CH 74

That’s Just a Small Worry, You Know?

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by HamletJr

“Phew, all done with the karaage. How are things on your end, Satsuki?”

“I’m done with the potato salad. Next is—”

It was on a certain night after the sports festival had come to a close. Chisa and Satsuki had come to Ryuichi’s apartment to be with him today, and they were currently cooking in his room. 

“…Don’t you think he’s been sleeping a lot these days?”

“Well, he’s still young and all.”

“But so are we.”

“That’s true,” Satsuki remarked with a laugh. The two girls stopped cooking and turned their attention to Ryuichi, who was sprawled out and sleeping comfortably. It was late in the evening when they came here, and Ryuichi seemed to have just gotten home from spending time with Shizuna after school, so he was out in a doze.

“He’s so big, strong, and manly, but when he’s conked out like this, he makes a really cute sleeping face. It’s like one of his many gap moes, huh?”

“Agreed. I still remember how I couldn’t help but think how cute he was when I first saw his sleeping face.”

As Chisa said that, she recalled the memory of the first time she slept with him. As Satsuki just said, Ryuichi’s body was very manly and strong, and as has been mentioned before, Chisa had felt very comfortable and grew addicted to having sex with him. Although Ryuichi had such a bewitching, ladykiller side to him, his sleeping face was very cute and appropriate for his age, and even that expression of his had captivated Chisa.

“He must’ve been, like, the king of some country in his previous life, no?”

“Or maybe he was a famous hero?”

“They do say that great heroes have great appetites in bed, huh? He must’ve had a hundred wives or something.”

“Obviously a hundred would be a bit too much, wouldn’t it? Especially at night and stuff.”

“If it’s Ryuichi, I’m sure he’d handle them all deftly.”

The two of them took the opportunity to speak as they pleased while Ryuichi was fast asleep. However, Satsuki suddenly looked at the sleeping Ryuichi and tilted her head. “Huh?”

“…Ryuichi-kun?”

“What’s wrong?”

Upon closer inspection, Ryuichi’s expression, which had been pleasantly asleep earlier, looked somewhat pained now. Satsuki stopped cooking and immediately approached him to see what was wrong.

“…Stop… It won’t…come out…anymore…”

“……?”

What did he mean by “It won’t come out anymore”? He was sleep-talking almost as if he was having a nightmare; Satsuki, who couldn’t bear to see him like that, shook his shoulders and called out to him.

“Ryuichi-kun, Ryuichi-kun.”

Ryuichi’s eyes suddenly opened wide. He looked around in confusion, and when he saw Satsuki in front of him, he let out a sigh of relief… Then, he quietly muttered:

“…Haaah, right. Of course it’d be a dream.”

“Did you have an unpleasant dream?”

“Well, it was unpleasant, but if I had to say whether it was a good dream or not… Well, it probably wasn’t all that bad.”

“???”

He was being awfully vague in his words.

“So you were just having a bad dream? You made Satsuki worry since you were making a pained expression, you know?”

“I see. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“No, no…”

If nothing had happened to him, then Satsuki was relieved. Chisa and Satsuki then resumed cooking, and delicious-looking dishes were soon lined up on the table. Satsuki was a good cook by nature, but Chisa had also taken the opportunity to learn a lot from Sakie.

“You’re gonna make a great bride, seriously.”

“You’ll say that to anyone who makes you good food, huh.”

“I’ve only said it to Shizuna.”

“Yet you’re saying it to me now…”

“Fufu.”

Chisa muttered that she would have loved to be the first he said those words to, but she still seemed very happy to be told by Ryuichi that she would make a good wife. Of course, since those words were directed not only at Chisa but also at Satsuki, Satsuki put her hand over her mouth and smiled.

“By the way, what kind of dream did you have? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

It seemed the dream Ryuichi had had earlier was still on Satsuki’s mind, so she asked Ryuichi about it. He hesitated for the briefest of moments, but eventually opened his mouth as he grabbed a piece of fried chicken with his chopsticks.

“I couldn’t really move my body in my dream. All of you, Shizuna and Sakie included, were doing as you pleased with me.”

“…Ah.”

“Hooh.”

Hearing this story, the meaning of the words he’d muttered during his sleep—”It won’t come out anymore”—finally connected in Satsuki’s mind. Chisa laughed amusedly, but Satsuki felt she had to make a proper correction, so she said in a strong tone:

“Just so you know, I wouldn’t do it so much that you’d exhaust yourself like that, okay?!”

“I know. It’s precisely because it’s a dream that I got to enjoy a version of you that I won’t see.”

