Chapter 6

“I’m home.”

Walked close to her doorstep by Ryuichi, Shizuna had safely arrived home.
She glanced back once before the front door closed, but naturally, his figure was no longer there. Since they had already parted ways the moment her house came into view, he was probably already walking back with his back turned.

“…Shishido-kun.”

Murmuring his name, an indescribable warmth wrapped around her heart.
If he hadn’t rescued her from that nasty attempt at a pickup just the other day, she never would have harbored feelings like this. Given that he was a classmate, she naturally knew about him and even told him directly that she had heard various bad rumors about him.

Because Shizuna was a serious person, she had only ever viewed him as a male student she would absolutely never cross paths with. Yet, the Ryuichi she actually spoke to was completely different from the rumors. Since he hadn’t denied it himself, there was no mistake about his past, but Shizuna now recognized Ryuichi without a doubt as a trustworthy classmate.

“…Today was a lot of fun.”

Recalling the events from just moments ago, a soft smile slipped onto her lips.
Even she didn’t know why she had gone as far as she did, but one thing was certain: she simply couldn’t leave him alone. Imagining him coming home all by himself and eating instant ramen in solitude made it impossible for her not to reach out.

“…I wonder what this is. This feeling.”

He hadn’t seemed the least bit bothered, and she certainly hadn’t felt pity for him. She just wanted to do something for Ryuichi. Part of it was meant as thanks for helping her back then, but… she simply wanted to stay by his side, rough around the edges though he was, because he was kind.

“He had big arms. So strong and powerful…♪”

When she was held in Ryuichi’s muscular arms, Shizuna had experienced a heart-pounding sensation unlike anything she had ever felt before. Precisely because Shizuna knew it was only meant as a tease, being embraced by Ryuichi had somehow given her an unexpected sense of security.

Shizuna pressed both hands against her cheeks.
They were burning hot—unbelievably so—and her heart was beating loudly enough that she could hear it. She couldn’t shake off the sensation of being held in those thick arms, and the whisper right by her ear asking if he should claim her next was vividly etched into her mind.

“…What is this… What on earth is going on?”

Her heart wouldn’t stop racing, and Shizuna was bewildered by these unprecedented emotions. At the same time, she realized something; the reason why she hadn’t resisted at all when Ryuichi pulled her by the arm, both back then and just now… She realized that deep down, she had felt that it wouldn’t matter what he did to her, so long as it was him.

She still didn’t realize it yet.
That dormant thing sleeping deep within her… it seemed it would still be a while before she came to understand it.

“What are you doing?”
“!? “

Perhaps because she had been lost in her own imagination, Shizuna completely failed to notice her mother approaching. Mortified by the exasperated look her mother directed at her, she quickly slipped off her shoes and stepped up into the house.

“Sorry, Mom, suddenly springing plans on you like that.”
“It’s fine. I was certainly surprised by how sudden it was, but I’ve never heard you sound so desperate before. Fufu, I wonder who the lucky person is?”
“…A friend.”
“Well, let’s just leave it at that.”

Shizuna’s face turned beet red at her mother’s expression, which practically screamed that she knew everything.
Shizuna’s mother, Sakie, was a striking woman. It might be easiest to understand by saying she looked like Shizuna with a slightly more mature aura. Thanks to her youthful appearance, whenever she walked around town with Shizuna, people often mistook them for sisters.

Shizuna had heard that she received all sorts of approaches at her workplace, but Sakie apparently had zero interest in any of them and turned them all down.

(…It’s been quite a while since Dad passed away, and I think Mom should start a new chapter in her life too.)

Shizuna’s father and Sakie’s husband had already passed away.
While she felt slightly conflicted about the idea of remarriage, she definitely intended to be relatively open-minded about it. Well, Sakie showed absolutely no signs of doing so, meaning Shizuna was likely just overthinking things.

“Anyway, Mom, I’m going to take a bath.”
“Yes. The hot water’s already ready, so go ahead.”
“Got it.”

