CH 51

Summer Is the Season of Swimsuits

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by HamletJr

Summer was right around the corner. However, as it grew closer and closer, the temperatures started rising and rising, and it gradually got so hot that one started sweating just by walking.

“I’m going to take a bath. What about you, Ryuichi-kun?”

“What do you mean?”

“Huh? I’m asking if you want to come with me.”

“A very tempting offer, but I’ll bathe by myself.”

“…Muu.”

With a look of total disappointment on her face, Shizuna headed for the bath. Sakie, who had been watching with a smile on her face, approached Ryuichi and sniffed his scent. Sniff, sniff. 

“Your sweat… Fufu, it smells so manly and nice.”

“Seriously? I would’ve thought you’d call me sweaty.”

“Well, there’s that too,” Sakie said and laughed.

Today, as usual, Ryuichi was spending the end of the school day with Shizuna, and at her invitation, he had come to her house. It was no longer unusual for him to visit her house like this, and Sakie also treated Ryuichi as if he were her own son, so he found it to be a very comfortable place for him.

However, though it wasn’t like it’d gone to the extent that he was meekly fawning on her like a son to his mother, it had only been a matter of time until he came to see this place as being infinitely more important and precious to him.

“Shizuna’s been looking really happy these days. Of course, she talked about you a lot before, too, but lately she’s been talking about you even more… I wonder if that’s just one of the things that comes with being lovers.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Since he wasn’t with Shizuna twenty-four hours a day, he couldn’t keep tabs on the things she was saying to Sakie. However, it seemed that even when he was not around, she was always talking about him.

“Thank you, Ryuichi-kun, for making her happy.”

“Hey, hey, don’t you think it’s way too early for that? You should say that after you’ve watched me in the future.”

“…The fact that you think that way is also proof that you’re kind, you know?”

Shizuna certainly seemed happy enough even now. However, that didn’t mean Ryuichi intended to stop there.

“Sakie.”

“Yes?”

Ryuichi held his hand out to Sakie. She was Shizuna’s mother, but also the woman whom he’d slept with before he’d come to know her as that. She was by and far much older than Ryuichi and Shizuna and might very well be considered an old lady in the eyes of society, yet she was still very young and her body remained youthful and vibrant.

“Come here.”

“Ah. ♪”

He grabbed her arm, and though he worried he might’ve been a little too rough, it seemed from her reaction that his worries were unfounded. She hugged him and gazed at him as if she was expecting something, but even that appearance of hers was somewhat similar to Shizuna’s in some respects.

She had the maturity of an adult and the absolute attractiveness of a woman; combined with how she seemingly longed for the touch of the opposite sex, namely Ryuichi, it made for a positively stunning appearance.

“As I’ve said before, I’m now going out with Shizuna…but that doesn’t mean it’s going to change who I’ve always been. Shizuna’s words had a huge part to play too, but I don’t want to let go of the people who’ve given me warmth either.”

“Oh my… You’re a bad boy, Ryuichi-kun.”

Ryuichi himself knew that he was a bad man. Still, he couldn’t let go of them, so it couldn’t be helped. He chuckled to himself.

“…That sounds nice every now and then. Treat me as a woman, not as a mother, okay?”

“Heh, you got it.”

He stroked her head as she buried her face in his chest. Even older women could be pampered in this way, and this was something Ryuichi had learned through his many encounters with women in his life. Normally she would’ve been preparing dinner until Shizuna returned from her bath, but for now she wanted to be pampered as much as she could by Ryuichi.

“Oh, yeah.”

“What is it?”

“I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that a woman’s libido peaks when they’re in their late-30s.”

“Oh my, are you trying to say that I’m a sex-crazed woman now?”

Sakie had given birth to Shizuna when she was 20 years old, so she was now 37. It was really cute to see her exclaim that she wasn’t that lust-crazed with her cheeks puffed out, and it wasn’t difficult to imagine just how much effort she must be putting in to maintain her beauty at her age.

“That wasn’t what I was trying to say; I just meant that that’s how attractive of a woman you are.”

“I’m Shizuna’s mother, so that goes without saying, you know?”

“Can’t say no to that.”

They looked at each other and smiled. It seemed as if she was blatantly implying that she was attractive because she was Shizuna’s mother while simultaneously calling her daughter, Shizuna, attractive as well. None of that was wrong, though, so he saw no way to correct her.

…Come to think of it, the Ryuichi in the manga and Sakie, well…whatever, it doesn’t matter now.

Even now, there were times when he dreamt about and remembered the world of the manga, which was distinctly different from the world he was in now. And every time he did, he was reminded of that difference between that world and this world, but nevertheless, there was no point in thinking about that now.

