ALL NOVEL Chapter 52
“…That’s…”
It was a sight Ryuichi happened to come across. The final exams before the summer vacation were approaching, and Ryuichi was wandering around the city alone when he saw a certain person’s rear figure. It was Sohei, the protagonist of the manga world, and he was being harassed by a delinquent.
…The hell is up with this world, why are there so many people who enjoy causing problems to others?
He was disgusted at how there were so many people who seemingly loved bothering others. The way he saw it, Sohei had probably just bumped into him, but the other guy, like Ryuichi, had blond hair and piercings, and not only that, he also had tattoos all over his shoulders and arms that were visible because of his short sleeves.
“Guess I ain’t got a choice.”
He and Sohei weren’t friends, they were only classmates…No, from Sohei’s point of view, he may have even seemed like the devil who stole away the woman he loved. But even if he thought that way, Ryuichi couldn’t just abandon someone who was in trouble right in front of him now.
“…Wait a minute, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that guy before.”
The man who was picking on Sohei looked somewhat familiar to Ryuichi. Although he couldn’t recall exactly, cases like these usually meant that he had seen the man’s face at one of the clubs or related establishments that Ryuichi had visited before.
“Well, whatever. Better get to helping him first.”
He had no intention of telling Sohei to talk back if he got harassed, nor did he intend to call him a coward. In this day and age, it was natural for anyone who got picked on by a man with a rugged face and tattoos like his to be afraid that they might try to attack them.
“Yo, Shinozaki, what’cha up to?”
“Huh?”
“Haah?”
Sohei turned around, and his expression immediately did a 180 from that of fear to surprise, while the man intensely glared at Ryuichi who had made a sudden appearance.
“That over there is my classmate. What do you want with him?”
“Well, I’ll have you know that this shithead here bumped into me.”
“…Why the hell do guys like you get hung up over ridiculous bullshit like this all the time?”
It’s one thing if he did it intentionally, but if he only bumped into you a little bit, couldn’t you have just left it at that and walked away? Ryuichi shook his head in exasperation.
From the man’s point of view, he felt utterly mocked by Ryuichi’s behavior, and he removed his gaze from Sohei and turned to face him.
“You better not get too carried away, you brat.”
“Hah, I ain’t gettin’ carried away for shit. I’m only shaking my head at the dumbass who snapped at said brat.”
“…You fucker.”
Ryuichi reflected on the fact that he may have fanned the flames too much. But fortunately, Shizuna wasn’t here now. A little while ago, he would have even gotten into fights like it was natural…well, it wasn’t actually that bad, but it definitely wouldn’t have been strange for him to get into arguments like these with ruffians like the man before him.
Go on, get out of here ASAP.
He tried to convey this message to Sohei with his eyes, but it seemed he was still stunned and made no attempt to move. Well, while he did find it regrettable, he also felt frustrated that Sohei didn’t run away as he’d hoped he would… But first came the man in front of him, Ryuichi thought as he assumed a fighting stance.
The man approached and tried to seize Ryuichi by his collar, but there was no way he was going to let him do what he wanted, so he grabbed his hand and put some force into the opposite direction.
“Man, this is pretty, no, really tough stuff, huh.”
“Tch… You shitty brat!”
The man’s gaze sharpened further, perhaps having thought that Ryuichi was looking down on him. As for Ryuichi, he hadn’t had any particular intentions to do so; he was simply surprised by the high specs of his own body. On the other hand, the man looked surprised when Ryuichi grabbed his fist that he’d swung at him without any difficulty.
“Woah, aren’t those two trouble?”
“Better call the police.”
“…Tch.”
Perhaps the man thought it would be a bad idea to cause a commotion as he blatantly clicked his tongue and left. Although he felt the same thing would’ve happened either way had he let the man continue to harass Sohei, Ryuichi exhaled a sigh of relief, glad that it hadn’t gotten that serious.
“…Shishido.”
“Well, make sure to watch out for people like him from now on.”
He turned his back and was about to leave when he was stopped by Sohei. No matter how much he wanted to leave knowing it was Sohei he was dealing with, he felt like the least he could do was turn around after being stopped by him; plus, he didn’t feel comfortable with outright ignoring him.
“What’s up?”
“………”
Please, I know talking to me is probably the last thing you want to do, but don’t do anything reckless, he muttered in his heart.
“…Thanks for saving me.”
“Nah, I just happened to run into you.”
That was all there was to it; he had no other intentions. There was a possibility where if he hadn’t stepped in, he might’ve seen him at school with his face all swollen tomorrow. Compared to that, it was clear that there was significant meaning in Ryuichi having helped him.
Noticing a vending machine nearby, Ryuichi took the opportunity to head over there and buy some juice.
“Here. You thirsty?”
“Ah… ‘No thanks’…is not something I can really say right now.”
Sohei obediently accepted the juice from Ryuichi. They both opened the lids of their cans at the same time and drank the juice to relieve the tension from their bodies.
