Summer vacation was over, and the second semester had begun. When Ryuichi entered the classroom after the considerably lengthy holiday period, he was greeted back by his classmates who had arrived earlier.
âHow did you spend your holiday, Shishido?â
âIsnât it obvious? He mustâve flirted around with Shizuna.â
ââŠDamn you, you normie.â
âWell, you arenât wrong in saying we flirted.â
Ryuichi was deeply moved to be approached by both boys and girls. When Shizunaâs name was mentioned, she, who had been speaking with her friends as well, immediately made a dash for Ryuichi.
âI feel like I heard my name here.â
âYeah. We were just talking about how you and Shishido-kun mustâve spent your summer vacation flirting around and being lovey-dovey with each other.â
âThatâs right. Isnât that supposed to be obvious by now?â
ââŠâŠâŠâ
Shizuna said this with her hands on her hips, as if it were a matter of course. When it came to matters concerning Ryuichi, it was becoming more and more common for her to confidently speak of her relationship with him like this, but that just meant that her feelings for him were so strong to the point where she was strongly declaring it like this.
ââSup guys!â
As the class was already getting lively first thing in the morning, Makoto also entered the classroom. He seemed to be the same as usual, and Ryuichi immediately decided to ask him about what had been weighing on his mind.
âHey, Makoto.â
âYeah?â
âI saw you the other day. Werenât you with that girl with the glasses we met that one time?â
âAh, you saw that?â
It seemed he had no intention of hiding it.
âIâm pretty sure you said that girl had a boyfriend, didnât you?â
âHuh? Wait, did you lay your hands on a girl whoâs already taken?â
âNah, thereâs a really deep and profound reason for that, you see.â
It didnât seem to be anything particularly serious, as he was laughing and smiling as he spoke. After all their classmates except Shizuna had returned to their seats, Makoto explained to them what had happened.
âTo tell you the truth, it looks like she was cheated on by her boyfriend, yâknow? âŠWell, she sorta had first row seats to the crime.â
âHuhâŠâ
âCheatingâŠâ
It seemed Shizuna clenched her fists tightly at the word âcheating.â Although he understood to some extent what she was imagining, he took her hand to reassure her that, at least with the current him, she had nothing to worry about.
âStop flirting so naturally.â
âShut it. So?â
âRight.â
Makoto continued.
âThat girl isnât a beauty by any stretch of the imagination, but her sister has absolutely killer looks. So, when she went to her boyfriendâs house, she saw him fucking her own sister.â
âI see.â
âThatâs horribleâŠâ
However, in this day and age, it was neither surprising nor uncommon for oneâs own sister to have a relationship like that with their boyfriend.
She may have wanted to harass her little sister whom she considered inferior to her, or she may have had some other purpose, but as far as Ryuichi was concerned, it was probably not a good one.
âShe wasnât very assertive in the first place, so not only did her sister run her mouth at her, her boyfriend also told her he was no longer interested in her, apparently. That was when I saw her walking around with a downcast look on her face.â
So thatâs kind of drama there was with that girl, huh, Ryuichi thought. And so, she told everything to Makoto, who had approached her before, albeit to pick her up, and Makoto, upon hearing this, took her around to various places to get her to smile.
âSo even youâve got a soft spot in you, huh.â
âOi, what are you trying to say with that?â
Ryuichiâs shoulders trembled as he laughed, but he looked into Makotoâs eyes firmly and continued with the following words.
âIt was just a figure of speech. I know youâre a good and kind friend.â
ââŠThat was off-kilter.â
Makoto embarrassedly scratched his cheek and looked away.
He had had his suspicions because the Makoto he saw, though by chance at the time, also seemed to be enjoying himself, but apparently they werenât in that sort of relationship.
Ryuichiâs intuition was that Makoto was still a flamboyant guy at heart, so that girl was likely outside his strike zone⊠But, well, one could never know if heâd had a change of heart like Ryuichi did.
Time passed, and after school, Ryuichi was hanging out with Shizuna in the city. It was a leisurely date with no particular aim, but to tell the truth, Shizuna had not said much since they left school, as if she was thinking about something.
âWhatâs wrong?â
âAhâŠwell.â
When Ryuichi turned his gaze at her to see what was troubling her, Shizuna spoke to him.