“Ah, right. Ryuichi-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you bring Yomi-san and the others with you next time?”

“You mean Chisa and the others? Well, that doesn’t sound too bad.”

By ‘Yomi-san and the others’, she was likely referring to Chisa and Satsuki. He didn’t know what her intentions were in making such a proposal, but Ryuichi nodded his head, thinking that with them in the fray, their visit might drag on surprisingly long. Of course, this naturally meant that Ryuichi, a man, would be thrown into the midst of these girls, but it was hard to imagine what kind of a conversation would unfold from that.

“Wait… That might be a little scary.”

“Fufu, everybody loves you, after all. ♪”

“Well, that’s an honor to hear, I guess,” Ryuichi remarked as he gave a wry smile. They then stuck close to each other until Shizuna returned, and well, it was only natural for Sakie to shrug her shoulders in reluctance when she did return. When Sakie headed for the bath as if to switch places with her, Ryuichi told her about the proposal Sakie had made to him.

“Inviting Chisa-san and Satsuki-san here… Yup, that sounds fun.”

“You sound excited.”

“I am. Both of them are my precious friends, after all.”

Even though it would’ve never happened under normal circumstances, Shizuna had gotten to know these girls through Ryuichi. It was always nice to hear that she held good feelings toward them, no matter how many times she said it. However, Ryuichi still had a feeling that he’d be uncomfortably stuck in the middle of their girls-only night.

“I’ll stick by your side the entire time, so surely you won’t get bored, right?”

“Maybe, but…well, whatever happens, happens.”

And so, he had no idea when it’d happened, but they ended up making plans to have Chisa and Satsuki visit in the near future.

“Ryuichi-kun, now that it’s summer, don’t you think the beach sounds nice?”

“True. I haven’t been there in a long while, though.”

He didn’t even bother considering going to the beach in the hot sun. Makoto and the others had invited him to the beach in the past to pick up girls, but he had refused all of their invitations. The reason was simple: it was too hot and too much of a pain.

“…I bet you’d get a lot of attention from girls if you went to the beach, huh.”

“Where did that come from?”

“I mean, you have such incredible muscles… They’re so far from your average high-schooler that anyone would gawk at them.”

Shizuna poked her index finger at Ryuichi’s chest as she muttered. Ryuichi’s body certainly was taller and more muscular than the average high school student. It was precisely why he’d been feared until recently, but as for Ryuichi, he laughed and said it was the other way around.

“Men’s bodies don’t usually get that much attention, y’know? I’m sure you would gather much more eyes than me.”

“…As in?”

“As in, you’ve got plainly better looks, massive boobs, and a huge ass.”

There were other things that made Shizuna attractive, but going to a place like the beach, those aspects alone were enough to attract a man’s attention. As for Shizuna, she didn’t want to be exposed to those kinds of gazes, but more than that, she wanted to at least have a little fun with Ryuichi, so she didn’t outright cross-out the possibility.

“There’s nothing interesting to see about a couple of breasts and some buttocks, though.”

“Not if you ask men.”

“…Well, I know.”

Shizuna touched her breasts and looked at Ryuichi grudgingly, saying that they had recently grown a little bigger again. Ryuichi also noticed the continued growth of her breasts, as he often touched them while they were having sex, and patted her head, saying that it was a sign that she was healthy.

“Summer vacation, huh… Well, let’s spend that time together as much as we can, all right?”

“Ah… Yes. ♪”

Although he hadn’t realized it himself, it was sort of like gap moe for him to speak like this, showing kindness unlike his usual self. Shizuna was used to it by now, but she still felt her heart pleasantly race in excitement as her cheeks turned red.

“Let’s get to makin’ dinner.”

“Okay…wait, you too, Ryuichi-kun?”

“Nah, I want to learn how to cook too. That way I can cook for myself and you won’t have to stop by my place so much.”

“…I won’t teach you.”

“Hah?”

He thought it would be nice for him to be able to cook, and he also thought he would be helping Shizuna by asking her to teach him how to cook, but instead she told him that she would not teach him. When Ryuichi looked at her to ask why, Shizuna puffed out her cheeks and said this:

“I won’t teach you… If I do, I won’t be able to come to your place as frequently to cook for you.”

“………”

With a hmph, she turned her head away and headed for the kitchen by herself. Ryuichi was frozen in place for a while at her absolutely adorable way of rejecting his request, but then decided there was nothing he could do about it and waited for her to finish cooking the food.

“…Hmm, I see, I see.”

Since he had nothing to do, he began looking up easy-to-prepare dishes on his phone. It was immediately confiscated by Shizuna.