NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48
“Ah~… C’mon, Shizuna, ain’t it time you call it quits and admit your defeat?”
“Nya…I’m nya~t done yet. ♪”
Shizuna staggered up at Ryuichi’s words and embraced him. They were both unclothed, so it was easy to imagine what they had been doing until now.
…Well, I knew this would happen, though.
With that thought in mind, he embraced her body as well. Unlike his muscular body, he could clearly feel Shizuna’s smooth and soft skin.
After everything that had happened that day, they enjoyed their date and took the train back home again in the evening.
“Let’s leave it at this for today, okay? C’mon, let’s lie down.”
“…Okay. ♪”
She had proudly proclaimed that being dominated wasn’t all she was capable of, and that she too could be on the aggressive side, but well, that turned out just as well as you’d expect.
There was no part of Shizuna’s body that Ryuichi did not already know, and the same was probably true for Shizuna as well, but the difference in experience between them was evident.
“…I wonder why sex feels so good.”
“Beats me. Maybe women are just more sensitive than men.”
“Maybe. Of course, it wasn’t like it felt so good that I felt my consciousness leaving me, but there were definitely times when I thought I’d go a little crazy.”
Ever since he first slept with Shizuna, he’d always tried to take care and be considerate of her when he handled her in bed. He already knew very well that she was a masochistic girl, but that didn’t mean he could just go absolutely wild and rough on her.
“…Fufu. ♪”
“What’s wrong?”
Shizuna, who was using Ryuichi’s muscular arm as a pillow, raised her index finger and poked it against his sturdy chest. She then gently traced her finger across his skin and muttered.
“After everything that happened today, I was able to reaffirm my resolve once more.”
“Reaffirm?”
“Yes…I reaffirmed the fact that I really love you, Ryuichi-kun.”
“Guh…”
Her smile was more beautiful than any smile he’d ever seen before. The expression she had as she looked at him with gentle eyes was truly beautiful, like a holy mother, and her smile felt incredibly maternal even though she was still in high school.
Whenever she gazed at him with eyes like those, a thought always crossed his mind. She loved him and him alone, but on the other hand, he had relationships not only with her but also with Chisa, Sakie, and Satsuki.
“…Hey, Shizuna.”
“Yes~?”
She must’ve been able to infer from his expression that he wanted to say something. She looked straight back at him, as if she was implicitly telling him to say whatever he wanted to say. Thanking her for her kindness, he proceeded to utter the following:
“You…really care about me, no matter what.”
“Yup.”
“I also care about you, too…but, you’re not the only girl I have a relationship with.”
“Yup.”
“…Do you not have any thoughts about that, Shizuna?”
Those words were, in a way, words that he’d always wanted to ask her. Shizuna put her finger to her mouth and went “Hmm~” as she began to think. Then, perhaps having found an answer, she nodded her head
“There’s definitely a part of me that wants to monopolize you and keep you to myself. But I also know how Chisa-san and Satsuki-san feel about you. My mom seems to think of you as a son these days, so I don’t think she feels romantic love for you, but… Fufu, I’m sure you can’t let go of those girls now, can you?”
“…Yeah…you’re right.”
He didn’t want to let go of them because they were wonderful women, that was for sure. But that was not the only reason. Those women, like Shizuna, were the ones who gave him warmth. That was why, when asked if he could let go of them, he could only say that he could not.
“…I’m so foul, huh? I know for a fact that if it were me, I would ask for a straight answer.”
“Hmm, are you thinking about something complicated?”
“Huh?”
He was at a loss not necessarily because it was complicated, but because it was a problem he had to think long and hard about. However, it seemed she didn’t understand why he was worrying so much about it…or maybe it wasn’t that she didn’t understand, but she was trying to say that he didn’t have to worry about it.
“I, Chisa-san, and Satsuki-san all love you. We all know that and we all know that you have relationships and sleep with all of us. Even so, there isn’t any sort of rivalry between us, and we aren’t at odds with each other.”
“…True.”
“Then isn’t it fine? I think it’s okay to leave things that way for now. You shouldn’t overthink things too much; treating us the way you’ve always done until now is perfectly fine in my opinion.”
“…I see.”
When he heard her words, he turned his gaze to the ceiling. It was as if her words were urging him not to worry about the troubles he had, and that he should just go on with his life as before, not worrying about anything.