Calling out to Sakie, Shizuna headed toward the bathroom.
It was the precious body given to her by her mother and father, and she always paid close attention to skincare to ensure she stayed clean and presentable. She never skimped on maintenance for her skin, her hair, or any of her other features. After finishing her bath and slipping into an adorable, fluffy pink pair of pajamas, Shizuna lay down on her bed.

“…Sigh.”

What was Ryuichi doing right now? Her mind kept revolving around that single question.

“…He said ‘see you later’… Ehehe♪”

The look of bashful hesitation on Ryuichi’s face when he said those words was truly adorable. Despite having a physique vastly superior to her own, he gave off the impression of a child trying to put up a proud front while unable to be honest. Even if people called him a delinquent or a ruffian, the more Shizuna came to know Ryuichi, the more drawn to him she became.

“Shishido-kun…”

Imagining being held in those thick arms once again made her body grow hot. Independent of Shizuna’s own will, her palm brushed against the softly rounded symbol of her womanhood. Feeling her body give a start and tense up slightly, Shizuna snapped back to reality with a sudden gasp.

“W-What on earth am I…?”

She was bewildered, but naturally, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
Though her mind was scattered and unable to form coherent thoughts, her body was honest, and her hand drifted back toward her chest once more… right as her smartphone buzzed.

“…Souhei-kun?”

It was a call from her childhood friend whom she had known since she was little.
Caught between the relief that he called before things could get any weirder and the lingering feeling that the timing couldn’t have been worse, Shizuna answered the phone.

“Hello?”
“Hello, good evening, Shizuna.”
“Good evening, Souhei-kun. What’s wrong?”

Talking on the phone with him wasn’t an unusual occurrence; since they were childhood friends, they frequently talked face-to-face, and phone calls or messages happened with reasonable frequency.

(…Come to think of it, I don’t have Shishido-kun’s contact info… I wonder if he’d give it to me?)

Even though her childhood friend had kindly called her up, her brain was immediately flooded with thoughts of Ryuichi. Because of that, she zoned out and completely failed to catch the words coming through the phone.

“Shizuna? Shizuna~~?”
“…Ah, sorry. So, what was it you wanted?”
“Were you zoning out? That’s unlike you, Shizuna.”
“Even I have my moments.”

When Souhei followed up by asking what she wanted, Shizuna’s mood plummeted straight down.

“Lately, you’ve been… talking to that guy, Shishido, right? He hasn’t been threatening you or anything, has he?”

She instinctively gripped her smartphone tighter.
To reiterate, she knew how Ryuichi was viewed by others and what kind of rumors floated around about him. But Shizuna knew the truth; she knew Ryuichi.

It was only natural that Souhei didn’t know; since the rumors seemed bad enough on the surface, taking them at face value wasn’t a strange thing to do. Even so, she hated that he assumed things without knowing a thing and asked if she was being threatened.

“He hasn’t threatened me at all. Shishido-kun is a good person. He’s very kind, and just the other day, he—”
“No, come on, aren’t there rumors that he strings a bunch of different girls along? He skips class all the time and has a terrible attitude toward the teachers, too. There’s no way a guy like that is kin—”
“Sorry. I’m sleepy, so I’m hanging up.”
“Hey, Shizuna—”

With a sharp click, she hung up the phone.
She trusted Souhei as a childhood friend, and it was only natural that they were close. But she didn’t want him saying things like that about Ryuichi. Even if it was the exact same thing everyone else was saying, Shizuna still didn’t want to hear it.

“…Shishido-kun is a kind person. No matter what anyone else says, I know it’s true.”

Her whispered words reached no one and dissolved into the air.
She naturally wondered if she was simply trusting him too blindly or only looking at the surface. Yet Shizuna trusted Ryuichi, and that was something that would no longer change.

(He’s got a lot of bad rumors surrounding him, so be careful, alright? I’m worried about you as your childhood friend.)
(I know. I don’t want to make you worry, Souhei-kun, so I’ll be careful around Shishido-kun, okay?)

Already, everything had changed.