With everything settled, Ryunosuke prepared to leave. Narumori, however, took the opportunity to call out to him before he could.
"How are things going with Arisu?"
Ryunosuke stopped walking and let his gaze drift upward.
(You meddlesome old man. You're the one who set my garden on fire in the first place. If you weren't my father-in-law, I'd have something to say about that.)
He kept the complaint to himself, but did speak up. "My relationship with Arisu is mine to manage. But I want to ask something. Is her heart condition really beyond treatment?"
He was still thinking about it. Not because of any worry about children in the future; as Arisu herself had said, she mattered far more to him than the question of having children. Whatever else might be said about him, his feelings toward each of the girls were real. He wanted to know if there was any possibility of a full recovery.
Narumori was quiet for a moment, then let out a slow breath. "I've tried everything I could think of for Arisu's condition. Even Nakano Maruo, the finest physician in Japan, couldn't do anything."
"I see." Ryunosuke didn't give up on the thought. This was a crossover world, after all. There had to be a way.
He said his goodbyes and walked out. Narumori watched him go, a faint smile forming as he reached up to adjust his glasses.
(Handing Arisu over to you may have been exactly the right decision.)
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
The school broadcast had gone out, and everyone now knew that future exams would not result in expulsions. The person happiest about this was Honami from Class A. Someone had apparently let it slip that it was Ryunosuke's doing, which was true in spirit, though it had technically been Hirata's request. He hadn't wanted Ryunosuke to go unrecognized for it.
Honami felt deeply grateful. "I need to find a chance to thank him properly."
She had wanted to see him for a long time. Though, thinking back to the broadcast from a few days ago, a small shadow crossed her face. She had carried feelings for him quietly, and before she had gathered the courage to say anything, someone had already gotten there first.
Seeing Honami's expression dim, Himeno, who was lying face down on her desk across the room, felt the same weight. She had the worst of it, arguably. She had already given him an indirect kiss, and he still hadn't given her an answer.
"Haaah." She buried her face in the desk.
Watching both of them mope, Hachiman couldn't hold back his silent grumbling.
(Where did this Casanova even come from? He's got both of our class's most popular girls sighing over him like this.) He felt a distinct pang of envy.
(Maybe I should ask him to teach me. Who wouldn't want to learn that kind of technique?)
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Elsewhere, Ryunosuke came across Meiyu, who had apparently been waiting for him on a garden bench. She stood and came toward him, leaning forward slightly as she held out a drink with both hands.
"Thank you for everything, Akasaka-kun."
He accepted it and said with mild exasperation, "I didn't do it for you. I was helping Hirata. Why are you the one thanking me?"
Meiyu smiled brightly. "What's wrong with that? You helped everyone in the school. Isn't it natural that I thank you on their behalf?"
The two of them sat down on the bench and talked for a while. Ryunosuke opened his drink and took a sip. Meiyu kept stealing glances at him with a restless expression, as though there was something sitting at the tip of her tongue.
He noticed and asked directly, "Is there something you want to say?"
Meiyu stiffened immediately. "N-n-nothing."
Ryunosuke was genuinely baffled. "That's clearly not nothing. Look how nervous you are. It has something to do with Hirata, doesn't it?"
She puffed out her cheeks. "How do you do that? Are you living inside my head? How do you know what I'm thinking?"
Ryunosuke balanced the empty can on top of her head with a small smile. "Because you're very easy to read. Even someone as dense and oblivious as me can figure it out."
"Ahhh, Akasaka-kun is so mean." She lifting the can from her head and hugging it to her chest with pink cheeks. "Could you help me? I want to confess to Hirata-kun."
(Why am I the one being asked for this?) The question died before it could leave his mouth, because Meiyu's large, glistening eyes made it impossible to say no. He agreed before he had finished thinking about it. He sat on that bench for quite a while afterward before he realized she had already gone.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Not wanting to leave Meiyu without anyone nearby if things went badly, Ryunosuke followed at a distance and kept watch.
As planned, Meiyu and Hirata went out together.
Hirata had no real initiative to offer, so Meiyu was the one who led them through everything: a playground, a Ferris wheel, a film, a round of crane games.
Hirata moved through all of it stiff as a board, showing no warmth at all. Watching from nearby, Ryunosuke had already guessed how it would end.
(Hirata isn't going to accept her confession.) He could see it clearly. And from the look of things, so could Meiyu. She just wasn't ready to admit it yet.
When they reached the space beneath the school's Christmas tree, Meiyu drew up her courage and said what she had come to say. "I like you, Hirata-kun. Would you go out with me?"
"I'm sorry." He declined without hesitation. She already knew the answer, he was certain of that, and a clean refusal was kinder than letting it drag on.
Beyond that, Hirata glanced back on instinct toward a spot Meiyu had never once looked at. There, as always, was his quiet shadow, Ryunosuke.
Hirata smiled, a thin and slightly bitter thing. Maybe Meiyu hadn't noticed, or maybe she had simply chosen not to. He understood the situation. The right thing to do was to step back.
After refusing her, he left her alone beneath the tree. Ryunosuke came forward immediately.
"Need somewhere to lean? Like I promised before, you can use my shoulder."
Meiyu couldn't hold herself together any longer. She threw herself against him and cried, completely and without holding back. Ryunosuke patted her back gently and held her close. It was pure reflex; blame his mother, who had spent his entire childhood loading his head with knowledge he had no use for until it became instinct.
He looked down at Meiyu crying against him and brushed the hair back from her face.
She looked up at him with wet eyes and an expression that was almost unbearably endearing.
Something in Ryunosuke's chest registered the impact. (She's adorable.)
He wasn't sure what he was thinking when he did it, but his face moved toward hers on instinct. Meiyu didn't pull back. Maybe she wasn't fully aware yet. Or maybe she was, and she simply didn't want to.
Ryunosuke kissed her.
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