it’s done,” I said.
“Want warm too, Master!” Noela protested.
“Here you go.” I handed her the bottle.
She put a bit of gel on her fingertip and spread it on the same spot Mina had. “Groo? Arroorrooooo? Warm, Master!”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Sleepy.” Noela’s eyelids drooped, and she promptly lay down on her side.
“I’m getting a bit drowsy as well.” Mina yawned and stretched out beside Noela.
“I’m pretty sure that isn’t one of the effects…” I said.
The two fell fast asleep as I cocked my head in confusion. I would’ve felt bad about waking them, so I got blankets and spread them over the girls. If they were enjoying a nice nap, this new treatment was perfectly comfortable.
“Rei Rei? Mina?” Paula called out. “I’m heading home, okay?” The tool shop owner was alone in the drugstore since we had come into the lab.
“Oh, right.” I should’ve had Paula try the prototype—she was the reason for all this. Carrying a bottle of Warm ’n’ Loose, I headed back to the store.
“Oh, is that a new product?” she asked.
“Yup. It works great on tight shoulders. I asked around town, and a surprising number of folks had the same issue, so I figured I’d whip something up.”
“You created this for me?” Paula seemed moved. “Rei Rei, you’re the bestest.” She gave me a thumbs-up and grinned.
“Just spread it on the tense area,” I told her.
“Mm-hmm.” She covered her fingertip with the Warm ’n’ Loose and rubbed it on her shoulders. The formula seemed to dry fairly quickly, which I imagined made it easier to use. “Oh… Oooh! It’s so warm! Oh my gosh! What is this stuff?!”
Yup, it’s working.
“It’s soothing my muscles, like I’m in a hot spring or something! You gotta sell this stuff, Rei Rei. I’ll buy some for sure.” At this point, Paula was also on the verge of nodding off on the counter.
“Here. Take it home with you, okay? It’s just a prototype, so you don’t owe me anything.”
“Wowzers! You’re really the best, Rei Rei. This new product feels so ridiculously good!”
“Hey. Don’t make it sound like I created something sketchy.”
I glanced at Paula. Her eyes were now shut. She… She’s asleep too. That sure didn’t take long. She said her stiff shoulders gave her headaches though, so maybe she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a while.
“Jeez…”
I grabbed another blanket and spread it over Paula’s back. I wasn’t sure how things would turn out when Noela’s hand suddenly burst into flames, but this outcome was fine, fortunately.
When the drugstore eventually started stocking Warm ’n’ Loose, it sold well among local housewives thanks to Mina’s word-of-mouth. Apparently, they all suffered from stiff shoulders too. Who knew?
Youngsters and people who exercised often didn’t experience much shoulder tension. Old folks did, however, as did people who were sedentary or worked in the same position for hours. But if I told Mina that those things caused stiff shoulders, who knew how she’d react? With that in mind, I simply told her that having tight shoulders came down to someone’s body type.