Chapter 9

Shikina actually left the house too, before Satsuki had.

Now, he was looking at the differences in nutrition and weighing the price between two different brands of ramen.

Well aware that he… probably hurt her… he left the house in embarrassment.

Looking at the slightly more expensive Shin Yamai Ramen packs and scratching his chin, he said to himself:

"Yeah, I definitely did some damage there. Shit. Whatever, doubt anything can change that."

His eyes darted back and forth between brands.

This was actually one of the more difficult decisions in his life.

"Hmm…. what do I do…"

As he was taking his time to think it over, footsteps grew increasingly closer to him.

Pretending not to notice, he put on his best act.

Eventually, the footsteps stopped a few feet from him.

"You know I'm here, don't you."

With a flush face, she was looking down at him.

A bag she brought from home was slung over her shoulder, which held various meats and vegetables.

"Yep, how's shit going for you today, Miss Umisugi?"

He sprung back up, no longer looking at the ramen.

Interlocking his fingers behind his back, he found the design of the tiles on the floor to be interesting.

"Anything interesting happen after I left?"

His thick eyelashes shifted with the movements of his gaze.

He turned to look at her.

Even though he could see her without keeping his eyes on her, Shikina thought it was appropriate to do it.

Unknowingly, he made her heart skip a beat.

Yasashii Umisugi was struck, once again, by him.

His head was tilted, with a sly smile, and bangs obscuring his eyebrows, leaving only a green flash peaking from beneath his hair.

Freckles looked like they were spilled onto his face.

Skin colored like the surface of the moon, when hit by the sun rays.

He was still in school uniform, as he didn't have time to change at home, due to his surprise union with Satsuki.

She mumbled to herself.

"…A cute shithead…"

There was an awkward silence.

She realized what she had said.

And his supernatural sense of hearing left him definitely hearing her.

"Oh… oh..?"

Shikina has never seen anything like this, so he struggled to find a proper response.

Despite neither of them moving, both of their faces changed color.

Beet red.

The only thing he could think to say was:

"Despite how I look… I… I… so this isn't… ah…"

With sudden motions, crudely moving his arms, his fidgeting fingers reached for, and dropped some ramen packets.

"I… I'll be going now… see… at school…"

Holding 10 ramen packets in his hand, the expensive kind, he made a straightaway towards the register.

Yasashii recovered quickly from her embarrassment, by watching him act so awkwardly.

She laughed, upon seeing a new, unexpected, side of the -apparently- very self-assured Shikina.

"Hah… what the hell's with that?"

Picking up after his mess, she placed the Ramen back on the shelf, in their appropriate spots.

"So he can be like that too…"

Looking at the brand, she remarked:

"Oh, these go good with fried tofu and low sodium soy sauce."