It was after school.
Homeroom had just ended, and Ryuichi was about to leave the classroom with Shizuna when Akira, who had been persistently eyeing him like Sohei had before, confronted him. It wasn't particularly surprising since Ryuichi had had a feeling that Akira would eventually get involved.
"Shishido, we need to talk."
"…Sure, fine by me."
Then, he turned to Shizuna.
He was trying to tell her that it'd be great if their conversation wrapped up quickly, but that he expected they would take some time, so she could leave first. Shizuna shook her head in response, seemingly having understood him despite them having exchanged no words between each other.
"I'm not going to go home, you know? Of course I'll wait here for you."
She said she would never leave his side; she would walk home with him no matter what. Ryuichi relented and gave a wry smile, whereas Akira stared at her in disbelief.
"…Hey, Rindo. What on earth happened to you? I want to know: do you not feel anything seeing Sohei the way he is right now?"
"If I had to say between yes or no, then yes, I do have some thoughts about him. But that doesn't mean there's anything I can do for him as I am now. Shirasagi-kun, have you heard what happened between me and Sohei-kun?"
"…No, but I can hazard a guess. He's your childhood friend, y'know? Why did you choose to be with somebody like him instead of Sohei?"
Shizuna raised her eyes at his words. He took a step back, perhaps frightened by her gaze, but when Ryuichi saw Shizuna getting angry, he sighed, wondering if it was happening all over again. Although he had never actually lost his temper like Shizuna did, he found it annoying hearing her say the same thing over and over again.
"Shizuna."
He put his hand on Shizuna's shoulder, who seemed just about ready to angrily shout at Akira in the middle of the hallway at school. Whenever Shizuna got angry or had an unhappy expression on her face, touching her body like this was the best way to calm her down.
"…Ryuichi-kun."
"Come on now, you shouldn't…well, I won't say you shouldn't ever get angry, but you don't have to get angry at every single thing. Our relationship isn't for others to decide or complain about. Just put on a bright smile when you're by my side."
With that, he started walking with his hand still on her shoulders.
"Hurry up; let's make this quick, Shirasagi."
Surely he won't complain about her being here after that, he thought as he took her with him. Sure enough, Akira indeed kept silent about her presence. They then made their way to the empty rooftop.
"So? What do you want?"
Akira managed to reply even as Ryuichi and Shizuna stared him down.
"I'll get straight to the point… Do you know my sister?"
He had thought the probability was there, albeit low, but it seemed Akira really did want to ask about his sister, Satsuki. Of course, he couldn't have known Ryuichi and Satsuki had slept with each other; he was just mentioning her name to bait him. However, Ryuichi decided to answer anyway.
"You mean Satsuki? Well, I didn't know she was your sister, but yeah, I do know her."
"Tch… Where did you two meet?"
Ryuichi's eyes narrowed as he watched Akira's tone of voice grow stronger.
This may be a little off-topic, but Ryuichi has come across many kinds of people. Kind, affectionate people like Shizuna and Chisa, or Sakie and Satsuki; people like his father and mother…and people who think they're hiding their inner desires even though they're blatantly leaking them out.
Does this guy actually feel that way for Satsuki? Even though they're probably blood-related siblings…? Haaah, what a sinful world this is.
He didn't particularly feel scorn or contempt for him; he just accepted it, strangely enough. There were people like him who had relationships with many women, and conversely, there were women who were attracted to those like him. And then there were those who thought like Akira, that was all.
"It's none of your business where we met."
"Of course it is every bit my business!"
Akira raised his voice very loudly. The way Akira was staring at him, he could tell how strong his feelings for her were. He glanced next to him and saw that Shizuna was also looking at Akira with great interest. He put his hand on her shoulder to protect her in case Akira went into a frenzy.
"Akira, are you actually—"
Just as he was about to say the words that would strike at the heart of the matter, a black-and-white picture filled his mind. It was as if he was looking at a manga.
"Hey, Onee-chan, why do you care so much about Sohei when you have me?!"
"Stop it, Akira…please, it's not too late to turn back."
"There's no way I can turn back… You belong to me, Onee-chan… I won't hand you over to anybody!"
Finally, the memory that had evaded him by the slightest of margins returned to him. Akira was in love with his own sister, Satsuki, and when he saw her taking care of Sohei, the smoldering desire within him exploded, and he attacked her. But Satsuki wasn't actually in love with Sohei; she only treated him nicely because he was Akira's friend, but Akira's mind went off the deep end on its own.
"…Damn, this world is seriously immoral."
He didn't know if it was the taste or fetish of the author who drew the manga, or if he originally intended to make it this way, but there was also a scene where Satsuki tried to cheer up Sohei, who despaired at having seen Shizuna cuckolded from him. But who would've known things would turn out like…well, yeah. It seemed that in works like these, all the protagonists were hopeless and irredeemable.
