Seeing him remain silent, Himeno realized that the man before her had known about this problem from the beginning.
She released her grip on Ryunosuke's collar listlessly. Her body trembled slightly, and she muttered a curse.
"You men are all the same, none of you are right!"
"Damn it, I actually believed your empty words and thought you would help Ichinose."
"Bastard!"
Himeno kicked him hard, then turned to run. However, Ryunosuke caught her hand. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Himeno's tears begin to flow profusely like pearls falling endlessly.
He remembered his mother's words.
"Making a girl cry..."
"Is not something a man should do, you know."
His mother gently flicked her son's forehead, then took out a candy from her pocket and put it in her son's mouth while smiling.
"If a girl cries, coax her with candy."
"The sweet taste of candy can remove the bitterness in a girl's heart."
Ryunosuke returned to reality. He bent down slightly to be level with Himeno's height. Forcibly, he put a lollipop into her mouth.
Himeno's crying immediately stopped. She seemed to have not yet processed what had just happened. Ryunosuke used his finger to wipe away the remaining tears on the girl's cheeks, then said in a gentle voice:
"Don't cry anymore."
"I won't let Ichinose get hurt, just relax."
Ryunosuke stroked Himeno's head, smiled affectionately, then walked away.
Himeno removed the candy from her mouth, her cheeks flushed bright red. Hot steam seemed to come out of her head from extreme embarrassment.
Hachiman, who had been quietly observing from a distance, could only click his tongue in admiration.
"Truly an extraordinary technique for charming women..."
"I want to learn from him..."
For the first time, Hachiman felt envious of a man's ability to approach women. If he could imitate even a little, even though he had dead fish eyes, he wouldn't have difficulty finding a partner.
Just look at Ryunosuke who looked ordinary, but the women around him were all school-level beauties. Hachiman almost died of envy.
Meanwhile, Himeno seemed to have just fully regained her senses. She looked at the candy in her hand, then put it back in her mouth. Remembering Ryunosuke's words earlier, her face flushed again. She had to admit, there was one moment earlier when her heart beat fast because of that damn man.
*CRUNCH!*
Himeno bit the candy to pieces, then kicked the guardrail in annoyance.
"Aaahhh!!!"
"That bastard Akasaka, why is he so good at playing with a girl's feelings?!!!"
Himeno ruffled her own hair in frustration to escape from the reality that she had just been captivated.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
On the other side, Ryunosuke was already on his way to find Honami. School had already ended. The sky was pouring down a fairly dense drizzle.
Honami wasn't using an umbrella. She let the rain wet her body while sitting on a park bench. Her gaze was empty, not knowing what to do. Her junior high secret had been exposed.
At that time, because her mother was sick and the family's economic condition wasn't very good, they lived very frugally. However, her little sister's birthday arrived. The butterfly hair clip her sister wanted was sold at the supermarket for 32,000 yen.
Her mother worked at the supermarket with an income of only 300,000 yen per month, which had to be used for the living expenses of the three of them, even to pay the house rent. Because that money was never enough, her mother decided to take three jobs at once. Her mother's health collapsed at that time.
At that time, Honami was only 14 years old. She wanted to find a part-time job to help ease her mother's burden, but no one dared to employ her. Plus her sister kept whining wanting that hair clip. Bad thoughts emerged.
So, she did it... She stole that hair clip. Became a thief.
Honami buried her head in her knees, as if crying, but no tears were visible because her face was already covered with rainwater. Suddenly, she felt the rain above her head stop. She looked up and saw a man holding an umbrella over her.
That person was Ryunosuke.
Seeing Honami's condition like this, Ryunosuke felt a bit guilty. He actually could have prevented this from happening, but he chose to let it flow naturally. Because this was the reality Honami had to face. Sooner or later, this had to be resolved.
Better short-term pain than long-term suffering. While Class A was currently at the peak of strength and solidarity, exposing this secret now was best for Honami. Of course, that didn't change the fact that he had used her.
Ryunosuke continued to hold the umbrella over Honami in silence. Actually it was useless, because Honami's body was already soaking wet.
Honami laughed bitterly, forced a smile, then said:
"Is Akasaka-kun stupid?"
"I'm already soaking wet, what's the point of holding an umbrella over me?"
"Well, thinking about it, that's true..." Ryunosuke didn't care about the wet bench and sat directly beside her.
Hmm... a bit damp.
Honami shifted her position slightly to make room. Because the bench was quite narrow, sitting together felt very tight. Ryunosuke sat quietly holding the umbrella over them while gazing at the heavy rain in front of them.
Ryunosuke suddenly murmured, "It's raining..."
Honami answered calmly, "Yes, that's right..."
After that, both fell silent. Ryunosuke didn't know what to say; he just wanted to keep her company. Meanwhile, Honami was considering whether she should tell her story. She needed someone to listen.
Honami took a deep breath then exhaled, as if she had steeled her heart.
"Nee, Akasaka-kun, would you listen to my story?"
Ryunosuke's ear twitched slightly; he answered without turning his head.
"Sure."
"But try to keep it short."
"Because if you don't tell your story quickly, I'll also get soaking wet..."
Currently, his pants were already completely wet; only the upper part of his body was still safe, but even that wouldn't last long. This happened because he was holding the umbrella over Honami who was on the other side of the bench, so his own side wasn't fully protected.
Honami laughed resignedly.
"I already told you, I'm already soaking wet, but you still hold the umbrella over me."
After speaking, Honami shifted closer toward him, so the two of them shared one umbrella tightly.
Then, Honami began telling about her childhood, about how she stole an expensive hair clip at the supermarket to give to her sister as a birthday present.
Ryunosuke became a listener. After Honami told the entire process, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
(Finally finished listening.)
(Even though I already knew the story, I had to pretend to listen again, such a hassle.)
(But this way, I have a legitimate reason to interfere in Honami's affairs...)
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