Shishio and Yukinos.h.i.ta were at the entrance of the school, watching Takako and Shioriko, who were about to leave.
"Aren't you going to stay a little longer? It's rare of you to visit Tokyo, right?" Shishio asked since Takako or Shioriko didn't live in Tokyo. Instead, they lived in Chiba and Kyoto.
"That's our plan. It is rare for us to visit Tokyo, so we're going to play, right, Takako-san?"
"Well, you have heard your mom, right?" Takako smiled and said, "If you have time, you should visit Chiba. I will welcome you there, right, my son-in-law~?" While her lips smiled, her eyes didn't.
"Yes."
Shishio nodded and didn't seem to be fazed by her expression. "I will visit your house when I have time."
When was he going to visit?
He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that when he came, Takako's husband wouldn't be around.
Takako looked at Shishio, who didn't change his expression and seemed at ease when he faced her. She narrowed her eyes while maintaining her smile.
"Then, I will wait for you there, Shishio-kun."
Leaving those words, Takako and his mother left since it was rare for them to visit Tokyo, so they were going to go shopping.
Watching the two left, he sighed inwardly, thinking that a woman was all the same. Whether they were fierce, lovely, or even scary, they all loved to shop.
"You're going to go back to your work, right?"
"Un." Yukinos.h.i.ta nodded and said, "Everyone is waiting for me. How about you?"
"I am going to play around."
"...just do it in moderation." Yukinos.h.i.ta was speechless, but she knew that Shishio was extremely busy during the preparation for the cultural festival, so this should be his reward, right?
"How about you?" Shishio looked at Haruno, who was standing beside him.
Like her mother, Haruno always had this smile on her face, yet unlike her mother, while her smile seemed amiable, it lacked an imposingness. Yet it was normal since, unlike her mother, who had seen the ups and downs of life, she still lacked experience even though she was a genius at the matter of people.
"What? Do you want me to leave?" Haruno asked with a smile, yet similar to her mother's smile before; her eyes were hardly smiling.
Whether it was a mother or a daughter, they were all tough nuts to crack.
They might seem imposing and arrogant now, yet he wanted to see whether they could maintain that expression when they were pushed onto the bed. However, he quickly shook his head since what he was thinking was immoral, and he shouldn't think of that, especially when Yukinos.h.i.ta was so much in love with him.
Haruno aside, he could imagine Yukinos.h.i.ta would look at him like dirt if he really did it with her mother.
Lastly, the relationship between Takako and her husband seemed so good from what he remembered since he saw them at the party last time, so there shouldn't be a gap for him to enter, right?
"No, if you want to stay, then it is alright. If I am not wrong, you will also help the cultural festival, right?"
"That's right." Haruno nodded and seemed happy for some reason.
Yukinos.h.i.ta looked at Haruno for a while before she looked at her watch. "Then, Shishio-kun. I will leave first."
"Ah, wait for a moment, Senpai."
"What's wrong?"
Yukinos.h.i.ta was about to leave, but suddenly she was pulled by him.
"Eh?"
She didn't fight back and let herself be pulled to the quiet spot where no one could see before she was kissed.
"...."
Yukinos.h.i.ta was speechless, but she enjoyed the kiss.
Haruno, who was being left, was speechless, but she decided to follow them and peeked to see what they were doing. Unfortunately, she regretted her decision and quickly looked away in grumble, showing her mood was far from good.
"Geez... it's dangerous to do it here."
Yukinos.h.i.ta sighed while trying to reprimand him, but from her voice, she didn't hate it.
"Then, let's do it at your house later."
"Okay." Yukinos.h.i.ta smiled and kissed him again. "This is the last time, okay? I really need to go back."
"Okay." He kissed her again.
"...." Yukinos.h.i.ta.
Still, this was really the last time before Yukinos.h.i.ta left, leaving him with Haruno.
"Well, it is time for me to work too."
Shishio stretched his hands high as if he was ready to work, but when he was about to leave, his wrist was grabbed.
"Where are you going, Shishio-kun?" Haruno asked with a smile.
"Of course, I am going to return to the literature club."
"Didn't you say that you're going to play around before?"
"If there is Yukino-senpai, then I will play."
"........" Haruno grasped his hand even tighter, then asked, "Then, how about you play with me?"
"With you?"
"Yes."
"Well, if you beg me that much, I can't refuse you, can't I?" Shishio sighed helplessly.
"......."
Haruno wanted to beat this guy up somehow.
However, she had to say he was professional when he took her on a date, visited a place they hadn't visited before, and tried many snacks. By now, she was sure if he became a gigolo, he could get millions of dollars easily from deceiving the hearts of many women.
Shishio didn't care what Haruno was thinking, and he just enjoyed his time with Haruno, but he knew that this woman seemed to realize something and wanted to talk about this matter.
Still, unlike the rest of the girls, Haruno was well-versed in reading atmosphere and emotions, so she knew what she should say and shouldn't say, especially when she wanted to take down her opponent.
