Chapter 30

Several days had passed since the Golden Week holidays came to an end.
Ryuichi’s daily life at school hadn’t changed much, but Shizuna had undergone a drastic transformation. While she had occasionally talked to Ryuichi or initiated light physical contact before, the events leading up to the holidays had triggered a massive shift in her behavior.

“Rindo-san is being deceived.”
“Rindo-san is being led around by the nose by Shishido.”

Naturally, though perhaps inevitably, those kinds of rumors had begun to circulate.
Upon entering the classroom, certain groups of boys and girls would cast unpleasant glances; not just at Ryuichi, but squarely at Shizuna as well. Unlike Ryuichi, the gazes directed at her were largely fueled by curiosity… but being stared at and gossiped about constantly was a hassle nonetheless.

“Yo, popular man.”
“Heh, things are getting real interesting, aren’t they?”

Makoto and Kaname walked over and murmured.
As far as Ryuichi was concerned, he couldn’t care less. Understanding that, neither Makoto nor Kaname tried to offer clumsy sympathy, instead choosing to treat it lightly as a joke. And apparently, Shizuna, who was sharing the center of those rumors right alongside Ryuichi, shared that exact sentiment.

“Well, people will get bored of it soon enough. I’m staying by Ryuichi-kun’s side because I want to, so I couldn’t care less what anyone says. Though it does tick me off when they talk trash about Ryuichi-kun behind his back.”

At Shizuna’s words, the three boys chuckled.
She now stayed firmly by his side without a shred of hesitation, and the words she directed toward certain people carried a clear, sharp edge. At first, both Makoto and Kaname had been startled by Shizuna’s personality shift, but by now they had grown entirely used to it.

“Rindo’s really dyed herself in his colors, huh.”
“Ain’t a bad look, honestly. Hey Rindo, why don’t you and me–”
“I’ll pass. The only person I ever want to give my body to is Ryuichi-kun.”

Even though they were right in the middle of a classroom, she stated it flatly without missing a beat.
She hadn’t spoken loudly, so the only ones who heard it were probably the students sitting closest by. Even so, it was undeniably a shocking statement coming from the old Shizuna.

“You… aren’t making things harder for yourself by saying stuff like that?”
“Am I making things harder for myself…? Well, maybe. But Ryuichi-kun is the one who made me like this. I want to stay by his side, which is why I’m speaking my mind so clearly.”

Beaming with a bright smile, Shizuna said those words.
Ryuichi offered a soft smirk and let his hand brush against her waist. Natural and casual enough not to draw undue attention, he kept his hand positioned out of sight behind Makoto and Kaname’s frames, thoroughly enjoying the soft curve of Shizuna’s body.

(…Seriously, Shizuna’s really changed. And speaking of which…)

He cast a quick, sideways glance at Souhei, the protagonist of this world.
Ever since that night, Souhei hadn’t tried speaking to Ryuichi or Shizuna once. The realization that Shizuna harbored overwhelming feelings for Ryuichi, compounded by the fact that they had crossed physical lines, had apparently dealt him a finishing blow.
While he hadn’t fallen into a state of total despair, his gloomy aura clearly radiated a quiet sorrow over having lost Shizuna.

“Ryuichi-kun.”
“Whoa there…”

Yet Shizuna didn’t seem to care in the least. Her outward appearance hadn’t shifted back, and her interactions with her friends remained as ordinary as ever. Even so, she actively sought out any excuse to remain close to Ryuichi. Despite being inside a classroom where she should have kept physical contact to a bare minimum, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

“Ooh~”
“So bold, man.”

Sitting right on Ryuichi’s lap, Shizuna looped her arms behind his neck and leaned in close. By pulling him directly against her bountiful chest, she ensured his cheek was pressed firmly against the soft, voluptuous warmth of her breasts right there in the middle of school.
Makoto and Kaname welcomed the spectacle with open arms, while their more understanding friends at nearby desks chuckled knowingly. The rest of the classmates, however, either looked at them as if they had lost their minds or cast deeply skeptical glances, though none of that bothered Ryuichi in the least.

“I find myself thinking about something a lot lately.”
“What’s that?”
“Just how Shizuna ended up being such a fine woman. And also…”

A rare, flustered expression crossed Ryuichi’s face.
Truth be told, right before the Golden Week holidays began, he had experienced a dream that dragged up memories of his early childhood. It was a memory of his mother. The very root cause who had forged his darkness and planted warped, cynical views about women deep inside his heart.

“I wish you were never even born.”

Without trying to summon it, his mother’s voice echoed in his head. That dream had featured her screaming those words while physically lashing out at him. The young Ryuichi in the dream hadn’t been strong or composed like his current self; he had been utterly beaten down by grief and helplessness. And right when he was at his absolute breaking point… Shizuna had appeared in the dream.

“You’re going to be fine, Ryuichi-kun.”

Unlike the child Ryuichi, she had appeared in her current, grown-up form.
Pulled into a tight embrace against her chest, Ryuichi remembered feeling an overwhelming wave of relief. He knew it was just a dream, a fleeting illusion with no basis in reality. Even so, being rescued by Shizuna within that nightmare was a memory Ryuichi could never shake.

