Chapter 28: Radio Waves Are Probably About Love End

We promised to support each other and live together.

So, what happened to us after that...?

“Tsubasa-chan, can you cut the onions?”

“Mm.”

“When you're done, mix it with the meat and knead it, okay?”

“Mm!”

We just went ahead and started living together in the same room.

We ended up coming back to that room—the one that could only be locked and unlocked from the outside.

But Rio-chan said it was my room.

And she promised not to lock the door anymore!

“All done.”

“Thanks. I’ll start cooking, so can you handle the rice bowls?”

“Mm.”

After that, we started sharing the housework.

It seemed like she was planning to take care of everything herself, but we talked about helping each other out, remember?

That’s why I insisted on helping—clumsily told her, “Please teach me how to do house stuff,” and this is what it led to.

Rio-chan has been teaching me properly.

I got my feelings across!

“We’re done! S-So, Tsubasa-chan, do you want dinner? A bath? Or maybe...”

“Dinner.”

“...Right.”

“Kiss—after brushing teeth.”

“Y-Yeah!”

Also, about Rio-chan...

She’s gotten kind of obsessed with kissing lately.

She says it makes her feel safe.

Even though my heart races every single time, Rio-chan just stays calm—it’s totally unfair, right?

It’s always on my cheek or hand or places like that.

We haven’t kissed on the lips yet.

Honestly, it’s starting to feel like some weird kind of fetish. Kinda lewd, don’t you think?

But maybe because of that, I’m getting even more self-conscious, and kissing on the lips just keeps feeling more and more impossible.

...Will I ever get to kiss Rio-chan before I die?

If I go through this life still a virgin and without ever kissing someone on the lips, I might reincarnate out of sheer regret.

That’d be a reincarnation driven by 100% pure, twisted sexual frustration, right?

It’s so bad I’d probably get reborn as an orc.

And if that happens, I’ll just have to become roast pork.

“This is so good, Tsubasa-chan!”

“...Mm.”

But with Rio-chan smiling so innocently like that, there’s just no way I could say something like, ‘Hand over your lips—it’s your duty!’

I want Rio-chan to keep being modest and maintain that healthy sense of distance!

By the way, today’s kiss was on my belly button.

...That’s seriously twisted. I have no idea why, either.

“Ah, Tsubasa.”

“...Misao.”

“It’s been a while.”

“Mm.”

A few days later, I ran into Misao-chan at the bookstore.

She was still browsing through Dazai’s books, as usual.

I feel like she’s probably already read everything he’s written by now, though.

Oh, that reminds me!

“Misao, the book really helped. Thank you.”

Before Summer Vacation, I Was Troubled by a Ridiculous Book Like a Pickling Stone, but It Turned Out to Be Really Helpful

When I expressed my gratitude, Misao-chan gave a light nod.

“Were you saved by Dazai?”

“Mm, it was hard.”

“It depends. There’s also soft Dazai, you know.”

I nodded along with Misao-chan’s words. If it’s Dazai, it would make sense for him to bend the laws of physics, becoming both hard and soft at will.

...For a brief moment, I had a terrible thought—could it be something about a guy?—but I quickly shook my head to clear it.

Even Dazai, no matter how much of an enigma he was, surely wouldn’t go as far as to repeatedly stiffen and deflate in a book.

“Which Dazai do you like, Tsubasa?”

“...The stories?”

“Yeah, the stories. What else would it be?”

“...Hardness?”

“The hardness or softness of the content, including the stories.”

Misao-chan didn’t seem to be talking about Dazai’s weapon performance, but rather the intrigue of his stories.

Well, of course that was the correct thing to talk about.

But still, I couldn’t help but wonder why Misao-chan’s homemade Dazai commentary book was so stiff. It helped me escape, but I couldn’t understand why she’d made it so rigid.

“So, which one is it?”

Misao-chan leaned in, and I, inwardly chuckling, pulled out a book. It was a paperback that Misao-chan had bought for me the time we went out together.

“My favorite Dazai work? The Schoolgirl.”

“I get it, Tsubasa. You really understand. She’s blunt, ordinary, and yet so delicate. Her subtlety is really cute.”

Misao-chan, speaking faster than usual, looked just as she always did, and somehow, it felt reassuring.

“Mm, like Rio, cute.”

