Volume 2 - CH 10

Later.

It was lunchtime, so Yuzuru and the others decided to have their meal together at a nearby coffee shop.

“Psst!”

After ordering their food.

When Tenka saw Arisa’s face, she let out a small burst of laughter.

She turned her face away, shook her shoulders, and let out a laugh.

“Nagiri-san, can you please stop laughing? …… 　My feet hurt.”

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Arisa kept kicking Yuzuru’s legs so hard that one could almost hear the onomatopoeia.

With a miffed look, she appealed, ‘I’m mad at you.’

As she could not hit Tenka, whom she was not very close to, her anger was directed at Yuzuru.

“Look, Arisa. I’m sorry, but if I hadn’t asked Nagiri-san, you wouldn’t have been able to go pick the flowers.”

“…….I could have gone”

“Then why don’t you go now for once?”

“……”

Arisa looked away with an awkward expression on her face.

It seems that the fear has not yet worn off and she cannot go to the bathroom by herself.

Seeing the interaction between Yuzuru and Arisa, Tenka started laughing again.

Apparently, she’s stuck in a loop.

(…… devilish woman, huh?)

Yuzuru felt like he understood part of the reason why Hijiri had said that.

It’s not a very good personality, even if you flatter her.

…… Most of all, Hijiri doesn’t seem to have a good personality either, so in a way, they’re a good match.

“You guys seem to be getting along pretty well. Yuzuru.”

Sure enough.

Smirking, Hijiri asked Yuzuru

As expected, the excuse of “I just happened to meet her at the movie theater” would not work.

“You look like lovers.”

Tenka’s eyes narrowed as she said this.

The ladylike and mature atmosphere of the past has disappeared, and now he has a slightly evil smile on his face.

“We’re not lovers.”

“That’s correct”

Yuzuru and Arisa denied it once and for all.

However, Hijiri and Tenka don’t seem to believe it very much.

They both looked as if they wanted to say, in unison, “There you go again, talking like that”.

…… This is what it means to be a couple of similar people.

“You two also seem to have a relationship where you go to the cinema together.”

Yuzuru asked Hijiri and Tenka

In response, …… both of them seem to have decided that they could no longer hide anything.

They cowered their shoulders.

“You know that Ryozenji and Nagiri are now in a business partnership, right?”

“Business, that’s a nice way of putting it.”

“Business is business.”

To Yuzuru, Hijiri said as if to make a point.

Arisa, who seemed to sense something disturbing, asked Hijiri and Tenka.

“What are Ryozenji-san and Naginashi-san’s …… parents’ professions?”

The two of them then replied with a blank expression.

“We’re in the staffing business.”

“Counselors, I guess.”

“Oh.”

The kind-hearted Arisa was easily fooled, so Yuzuru told her the truth.

“In short, yakuza and cult.”

“Ehh…….”

Arisa put on a cramped expression.

Then she muttered in a small voice.

” ……So that’s why my foster father told me to be careful. I see.”

However, they were both unhappy with the way Yuzuru and Arisa were talking about it.

First, Hijiri voiced his complaint followed by Tenka.

“We’re not a yakuza in the first place, because we’re outside the scope of the Anti-Violence Law. In addition, we have never done anything against the law. Don’t use a confusing term. It’s just a staffing business. Please be clear about that.”

“Cult is a label, isn’t it?. I’d like you to stop using it. I admit it’s a new religion. We’re not doing anything shady at all, we’re a legitimate and healthy religious organization. It’s still minor in the Kanto region, but in the Kansai region, there are quite a few followers.”

“Oh, yes. All right, all right, I’m sorry.”

Both of them had stiff eyes, so Yuzuru raised his hands to show his surrender.

It is an undoubted fact that Ryozenji is outside the designated scope of the Anti-Violence Law – that is, it is not a yakuza by strict definition. And it is also a fact that Nagiri’s religion does not act in an anti-social manner.

“No, but your place is pretty fishy. What’s legitimate and healthy? It’s so whitewashed.”

“That’s your place, isn’t it?

“Ah? Are you trying to start a fight?”

“What? Do you want a fight? If it’s a fight, I’ll buy it.”

Hijiri and Tenka suddenly started to fight.

Yuzuru and Arisa were drinking tea and watching it.

When the two were about to grab each other, Yuzuru stopped them.

“Well, whatever. So …… I’ve heard that Ryozenji is helping Nagiri to expand into the Kanto region too. Tell me the rest of the story.”

Yuzuru forced himself to change the subject.

Then Hijiri answered bluntly.

“You can understand what I mean. That’s why we’re together.”

“Am I correct in assuming that you are in a relationship?”

” “No, that’s wrong” “

They both said in unison.

Then they frowned uncomfortably at the timing.

” I wanted to see that movie, but I thought it would be dumb to go to the theater alone.　Besides, it’s a good deal for couples. So I took a chance and asked Hijiri-kun out. He just nodded his head and said yes.”

“What’s with the attitude? You were the one who goaded me by asking if I was scared to watch.”

There is a slight difference in perception, but it seems that the two of them are just friends of the opposite sex.

Yuzuru and Arisa agreed with each other by making eye contact that they would go with that setting.

“So we have talked. Now it’s your turn, Yuzuru.”

Yuzuru replied calmly to Hijiri.

“We’re kind of the same. I was invited by Arisa. …… Well, I wasn’t goaded into it.”

“I was afraid to see it alone. I invited Yuzuru-san to join me. …… We are only friends.”

Arisa also replied in her usual calm voice tone.

Tenka was convinced by Yuzuru and Arisa’s words.

However, Hijiri was not so convinced.

“Are you really just friends?”

“Is there any element of doubt?”

“Yeah, ……, well, let’s just go with that.”

Hijiri seemed to have realized that Yuzuru wanted to hide something.

It seems that as a friend, he chose not to pry.

“Sorry about that.”

Yuzuru made a small apology.

As long as he told Soichiro, it might make sense to tell Hijiri, who is also his friend. ……

However, he still wanted to deceive if it was within his power to do it.

“…… I don’t like to be made a fuss about it. Can you please keep it to yourself?”

Arisa asked Hijiri and Tenka to do so.

They nodded in unison.

“I’m not going to tell anyone about it.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention about us either.”

Both Hijiri and Tenka asked Yuzuru and Arisa to do the same.

Their relationship became one of sharing secrets.

Yuzuru and Arisa breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they could now avoid a situation that would spread to the school.