While May was spring, the cherry blossoms period had long passed.
Also, while it was spring, it was more like summer, especially when the cloudy sky covered the sky.
It was all muddy and humid, making the mold grow faster and harder to clean.
Even girls and boys who had trouble with frizzy hair were all troubled by this session.
However, when they came to the school, they were attracted to him.
While he was handsome without a doubt, the gauze that wrapped around his head attracted them even more.
Shishio knew he would become the center of attention with the gauze on his head, but he just ignored them, and as long as he showed he was okay, no one would say anything. Also, he had gotten used to becoming a center of attention, so this was nothing new for him.
"Shishio?"
Shishio turned and looked at Futaba Rio. He nodded and greeted her back. "Good morning, Futaba."
"Wh-What's wrong? What's wrong with your head?" Futaba was startled and panicked when she saw his head was wrapped in gauze.
"......"
Shishio looked at Futaba for a moment and said, "I fell from the stairs two days ago. It was so slippery since it was raining two days ago, right?" He used a quite loud voice raised it deliberately, so the people around could hear him. While he didn't think there was a bad rumor that might appear because of this, considering he had many girls fans whose heads thought many unique things, they might think of him as helping someone in need.
However, his bad deeds as a scumbag had spread around the school, so when he thought it might be possible for them to believe he had fought someone or fought with his girlfriends, which caused a gauze on his head, so before that happened, he used Futaba's question to erase the doubts on everyone.
"I - I see..." Futaba, still worried and asked, "Are you okay? You're not hurt, right?"
Everyone who heard their conversation also nodded and understood why there was a gauze on his head.
"I am okay. If I am not okay, I should rest, right?"
Shishio suddenly wanted to slap his forehead when he thought it was his chance to skip school.
'If I skip school, I can spend my time with Ayaka, right?'
While Ayaka was coming yesterday to his apartment, there weren't many things that they could do together, considering she came as Nana's older sister, not his secret partner.
Ayaka was also relatively free during the weekdays, considering how all her tenants would go to the school during the days, leaving her alone in the Sunohara dorm, doing the household chores alone.
"......"
Shishio suddenly regretted his decision to go to school today.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Nanami asked worriedly.
"...I am okay." Shishio quickly recovered from the damage as he continued to talk, but then Momo Kashiwabara and Rui Tachibana came toward them.
"Shishio, what's wrong?!" Momo panicked.
However, Rui was in a daze and seemingly out of focus.
Shishio repeated what he had said before, but then he asked, "Rui-nee, are you okay? You seem to be sick."
"...Probably." Her reaction was quite slow, especially when she realized her forehead was touched by him and could only stare at him in a daze.
"You have a fever. Isn't it better for you to go back?" Shishio said worriedly. While he might have a gauze wrapped around his head, it was like a fashion since he was okay.
On the other hand, Rui was really sick, so it was better for her to go back.
While Rui's mind was slower than before, she still wanted to resist Shishio. "I am okay. I know my body the best." She strode slowly and walked away while trying to hide the blush on her face when he put her hand on her forehead.
Shishio looked at her back and looked at Momo. He wanted to say to take care of Rui, but he saw Momo's action was quite weird. "What's wrong?"
"This."
Momo gave him a piece of paper.
"This is..."
"That's my number. Text me when you're free, alright?" Momo gave a gentle smile and said, "I have made up my mind, so please give me an answer." She then strode like Rui, feeling embarrassed, and ran away.
"......"
Shishio could feel the gaze on him, and it made him speechless, but then he reacted fast and held his head in pain. "Ouch! Ouch! My head is dizzy."
"......"
However, they were just staring at him and thought this guy was a scumbag!
Still, they loved him so much, so they worried he was really hurt.
As the morning problem ended, Shishio needed to talk with various people about what had really happened to him.
They asked him the same, similar questions all the time, which made him sigh, but he knew that it was all good since it was better than being ignored, and they made a conclusion on their own.
In the class, Shishio thought about Momo, who had given him her email and phone number before. She had confessed to him, but he told her to wait until Golden Week since she needed to understand his situation and who was known as a scumbag.
However, Shishio could tell that Momo didn't even listen to him and just wanted to be with him.
Still, Shishio must admit he underestimated Momo's persistence and only realized she didn't give up at all.
Somehow, Shishio was curious and wanted to understand what kind of upbringing she had.
Their first meeting was when he helped her when she was almost poured with a basket of water. He could tell that she didn't have a good time in the school, yet she still smiled like that, which made him wonder whether that was the genuine part of her, or would that be an act?
