Chapter 24

After finishing their date, it was the night Ryuichi came over to Shizuna’s house. Following dinner with Sakie joining them once more, the two of them returned to the room and spent a honey-sweet stretch of time together. Because it was their second time, their bodies were already relaxed, and Ryuichi, shedding any lingering hesitation, thoroughly trampled and ravaged Shizuna’s body far beyond what he had the first time.

“I told you the first time, too, let me know immediately if it hurts, alright?”

Even without any hesitation holding him back, Ryuichi’s consideration for Shizuna hadn’t changed a bit. Basking in that tenderness, Shizuna accepted the love poured into her with every fiber of her being. It was a truly blissful moment… so much so that she wished, if it were possible, for this time to go on forever.

“…Ryuichi-kun~”

At the end of Shizuna’s gaze, Ryuichi was fast asleep. Until just moments ago, the two of them had been dozing side by side in Shizuna’s bed, but a sudden thirst had caused Shizuna to wake up. Though his rugged, stern features remained unchanged, seeing him sleep like this made him look endearingly his age.

“It’s nice, isn’t it? Being able to love and be loved by the person you care about is wonderful, and sleeping in the same bed is wonderful… and gazing at his sleeping face like this leaves me with no other word for it than wonderful.”

She couldn’t possibly hope for a relationship beyond this, yet the desire to become Ryuichi’s one and only was undeniably real. Even if she could never secure a special position, Shizuna was already past the point of ever considering walking away from Ryuichi. By now, his existence had grown far too massive within her heart. Their relationship was impure, no doubt about it; if she were to show her past self what she had become, that version of her would probably lose her balance and faint in shock.

“That’s right. Water.”

Remembering her parched throat, Shizuna slipped out of the room and headed toward the living room.
Along the way, the door to Sakie’s room was slightly ajar, leaking a faint sliver of light, which suggested Sakie was still lingering in the afterglow of whatever had transpired earlier.

“Fufu, strangely enough, as a daughter, I don’t feel complicated about it at all. After all, seeing my mother wearing a happy face no matter the form it takes is something to celebrate.”

What those words pointed toward was easy enough to imagine.
It had already been agreed that Ryuichi would stay over, but it seemed Sakie’s memories of her night with Ryuichi were still fresh and burning. She might have desperately held back the last time, but this time around, Sakie had been conscious of Ryuichi enough for even Shizuna to notice.

“If Shizuna is fine with it, I don’t mind.”
“It’s fine. Mom, you must be lonely in a room like that, right? Won’t you come in?”

With a heavy clatter, Sakie had jumped in surprise on the other side of the door. She felt a little bad about teasing her, but Shizuna couldn’t help a quiet giggle. Well, regardless of the details, they were both convinced and satisfied, and as far as Shizuna was concerned, that was all that mattered.

“…Ah, so refreshing.”

The cold water slid down her throat, quenching the dryness. The slight stickiness clinging to her throat washed away as the liquid slipped down her esophagus straight into her stomach. It left behind a faint, lonely emptiness, but imagining it tracing a path deeper inside her body brought a smile to Shizuna’s lips.

“……Truly wonderful. Ryuichi-kun… Ryuichi-kun.”

If she let her guard down for even a second, Ryuichi’s name would tumble right past her lips.
The broad back that protected her was wonderful. The massive body that pinned her down was wonderful. The way he looked out for her, and the way he hungrily demanded her body… she loved every single thing about him to distraction.

“So I really am a total masochist after all.”

That was a truth Ryuichi had pointed out to her, and one she had confirmed by sharing their bodies.
No matter how shameful she looked, she could bear it all before him. She would absolutely despise anyone else ever finding out, but if Ryuichi was the one dragging it out of her, Shizuna considered herself happy. Because it was drawn out by none other than Ryuichi’s hands, she could learn to love even her own most humiliating self.

“…Though getting caught by Mom was pretty embarrassing, all things considered.”

Well, that couldn’t be helped, she wryly told herself as she made her way back to the room.
Slowly pushing the door open and stepping inside, she found Ryuichi fast asleep just as she had left him. In contrast to the delinquent bad-boy persona he wore at school, Ryuichi possessed remarkably peaceful, tidy sleeping habits. He didn’t kick off his blankets or toss around; he simply rested quietly on his back.

“To think sharing a bed with someone could feel this happy. I never would have guessed.”

Shizuna’s own pillow was currently being used by Ryuichi, so she had improvised by using his thick arm as her pillow instead. Laying on her side facing him while resting in the cradle of his arm, she learned the profound comfort of falling asleep wrapped in his powerful masculine presence and sturdy physique.

“…Hah.”

Overwhelmed by a wave of complete fulfillment, Shizuna let out a sweet sigh, thinking how easily this could become an addiction.
Gazing at Ryuichi’s sleeping face was delightful in its own right, but resting right beside him felt even better. Just as she hurried to return to that warmth, her smartphone on the nightstand flashed with a blinking light.

