After they bought a few papers, they went to visit various places such as a bookstore that sold cat-themed books, a small gallery for photography, a vintage book district, and many others since they knew it would take a while for them to come to this place again, so they went to various places they could visit.

Truthfully, Shishio wanted to tell Roberta to change her clothes since her maid uniform might seem quite hot, considering the summer was just right in front of their eyes.

As for her maid uniform itself, while it was uncommon to wear a maid uniform, the people in Tokyo were quite indifferent, so they only looked for a moment before they looked away. After all, this country was the land of cosplay, and there were many other more “individual” and “unique” cosplay.

Just a maid uniform was nothing.

After they walked around, they got hungry, and they went to eat specialty curry at the nearby restaurant on the second floor of its building.

When they sat down, the three let Ritsu sit next to Shishio.

On the other hand, Shishio took a seat near the window where he could see the pedestrian from the place he sat.

While Ritsu was quite shy, she sat next to Shishio honestly.

When they had all sat down, Shiina, Nanami, and Roberta took out a “unique” book that was bought by Shishio. They were looking at the maid costume book collection intently since they didn’t expect there to be so many types of maid uniforms.

“……..” Shishio.

On the other hand, Ritsu was reading her book quietly, but she peeked at Shishio from time to time. Everyone had let her sit next to Shishio, and even though she had said she loved that part of him, she didn’t know what to say, and she felt her heart could jump out anytime since she sat next to him.

It was just sitting, then what if they moved even closer?

Ritsu felt she might die.

Ritsu knew she might have acknowledged her feelings, but she wondered what she really wanted to do.

Did she want to date him like the other girls?

Or did she just want to maintain the status quo?

Frankly, it was a stupid question, similar to the guy who wanted to touch, kiss, and have sex with their woman. The women also felt similar since they had that sexual urge.

Still, the question was what to do?

While Ritsu had read many romance novels, her situation was different from the situation of the heroine in the story.

Should she confess?

What if she was rejected?

Ritsu had seen the example of what would happen if the confession failed. Even if she hadn’t confessed to someone, she had seen how it felt to be rejected since she also had rejected many people.

It was also because of this reason she realized how painful it was to be rejected, and frankly, she was scared.

Love is a source of madness.

Somehow Ritsu had to agree with that quote that she happened to remember from one of the books she had read. After all, it made her become someone she had never thought of. It had made her become someone else.

Ritsu realized she had changed.

However, should she feel happy about this change?

Of course, Ritsu felt happy since she knew the day Shishio came into her life, everything changed.

It was like spring after winter.

Everything was born, and Shishio brought color to her life.

Her monochrome day became colorful with many colors.

Sometimes it might not be a good color, and it might be sad, but many times it was fun, and Ritsu didn’t regret meeting him.

The only thing that made her annoyed was probably the fact he was a scumbag.

‘Even though I have reminded myself not to fall for him…’ Ritsu let out a long sigh, thinking life was really unpredictable, and she just didn’t expect she would fall for someone she didn’t want to fall for.

Ritsu knew Shishio was a scumbag, and as long as there was a woman who made him interested, he didn’t hesitate to lay his hands on that woman.

But what about her?

It had been a while since they met each other, yet Shishio didn’t do anything to her.

Their relationship was a friend. Well, they might be closer, but they definitely didn’t have an intimate relationship like how a lover was.

Ritsu let out a long sigh and didn’t know what to do at that moment.

Still, even if her mind was full of complexity and she thought of a lot of things in her head, her face was as blank as ever while holding a book near her face, so they couldn’t see her expression.

Then, a waitress came and gave them a menu book, asking them what they wanted to order.

Without hesitation, they ordered beef curry with a cheese topping.

Still, Shishio felt speechless when he saw there was a steamed potato on the menu.

‘Does this restaurant want us to eat a lot of carbs so much?’

“Shishio, I want pannacotta, a baked apple, and pudding too,” Shiina said of all the desserts in the restaurant.

“Okay, just order it. If we can’t finish it, we can just take it home,” Shishio said. After all, there were only three desserts in this restaurant, and it made him curious too.

