Chapter 198: The place I'd taken for granted
With the sound of the bell, it was time for everyone to go home.
Shishio received a text from Miu, and she told him about her home address.
Miu: "I'm waiting for you at my home, Shishio-kun."
"...."
Reading this text, Shishio felt a bit complex for some reason. He shook his head and decided to go home first since he needed to solve Ritsu's problem, but he had a feeling that Shiina should be able to make up with Ritsu for some reason.
"Shishio, let's go back!" Nana said without hesitation.
"Oh." Shishio nodded and also wanted to go back quickly. He looked at Nanami and said, "Aoyama-san, we'll go back first."
"Um." Nanami nodded with a gentle smile and said, "Yes, be careful, Oga-kun."
"You too, Aoyama-san." Shishio nodded then left with Nana, Mea, and Maiko together.
Looking at Shishio's back, Nanami let out a sigh, and somehow she had accepted the fact that Shishio and Nana had dated to each other. She felt calm for some reason and felt that it was enough for her to be able to talk like this every day, seeing his smile like that.
"Aoyama!"
"....."
Nanami raised her eyebrow and looked at Sorata, who was walking toward her with a smile.
"Are you going to your part-time job?" Sorata asked.
"Yes." Nanami nodded, then stood up and left without hesitation. "I'll leave first, Kanda-kun." Somehow her mood became so bad when she saw Sorata, who was smiling toward her, ignoring the fact that he hadn't apologized for lashing out his emotion at her. She didn't have time to talk with him, and it was better to go back as soon as possible.
"...."
Sorata looked at Nanami, who left without hesitation and shook his head, thinking that she must be working really hard. Anyway, he didn't need to worry about Nanami and Shishio getting close to each other again, and now, his mood was very happy.
---
While Shishio, Nana, Maiko, and Mea walked together, Maiko suddenly proposed, "Say, how about we go to karaoke? We need to celebrate that you have dated each other!" Even though she felt strange inside her heart, she still showed a smile and celebrated the fact that two of her friends decided to date each other.
Nana didn't say anything but looked at Shishio.
"Sorry, I have something to do later," Shishio said and showed an apologetic expression.
"Huh? What are you going to do?" Maiko was quite unhappy.
Shishio might be alright to tell Nana that he would go to Miu's house, but he wasn't sure whether he should say this to both Mea and Maiko. "I need to check my motorcycle."
"Motorcycle?" 2x
Mea and Maiko were dumbfounded.
"Shhh!" Shishio quickly made a gesture for them to lower their voices since it would cause a lot of trouble if the school knew that he was riding on a motorcycle. Still, when he thought about Tokugawa's appearance, he had a feeling that his life in school would be several times easier than before. As long as he didn't cause a huge problem such as burning the school building, then he was sure that he wouldn't be alright, well, even if he burnt a building, as long as he built a new one, there shouldn't be a problem in his mind.
'Money might not be able to solve everything, but it can solve most problems.' Shishio thought.
"Now that you mention it, you told me yesterday that you were going to get a motorcycle? Didn't you have a Vespa before?" Nana asked with wonder.
"I bought a new one," Shishio said.
"Did you buy a new one?" Nana was dumbfounded and quickly asked, "From your part-time job?"
"From my part-time." Shishio nodded with a smile.
"......" Nana had never expected that an underground fighter would get so much money, especially when Shishio told her that he was going to get a house later.
"Um, can you ride on a motorcycle? You're still 1st in high school, right?" Mea asked in confusion.
"It's alright, as long as you don't tell anyone, alright?" Shishio said and made a gesture for them to keep quiet about this problem.
"....." Mea.
"Can I see it?" Maiko asked curiously.
"Well, I have taken a picture of my motorcycle on my phone. Do you want to see it?" Shishio asked.
"Yes!" 3x
Nana, Mea, and Maiko nodded without hesitation.
Shishio then showed his new motorcycle to the three of them, and somehow the three of them were in silence. "What's wrong?"
"This... is this cafe racer?" Maiko asked in doubt.
"Yes, how did you know, Maiko?" Shishio asked in surprise. After all, it was quite rare for a girl to show an interest in a motorcycle.
"Well, my dad owns a similar motorcycle, with a black color and Honda CB as the base." Maiko looked at Shishio and didn't expect his hobby to be similar to her father's hobby. "But the yellow color is amazing too! Can you send me a photo? I want to show it to my dad."
"Sure." Shishio nodded without hesitation.
"What base did you use?"
"Honda Virago. It is an old model."
"...." Mea and Nana.
"Cough! Cough!" Nana coughed and hugged Shishio's arm naturally. "Give me a ride next time."
"Sure." Shishio nodded without hesitation.
Maiko felt a bit bitter, but she quickly shook her head. "You don't need to get jealous. I'm only interested in a young boy, you know?"
"Well, I'm not jealous, but you should be careful with this guy since he might eat you if you're not careful," Nana said, trying to scare Maiko and Mea before she let go of his arm.
"......" Shishio, Mea, and Maiko.
Mea's face was red, and she asked in a low voice, "Ha - Have you done it?"
"......." Shishio looked at Mea with a speechless expression.
"Not yet, but we have kissed each other," Nana said and didn't hide the fact that they had kissed each other before.
"Li - Lips?" Maiko asked in a red face.
"Yes." Nana nodded.
"Kyaaa!!!" 2x
Mea and Maiko couldn't help but squeal.
"........" Shishio.
"Shishio!"
The four of them turned their heads and saw Ritsu, Miu, Shiina, and Saki walking together.
"Shishio, let's go back," Shiina said while approaching Shishio.
"Well, let's go back." Shishio nodded, then glanced at Miu.