“What could this be?”

Picking up the phone and tapping the screen, she saw a message waiting for her from Souhei.
The moment she recognized the sender, Shizuna’s expression soured into an unmistakable scowl. It immediately brought back memories of running into him while she was out in the city with Ryuichi. Souhei hadn’t recognized her in disguise, and yet he had tried to pick a fight with Ryuichi right in front of her—an offense she couldn’t forgive.

“……………”

Checking the contents, the message was entirely centered around warnings regarding Ryuichi. It cautioned her that despite being just a student, he had been spotted coming out of a shady establishment, that he was hanging around with flashy women who looked loose, and that since he claimed he was going to “take” her, Shizuna should watch her step and stay away from him.

“Fufu… Ahahaha.”

A laugh slipped out before she could stop it.
Souhei’s words were undoubtedly born from a desire to worry about her, but nobody had asked for his concern, and ironically, the “loose, flashy woman” he was warning her about was none other than Shizuna herself. Having their wavelengths misalign to this degree wasn’t necessarily pleasant, but it was undeniably funny.

“Well, whatever.”

With a sense of detachment that surprised even herself, all lingering feelings for him had vanished entirely.
Running into him in the city had made her intensely dislike the way he casually hurled insults at Ryuichi. She might have felt a tiny flash of anger back then… but the second Ryuichi’s arm wrapped around her waist and he kneaded her breast, all thoughts of Souhei had evaporated into thin air. Every ounce of anger and embarrassment had been cleanly washed away, leaving room for nothing in the world except Ryuichi.

“Just how deeply am I in love with Ryuichi-kun, I wonder? Tell me, Shizuna.”

Shizuna posed the question to herself once more.
Her heart had been captured, and her very body had been hopelessly ensnared by his touch. Yet that didn’t mean she had turned blindly subservient; Shizuna’s own will burned brightly and steadily. Drowning in love with Ryuichi was wonderful, but the things he had told her were carved permanently into her mind.

“To snuggle up to Ryuichi-kun wearing my own color, using only my own hue… is that it?”

An unblemished color; staying by Ryuichi’s side while retaining her own distinct shade and radiance. That was Shizuna’s ultimate desire, an absolute, unshakeable sentiment that no outside force could ever intrude upon.

“What’s wrong?”
“Eh!?”

Lost in thought with her phone in hand, Shizuna let out a startled gasp as a voice cut through the quiet.
Ryuichi, who should have been fast asleep, had opened his eyes and was staring straight at her.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“I felt a bit lonely without the warmth that’s supposed to be right next to me… Though that’s mostly a joke.”
“Jeez, you could just be honest and admit you missed me.”

Ryuichi chuckled, admitting his fault.
Another thing she had realized recently was that Ryuichi smiled far more often after falling asleep and waking up than he did during the day. While the fierce, predatory smirk he sometimes wore was certainly to her liking, she also loved this relaxed, genuine grin that flashed his teeth… she had grown to love it.

“Get over here. Your arm must be feeling lonely.”
“Un.”

Hearing him say that proved irresistible; eager to be gathered back into Ryuichi’s arms, Shizuna scrambled back onto the mattress. Setting her phone aside and pushing thoughts of Souhei’s message out of her mind entirely, she hurried right back to Ryuichi’s side.

“This really is the best.”
“Heh, you’re a cute one, Shizuna.”
“O-Of course I am. After all, I’m being loved by Ryuichi-kun.”

It was a meager, desperate defense to mask her sudden embarrassment.
Ryuichi blinked in surprise for a split second before a slow, daring grin spread across his face, pulling her into an even tighter embrace. Pressed close against his body, she realized that two buttons near the top of her pajamas had come undone, leaving the rich, voluptuous swells of her chest exposed to the air. It was a terribly lewd sight, though Ryuichi apparently decided to spare her for the moment.

“You were staring at your phone doing something a second ago. What was that about?”
“Eh? …Ah, it’s nothing big. Just a waste of time.”
“I see. Well then, I guess I’ll just have to thoroughly enjoy Shizuna’s body until morning comes.”
“Oh my, go right ahead?”

She wore an expression that practically invited him to take whatever he wanted. Ryuichi buried his face directly into the crook of Shizuna’s neck, inhaling her scent as he let out a low rumble in his throat. As tickling shivers forced whimpers past her lips and made her body twist, she willingly surrendered herself to whatever Ryuichi desired.

“Hey, Ryuichi-kun.”
“What?”
“I’m… so genuinely happy. Thank you, Ryuichi-kun, for branding your love into me.”
“…I never expected you to say something like that.”

Seeing the thoroughly bewildered look on Ryuichi’s face, Shizuna let out an amused, affectionate laugh.