Chapter 31: Mailman?
"Hey, hey, wake up!"
"Ando-kun! Wake up! "
"Yu-kun, look at the time!"
"Playboy, your girl is waiting for you at home! Wake up! "
Muffled voices entered Ryu's ears. He wanted to see who was calling his name, but his eyelids somehow became heavy, making him unable to open them.
"I'm tired," Ryu muttered as he hugged tightly to whatever was within his arms. "Please stop."
Just when Ryu had finally found an excellent position to continue his sleep, a loud slap suddenly came across his face, waking him up with a start.
"Ow..." Caressing his face, he looked at the four indistinct people standing in front of him. But slowly, from his cloudy vision, the four people changed into two seemingly beautiful girls.
"What happened?" Not caring about the pain anymore, he focused on the two furious girls standing beside him. "What's with the long faces?"
Both Yuki and Okuma pointed towards Azuma, sleeping by his side. 'Ah... that was the pillow?' Ryu thought.
"How was your sleep?" Okuma asked indifferently. "Was it good?"
Ryu nodded. "It was good," he said after a brief pause, "and soft."
As she heard Ryu's response, Okuma gave Ryu one more slap on the face and couldn't help but say, "Pervert!"
Ryu didn't get mad at her and instead ignored the pain. What Ryu said deserved a slap, but he just stated the facts. Hugging a woman in your arms, how great would that be if he were to have that every day.
"H-Harumi-san?! Isn't slapping him earlier enough? "Yuki rushed over to Okuma and held her arms. Yuki would pull them back in case she might hit Ryu again.
"He deserved it," Okuma scoffed, as she walked away to the door.
Seeing Okuma not wanting to hit Ryu one more time, Yuki moved closer to Ryu and touched the part of his face where he got slapped twice.
"Are you okay?" Yuki asked worriedly. "Does it hurt?"
The slap Okuma gave completely sobered Ryu up. Still sitting on the sofa, he looked at the worried girl in front of him.
With the expression of Yuki, an idea immediately struck Ryu's mind. And with a sudden change of 180 in Ryu, he started sniffling and said, "It hurts."
Yuki quickly bent over and blew on his swollen face upon seeing Ryu's sad and hurt expression. "Don't worry. It will eventually wear off. "
"But it really hurts," Ryu answered back, caressing his face. Tiny droplets of tears slowly formed from the corner of his eyes and drifted down his face.
"T-There's no need to cry," Yuki consoled. She then turned around and cutely scolded Okuma. "Harumi-san, he didn't really mean what he said. You should apologize to Yu-kun! "
Okuma glared at Ryu as she saw right through him. However, when she glared at him, a wide grin suddenly appeared on Ryu's face. Okuma just had the urge to walk towards him and give him one more slap.
Not dragging this play any longer, Okuma then acted to end this. With genuine sincerity, Okuma apologized, "I'm so sorry, Ando-kun, I was wrong for hitting you."
After apologizing, Yuki smiled cheerfully, seeing that her 'boyfriend' and friend had ended their conflict.
"Anyway, we have to get going," Okuma continued, changing the subject and saying what was on her mind. "It's nearly 1 am..."
"Ha?" Ryu exclaimed. "You're kidding, right?" He looked at Yuki, then nodded. Not believing them, he pulled out his phone and checked the time.
'It is nearly 1 am!' he said inwardly.
Ryu stood up and looked at the girl, who was still sleeping. "What about her?" he asked.
"Carry her around in your arms," Okuma replied quickly, as if she already knew how to handle Azuma.
After a while, Ryu held Azuma's coat and had Azuma sluggishly wrap her arm around his neck and his around hers, too. But something then came across his mind.
"The bill?" Ryu said. "Who's gonna pay it? "
Just as they were worrying about whether someone would pay or if Sato had already paid for it, the door suddenly opened.
A woman wearing expensive brand designer clothes came in. Putting down her sunglasses, despite not having any sun inside, she glanced at everyone and happily said, "I'm back."