However, it seemed that Misao-chan had caught my whisper, as she suddenly froze, both her movements and mouth coming to a halt.

Then, with an awkward motion, she stared at my face, carefully examining me.

“...Do you need to go to the eye doctor?”

She hit me with a rather harsh remark, straight on.

Don’t worry, my eyes are perfectly fine.

I don’t need glasses, and I’ve always had 1.0+ vision with no issues!

“Rio is cute.”

I repeated it again, and Misao-chan blinked rapidly a few times.

“...Well, to each their own.”

She commented on my strange tastes and quickly looked away.

It was the same as always. She could be so harsh toward Rio-chan.

Thinking about it, Rio-chan and Misao-chan have never gotten along.

I guess you could call it a compatibility issue.

Both are kind-hearted people, but sometimes, I wonder why they can’t get along.

“Why are you and Rio not getting along?”

I let the question slip from my mouth without thinking.

It wasn’t that I wanted them to reconcile, just pure curiosity.

Misao-chan, glancing at me from the corner of her eye before turning her gaze away, replied.

“...Kishine is too sloppy, and I hate that. I can’t stand feeling constricted. Kishine is earnest, and I’m rough around the edges. Water and oil, Dazai and Mishima—conflicting, it’s inevitable.”

I nodded quietly, reflecting on what she said.

Now that I thought about it, there really had been some tension like that.

It’s just compatibility, and there’s no way to force people to get along.

But it was still a little lonely.

For me, they were some of the few people I got along with.

“...I don’t dislike her, even if I’m bad at getting along.”

Misao-chan added that with a kind smile, showing just how thoughtful she really was. I probably had been able to sense something even without showing much expression.

“I like both of you.”

Because they were like that, I thought we could become friends. When I realized that, the words naturally spilled from my mouth.

Misao-chan blinked a few times before speaking.

“…Tsubasa, you’ve gotten more honest. It looks like things are going well. I’m glad.”

She showed me that move she’d done before—pinching her own cheek and making a smile. From the bottom of her heart, she was truly happy for me.

So, in return, I lifted her cheek with my finger and mimicked Misao-chan’s gesture.

I wanted to say thank you, too.

We both spent a few seconds pretending to laugh together.

“…Dazai wrote, ‘I simply love you. Isn’t that enough? Pure love is just that simple.’”

Still smiling the pseudo-smile, Misao-chan tilted her head slightly.

“Is that what you mean?”

I lowered my finger and responded.

“That’s exactly it.”

With a genuine smile, I answered Misao-chan.

Yeah, it makes me happy.

When you’re happy, a smile just comes out, doesn’t it?

“…After all, Tsubasa, you’re cute. I knew it from the start.”

Since then, I lightly consulted Misao-chan.

It had been a while since we had a good chat, and I was happy that when I asked for advice, she gave it to me. Misao-chan is always a reliable friend.

Once school starts again, let’s catch up properly!

“Right now…”

“Welcome back, Tsubasa-chan—huh?”

In the end, at the bookstore, I bought a paperback of Roman Lanterns that Misao-chan recommended (and of course, it was another Dazai work), and immediately came back home.

When I arrived, Rio-chan greeted me, sniffing a few times.

“—You smell like Futaba.”

She looked at me with a serious face, instantly figuring out that I’d met Misao-chan. Was Rio-chan a police dog in her past life or something?

“I was at the bookstore.”

“Should I spray some Febreze?”

Without a word, she started spraying the air with it.

Misao-chan had said she didn’t like Rio-chan, but Rio-chan seemed to dislike Misao-chan too. Kind of sad, huh?

“Did she do anything to you? Are you okay?”

“…She said I was cute.”

“Well, that’s something every human knows.”

I’m pretty sure that’s not true at all.

But Rio-chan, for some reason, seems to really like it when I get praised.

Even though it was Misao-chan who said it, Rio-chan didn’t seem to care at all. She took it as naturally as if I were just stating that my hair is white.

…Well, it still made me a little shy.

“If nothing happened, then I guess it’s fine. Tsubasa-chan, do you want a snack—?”

“Rio.”

But thanks to that, I was able to distract myself from the embarrassment and do something bold.

I grabbed Rio-chan’s sleeve and stopped her in her tracks.

"...Tsubasa-chan?"