“…Carbonated drinks really bite.”
“Really? I think they’re just fine, though.”
Apparently, Ryuichi’s tastes were not to Sohei’s liking. They took some time to drink their juice cans, then threw their empty cans into a trash bin.
“…You know, I’ve done a lot of thinking lately.”
“Hmm?”
“I realized…I didn’t know anything about Shizuna.”
It was Sohei’s monologue. It had been a long time since he had heard Shizuna’s name again from him like this, so he couldn’t help but turn his attention to Sohei. However, Sohei shook his head with a wry smile, not particularly interested in prolonging the conversation.
“Well, I won’t say anything now. I was definitely shocked when I found out about her and you, but I can tell she looks really happy now. It’s really frustrating…but I’ve always been taking my position as her childhood friend for granted in the first place, so it’d be absolutely ridiculous for me to feel jealous.”
“………”
Apparently, Sohei had been doing a lot of thinking of his own since then. He was certainly different from Akira…well, it was wrong to compare him to Akira in the first place, but Sohei hadn’t gotten involved with Ryuichi or Shizuna since then, and even the way he looked at him hadn’t given off any signs of hostility.
“That’s why I’ve been thinking if things are maybe best this way. I loved Shizuna…but I can’t confidently say that I could’ve made her as happy as she is now.”
“I see.”
Even so, Ryuichi could sense his frustration. However, in that case, Ryuichi also had something to say back to Sohei.
“I’ll take good care of Shizuna. Just leave her to me.”
That was all he said to him. Sohei looked at him with a blank look, but soon, he laughed and said, “I understand.”
…This feels like a nice conclusion to things. Seeing as how pure and honest he is, I’m sure he’ll meet someone nice in the future, too.
Sohei’s face was average, but Ryuichi had a feeling he would probably be liked by older women. Ahh, if that’s how it is, then… He grinned with a hint of mischievousness.
“Shinozaki, are you gonna head home now?”
“Huh? Well, that’s the plan…besides, it’s already close to 6 PM.”
“Well, I’m thinking about having dinner after this, wanna come with me?”
“…Hmm, give me a minute.”
Sohei, without the slightest of suspicions or misgivings, took out his phone. Presumably calling his mother, he said he was going to have dinner with a friend and hung up the call.
“So I’m a friend, huh.”
“…There wasn’t anything else I could say, was there?”
“True.”
Well, with that out of the way, they headed to the place Ryuichi already had in mind. He was taking Sohei to the club, and the closer they got to the club, the more Sohei’s face changed to one of disbelief.
“…Hey, you can’t be serious.”
“Well, think of it as a real-world field trip.”
He gave him a strong push on his shoulders and went inside. There were as many people as ever inside along with a lot of noise, and the two of them made their way to the counter seats where the manager was, slipping through the crowd.
“Ryuichi and…who’s this?”
“Well, I ran into him outside.”
“…Hello.”
Seeing as this seemed to be his first time in a place like this, Sohei naturally was reserved and quiet. Ryuichi told the manager to please prepare them something delicious, and he replied, “You got it,” before setting to work preparing the meals.
“This is the place that accepted me and took me in, shitty brat as I was. Although this place is what it is, the employees, including the manager, are all good people.”
“…I see.”
“Well, some of the customers are good, and some of them are assholes like the one you just saw, though.”
Even now he shrugged his shoulders at the sight of several people who were messing around while drunk. While they were waiting for their food, a female employee approached them.
“Hey, Ryuichi.”
“‘Sup.”
She and Ryuichi were colleagues as he worked part-time here, and she also knew him from the times when he visited as a customer before. Despite her revealing attire, she was a slightly cold beauty who was known to have a very tight guard. Sohei, who had no tolerance for cleavage-revealing clothing, quickly averted his gaze, and the woman seemed to have found that naivety of his cute.
“Looks like you’ve brought a cute one with you. You’re a bad boy, Ryuichi.”
“Hey, hey, we’re only here to dine, y’know?”
“Really? Ah, but now that you mention it, Chisa’s not here either.”
Neither Chisa nor Satsuki had come today; the only people he knew were really just the employees. Ryuichi chuckled at Sohei, who was still embarrassed, and made this suggestion to the woman.
“This kid’s never been to a place like this before. Give him a little company.”
“H-Hey, Shishido!”
“You got it.”
The woman sat down next to Sohei. She then led the conversation with Sohei… He, who had been timid at first, perhaps became more comfortable having an adult woman at the lead as he gradually became able to talk with her.
“The food here is really good, huh.”
“Right? The food the boss makes is just so delicious.”
“Heh, looks like you’ve brought a customer who understands my skill, eh, Ryuichi?”
Well, you could say that, Ryuichi laughed. It was nice to have conversations like these every once in a while, and as he glanced at Sohei, he thought about how he never would’ve expected he’d get involved with the protagonist like this, and he was deeply moved.