"Are you okay, Ryuichi-kun?"
"Yup, totally fine."
Still, even though he'd brought about a major change in the flow and very premise of the world, it didn't change the fact that he'd stolen Shizuna away from Sohei all the same. Even if it'd been caused by happenstance upon happenstance, and both Ryuichi and Shizuna's way of thinking were different from the manga, nothing had changed.
"..."
And now, Akira's mind was setting off on a frenzy, albeit indirectly. The jealousy he should've held for Sohei was now directed toward Ryuichi. It was a much stronger jealousy than depicted in the manga, likely because it was Ryuichi this time.
"I said, where did you meet my sister… Where did you meet my precious belonging?!"
Akira impatiently walked up to him. It seemed he was quite angry, and his perception of Satsuki, which he'd been hiding in the recesses of his mind, bubbled to the surface. He was convinced he was in love with her, but in reality, he just wanted to keep her as his own.
"…'Belonging', huh. I have to say, that way of thinking is exactly how mine used to be."
When he saw it in someone else rather than himself, he could see just how horrifying it was. He surely had once been like this. And if his memory had not returned, he might have kept Shizuna, whose shoulder he was now holding, in his possession as he wished.
There may have been some similarities between the two Ryuichis in how they had relationships with many women, but at least the current Ryuichi didn't consider them as objects or belongings. Even if they didn't understand this, Ryuichi would continue to see them as equals.
"Fufu, being treated as Ryuichi's belonging sounds like it'd be exciting."
"Hey."
She had apparently heard his mutterings and spoke up. Her words cut straight through the tense atmosphere, and Ryuichi was taken aback, but he laughed inside, thinking that she was a masochist through and through.
"But I think I still prefer making love with you when we see each other eye-to-eye. That's why I like the present you now, you know? You still have that same blunt side to you, but at the same time, you also have a very gentle side. That's why I love you."
She smiled widely, which made him smile as well. They had completely ignored Akira's presence, but now Ryuichi turned to look at him again.
"Hey, Shirasagi. Satsuki isn't some sort of object or belonging."
"What did you say?!"
His very decision to deny Ryuichi's statement was abnormal. He should have nodded his head when Ryuichi told him that Satsuki wasn't an object. His response was an affirmation that he truly saw Satsuki as a thing. Of course, there must've been a reason for those distorted feelings of his, but Ryuichi had already slept with Satsuki before, and more importantly, he wasn't going to just look the other way and feign ignorance now especially since he'd been the cause of him revealing his feelings like this.
"I won't deny your twisted feelings for Satsuki; after all, love comes in many forms. But, the fact that you see her as an object is what makes it a problem for me."
Well, even so, the world of manga was a convenient one precisely because one could give pleasure and instill a distorted happiness in another. At Ryuichi's words, Akira's eyebrows lifted and he glared at him. He could have punched him in the face, but he was too scared to do so because his opponent was Ryuichi.
"…Well, I'm just saying. Help Satsuki, and…no, I guess that's it."
"That's right! I'm not like you! I'm…I'm…dammit!"
Akira stormed out of the rooftop. Neither Ryuichi nor Shizuna stopped him as Ryuichi took out his phone and called Satsuki. As a matter of fact, they had actually exchanged numbers when she stayed the night at his place.
"…Wonder if she'll pick—"
"Hello, Ryuichi-kun? ♪"
"..."
She had picked up the phone instantly. He couldn't help but grin when he heard her beautiful voice over the phone. However, he had a reason he'd called her like this.
"Hey, Satsuki. I owe you a little apology."
In a sense, their exchange just now had lit a flame inside of Akira. Of course, he knew that he was probably not wrong in thinking that Akira would have definitely taken action sooner or later even if he had decided not to talk to him like this. He felt bad for Akira, but he retold their entire conversation to Satsuki.
"…I see. So that's how Akira felt about me."
"Sorry. I think I may have fanned the flames. Are your parents usually at home?"
"One of my parents is always at home, whether it's my mom or dad. Fufu, are you worried about me?"
"Of course."
Incidentally, her voice was subtly leaking through the phone, so Shizuna could hear their entire conversation. Shizuna put her hand over her mouth and smiled with a chuckle.
"I love how you can answer so decisively like that right off the bat, but…it's troubling how unaware you are of these things. It's almost like you're the dense protagonist from my friend's favorite manga."
Annoyed at having been called dense, he flicked her on her forehead.
"Ahh. ♪"
A satisfying smack sound rang out, and almost immediately after, a slightly naughty voice could be heard from Shizuna. It went without saying that naturally, Satsuki grumbled about how jealous she was of her.