âI was just wondering how it must feel to cheat on someone.â
âHmm?â
Ryuichi listened to her words, although he couldnât help but feel that heâd heard something similar before.
âAccording to Makotoâs story, the sister didnât think well of her sibling and went out of her way to steal her boyfriend away from her by blatantly having sex with him⊠Iâm not her sister, so I donât know what sheâs thinking, but I canât imagine giving my body to a man for that sole reason.â
ââŠWell, I think thatâs a normal sentiment to have, yâknow?â
What Shizuna was saying wasnât wrong in the slightest and was perfectly normal. However, it was true that there were a certain number of people in the world who had such broken and warped sensibilities, and if anything, Shizuna was probably in the slightly eccentric category herself.
âI guess it all comes down to the kind of thoughts and intentions you have behind it, but then again, youâre also doing something that would make normal people tilt their heads, yâknow?â
âEh?â
She confusedly tilted her head to the side.
âYou and I are formally dating, yet you allow me to continue my relationships with Chisa and the other girls, so in that regard youâre an outlier too. But, well, so am I.â
âT-Thatâs⊠Muuuu.â
One-on-one relationships were fundamentally the norm. Ryuichi wasnât particularly bothered by their current arrangement, but it wasnât uncommon for him to suddenly agonize over it either. After all, he was doing nothing more than taking advantage of the kindness of Shizuna, Chisa and the other girls.
âItâs fine when itâs you, Ryuichi-kun! Everybody wants this, after all!â
It was precisely because she said things like this that Ryuichi ended up presuming upon their kindness. It was certainly an important matter, but both Ryuichi and Shizuna decided to shelve the thought for the time being, as overthinking it would only tire them out.
ââŠBut you know, I never wouldâve expected you to say something like that.â
âHuh?â
Seeing as it was a good opportunity, Ryuichi decided to bring the following matter up.
âHow would you feel if you were in a relationship with someone other than me and I showed up to break you two off?â
âIâd be happy?â
ââŠErr.â
Ryuichi wanted to say, âNo, thatâs not what youâre supposed to say,â but Shizunaâs heart was already biased toward Ryuichi when he made this analogy, so it seems that such words came naturally for her.
âI know hypotheticals are one thing, butâŠto be honest, I canât imagine myself dating a man other than you, Ryuichi-kun.â
âThat makes me happy to hear.â
âRight, right, so thatâs why I canât really answer your question⊠And besides.â
â?â
Shizuna looked down a little. Having reddened all the way to the tips of her ears, she quietly whispered.
ââŠYou made me realize, didnât you? About my own sexual dispositions, or rather, my rather sinful fetish.â
ââŠAh~.â
âI canât ever show that side of me to anyoneâŠnot that I have any intention of doing so! Iâm the kind of woman who, even before we were dating, got off on fantasies where I was attacked by you.â
Shizuna was pure and innocent⊠Again, to be clear, Shizuna was pure and innocent. But it was Ryuichiâs influence that had made it possible for her to say things like these, and it was also Ryuichi who had brought out her hidden masochistic side. Ryuichi didnât really think much of it, but it seemed Shizuna in particular was ashamed of how sloven and disheveled she was in bed.
âItâs too late for that now, if you ask me. Besides, being able to make a beautiful woman like you look that disheveled at my hands alone is pretty pleasing.â
âBut there should be limits⊠Especially when it comes to thatâŠthat face!â
The face that Shizuna mentioned mustâve been referring to the one in the picture sheâd seen earlier. No matter how beautiful her face may be, when she was in a state of pleasure, her expression became slovenly and debauched, revealing a vulgar, panting face. In a way, this was reminiscent of the Shizuna whoâd begun getting corrupted in the manga, but in Ryuichiâs opinion, this was also one of her charms.
âDonât worry about it. You can get as debauched as you want with me. I love each and every part of you.â
âGuh⊠It frustrates me how those words make me happy and excited at the same time!â
It was useless for her to resist, since her body was already sensitive in the first place. It was an overly obscene conversation to have while walking around town, but of course, considering that there werenât many people around, no one had heard them.
Shizuna also seemed to have a lot of worries and concerns herself, but Ryuichi whispered those words in her ear to reassure her and paint over those worries too.
âHnng⊠I wuv you~. âȘâ
But, well, it was probably more apt to call her current expression something other than that of âreassurance.â
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