Ryuji officially hates art

"So crowded..." commented Morgana.

"You can say that again." said Shin, who was sipping the usual Sunday special drink.

"By the way, what are you drinking?" asked Ryuji.

"Water, mostly. I also drink the coffee I make, and occasionally I have some tea. It's relaxing." replied the black-haired teen.

"I mean right now."

"Bitter Aokiji. I really hate whoever thought adding the bitter taste would be a good idea..." said Shin, showing the content of the drink to the blond.

"Wha- That looks really weird! You sure that thing's okay?"

"I'll be fine."

Despite his words, the black-haired teen was trying his hardest to look as calm as possible, ignoring the pain he felt at that moment. His nails digging into his skin and his anus clenched as much as possible.

"You came!" said Yusuke, appearing out of nowhere.

"Mmhm."

"And you came too." said the blue-haired boy, looking at Ryuji and the others with annoyance.

"Tch. You know..." said Shin, stepping forward.

He looked straight into Yusuke's eyes, since they were close in height.

"You really annoy me when you look so condescendingly at my friends. I let it slide yesterday, because you only looked at Ryuji like that, but now..."

He moved backwards and embraced Shiho's unguarded body. He placed her head closer to his chest with one hand and said.

"You dared to look at my dear Shiho like that!"

While the most common reaction was bafflement, Yusuke wasn't fazed by that.

"I must apologize. You must feel insulted now. It was thoughtless of me to disregard your friends as such. I hope you'll still consider my proposition, despite my rudeness." he said with a slight bow.

Like the last time the group met with Yusuke, someone called out after the boy in the middle of their discussion. This time, however, it wasn't Madarame, but some man who worked at the exposition.

"If you'll excuse me, it seems my help is needed." said the teen.

With Yusuke's leave, an awkward silence settled over the thieves. Shiho looked close to passing out from embarrassment. But Shin's next words brought her down to earth.

"Hey, Shiho. Hold my body, will you? I can't feel my legs."

"Huh? What? Are you alright?" she asked, raising her head from Shin's chest.

Shin smiled a little.

"Heh, you look so cute when you're worried." he said.

He intended to pinch her nose, but Shiho grabbed his hands before he could do that. She looked at Shin seriously, as the boy didn't lose his smile.

"Stop messing around!" she said.

As she was quite loud when she said that, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana could hear her.

"What happened?" asked Ann.

"Nothing."

Shiho looked angrily at Shin.

"Shin doesn't feel good. Maybe we should go home." she said.

"Oh thank god!" exclaimed Ryuji, relieved.

Ann and Shiho looked at him weirdly at that.

"Err, I mean, let's get Shin home first." he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Wait. Since we already used the tickets, it would be a waste to leave now, don't you think?" said Morgana.

"Then what are you proposing?" asked the blond, already having a bad feeling about this.

"I suggest 2 of you take Shin home, and someone stays behind with me to look around the exposition." said the cat.

Morgana would've liked for Ann to remain with him to look around, but obviously, the girl had other plans.

"Alright, then. Please be careful that Ryuji doesn't break anything, Morgana." she said.

"Huh?""Huh?"

Both the teen and the cat were suprised. While Morgana was somewhat disappointed, Ryuji was dreading the thought of going into the exposition. Especially alone with Morgana.

The other 3 didn't give them any more time to react, as Ann placed one of Shin's hands around her shoulders, so that she and Shiho could walk him to LeBlanc.

Shin wasn't bothered by that. If 2 cute girls wanted to hold his hands, who was he to refuse?

Even then, hand-holding before marriage...

He'd think of something later.

-INTERMISSION-

"Ooh! You live in a cafe! That's nice." exclaimed Ann, when the group of 3 arrived at LeBlanc.

"Yeah. My room's upstairs." said Shin.

His condition had worsened on their way home, to the point where the girls were half-walking half-dragging his body.

"It's so spacious!" that's what she sa- Wait! False alarm! Abort the mission! Abort!

"Let's place him on the bed." suggested Shiho.

As Shin was laying down, Shiho could check his temperature.

"No good. He's hot." she said.

"Burning in flames... Only for you... I love it... You know it too..." muttered Shin.

"I'll go bring a wet towel and some water." Ann said, going down the stairs.

Shiho turned to look at Shin and thought.

'I should take off his shirt, right? Then...'

The girl shook her head and slapped her cheeks to clear her thoughts.

'NO! Focus, Shiho! This is serious!'

With all the seriousness she could muster, she began to slowly pull up Shin's shirt, which revealed the smooth skin underneath. She gulped audibly at that. Shin had some slightly visible abs, and she meekly brushed her finger over them.

"So nice..." she muttered.

"Are you... molesting Shin?" asked Ann, who just returned with a towel and several bottles of water.

"I... uh... he... shirt... I-I just wanted to take off his shirt." stuttered the girl.

Shiho could swear the glare Ann gave her hurt physically.

"You know, if you wanted to look at him topless, I doubt he'd refuse if you asked."

The black-haired girl suddenly found a wall very interesting.

"Here, check this out." said Ann.

"What's this?" said the girl, flipping through the magazine Ann just handed to her.

"The first magazine Shin appeared in." said Ann, proudly.

"And you keep it on you because...?" asked Shiho.

"T-That's not important! Just look through it, will you?"

Shiho browsed through it for a few seconds, until she pointed the magazine to Ann and asked.

"What's with this pose?!"

Shiho's face, which just cooled down from the events that took place earlier, once again turned red.

(I shall skip the process of describing male model poses as it is mentally damaging to a straight male such as yours truly.)

Ann too lightly blushed seeing what Shiho showed her.

"Ah, that... He really doesn't feel awkward, showing his body like that."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you all know Ryuji's Japanese VA also voiced fking Light Yagami? I bet you didn't.

Also, his English VA also voiced Saitama and Meruem. Cool guy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Confidants:

Igor (The Fool) - Rank 2

Morgana (The Magician) - Rank 3

Takuto Maruki (The Councillor) - Rank 1

Makoto Niijima (The Priestess) - Rank 1

Sojiro Sakura (The Hierophant) - Rank 3

Ann Takamaki (The Lovers) - Rank 5

Ryuji Sakamoto (The Chariot) - Rank 6

Tae Takemi (The Death) - Rank 4

Saki Yoshiko (The Moon) - Rank 2

Sae Niijima (The Judgement) - Rank 1

Shiho Suzui (The Hope) - Rank 6