There was a time when she had to be blunt, but she was waiting for a chance.
A chance when he couldn't escape, like prey that had fallen into a pitfall.
By then, he would be helpless, and he could only do her bidding, yet it seemed it was hard for them to be alone, especially when there were many of his actions.
"Shishio-kun!"
Shishio and Haruno turned, but they couldn't say anything.
"......."
They were speechless when they saw a man wearing a paper bag on his head.
The man's breathing was heavy, and the vapor from his breath could be seen in his mouth.
"......" Haruno.
Shishio glanced at Shiro-san for a moment before he looked at the two women beside Shiro-san. "Mayumi-san, Sayaka-san, when did you come? You should tell me, you know?"
As for Shiro-san, Shishio decided to ignore him.
"Geez, your cafe is too popular."
"Yeah, it's hard to get you, you know?"
While the eyes of Sayaka and Mayumi brightened when they saw Shishio in the student uniform in the Taisho Era, they couldn't help but complain to him since it was so hard to get him.
"Ha... ha... It's so great being ignored!" Shiro-san was excited.
"........" Haruno.
"Shiro-san, it's amazing that the police didn't come to catch you," Shishio said after a while. "Why did you wear that?"
"It's not me who wants to wear this, but Mayumi-san forced it on me," Shiro-san said and imagined how everyone would look at him with contempt and disgust in this mask, which made him even more excited.
Shishio looked at Mayumi, which caused her to sigh, and said, "I mean... he looked like a decent guy before we went out. But, I felt he was so creepy, so I put that on him."
"......"
Was it wrong for Shiro-san to be normal?
Could you at least give him a moment to become a decent guy?
However, Shishio also understood Mayumi's feelings since he couldn't imagine how Shiro-san became a decent guy.
"By the way, Shishio-kun, who are they?" Haruno asked while looking at the three.
"They're the tenants in Sakurasou." Then, Shishio introduced Mayumi, Sayaka, and Shiro-san, and Haruno also started to introduce herself to the two women.
As for Shiro-san, he was excited when Haruno ignored him.
Shishio looked at the bright sky and thought being a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t was really invincible since no matter how much pain the others would inflict, they would feel euphoria and happiness instead of sadness and depression.
Should he become a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t?
No.
It was impossible for him to do so.
However, Sayaka and Mayumi also talked normally with Haruno.
The three of them wore masks as they usually do in society when they talk to each other.
As for Shiro-san, he was so excited at that moment.
Still, while Haruno and Mayumi talked to each other, Sayaka decided to slip away since it was tiring to talk with Haruno, considering she had to maintain her mask.
"By the way, Shishio-kun, this uniform is really good on you," Sayaka praised while observing him with a smile.
"Thank you." Shishio smiled and said, "You also look cute, Sayaka-san."
"Eh? Really?" Sayaka was genuinely happy.
"........" Mayumi and Haruno.
"By the way, this woman isn't your new girlfriend? Did you finally land yourself on the college girl?" Mayumi wrapped her arm around Shishio's neck with a lewd expression. "Maybe, next time, you will get a working girl?"
"......" Haruno and Sayaka.
Working girl?
What did you mean by a working girl?
Was it yourself?
Shishio was speechless, but he also had done it with a working girl, even a housewife. However, Mayumi was correct since he had never laid his hands on the college girl.
"I think you misunderstood something, Nishikino-san. I am his sister-in-law, and he is the fiance of my little sister, so I will appreciate it if you can't maintain a certain distance from him," Haruno said with a smile.
"?!"
Mayumi was stunned since it felt like she was facing her boss, but she saw Shishio quickly standing in front of her, blocking Haruno.
"Well, Shiro-san, Sayaka-san, Mayumi-san, we'll leave first since we have something to do. See you later. Let's have a party later. By the way, where is Rita? Didn't he come with you?"
He wondered where Rita was.
"Rita was with us before, but now she is with Mashiro." Mayumi's mood wasn't good, but she still answered.
"Okay, see you later. I will cook you something later."
"I want a full-course Chinese dinner!"
"Okay, okay. See you later." He waved his hand and left with Haruno, holding her hand, so this woman wouldn't mess around.
Still, when they left, Mayumi somehow let out a long sigh and leaned on Sayaka.
Sayaka didn't push Mayumi away and said with a hint of fear, "...that girl is scary."
"Yeah."
Sayaka and Mayumi looked at each other and thought that Shishio had bad luck when such a woman stuck to him. Then, suddenly, they thought about the news they saw this morning about a man stabbed by his girlfriend because the man was cheating. Somehow, they could imagine such a thing happening to Shishio.
As for Haruno's status as Shishio's sister-in-law, they didn't overthink since they knew that this guy was a sc.u.mbag. They wouldn't be surprised if this guy touched them, which made them blush before they shook their heads.
"By the way, let's watch his movie."
"Good."
When the two walked away, Shiro-san became excited and thought that the cultural festival on the Suimei was the best!