Chapter 30 - A New Spark

A few days had passed since the holidays. Ryuichi's school life didn't see much change to it, but Shizuna's underwent a massive one. She was still conversing with Ryuichi and snuggling up to him like before, but the events that'd occurred before the holiday prompted further massive changes in her.

"Rindo-san is being threatened."

"Rindo-san is being seduced by Shishido."

However, perhaps unsurprisingly, rumors like these started to float around. The girls and boys in the classroom stared uncomfortably at not just Ryuichi, but Shizuna as well when they entered the room. Unlike Ryuichi, the stares directed at her were largely ones out of curiosity…but still, it wasn't fun to be stared at and talked about.

"Yo, it's the man of the hour."

"Heh, things have gotten pretty interesting, huh?"

Makoto and Kaname remarked at him as they walked up to him. As far as Ryuichi was concerned, he didn't really care about the rumors. He guessed Makoto and Kaname knew that, which was why they were trying to make it a laughing matter instead of being weirdly concerned about it. And it seemed the same was true for Shizuna, who had become the bulk of the rumors along with him.

"Well, they'll move on from it soon enough. I'm the one who chose to be by Ryuichi-kun's side, and I don't really care about what they have to say about me, either…though it does irritate me when I hear them badmouthing him."

Her words made the three boys laugh. She was standing beside him openly and proudly, and the words she'd spoken had clearly carried strong connotations for a certain group of people. At first, both Makoto and Kaname had been surprised at her change, but now they'd grown used to it.

"Man, even Rindo's been totally tainted now, huh."

"Not bad if you ask me. Hey, Rindo, next time, how about you and I—"

"No. My body is for Ryuichi-kun and Ryuichi-kun alone."

Even though they were in the classroom, her words were clear and straightforward. She hadn't been that loud, so at worst, only few people nearby would have heard her. Still, there was no denying that it was quite shocking to hear those words from Shizuna, especially given how she was before.

"Seriously…don't you know you're making things worse for yourself?"

"Am I now…? But you know, you're the reason I've become this way, Ryuichi-kun. I say these things so clearly because I want to be with you."

She smiled happily at him. Seeing this, he couldn't help but smile too as he put his hands on her body. Seemingly aware of how Makoto and Kaname's bodies served as perfect cover for them at this angle, he relished the sensation of her body both naturally and inconspicuously at the same time.

…Man, Shizuna's really changed a lot, hasn't she? Also—

He glanced at Sohei, the protagonist of this world. He hadn't spoken to either Ryuichi or Shizuna since then. It seemed that the fact that Shizuna had already developed extreme feelings for Ryuichi and had actually had sexual relations together was a huge blow to him. Lifeless…wasn't a term he'd used for him, but he could clearly sense his sadness at having had Shizuna taken away from him.

"Ryuichi-kun. ♪"

"Oof…"

However, Shizuna didn't seem the least bit concerned about him; she looked the same as usual, and she was conversing normally with her friends. And yet, she wanted to be near him as much as possible, which led to this. She hugged him with all her might, even though she had previously kept touching him to a minimum in the classroom.

"Squeeeze~ ♪"

"Pretty bold now, are we?"

She sat on his lap and leaned in so that she could put her arms behind his head. Held against her large bosom, he was able to feel her ample breasts on his cheeks, and at school, no less.

Makoto and Kaname welcomed the situation, and in the seats away from them, Shizuna's friends who understood what was going on between them were laughing. The rest of their classmates stared at them with incredulity or even skepticism, but he didn't care.

"I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

"About what?"

"About how you're such a wonderful woman. And also…"

Ryuichi's face was a rare, embarrassed one. The truth was, just before the holidays started, he had a dream that made him flashback to his childhood. It was a memory of his mother, the source of his darkness and his skewed perception of women embedded deep in his mind.

"I wish you were never born."

He could even hear his mother's voice in his mind while he was unconscious, and that dream was no different as his mother spat those words at him while violently abusing him. The Ryuichi in the dream hadn't been as strong or imposing as he was now, partly because he had been so young. He'd been overcome with grief and frustration when suddenly…Shizuna appeared in his dream.

"It's okay, Ryuichi-kun."

Unlike the young Ryuichi, she had been her present, grown-up self. He couldn't describe just how secure and relieved he'd felt in her arms. He'd known that it was nothing but a dream, a temporary world that was not reality. Still, being saved by her in that dream was an unforgettable memory to him.

"R-Ryuichi-kun?!"

