NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40
It was June, the time of year when the weather was gradually getting warmer, with the summer season just around the corner.
Almost a month had passed since that day at Satsuki’s house, and some things had changed for Ryuichi.
“Good morning, Ryuichi-kun.”
“Hey. Morning, Shizuna.”
Entering the month of June usually meant a change of outfit, but since it was still a little chilly at times, Shizuna was still wearing her jacket. As for Ryuichi, he was no longer wearing a jacket and was completely in his summer wear.
“…Your muscles are just so amazing.”
“I’m pretty sure you said the same thing yesterday, didn’t you?”
“Yup, that I did. Could I have some kind of muscle fetish?”
Ryuichi chuckled as she began to seriously worry about that in the middle of the road. It was understandable that she would like his muscles…or rather, his entire body. She always liked being embraced by his arms or having his face in her breasts, after all.
“C’mon, Shizuna, snap out of it and let’s get going.”
“Alright.”
He tapped her on the shoulder, not wanting her to space out and bump into something as she had done in the past, and started walking.
It had become common for him and Shizuna to go to and from school together since the start of May, and it was only natural that this would become known to those around them to some extent.
“…Yaaawn.”
“Are you sleepy? It must be your part-time job, isn’t it?”
“Yep. Got off pretty late yesterday.”
Ryuichi let out a big yawn as he recalled last night. One of the recent changes in his life was that he had started a part-time job. It was at that club, the place where he had met Satsuki and a place Ryuichi himself had frequented many times.
“I don’t know when they’re gonna stop sending me money. So I gotta earn some money for myself.”
“…Ryuichi-kun.”
As a matter of fact, after that day’s incident, Sakie and Shizuna had talked about many things with him. They had suggested that he move out of his current apartment and move in with them, at Shizuna’s house.
“What do you think, Ryuichi-kun?
“I have quite a steady income. You wouldn’t have to worry about money and the like.”
It was a very tempting offer for Ryuichi. However, he had no intention of being such a burden to them, so he turned them down. Incidentally, Satsuki had also made a similar proposal to him since then, but he had turned that down as well.
“I appreciate the offer you made, but I want to work hard at many things, too. I’m used to you treating me to meals and all that, but I can’t have you take care of everything for me.”
“…Hmph, I wouldn’t really mind it that way, though. But you do have a point. Plus, it’s not like I can force you to think that it’s actually totally fine.”
Nevertheless, Shizuna had a quite…no, she had a very caring nature to her. It was something he’d come to know very well after getting close with her.
Whenever she came to his house on the holidays, she would cook for him as a matter of course, and she would even do the cleaning without saying a word. Naturally, he also helped out, but she worked so quickly that there ended up being not very much for him to do, which was quite the luxurious problem.
“Of course, I’ll be heading to your place again this week. Or do you want to come to my place this time?”
“Hmm~…”
And with Shizuna’s question, a delightful dilemma was planted in Ryuichi’s mind. As they talked like this, they arrived at school and entered their class, which already had a number of people in it.
“Ah, morning, Shizuna, Shishido.”
“Morning, you two.”
Shizuna’s friends greeted them first. As mentioned earlier, many changes were taking place for Ryuichi, and this greeting was one prime example of that change.
He left Shizuna for the time being and went to his seat, where some of his male classmates, whom he had never spoken with up until recently, also approached him.
“Morning, Shishido.”
“‘Sup.”
“Walkin’ to school with Rindo again today? Man, I’m jealous.”
“Oh, shut it.”
Even though there was still some amount of hate in their language, it was a huge change from their previously frightened selves.
Since the incident at Satsuki’s place, the atmosphere around Ryuichi had softened somewhat; it wasn’t like he had fundamentally changed, but there were some small changes that could be seen from him.
“Hey, Ryuichi.”
“Another day, another lovey-dovey scene with Shizuna, eh?”
Makoto and Kaname, the usual duo, also approached him. Even though some things about Ryuichi had changed, his circle of friends remained the same, and his interactions with Makoto and Kaname would continue unchanged.
“Somehow, it feels like Ryuichi’s become a distant presence.”
“Where did that come from?”
When Ryuichi rolled his eyes at Makoto’s words and asked him about it, Kaname nodded his head in agreement as well.
“You used to be a lone wolf, but now you’re being approached by all kinds of people. You even get picked for teams during PE, right?”
