Chapter 51: Marin Kitagawa Has Been Wanting to Try This for a Long Time
It was getting late, so Marin and Koizumi bid farewell to Mrs. Izumi.
"Shun-kun, could you walk them home? Make sure to get the girls safely to their houses," Mrs. Izumi requested.
"Sure," Shunsuke immediately agreed, as he had already planned to do so.
"No need, no need! There are so many of us; it would be too much trouble," Marin waved her hand dismissively. Koizumi also nodded silently in agreement.
Considering how often she would travel all over Japan alone just to eat ramen, this short distance felt like nothing to her. She wasn't the type to rant online about guys lacking manners just because no one offered to walk her home.
"Even though the crime rate in Japan is low these days and we rarely hear of any incidents, it's still nighttime. Pretty girls like you are at a higher risk during this time, so it's better not to leave even a one-in-a-million chance," Shunsuke waved his hand to stop Marin from being overly polite. "Besides, I have some errands to run. Sagiri, where's the letter you wrote? I'll take it with me."
"Oh, right! I almost forgot!" Sagiri quickly ran back to her room to fetch the letter.
Since Shunsuke was being insistent, Marin didn't refuse anymore.
But as she glanced at Eriri and Mashiro, who were still seated without any intention of leaving, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Aren't you two planning to go home yet, Eriri-senpai and Mashiro-senpai?"
"I've already told my family. I'm staying over tonight," Eriri responded directly, her eyes still fixed on admiring Mashiro's artwork.
Shunsuke then explained, "Mashiro just returned from England and doesn't have a place to stay or a trusted guardian, so she's currently staying here temporarily. As for Eriri, she's been staying over at Mrs. Izumi's place since she was little. The clothes Koizumi is wearing are actually borrowed from her."
"Oh, speaking of clothes, I'll return them after drying them tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't do anything weird—I promise they'll be clean," Shunsuke added.
"With that kind of reassurance, it just makes me worry even more," Marin muttered sarcastically.
As for Eriri and Mashiro staying over at Mrs. Izumi's house, Marin didn't overthink it. What surprised her was how close Shunsuke's own home was, yet he often stayed here instead. Did he use his place just as a decoration?
Just then, Sagiri came running back with a thick stack of letters. "Don't peek, Onii-chan!"
"Alright, alright, I won't look," Shunsuke patted her head affectionately and placed the letters in his bag.
Although he was quite curious about what Sagiri might be writing to her only friend, he wasn't the type to invade his family's privacy out of sheer curiosity.
After saying their goodbyes, the three of them left Mrs. Izumi's house together.
Like many heroines, Koizumi was living alone. She rented a place near the school, so the distance wasn't far.
In contrast, while Marin was also living alone at the moment, it was because her father had been relocated for work. She was still staying at their original home, which was a bit farther from the school.
Shunsuke pulled up the map on his phone and was surprised to find that Koizumi's place was quite close to where they were.
No wonder he had been running into her so often lately when he went out for ramen.
Even with Koizumi's remarkable enthusiasm for ramen, it was unlikely she'd go far every day for it; she'd naturally frequent the ramen shops near her place the most.
"How about we drop Koizumi off first, then walk you home, Kitagawa?" Shunsuke suggested.
"I'm fine with that," Marin agreed readily, and Koizumi nodded.
The three of them walked together in silence for a while, casually chatting. Mostly, it was Shunsuke and Marin doing the talking, with Koizumi listening quietly. Before long, they had dropped both girls off at their homes.
As they reached Marin's apartment building, she cheekily nudged Shunsuke with her elbow. "Senpai, want to come up for a cup of coffee? No one's home right now, you know."
"Where did you pick up that kind of joke? Remember not to say things like that," Shunsuke replied, tapping her lightly on the forehead with a curled index finger, brushing off the invitation as a joke.
Marin was clearly just teasing—this playful, "little devil" act was typical of her.
In fact, it was a move more commonly used by girls like Iroha Isshiki, who were probably even better at it than she was.
But Shunsuke had the ability to turn such jokes into something serious if he wanted to.
Unlike with Hiiragi, Shunsuke didn't want to rush things with Marin.
He didn't want to just dive in headfirst. Although he might be a playboy, there were different kinds of playboys, and Shunsuke aspired to be more like a six-winged archangel among them.
It might also have been due to the help Hiiragi had provided him throughout the day, keeping his mind clear and rational. At this moment, he wasn't letting his impulses take control.
Marin laughed playfully, "I saw people saying this on TV all the time. I've always wanted to say it once myself, and now I finally have."
"You really..." Shunsuke was speechless. He had thought she might have meant it to some extent, but it turned out she was just imitating a line she'd seen. All his overthinking had been for nothing.
"Okay then, see you later, senpai!" Marin waved goodbye before heading into her apartment building.
Shunsuke watched as she got on the elevator and left.
His own home was in the opposite direction from Marin's, and he would need to transfer buses on the way back, which would take some time.
By the time he finished his errands and returned home, it would definitely be very late—hardly the right time to disturb anyone.
Shunsuke put on his headphones, opened his phone contacts, and found a number he hadn't called in a long time. The name displayed was Takagi Akito.
When the call connected, a calm voice tinged with surprise came through. "Fujii, it's rare for you to call me directly. Is something up?"
Shunsuke chuckled, "Yeah, using LINE felt like it wouldn't be enough to explain everything, so I decided to call. Do you have some time right now?"
"Yeah, I just finished up," Akito replied, glancing at his unfinished name draft but choosing to set it aside for now.
"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point. Takagi, you're still working on manga with Mashiro Moritaka, submitting to Jump, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," Akito laughed. "What's this, Fujii? Are you thinking of drawing manga now too?"
"Sharp as ever, Takagi. Your IQ really is something," Shunsuke joked.
"Wait, hold on a second—are you serious about this?" Akito asked, suddenly taken aback.
"Do you think I'd joke about something like this?" Shunsuke responded.
"But still, Fujii, you're attending Sobu High right now. With how demanding high school studies are, even someone like you would struggle to keep up," Akito cautioned him kindly. "I gave up on academics to pursue manga, and I didn't even go to Sobu High. And that's with Mashiro as a partner. Going solo would be even tougher."
"I understand all that," Shunsuke said, acknowledging Akito's genuine concern. "But I've thought this through carefully, and I'm confident in my decision."
Shunsuke appreciated Akito's sincere advice, but he couldn't reveal the secret behind his determination—namely, the existence of Star Platinum. So, he had no choice but to politely yet firmly decline, knowing it might come across as a bit reckless.
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