I Came Back but the World is Still a Fantasy!?

“I wonder why. You did the right thing, but for some reason, you feel like the villain here… But you know, you really have to stop that, even I was affected!” Ryou said.

“Ahaha, sorry about that, but this was the most effective way. Anyway, thanks for the help, you two. Popular people really are more persuasive. Thanks to that, the staring contest ended earlier than I expected,” Shinichi laughed.

Ryou’s head ached at Shinichi’s attitude, but in the end, he just shook his head in resignation and sighed.

“Sigh… Most people won’t be able to endure it if you glare at them seriously,” Ryou said.

“I’m a D Rank. I don’t exactly have a lot of options,” Shinichi said.

“…How can you say that so nonchalantly when you’re the reason I’m so tired?”

Well, it was the official story, so Ryou couldn’t exactly deny his argument, but there was still a tinge of exasperation in his voice.

Though not as bad as Tomoe, he too was exhausted.

That’s why he was implying that Shinichi should hold back some more, but Shinichi just laughed him off.

Meanwhile, Yousuke was surprised to see how chummy the two were.

“…You two get along well?” Yousuke asked.

Seeing Yousuke in disbelief, Shinichi and Ryou glanced at each other.

Shinichi remained expressionless, but Ryou wore his mistake on his face.

“Huh? Oh, uh, how to put it? We just happened to hit it off?”

Ryou threw out that random excuse that he didn’t really agree with, and as expected, Yousuke looked at them with suspicion.

“That’s right. The direction is different, but you know, we’re both basically the top boys in the academy.”

One in the positive sense, and the other, in the negative sense.

That’s why they got along so well.

When Shinichi reasoned it that way, Yousuke nodded.

It was almost eerie how readily he accepted that excuse.

“…Hey, hey, hey… That’s not a reason you should be accepting just like that,” Ryou quietly said to himself, knowing how terrible that excuse was.

The younger Senba tended to take a step back and see the bigger picture since the older Senba was always rushing in recklessly.

It was strange to see Yousuke accept someone’s words so readily, but what Ryou didn’t know was that Yousuke just trusted Shinichi that much.

“Anyhow, since they’ve given up, I can finally be at ease.”

It was curious if Shinichi noticed that or not, but he stood up and headed to the exit of the male bath.

“You’re leaving already?” Yousuke said.

“Yeah, I want to take a look outside. Teacher Frire asked me for a favor, so I might as well do a thorough job,” Shinichi said.

“Outside? Ah, you mean people who might try and peep using tools or skills. Are you going to be alright on your own?”

Yousuke’s face suggested that he was willing to accompany Shinichi if he wanted, but Shinichi just shook his head.

“There’s someone waiting for me already, so I won’t be alone. You take your time bathing.”

Shinichi pointed to the top of his and left.

Ryou and Yousuke understood what he meant by that gesture. Yousuke was impressed, while Ryou was just exasperated.

“So it was keeping watch for him. I did wonder why the Amaryllis wasn’t around,” Yousuke said.

“I’m telling you, that guy loves pushing people around. Watching him do that to an amaryllis is terrifying, but what makes it even worse is they act like it’s perfectly normal,” Ryou said.

“Oh, that’s certainly scary,” Yousuke said.

The two shared a wry smile.

They would get cold standing outside of the bath for too long, so they soaked themselves again.

The warm water of the bath soothed them, but they didn’t talk.

There was no awkwardness or tension, just a preference for tranquility, which created an appropriate distance and allowed them to be friendly yet not overly close.

Yousuke seemed to like that, as he smiled at Ryou.

“…Just like Ruona-san, you’re surprisingly attentive to others, Shinguuji. You’ve seen so much and yet you don’t ask anything.”

After all, Ryou and Myuhi were both there during the Senba twin’s reunion with Shinichi.

With no one around them right now, it should be the perfect opportunity to ask.

Yousuke had also been supportive of Shinichi earlier.

Yet despite all that, Ryou didn’t ask anything.

Ryou just frowned in response to the face Yousuke was making.

“That smile of yours really reeks of someone… You didn’t need to include the ‘surprisingly’ part, but it’s nothing special. You’d be like me too if you had a childhood friend as reckless as mine.”

“Ahh, I see.”

At school, Ryou was seen as rough and intolerable because of his behavior until recently(high school debut), but in reality, he was a stubborn and caring boy.

Their painful experience with a similar kind of girl gave them a sense of camaraderie.

That was even stronger now that Ryou has changed his attitude.

“Besides, everyone has something they don’t want to talk about… Nakamura seems to have a lot in particular. But that’s also why I think he can accompany Tomoe forever since she’s also a lonely person that’s hard to understand,” Ryou said.

It was because Shinichi struck him as the kind of guy who could realize that quickly that he couldn’t let him go.

When such words left his lips, however, Yousuke’s face twitched.

“Does my br— I mean, does he, uh, get along well with Safina-san?”

Yousuke was so agitated that he almost let the cat out of the bag, but he still managed to ask that question without saying out loud the words ‘sister’s best friend’ and ‘close enough for Ryou to ship’.

“Ah, ahh… About that…”

But Ryou’s first response was to cringe at his blunder.

He’d let his guard down because he saw that Yousuke and Shinichi got along well and didn’t seem to have a complicated relationship.

But…

“I guess I might as well use this opportunity to involve you,” Ryou smiled creepily.

He hadn’t really made much progress supporting Tomoe and Shinichi, so he figured he might as well involve one of the problematic variables in their future relationship.

“W-Why are you making a face like that? I feel like I’ve seen that scary face from somewhere before, and I’m getting a real bad feeling about this.”

“You asked if they get along well, right? Well, they do, they definitely do. As her childhood friend who’s been stuck with her since forever, I guarantee it. She’s in love. The problem is – she doesn’t realize it.”

“…Seriously?”

Ryou firmly declared, and Yousuke found himself looking up to the heavens, muttering in disbelief.

It took him awhile to accept what Ryou was saying.

It was all too easy to realize who would react the worst when word of this got out.

“You know, whether this works out for them or not… The moment my sister gets word of this, there’s going to be hell to pay…”

Yousuke had no confidence whatsoever in being able to pacify his sister in that situation; his face paled, his shoulders fell.

Ryou felt guilty about that, so he tried to console him.

“…Erm, good luck?”

“Don’t act like this has nothing to do with you!”

Yousuke barked, accusing him of irresponsibility.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Despite apologizing, Ryou smiled as though to say that they were on the same boat now.

Evidently, he had been influenced by a certain someone.

Without even knowing it, his personality was taking a turn for the worse, and Yousuke noticed that.

Yousuke sighed in exhaustion and glanced at the exit of the bath.

His big brother wasn’t there anymore.

Perhaps that was the real reason why it took him so much effort to process what Ryou was saying.

It was also because of that that he nonchalantly muttered to no one in particular.

“So someone could actually come to love him.(・・・・・・).”

“Huh?”

Not a tinge of contempt could be felt from Yousuke despite his dispassionate words.

The wind carried them to Ryou, yet all he could pick up was deep affection and a nuance of resentment hidden beneath.

This Yousuke wasn’t anything like the one Ryou knew, as Yousuke seemed to deeply resent the people that were once near Shinichi.

For a moment, Ryou was almost swallowed by that atmosphere, but then he remembered.

“───────There’s at least three more girls.”

“What?”

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