“Oh, yeah…”
Just as Kaname mentioned, Ryuichi, who had a large and fairly athletic build, was a favorite pick during PE lessons. His high physical specs made him a reassuring presence on the team for games like basketball and volleyball.
It seemed that his change in atmosphere had a huge part to play in making it possible for them to invite him on teams like that as well.
“What are you guys talking about?”
As they were in the middle of their conversation, Shizuna approached them, seemingly curious. It was no longer a rare sight to see her coming up to them like this, and her classmates had all but lost interest as they no longer spared a glance at her.
“We were just talking about how dependable Ryuichi is.”
“Why are you guys talking about such an obvious fact?”
“…Man, Rindo, you really do love Ryuichi, huh?”
Shizuna’s expression seemed to be asking, “Why are you stating yet another obvious fact?” Seeing this, Makoto and Kaname laughed, their shoulders trembling.
Well, Ryuichi’s life had undergone some changes, but there were still those who looked at him in a hostile manner.
“He just doesn’t let up, does he?”
That was what Makoto had to say when he saw Akira. As usual, he was hostile toward Ryuichi, and he directed spiteful glares at him at every opportunity. However, he never said anything or did anything; all he did was glare at him, which made one couldn’t help but think that he was a coward.
“Well, I ain’t gonna worry about him too much. He’ll get bored of it eventually.”
“True, true.”
“Such wise words from the man who stole away his sister.”
Kaname said this to him with a grin because he knew what had happened to some extent. Sure, it was true that that was how things had turned out, but Ryuichi and Satsuki no longer thought of themselves as the stealer and the one who was stolen away, respectively.
“Aight, I’mma head to the toilet for a bit.”
“Ah, me too.”
Makoto and Kaname left to go to the restroom. As soon as they were gone, Shizuna stood behind Ryuichi and started massaging his shoulders, as if she had planned it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just wanted to help you relax a bit.”
Rub, rub. Rub, rub… She was very skilled in her massage, and the way she varied her massaging strength from strong to weak at times felt so good that if he wasn’t careful, he might leak some strange noises.
These days, Ryuichi had the feeling that Shizuna was controlling him not only through his stomach, but with things like these as well.
“Ahh… This feels so good.”
“Fufu. You seem to be in pretty bad shape here, sir.”
With a hint of mischievousness, Shizuna continued to massage his shoulders. In the midst of this, his expression changed to a serious one without her noticing. He was thinking about his grandfather.
I haven’t heard from him at all since… That said, though, he’s still been sending me money…just that he’s stopped calling me whenever he does it.
Though he’d had that exchange with him, seeing him still sending him money like this made him wonder if he really may have gone overboard that day.
…Well, they are well in their years. Plus, I ain’t got nothing to say to them anymore.
He still hated his grandfather and grandmother, but he had since decided not to say too much to them. If they continued to keep their relationship to a minimum with each other, neither Ryuichi nor his grandparents would have to deal with any unnecessary stress.
“I’ve been feeling so happy lately.”
“Why?”
“Because the class is starting to see that you have a kind and caring side to you.”
“…I don’t think I’ve really changed the way I treat them, though.”
“Your air and atmosphere don’t lie. If you think you’re doing things as usual and people are gathering around you, that must mean you’ve changed.”
“…Is that how it is?”
“Yup.”
Well, it wasn’t that people were gathering around Ryuichi, it was just that he was being talked to a little more often. He had even, to a certain extent, grown less distant from his teachers now too, but that was probably due in large part to Someya’s reassessment of Ryuichi.
“…It’s a teacher’s duty to believe in their students. I never thought I’d be reminded of that.”
“Though, if I had to say, you’d definitely be more of a bad student than a good one.”
The state of a person’s mind and heart could change the way they were perceived by others. Ryuichi himself didn’t feel like anything in particular had changed about him, nothing that he was aware of. However, those around him were gradually beginning to accept the change in his atmosphere. It was definitely not a bad thing, but a sign that things were moving in the right direction.
“…Is this like some kind of calm before the storm, or a sign of the bad things to come?”
“C’mon, don’t say something so ominous.”
“My bad. Well, I probably got nothing to worry about, anyways.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve got a goddess by my side who’s going to blow all my bad omens away.”
When Ryuichi said this, Shizuna’s eyes widened in amazement before she immediately giggled and nodded.
“Yes. If misfortune befalls you, I’ll just ward it off. ♪”
Today again, Shizuna was smiling by Ryuichi’s side, delightfully and happily.