“Shizuna, you’re…no, maybe that’s okay for now. But man, I can’t believe you’d say that of all things.”
“Hey, why are you laughing…”
Of course I’d laugh, he remarked as his shoulders trembled in laughter. It was certainly not an impossibility that she’d say that since it was Shizuna, after all, but he found it hilarious that she’d really told him that he should continue his relationships with Chisa and Satsuki as he had until now. As has been mentioned many times before, Shizuna was a pure and beautiful girl, which actually made her the type of person who was suited to be careful and considerate about these kinds of things.
“I just thought that, in the end, you’re you. A woman who’s been dyed by me…and a woman who’s also dyed me.”
“Whuh?!”
He hugged Shizuna’s face to his chest as hard as he could. Surprised, she let out something like a cute scream, but she quickly quieted down and let him do as he pleased. Her long, silky black hair flowed pleasantly through his fingers without getting tangled.
“You have beautiful hair.”
“U-Umm…”
She was surprised by his unusually gentle voice. However, even though she was surprised, the blush on her cheeks was a sign that she was embarrassed, and she seemed to be feeling comforted by Ryuichi’s voice and touch.
“Your skin is so soft, warm, and smooth. Touching it is so comforting, I want to touch you all the time.”
“…Hnng.”
Shizuna’s face blushed endlessly. She looked at Ryuichi with moistened eyes, seemingly asking to be praised with more kind words, which was so cute that he continued to say more.
“…I’ve done a lot of thinking. I can’t easily change the way things are now, which is really irresponsible of me…but I want to try and change things at least a little bit and take a step forward toward something new.”
“Take a step forward?”
He nodded. As he said, it wasn’t easy to change one’s way of life, and his relationship with Chisa and the other girls probably wouldn’t change anytime soon. In fact, it was conceivable that things might never change. Nevertheless, Ryuichi wanted to build a slightly deeper relationship with the one girl who was giving him warmth and love like this.
“Shizuna, will you go out with me?”
“……Huh?”
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
“…!!”
Shizuna’s eyes widened. Ryuichi and Shizuna had an overwhelmingly intimate relationship with each other, much more so than between a normal man and woman, partly because they’d already slept with each other many times.
However, their relationship up until now has been more of that between sex friends, so this proposal was made so that they could have a relationship where they could confidently declare to everyone around them that they were proper boyfriend and girlfriend.
“…I do.”
“………”
“I want to be your girlfriend, Ryuichi-kun!”
“All right. You’re now my girlfriend, Shizuna.”
“Yes!”
He stole her lips up close. One might be tempted to say, “Is there anything that’s actually going to be different from before?” But at the very least, this would bring about a major change in the way they felt about each other. After they kissed, as if their extinguished flame had been reignited in an instant, they passionately and heatedly made love to each other for the second time tonight.
“…Haaah… Haaah.”
“…Huff… Huff.”
Ryuichi was unusually short of breath, as was Shizuna. They both looked up at the ceiling as they caught their breath and looked at each other from either side.
“…Haha.”
“Ehehe. ♪”
They then hugged each other again.
Thus, Ryuichi and Shizuna came to build a new relationship with each other. It may have seemed like it’d taken them a long yet short amount of time to get to this point, but needless to say, at least the relationship between the two had become what they both wanted.
“…It feels like I’m dreaming.”
“Really?”
“Yup. That’s just how happy I am.”
“What if this really is a dream?” she muttered, to which Ryuichi replied with a laugh that it was not a dream at all.
He knew that Chisa, Satsuki, and Sakie would surely…no, definitely give them their blessing, no doubt about it. He didn’t know if it would make them a little sad or not, but it likely wouldn’t make any difference to his relationship with them.
“Are you really okay? With me not changing anything with the others like Chisa and Satsuki?”
“Yup. Chisa-san and the other girls are important to me, too. That’s why it’s okay.”
“…You’re seriously such a strong woman, Shizuna.”
“I’ve been with you for so long now, so obviously I’d have to be strong, you know?”
You’re getting too strong, he remarked, this time stroking her head roughly. She was concerned that her hair would get messed up a little too late, but she had a glowing smile on her face as she was being roughly stroked on the head all the while.