They agreed and ordered the food they wanted to eat.

After they ordered their food, they talked to each other as usual.

Still, Shishio was looking at the people below from his position on the 2nd floor.

Ritsu, who had been watching Shishio for a while, noticed Shishio’s strange action and asked, “What are you looking at, Shishio?”

“I am looking at the people,” Shishio said.

“Why?” Nanami felt strange and asked, “Do you feel happy to look down on someone from a high position like they’re trash?”

“……” Shishio looked at Nanami speechlessly.

It might seem strange, but many Japanese people were in love with a tall place. It wasn’t that they loved a tall place, but it was part of their culture, considering how the people who could live in the tall place in the past were only Daimyo.

Those Daimyo lived in the tall place, in the castle, so they could overlook their people in their lands. So when the Tokugawa Shogunate ended, the people in the Meiji Restoration could live freely, and living in the tall place was akin to a new feeling to them.

Well, what Nanami said also wasn’t wrong since some people also loved to live in a tall place and overlooked everyone like they were trash.

“No.”

However, Shishio wasn’t such a person. “Can you see it?” He pointed at the window, telling them to see.

They subconsciously looked out the window and could see many people walking on the street. After all, it was a weekend, so many people came out to Jimbicho. However, they couldn’t see anything special from it.

“What’s wrong with those people?” Nanami was confused.

Shiina, Ritsu, and Roberta also looked at Shishio curiously.

“You can see that all of those people are walking, right?” Shishio didn’t look at their reaction and just explained why he had been looking at those people. “Some of them are walking straight. Some of them are stopping, watching the stores, and looking around. Some people walk fast, and some walk slow. Well, you might feel confused about why I am doing this, but I just found out a fun fact.”

“Fun fact?”

“Yes.” Shishio nodded and looked at them. “Well, it’s like life. You know, those people might walk in the same direction, but the time, the speed, and the people they are with are different. Some of them walk slowly, some of them need a long time to arrive at their destination, and some of them are alone. However, without a doubt, they want to come to the same destination.”

“It’s like life. Everyone has their own goal, dream, or purpose, but some of them are alone, slow, and alone. However, without a doubt, as long as they keep walking, they will reach their destination. On the other hand, those people that walk fast, walk with other people might change their destination and don’t even reach it.”

“……” Everyone.

“But of course, some people are reaching that place fast without much of a struggle. However, even if there’s such a person, don’t think too much and walk at your own pace. It’s okay to be slow as long as you can reach your destination.” Shishio stopped talking and saw them looking at him in a daze. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Shiina, Roberta, and Nanami didn’t say much and just moved closer to him.

If it was with someone else, Nanami might hesitate, but she had told the truth about her relationship with Shishio to Ritsu, so everything was alright.

“Hey, hey, we’re in public. Wait till we get back, alright?” Shishio said while patting their heads helplessly.

Ritsu, who was on the side, didn’t join them, but while she felt jealous, she didn’t do anything and thought about the words Shishio had said. She was different from the rest, and she couldn’t utter what she wanted to say truthfully like Shiina. She couldn’t be proactive like Roberta. Nor could she persist like Nanami.

However, Ritsu knew as long as she had the will and didn’t give up trying, she knew her feelings would reach him.

Ritsu took a deep breath and made up her mind at that moment.

When their order was sent to their table, they started to eat and enjoyed their time together.

Also, they must admit, even if they didn’t plan to do anything special and just a normal thing like walking out with everyone, they felt today was a special thing, and they might not forget this day.

Shishio glanced at Ritsu, who enjoyed the food with everyone and even bickered with Shiina, who stole everyone’s dessert with a gentle smile, and he knew this girl was alright.

Still, even if this girl was alright, there was someone who had to be sacrificed.

However, this sacrifice wasn’t a bad thing since it was part of the growth.

Shishio looked at the four of them and thought it wouldn’t be a dream to see the scene of a fivesome. He took his fork and took a bite of the steamed potato on his plate, thinking he was really a scumbag.