CH 22

Just Another Fashion Style

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by HamletJr

“I’ll be getting involved with you much more from now on!”

Ryuichi may or may not have underestimated the words that Shizuna’d conveyed to him. Of course, he clearly grasped the strong desire and determination in her eyes, but he didn’t know what form it would take.

“…Wow, this is quite something.”

It was the Friday before the weekend. They were currently on their lunch break, and before Ryuichi’s eyes was a bento box that he would normally never bring. It was a two-tiered bento box commonly used by the average high school student, and the first things that greeted him were karaage, egg rolls, a little frozen gratin, and vegetables.

“…These look hella tasty.”

He would be lying if he said he was drooling at the sight, but the bento nevertheless greatly whetted his appetite, especially seeing as it was late noon and Ryuichi was starving. In elementary and junior high school, there were school lunches available, but in high school, of course, there was no such thing. Although Ryuichi had often patroned the school cafeteria, this was his first time actually receiving a bento lunch that had been thoughtfully prepared for him.

“A-A bento box? Aha! Well, I won’t ask who it’s from, but I have to say, that looks real tasty.”

“You ain’t gettin’ any from me.”

“You don’t have to glare at me, man… Haha, you’ve really changed, huh, Ryuichi.”

Ryuichi glared at Makoto, protecting his bento with both of his hands. Makoto then patted Ryuichi on the shoulder and walked away, iterating that he had no intention of taking any of the bento’s dishes away from him and telling him to savor his meal.

“I don’t need you to tell me that,” he retorted.

In the meantime, Ryuichi’s stomach rumbled. The two-tier lunchbox meant that there was another tier; when he opened that one as well, three or so rice balls appeared. Ryuichi wasn’t sure what kind of ingredients were in them, or if they all had the same filling, but still he decided to put his hands together in thanks before digging in.

“Thanks for the meal.”

Chopsticks in hand, Ryuichi decided to start with the karaage. Compared to freshly fried ones, its texture was softer and colder, but naturally, it was very delicious. Just one bite was enough to fill Ryuichi’s mouth with its abundant flavors.

“……?”

While Ryuichi was enjoying his bento, he suddenly felt a gaze. It was Shizuna, and she was anxiously staring at him.

“You don’t have to be so worried. These are damn amazing.”

As a matter of fact, Shizuna was the one who’d made Ryuichi his lunch box. She handed it to him when they met up before coming to school this morning. She said, “I tried making a bento for you, so I want you to try it,” to which Ryuichi nodded without a second thought. He knew firsthand just how delicious Shizuna’s cooking was.

Shizuna could clearly tell from Ryuichi’s appearance that he was truly eating it with gusto. She let out a relieved chuckle and began to eat her bento with her friends as well. Aside from the fact that Ryuichi’s was larger in quantity, their contents were naturally very similar… However, since the only person who’d approached Ryuichi was Makoto, nobody noticed it.

“…This is seriously good.”

Ryuichi’s honest thoughts spilled out. A little while ago, Ryuichi would’ve simply accepted the favors that were given to him just like that. But now, it was different. Now that Ryuichi had gotten so much from Shizuna, he wanted to give something back to her. Obviously, he knew that she would tell him not to bother if he brought it up. Still, he wanted to repay her in some way.

…Well, I guess I’ll prepare something for her without telling her.

When it came to things that would please women, all the women Ryuichi had ever met seemed to like expensive things. Alas, things weren’t so simple this time, since Shizuna was definitely not the type of girl to want those kinds of things.

He had plans to go out with Shizuna tomorrow, so he decided he’d get something for her then.

“Thanks again for the meal. Man, that was a real feast.”

Ryuichi had eaten up the bento that Shizuna’d made for him cleanly. His stomach was so enthralled with her cooking that he honestly wished he could eat more of this lunch box, hopefully from now on. After some time had passed, school was out, and Ryuichi was on his way home with Shizuna naturally by his side.

“Your bento was seriously amazing. Thanks, Shizuna.”

“No, don’t worry; I was the one who wanted to make it. But still, it makes me very happy to hear that from you. ♪”

Shizuna was holding the empty lunch box with great care, and he could tell that she was truly happy to hear him say what he did. In fact, she looked so happy that even he couldn’t help but smile.

“If you’d like, I could make another one for you.”

“Seriously?!”