“R-Ryuichi-kun!?”
“Whoa, look at that, Ryuichi’s actually blushing.”
“…Now that’s a rare sight if I’ve ever seen one.”
“Shut up!!”

Well, seeing the delinquent bad boy sport a flustered expression was probably a once-in-a-blue-moon treat even for his closest friends. As for Shizuna, her eyes sparkled like stars as she squeezed him into an even tighter hug.

“…Good grief.”

Deciding to surrender to her whims, Ryuichi let her do as she pleased.
While idling away the time like that, Ryuichi’s thoughts drifted to another boy who had been bugging him besides Souhei. That boy was Satsuki’s younger brother and a classmate of theirs, Shirasaki Akira. He was Souhei’s best friend and someone Ryuichi had frequently seen hanging around with him. Even now, while talking to Souhei, Akira kept shooting poisoned, glaring daggers straight at Ryuichi.

“Hey Ryuichi, did you do something to Shirasaki this time, too?”
“Didn’t do a thing… well, aside from sleeping with his older sister.”
“That counts as doing something, man.”

He hadn’t personally targeted Akira, but messing with a guy’s close family member certainly crossed a line. However, Satsuki likely hadn’t broadcasted what happened to her family, meaning Akira’s glare was probably driven purely by resentment because Ryuichi was the primary catalyst for Souhei’s current miserable state.

“Is Rindo okay with this? You running around messing with other girls, I mean.”

When Kaname tossed that question at Shizuna, she simply nodded.

“I do feel a tiny twinge of jealousy, of course, but I don’t think ordinary women can resist Ryuichi-kun’s charm. That other woman… Satsuki-san, was it? Her situation is almost identical to mine, and once you’ve been held in those strong, reliable arms of his, there’s just no going back.”
“Plus, the guy’s been acting way softer lately.”
“Right?! Ryuichi-kun is genuinely just such a wonderful person.”

Whether Shizuna’s filter had completely snapped off or not, Ryuichi let out a heavy sigh, mentally begging her to remember they were still inside a classroom.
Souhei aside, Akira didn’t pose any immediate threat for the time being. According to what Satsuki had told him, the siblings shared a relatively good relationship, meaning if Akira ever found out the truth, it would probably turn into a massive headache… and with that thought, Ryuichi let out yet another sigh.

(……Still, I feel like I’m forgetting something important. Shirasaki… Shirasaki… It’s right on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t quite spit it out.)

To trace back a little earlier in time.
It was the night Satsuki had returned home after being held by Ryuichi and experiencing the profound joys of womanhood for the very first time. Though she had told her parents she was staying over at a friend’s place, returning home the following morning had naturally sparked all sorts of suspicious inquiries, but Satsuki stubbornly kept Ryuichi’s name entirely out of it.

From her parents’ perspective, they would have probably been thrilled to see Satsuki, who had never shown any interest in boys before, finally fall in love, but dragging Ryuichi into the mix would entangle them in an impossibly complicated web.

“Make sure you introduce him to us sometime, okay, Satsuki?”
“Jeez, it’s not like that at all.”

As she hurried down the hallway toward her bedroom to escape her mother’s knowing smiles, she found her younger brother lingering by the door as if waiting for her.

“Akira? What is it?”
“Sis… where were you?”
“At a friend’s place… Look, I need to change, so I’ll talk to you later.”
“Tch… Sis!”

Akira suddenly lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Satsuki’s back in a desperate hug.
Satsuki offered a troubled, wry smile, though a faint sense of discomfort stirred inside her. A younger brother who lacked the rugged masculinity of someone like Ryuichi… Well, she didn’t hold any romantic feelings toward her brother to begin with, but regardless, everything kept making her draw comparisons back to Ryuichi.

“Akira, stop clinging to your sister like this all the time. You’re a high schooler now, you should go find a girlfriend you can hug instead.”
“……………”

Akira said nothing in response.
After pulling away from him, Satsuki retreated to her room, entirely oblivious to the truth. She didn’t understand the nature of Akira’s emotions, that he harbored feelings for his own flesh-and-blood sister that far transcended ordinary sibling affection. The fierce, obsessive possessiveness burning in his eyes whenever he looked at her was a dangerously volatile emotion threatening to explode at the slightest trigger.

Ryuichi had been fixated on Akira; or rather, to be precise, the name Shirasaki had been scratching at the back of his mind for a reason. Because Shirasaki Satsuki and Shirasaki Akira were names belonging to established characters in a narrative.

To Souhei, Akira was a trusted best friend, but beneath the surface, he was a young man consumed by the desire to dominate and control his own older sister. Because they were best friends, Souhei frequently hung around at Akira’s house, and whenever Souhei interacted with Satsuki, Akira’s burning jealousy would drive him to take rash actions, actions that had undoubtedly made countless readers throw their books across the room in sheer disbelief.

“…Ryuichi-kun.”
“Tch!?”

Amidst a stray murmur, Akira had overheard that very name spilled alongside a sweet, contented sigh from Satsuki.

Akira knew that Satsuki had a weak will and couldn’t bring herself to say no.
But Akira didn’t know that thanks to Ryuichi’s words, Satsuki had finally learned how to stand up for herself and say no.