"Woah, woah, he's actually getting embarrassed."

"…This is so bizarre in so many ways."

"Shut up!"

Well, it must've been quite rare even among his friends to see his embarrassed face, seeing as he was usually known as a delinquent. As for Shizuna, her eyes lit up and her embrace grew even stronger.

"…Geez."

Ryuichi decided to obediently let Shizuna do what she wanted. While he spent his time like this, he already had another boy on his mind besides Sohei. It was Akira, Satsuki's younger brother and his classmate. He was Sohei's best friend and Ryuichi had often seen them together. He'd been glaring at him even now while he was talking to Sohei.

"Yo, Ryuichi. What did you do to Shirasagi this time?"

"Ain't done nothing… Well, I may have fucked his sister, so…"

"So you did do something."

He hadn't done anything to Akira personally, but there was no doubt he'd laid his hands on his relative. But since Satsuki likely hadn't mentioned that to him, Akira's glare at Ryuichi was probably just because he was also the source of what had gotten Sohei into the state he was in now.

"Rindo, are you okay with this? Y'know, Ryuichi havin' fun with other women."

When Kaname asked Shizuna this, she nodded.

"It does make me a little jealous, but I don't think ordinary women can resist Ryuichi's charms. That woman—Satsuki-san, was it?—I think she's almost in the same situation as I was before, and once she's had the chance to sleep with such a strong man like him, it's basically impossible for her to resist him."

"He's even been kinder these days."

"That's right! Geez, Ryuichi-kun is such a wonderful person! ♪"

He had no idea if Shizuna's limiter had been removed or something, but he let out a sigh nonetheless and wanted to remind her once again that they were in a classroom.

Aside from Sohei, there was nothing he had to worry about at this stage, not even Akira. From what he'd heard from Satsuki, they had a good relationship as brother and sister, though things could turn troublesome if Akira found out about their relationship…Ryuichi couldn't help but let out another sigh.

…But still, I feel like I'm forgetting something. Shirasagi… Shirasagi… It's right there, but I'm missing the last puzzle piece to the answer.

Turning back the clock a bit, when Satsuki had just come home after sleeping with Ryuichi and experiencing the joys of womanhood for the first time. Although she had informed her parents that she would be staying at her friend's house, they had been very suspicious nonetheless when they saw her come back home the next morning, but she never mentioned Ryuichi's name at all.

Her parents would have been very happy if they'd heard that Satsuki, someone who'd never had a man in her life before, had finally fallen in love, but there were some complicated circumstances behind her relationship with Ryuichi, preventing her from letting them know.

"Introduce me to him sometime, okay, Satsuki?"

"Geez, I told you it's not like that."

As she made her way to her room as if to escape from her mother, her brother was standing there waiting for her.

"Akira? What's wrong?"

"Nee-chan… Did you go somewhere?"

"Yes, I went to my friend's house… Sorry, I've got to get changed now, so we'll have to talk later."

"Guh… Nee-chan!"

Akira tightly hugged her from behind. She chuckled in exasperation, but at the same time, she felt like something was missing. Her brother wasn't as masculine as Ryuichi… Well, she didn't have any special feelings for her brother in the first place, but she couldn't help but compare him to Ryuichi anyway.

"Akira, how long are you going to keep hugging your sister like this? You're already a high school student; you've got to find a girl you can actually do these things with."

"..."

Akira said nothing.

Afterwards, she and Akira let go of each other, but she didn't know. She didn't know the feelings that Akira held for her; his feelings for his own blood-related sister that went beyond that of siblings. She didn't know of the possessive desire for her in his eyes, or of his feelings that were so dangerously close to exploding at any moment.

Ryuichi was right to be concerned about Akira…or more precisely, he was right to be concerned about the Shirasagi name. That was because Shirasagi Satsuki and Shirasagi Akira were characters who were given names in the manga.

Akira was Sohei's best friend, but he was also a man who wanted to dominate his own sister. Sohei often came to Akira's house to visit him because he was his best friend, but Akira was jealous of the way Satsuki treated Sohei, and thus, he took action. This must've undoubtedly caused many readers to think, "Seriously?"

"…Ryuichi-kun. ♪"

"?!"

The abrupt murmur that left Satsuki's mouth along with a sweet breath didn't slip past Akira's ears unheard.

Akira knew that Satsuki was timid and a pushover, and that she wasn't able to say no.

What Akira didn't know was that, thanks to Ryuichi's words, she was now able to do just that.