Another person followed along from behind Koizumi and entered. "Didn't I say it was my treat?" Sato asked with a satisfied smile on his face. "I already paid for it. So don't worry about it. "
When they first met Sato at the mall and looked at his messy appearance, they thought he looked like someone doing drugs. But unlike then, when he entered now, he looked elegant and classy.
Sato had his long, curly hair tied into a bun. He had taken off his glasses, and Sato had his sore eyes cleared, making his pure brown eyes visible. Sato's face was clean, with no beard at all, showing his chiseled jawline, which complemented his sharp brows.
The striking part about Sato was his body. He wasn't thin, but the flashy clothes earlier made him look like that. He wore a grey suit that balanced both his body and face.
I guess you could say, "Don't judge a book by its cover," because Sato looked extremely handsome.
As Sato entered the room and told them they didn't have to pay, Koizumi immediately wrapped her arms around Sato's left arm.
"Guys, I have something to tell you," Koizumi said. "Sato-san is now my boyfriend."
When Yuki and Okuma heard this, both of them were surprised.
Yuki had thought Koizumi already had a boyfriend when she invited her to spend time at the mall with her boyfriend. But she then saw Ryu with Koizumi, and, hearing from Ryu himself that he wasn't her boyfriend, Yuki knew Koizumi was still single.
As for Okuma, she wasn't foolish regarding Ryu and Koizumi's relationship. Maybe she also accepted that she had the same relationship with Ryu. However, when it came to love, Okuma was very supportive. She assumed Koizumi would stop her relationship with Ryu.
After a moment of surprise, Okuma and Yuki congratulated Sato and Koizumi on being a couple. Perhaps the reason for Koizumi insisting that they go to this club was for her to get closer to Sato.
Supporting Azuma, Ryu showed a bitter smile. He congratulated both of them. If Koizumi is now Sato's girlfriend, what about her relationship with Seiji? Has she broken up with him? If that were to be the case, how would Seiji feel about breaking up with Koizumi after getting his first-ever girlfriend?
Ryu pitied Seiji. But from Ryu's point of view, Koizumi could date multiple guys at the same time. So it would be safe to say that they still haven't broken up. Just one bank account wouldn't satisfy gold diggers.
"Oh, yeah," Okuma interrupted Yuki and Koizumi's conversation. "We have to get going already."
"Now that you mention it, it's already pretty late, but the trains are closed..." Sato pulled out a couple of thousand yen from his wallet and gave it to Ryu.
"I wish to drop you guys off. However, Tomio and I have something to take care of, "Sato said. He clamped his hand on Ryu's shoulder. "Why don't you drop them off in my stead? You could take a taxi. This money is more than enough. "
"Well then, we won't take any longer," Ryu impatiently said. "Thanks for the treat."
"Ah, Ryu-kun." Koizumi pulled his hoodie, seemingly worried about something.
"Don't worry. I won't tell him. "Tilting his head towards Koizumi, Ryu looked blankly at her and said reassuringly.
"And about the shopping bags in the van. Could you give them to us? "Ryu asked Sato.
"Oh, sorry about that," Sato said. "Why don't I escort you guys out, then I'll give you the shopping bags? "
Ryu just nodded his head and went out.
As they finally got into a taxi with their shopping bags, they rode their way to Shibuya.
After 23 minutes, they arrived at an apartment where Azuma and Okuma stayed. Ryu assisted them with their bags and got back into the taxi. He then dropped Yuki off in her neighborhood, and she thanked him for the stuffed toy again.
Then, after a couple more minutes, Ryu arrived at his neighborhood. He paid 1,990 yen all in all for the fare.
Walking down the street, with light lamps lighting the way, he finally arrived in front of his home. Just then, Ryu saw a shadowed person leaning against the wall beside the door.
As the stranger noticed him, that person slowly approached Ryu.
The person wore everything black. His entire outfit, including his hat and mask, was black. The stranger pulled something from his jacket then said, "Ando Ryu, 18. Studying at Higashi University. Graduated from XXX Highschool."
Ryu had his eyes wide open. After giving the envelope to Ryu, the stranger swiftly left.
'Who's he?' Ryu thought as he watched the stranger's back slowly fade away. 'Mailman?'
Holding the envelope confusingly, maybe Ryu would understand once he opens it.