“…That in itself irks me a little.”

Ryuichi didn’t particularly care about the fact that there happened to be Shizuna, Chisa, or Sakie. However, no matter how much of a dream it was, he would much rather enjoy the Satsuki who was here right now than the Satsuki who existed only in that dream.

“You’re so cute, Satsuki. Your love for Ryuichi has grown so much, so I’m sure that must be why you’re growing there, too.”

“This and that are totally unrelated!”

Satsuki, who had the second largest bust aside from Sakie, was still growing her already admirable chest to even greater heights.

“The growth makes my lingerie expenses so high… You get what I’m saying too, right, Chisa-san?”

“Totally.”

“Well, they do say that women’s underwear cost quite a fair bit.”

“Besides, having them big is a huge hassle in and of itself,” Satsuki said. Later, after dinner, Chisa headed to the bathroom to take a shower, while Ryuichi and Satsuki bonded as they washed the dishes together.

“It’s refreshing to see you washing the dishes like this, Ryuichi-kun.”

“Maybe. But I always do at least this much when Shizuna comes over.”

He wouldn’t back down, saying that this was the least he could do since they’d cooked for him. It seemed as if the room got instantly quieter when Chisa was gone; the only sounds that could be heard now were their breathing and the sound of running water.

…I love this space we have right now.

It wasn’t anything special; Satsuki was just washing dishes side by side with the person she loved, yet she found great happiness in this ordinary act. Her time with Ryuichi, which had begun on the day she couldn’t refuse her friend’s forceful invitation…was truly a blessing for her.

“………”

Satsuki took a peek at Ryuichi’s face. He was cutely humming a tune while earnestly washing the dishes, and it was easy to tell that he was in a good mood. And, staring at his profile reminded her of a certain exchange.

“I’ve already decided to go through with it. I’m not going to let the happiness in my hands slip away, so brace yourself, Satsuki. I’m not going to let you go either.”

“Yes. ♪”

Ryuichi was worried about his current relationship with the girls too, but it was also Satsuki and the other girls who blew his worries away.

If Ryuichi wanted it, Satsuki had considered the option of not meeting him for his and Shizuna’s sake. And yet, Ryuichi’s answer then had made Satsuki vow to stay by his side from now on.

But, maybe we were the ones who, in a way, made him settle on that decision…

When she thought about it that way, she felt a little guilty. Of course, she knew that both Ryuichi and Shizuna had accepted their current relationship, but she still couldn’t help but think about it at times.

“Hey.”

“………”

She didn’t notice Ryuichi’s voice, perhaps because she had been pondering by herself if she was really doing things right. It was all too late when she realized with a gasp that her face was being lifted up by a hand on her chin. She was forced to look up at Ryuichi, who was staring at her with his handsome face and piercing gaze.

“When you make a face like that, it’s usually when you’re worrying about something unimportant or trivial. Am I wrong?”

“…That’s.”

He called it ‘unimportant’ and ‘trivial’, but perhaps he’d called it that precisely because he saw that there was no need to think about it anymore. Ryuichi wasn’t that insensitive a person; if anything, he was more sensitive to the moods of women, as she’d come to know very well from spending time with him.

“Will your worries go away if I do this?”

“Ah…”

She was firmly embraced by him. She felt truly at ease from the bottom of her heart when she rested her cheek against Ryuichi’s firm chest.

“…Ah~, you’re truly wonderful, Ryuichi-kun~.”

She put her arms around Ryuichi’s back as if to embrace him with all her might. It wasn’t as if it sent her into a frenzy, but when she sniffed him, it was as if she was enveloped in a masculine scent.

“Kiss me, please.”

“You got it.”

She lifted her face, tiptoed a little taller, and their lips met each other’s. As they repeated their kiss, which was no more than their lips touching, Satsuki felt her body gradually heat up, and she looked at Ryuichi with heated eyes, her heart racing with anticipation.

“So this is what you two were up to while I was in the bath…”

“Wha?!”

“Oh, you’re back.”

When she heard Chisa’s voice, Satsuki tried to move away, but Ryuichi, perhaps anticipating this, hugged her tightly, so she could not move away. Chisa was still wrapped in a bath towel and standing brazenly before them with a hair dryer in her hand.

“Why don’t you head in the bath too, Satsuki?”

“S-Sounds good to me!”

Satsuki headed for the bath at Chisa’s urging. She felt lonely being away from Ryuichi’s side, even if only temporarily in this case, but the slight worry in her heart had disappeared thanks to her kiss with him.

“…I truly do love Ryuichi-kun, huh?”

She muttered this with a smile and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.