Miu, who was being glanced at, blushed, and nodded shyly.
"......" Shishio felt that he really had become a scumbag somehow. Still, anyway, it didn't really matter, he had accepted his identity, and he needed to move forward rather than showing hesitation. "Well, Nana, Mea, Maiko, we'll go back first."
"See you tomorrow," Nana said with a smile.
Shishio nodded, then left with Shiina, Saki, and Ritsu and said, "Senpai, see you later."
"See you later." Miu nodded with a shy smile.
'Later?' Somehow, it sounded weird, but they didn't think too much since Mea and Maiko looked at Shishio, who walked back together with Shiina, Saki, and Ritsu with a frown.
"Nana, is that alright?" Mea asked.
"He's going back with other girls, you know?" Maiko asked in a frown.
Nana looked at Mea and Maiko for a while and knew that she couldn't hide it forever from them. "Well, how about we go to my house after this? I'll tell you a lot of things there."
Mea and Maiko looked at each other before nodded without hesitation.
---
Shiina, Ritsu, Shishio, and Saki went back together. It might be because they went back early that the sky was still bright, showing their moods at this moment, which was also very bright.
Shishio was walking with both Saki and Shiina on his side, and Ritsu was on Shiina's side.
Saki had gone back together with them before, so Ritsu and Shiina didn't feel strange, but when Saki appeared, somehow, they had a feeling that Shishio might be stolen, but they weren't sure how to ask this question.
As for Saki, she didn't think too much. After all, she had prepared herself, and she also knew that the three of them had always walked together, even before she knew Shishio, so she didn't think too much, but in truth, she wanted to walk alone with him, since there was something that she wanted to talk with him.
'Well, there should be a chance later.'
"Senpai, are you alright now?" Shishio asked.
"Um." Ritsu nodded with a light smile on her face and said, "Mashiro had come to my class before and gave me a Baumkuchen." Then, she looked at Shishio and asked, "She has told me that you were the one who told her to give me the Baumkuchen."
"Yes, you don't like it?" Shishio asked.
"No, I like it," Ritsu said without hesitation.
"Ritsu..." Shiina smiled while holding Ritsu's hand.
Ritsu also looked at Shiina with a smile.
"....." Shishio looked at both of them and hoped that they didn't become a yuri (lesbian), right?
"Senpai, can you tell me why you suddenly decided to walk to the school alone in the morning?" Shishio asked.
"......"
Being asked, Ritsu showed hesitation before she said, "Last night when Mashiro asked you for a date..."
Shishio noticed Saki's gaze and quickly said in a whisper, "I'll explain it to you later."
Saki looked at Shishio and nodded quietly, listening to Ritsu's story since she had a feeling that both Shiina and Ritsu might become his girlfriends too in the future.
"When Mashiro asked you for a date yesterday, I somehow realized that even without me, you two would be alright. Then I started to feel uneasy. We have always been together. The three of us walked together, ate together, and stayed in the same dorm together. Still, I knew that we couldn't do something like this in the future, especially when you two have decided to go on a date. The place I'm usually at... The place I'd taken for granted... The few meters in front of where you two were... seemed to be blocked by an invisible wall. It looked very, very far away. It's like a different place."
Ritsu knew that she might have taken place where Shishio and Shiina had been together as a place that she had taken for granted. She had never thought about the possibility of both of them dating together. No, she might have, but she might try not to think about it and try to ignore it. However, she knew that nothing could stay the same forever. Everything would change, including their relationship.
"I suddenly felt scared for some reason and ran away from the two of you, but... but... I want to stay with the two of you, walk together, as usual, talk like usual, stay together like usual..." Ritsu kept saying those words and didn't realize that tears dripped from her eyes. The thought that Shishio and Shiina might be together kept repeating in her head, and even though she knew that she should be happy for both of them, she couldn't, she couldn't be happy at all, but in the end, she decided to accept it, after all, both of them had become important people for her. So she hoped for both of them to be happy.
"Ritsu!" Shiina's eyes were red, and she, without hesitation, hugged Ritsu tightly. She would have never expected for her to have thought such a thing on her mind, and she felt that she was too thoughtless since she had never considered Ritsu's feeling.
"I understand those feelings," Shishio said.
Ritsu looked at Shishio with red eyes and asked, "Really?"
"Un." Shishio nodded without hesitation since he also had felt something similar to Ritsu. Still, he was wondering whether she realized that she was confessing her love to him, but from her expression, he knew that she didn't. He took his handkerchief then gave it to Ritsu.
"Thank you." Ritsu received his handkerchief and wiped the tears on her eyes.
"Are you alright now, Ritsu?" Shiina asked.
"Um, I'm alright now, Mashiro. I feel better right now." Ritsu really felt better after she conveyed all of her emotions to the two of them. She took a deep breath and asked, "So after that date, are you two planning to date each other?"
Shiina was surprised by this question, but she didn't answer and looked at Shishio.
Shishio was also surprised, but before he answered...
"No!"
"........" Shishio, Shiina, and Ritsu.
The three of them looked at Saki, who had been silent from the beginning to the end of the conversation.
"He won't date the two of you since he's dating me now," Saki said and kissed Shishio's lips before she quickly ran away.
"......."
Shishio had never expected that there would be such an emotional roller coaster that happened several times in the past few days. He looked at Shiina and Ritsu, who were still in a daze, and said, "I'll leave first." He then quickly chased after Saki while calling her name. "Saki!"
"........"
Shiina and Ritsu were still in the daze since they weren't sure how to react since they only realized that even though they had taken this place for something granted, in truth, there was an invisible wall between them. They had never been able to step into his place since that place was reserved for his girlfriend. But, unfortunately, that girlfriend was neither of them.