Chapter 574: Wail

The event ended, and it was time for them to prepare lunch.

“There. Just like that.”

Hiratsuka showed a manly side by telling everyone how to make a fire with wood. They might be in the kitchen, but they were outdoors, so instead of using gas or a stove, they had to use firewood.

“You’re good at it, Sensei.” Shishio looked at Hiratsuka curiously.

Hiratsuka showed a proud expression on her face with a cigarette in one hand. “I used to throw barbeques with my club a lot back in college. While I got the pit ready, the couples flirt like—” Her expression showed annoyance. “Tsk! Damn, I am in a bad mood now.” She looked at the group of elementary school students before she made her instruction. “Boys, go get the fire ready. Girls, go get the ingredients.”

“Okay!”

Shishio was speechless and lightly bumped her hand.

Her mood suddenly improved since she realized she wasn’t alone now and had a boyfriend. The only thing she felt strange about was that she was okay to let this bastard boyfriend of hers date another woman.

Yet who made her fall so deeply into him?

“Come to my room later.”

Hiratsuka whispered before she left, since she was too lazy to take care of the group of children.

Shishio nodded and joined everyone to help to take care of the fire.

Still, he realized that a volunteer was nothing more than free labor, which made him sigh at the shrewdness of the capitalist.

‘Well, I’m also a capitalist now.’

“Come on. I won’t let you skip your work again.”

Yukinoshita came and pulled him to work.

“….”

Shishio might be a capitalist, but he was nothing but free labor now.

—

“Say, we’re going to make a movie?” Hikigaya asked.

“Yeah.”

After the two helped with the fire, they didn’t stay with the group of children. Instead, they walked away from the crowd, so they didn’t have to continue their work.

Still, the real reason was that Hikigaya wasn’t good with children and talking.

On the other hand, Shishio was good at socializing, but he wasn’t interested in groups of kids. However, it would be different for his own children, though.

Under the nice shade of the trees, they leaned on the trees while overlooking everyone.

That’s right!

They didn’t skip work. Instead, they protected everyone by watching them from a distance in case something happened.

After all, everything could be clearly seen when one was looking from a distance, right?

“What kind of movie are we going to make?” Hikigaya asked again. He would be lying if he didn’t have an interest, especially when Yukinoshita was the one who proposed it.

‘What kind of movie that she’ll make?’

Hikigaya was curious.

“Not sure.”

“…” Hikigaya.

“Don’t blame me. She only made a decision a few hours ago.”

“Then?”

“I’ll probably take care of the script.”

Shishio knew that he would have to take care of the script, but when he was asked what kind of movie they would make, he wasn’t sure what kind of genre was good to shoot.

“It’s gonna be a romance, right?”

Hikigaya showed a happy smile.

“While I want to ask why you can be so sure why it is going to be a romance, I am going to ask why you smile first.”

Shishio didn’t understand why this guy could smile so brightly when the genre of the movie was romance.

“If it’s a romance, then I won’t do a heavy job, right?”

“Why can’t you be so sure?”

“With you around, do you think I will become an actor?”

“…………”

“Listen, Shishio-kun. Do you know what the number rule of the romantic movie is?”

Hikigaya appeared like a good-natured senior who wanted to teach his junior.

“…What?”

While Shishio was speechless, he still asked.

“It must have a good-looking cast.”

“….”

“Among us, it’ll be you.”

Even Hikigaya must admit that this guy was absolutely the most handsome guy he had ever met.

“…Is that okay with you?”

Shishio wondered what this guy wanted to do.

“It’s okay. I believe you can do it. You’re slightly more handsome than me, after all.”

Hikigaya believed that his face wasn’t bad and even handsome, considering Komachi was cute, so as her big brother, wasn’t it natural for him to be “cute” too?

However, God was fair.

Hikigaya believed that since his mind was brighter than most people, he got a pair of dead fish-like eyes, which decreased his handsomeness slightly, giving the throne of the most handsome guy to Shishio.

However, Hikigaya believed he could get 2nd place.