Ryuichi immediately latched onto her suggestion with twinkles in his eye like a little child. However, he quickly came to his senses, cleared his throat, and looked away. If she saw him like that, of course she would see right through what he was wishing for.

“Alright. I’ll make another one for you as soon as next Monday.”

“…Thanks.”

“Fufu, no problem ♪.”

Shizuna hugged Ryuichi’s arm. It seemed this had already become a habit of hers whenever they were alone; she would try to hug his arm whenever she could. As for Ryuichi, he didn’t dislike it because he could feel a pleasantly soft sensation where she was hugging.

“…Oh, that’s right, Ryuichi-kun.”

“What is it?”

Shizuna then looked up at Ryuichi’s face, seemingly having just thought of something.

“We’re going out tomorrow, right? I was thinking if you could take me to the places where you usually go to, Ryuichi-kun.”

“That’s…”

Ryuichi’s mind filled up with the countless places he’d been to. Most of them, however, were places minors didn’t visit very often. They were places where sleazy young people like Ryuichi gathered, and weren’t places where he could take a girl like Shizuna to.

“No. You won’t be able to handle it.”

“I’m not that childish, you know?”

That’s not what I’m talking about, Ryuichi thought as he let out a sigh. Of course, there were some normal places, but there were also clubs like the one where he’d met Chisa. If anything, he could say that almost all of them were the types of bars similar to the one where he’d invited Sakie for a one-night stand.

“I couldn’t care less if someone finds out I went there; after all, my reputation’s already shit. But you’re different. That’s why we shouldn’t.”

“Oh, if that’s what you’re worried about, then there’s no problem.”

“Right? I told you…wait, what?”

Shizuna didn’t elaborate on why she said there was no problem, and soon they parted ways for the day. They promised to meet up in the city at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, and the next day arrived with a slight sense of foreboding lingering in Ryuichi’s heart.

“…I see. So that’s what you meant.”

“Fufu, what do you think?”

Ryuichi immediately understood the words she’d told him the previous day when he saw the Shizuna in front of him. She appeared a little different from her usual appearance; she was quite flamboyant, to put it simply. Although she did look like a gyaru, she only came off as a rather modest and subdued one purely due to her unconcealable innocence.

“Although I did talk about this with Chisa the other day, this is actually entirely the work of my mother.”

“Sakie did?!”

Apparently, Shizuna’s current appearance was manufactured by Sakie. She was wearing a blonde wig on her head and a black-hooded hoodie. Below that were a pair of hot pants, extremely short pants that exposed her beautiful legs. It was a look that’d never been seen from Shizuna before, but he couldn’t say it didn’t suit her, likely because of her good looks.

“I’m not changing my image just like you told me to. It’s just me in another fashion style, and this way, no one will recognize me, right?”

“Well, true.”

At a quick glance, no one would be able to recognize this flamboyant woman as Shizuna. Especially if one knew what Shizuna looked like before, they’d never be able to realize it was her since it was such a drastic change.

“Ah, look, look.”

“Hmm?”

Shizuna lined up next to him. She asked him to look at the glass pane of the store in front of them, where they could both see their reflection. Perhaps it was because they were both so flamboyantly dressed, but it was quite a strange feeling to see the two of them so well-matched.

“…But seriously, I would’ve never thought I’d turn out this way, either. I guess I was right to leave it to Mom.”

“Sakie, huh…”

Maybe Sakie had an experience like this in the past, too? Ryuichi wondered, but it seemed it was bad manners to think about other women now. Laughing at Shizuna who pinched the back of his hand, Ryuichi decided to nevertheless make the most out of this day with her.

“Aight, let’s head out.”

“Yes ♪.”

Shizuna smiled and nodded. Seeing her in her unusual appearance reminded Ryuichi of the Shizuna he had seen in the manga. Although her appearance reminded him of Gyaru Shizuna, she had a much more restrained appearance than her other self depicted in the manga. Or rather, she looked pretty good.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just thinking that you look pretty good.”

“Fufu, thank you, Ryuichi-kun ♪.”

Ryuichi laughed at the beautiful smile she directed at him, thinking, “I see. She really hasn’t changed, huh. Just as she said.” No matter how much she changed her appearance, Shizuna’s radiance remained untainted. She clearly possessed a color that couldn’t be dyed by any other color.

“But I think I like the regular you much better.”

“……*blush*”

She looked down at the ground, prompting Ryuichi to chuckle as he took her down the streets on their journey through the city.