Shishio wasn't sure, but he thought his problem with a woman became even messier than he had thought.
When it was time for the break, Shishio thought to eat with his girlfriends.
Nana, Mea, and Maiko pulled him since they have been curious about the world of martial artists since. While what had happened yesterday surprised them and made them worried, without a doubt, they were interested and wondered about that part of the world.
However, when they were about to go to the literature club, Usa approached them nervously while looking at Shishio nervously.
"What's wrong, Usa?"
"Do you have something with us?"
They looked at Usa curiously.
"Um...."
As expected, Usa wasn't good when he was stared at by a group of people, so he could only look at Shishio. Hopefully, Shishio could understand his signal.
However, Shishio didn't look at Usa, pretending he didn't see Usa's signal.
"If you have nothing to say, we'll go then," Nana said since she was quite tired of Usa. She knew what Usa felt toward Ritsu, and she thought it was better for him to confess and be rejected already. Instead of bothering her boyfriend all the time!
Why would Usa be rejected?
It was because Nana was clear about Ritsu's feelings, but right now, it was better to keep quiet about it since she didn't want more girls to approach him again.
Still, Nana suddenly thought it wouldn't be bad to match Ritsu with Usa.
"Shishio, you should talk with Usa for a while. We'll be waiting for you at the literature club," Nana suddenly said.
"Eh?" 4x
Not only Shishio, but Usa, Mea, and Maiko were dumbfounded.
However, Nana didn't give them a chance to ask and pushed Mea and Maiko away.
"Hey, Nana, what's wrong?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with you?"
Nana looked at her two friends and wondered whether they had stopped loving young boys and loved her boyfriend instead now.
Shishio looked at Usa for a while and said, "Treat me bread."
"Okay! Leave it to me!"
Usa nodded without hesitation as he patted his chest. He was glad he had worked a part-time job, or else his wallet would be empty now.
The two went to the bench near the vending machine as they held the bread Usa had bought on the truck food before.
Usa was eating yakisoba bread, and Shishio was eating a chocolate cornet.
While they sat next to each other, two cans of soda separated them.
The place was quiet and comfortable, but even so, Shishio could notice the girls' gaze on him.
"You don't want to eat more?" Usa asked since usually, Shishio asked him to treat him to a lot of things.
"No, it's okay. I still need to eat more later when I return to the literature club."
While it was fun to buy something with someone else's money, Shishio wasn't going to eat so much since he would eat again later after this matter ended and came to the literature club.
"So, what's wrong?" Shishio asked as he ate.
"Oga!" Usa looked at Shishio with a determined expression.
"........"
Shishio looked at Usa speechlessly and thought that if Ebina Hina saw them, she would be excited.
"...Don't be all exaggerated. Just tell me what you want to tell me since I don't have time to listen to your nonsense."
While Shishio's words might be cruel, Usa decided to forgive him since this guy was his cupid, so he took a deep breath and said, "I can't give up on Kawai-senpai."
Shishio didn't feel surprised when he heard Usa's words since he knew there was no way for this guy to give up on Ritsu, so he only nodded. "Okay."
"......"
Usa waited for the follow-up, but Shishio didn't say anything. "Why didn't you say anything?!"
"What do you want me to say? You like her. That's all. Do you think you're Aladdin? I am not your Genie!" Shishio was speechless, and he didn't want to hear this nonsense.
Was Usa expecting to help him with his relationship?
Shishio wasn't free enough to do that.
After all, while they had talked to each other about this matter, Shishio hadn't promised Usa to help him with his relationship. Instead, he just wanted to ask him whether he really loved Ritsu or not.
As for whether their relationship could blossom or not, it wasn't his problem, so Shishio decided to walk away, but Usa wouldn't let him go.
"No! Please help me, Shishio-sama! Without you, I can't do anything!"
Usa wanted to hug Shishio's waist while crying.
However, how could Shishio allow that?
Shishio quickly pushed Usa's head away from him and stopped him, but then he noticed Ebina, who was staring at him.
Ebina noticed Shishio's gaze on her, and she just clapped her hands twice and bowed her head as if she thanked him.
"........"
Shishio stared at Ebina in silence before he looked at Usa, who was oblivious of everything. Finally, he let out a sigh and said, "Okay, be quiet and listen to what I am about to say."
"Yes!" Usa was so happy when he heard Shishio was going to illuminate him with his blessing. Still, he knew he needed to prepare more money, or else this blessing was going to end soon.