"—Rio, let’s go for a walk?"

Before I came back, I had consulted with Misao-chan.

It was about wanting to kiss Rio-chan on the lips.

Today, I was feeling quite bold.

We left the apartment and walked together.

Strolling through the streets, our footsteps echoing in the scorching sunlight.

“It’s so hot.”

“Mm, it’s hot.”

Today was especially hot, and even a light hand-holding made us sweaty in no time.

Even so, we kept walking, hand in hand. In that condition, there was not even a hint of discomfort.

“...Tsubasa-chan, this place…”

“Mm, it’s a shrine.”

We kept walking until we arrived at the shrine that Rio-chan had brought me to on our previous date.

Even though it was still day, the shrine was closed for the day, again.

It was likely that the shrine’s management was in some trouble.

“Looks like we won’t be able to buy charms today.”

“We’ll come back when it’s open next time.”

But that was actually convenient for me right now.

Because, with no one else around, this was the perfect place for what I wanted to do.

“...Cold.”

“Mm.”

We washed our hands at the purification fountain, and I shared a little water with Rio-chan. Technically, we weren’t here to pray, so we probably shouldn’t have, but I liked this place.

—The place where I wanted to kiss Rio-chan.

Misao-chan had given me the advice that if I could create the right atmosphere, I could take her to a place that held memories. That’s why I brought Rio-chan here.

With all my intentions laid bare, I stood by the gods' side.

“Rio, this way.”

With hands that were slightly cooled from the sweat, I took Rio-chan’s hand.

We moved into the shade of the trees in the shrine.

All the way to the tallest tree on the grounds.

“The cicadas are so loud.”

“...Summer.”

“Yeah, it’s summer.”

The shrill chorus of the cicadas.

The sound that makes you feel summer to the point of being overwhelmed.

Even in the shade, the heat was so intense, it made the air shimmer.

—Then, a gust of wind blew by, like a gentle caress.

The leaves fluttered in the breeze.

Some of the cicadas, feeling the call, took off into the air.

The cicadas’ song began to fade into the distance.

“…You know, Rio…”

“Mm?”

Even with our hands still clasped together, I gathered up all the courage I could muster.

I couldn’t shake the awkwardness. No matter how many times I’d done it, simply changing the location to my lips made me incredibly nervous.

...Because it’s Rio-chan’s special place.

"Um... well..."

"...Yeah."

Even so, because Rio-chan is holding my hand and watching over me without rushing.

"──I want to kiss you on the lips."

Somehow, I managed to muster the courage and speak.

Rio-chan, next to me, softly smiled, her lips gently curving.

"──Okay."

Her cheeks faintly flushed as she acknowledged my desire.

My heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest.

"...Should I do it, then?"

"I'll stand on tiptoe."

In response to her suggestion, which considered our height difference, I stubbornly refused.

Rio-chan just smiled and accepted it.

She released my hand, then gently stood on tiptoe.

I closed my eyes and, standing on my toes as well, brought my face closer to hers.

"Mm..."

The world seemed to fall silent.

There was only the faintest sound of a kiss, a soft "chup."

It became a memory of a summer day, a moment to last a lifetime.

We exchanged a kiss, side by side with the gods.

As if to show off, we pecked each other's lips.

God, please bless us, just like how couples stand before witnesses at their wedding.

This is a shrine, but there is no bell.

Instead, the only sound is the thumping of our hearts.

And within that, I could feel it—the beat of Rio-chan’s heart.

Her heartbeat, just as fast and excited as mine.

Realizing this made me feel so sweet and warm inside.

My heart was pounding, and in place of blood, cocoa seemed to flow through my body.

A happy, drowning kind of time.

I realized that girls are made of sugar, spice, and something wonderful.

I gave all of myself—body and heart—to Rio-chan. Our hearts and bodies, connected, could understand each other.

"You're okay now, right?" someone whispered in the silent world.

I had no idea whose voice it was.

But there was one thing I knew for sure.

I’m no longer alone; I have someone precious who understands me. And through touch, that meaning became real.

It was an overwhelmingly happy feeling.

And it came through, and I sent it back.

──I love you, I love you so much, I love you.

Without a sound, only through the act itself.

Without hesitation, with certainty.

I’m sure, right now, we are the happiest people in the world.