Still, his real reason was that he was too lazy to act, and he didn’t want to enter the screen. Instead, he was more interested in the shooting process since Shishio told him about the process during his trip to Izu.

‘Also…’

While Hikigaya felt embarrassed, he wanted to do this type of youth-like activity.

“….”

Shishio wasn’t sure what to say, but he didn’t expect Hikigaya to take the initiative to choose a romance genre.

‘Romance, huh?’

“Hey, that’s the girl that you talked with, right?”

His thought was broken by Hikigaya’s voice.

Shishio looked up and saw Rumi was being isolated before being approached by Hayama. However, when Hayama kindly told her that he was going to help, she rejected him after she glanced for a moment.

“Not really. I don’t care for the curry.”

Shishio glanced at the side and saw four little girls snickered in Rumi’s direction.

“…I wonder why people are so free to talk about other people.”

Shishio wondered what the benefit of talking bad about someone was.

If so, why shouldn’t they do something else which was more beneficial?

“You’re stupid. It’s because they’re free to talk bad about other people.”

It was because they were free and didn’t have anything to do, causing them to feel that they were inferior to others. However, people wanted to feel special, so they chose someone who was lower than themselves, so they could trample them with their ego, giving them a boost on their confidence.

Shishio looked at Hikigaya and thought this was wisdom Hikigaya gained after observing people for the past 16 years of his life.

Still, they must admit that observing people from afar made them able to see the perspective many people would miss.

However, they also must admit Rumi was more mature than others since she could see her situation clearly.

If she gave a happy answer, she would be seen as showing off.

If she just ignored Hayama, she would be seen as showing off.

The result was quite the same, so in the end, Rumi could only retreat and walk away.

“What are you going to do?” Hikigaya asked since he knew Shishio was going to help.

“Well, let’s just accompany her for a while. We can use her as an excuse so we can skip together.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“So, not just one? There are two stupid high school students?”

Shishio and Hikigaya turned and saw Rumi, who walked toward their direction and retorted with a sharp response.

“Well, most people are stupid. Glad that you realized it early in life.” Hikigaya answered while folding his arms.

“You two…” Yukinoshita also approached them and couldn’t help but sigh, looking at Shishio and Hikigaya before she looked at Rumi, who stood next to Shishio.

People had always come to someone they were familiar with, so naturally, Rumi went to Shishio.

“Come here, Senpai. I have saved a spot for you.” Shishio pushed Hikigaya away.

“Oi!” Hikigaya was furious and almost transformed into a god of war, Hachiman!

“No, it’s okay.” Yukinoshita showed a helpless smile and knew it was already impossible to stop them from skipping work.

On the other hand, Rumi looked at the three and thought that their relationship was pretty weird.

“Rumi-chan, let me introduce you to everyone, but before that, can you introduce your name to this big brother and big sister?” Shishio asked.

Rumi nodded. “Tsurumi Rumi.” She moved slightly behind, trying to hide behind Shishio while glancing at the two.

“This beautiful but scary big sister is Yukinoshita Yukino.”

“Shishio-kun, we need to talk after this.”

Shishio decided to ignore Yukinoshita’s threat before he introduced Hikigaya. “The one next to him is my senior. He believes he is the 2nd most handsome guy in Suimei High School.”

“Oi!”

Hikigaya blushed. While he believed so, he wasn’t sure whether the others believed his words.

“If you feel sick, how about you go to rest?” Yukinoshita asked worriedly.

“I am not sick! Also, stop teasing me!”

Hikigaya was furious, but it brought a smile to Shishio and Yukinoshita.

“Rumi nodded again, feeling slightly relieved, and showed a smile even though she didn’t realize it herself.

“Still, it’s good that you can introduce yourself.”

Shishio rubbed Rumi’s head gently, causing her to pout, pushing his hand away weakly.

While being patted by him felt good, Rumi didn’t want to be treated like a kid.

“…Don’t treat me like a child!” Rumi protested.

“No, you’re a child, so you should let someone spoil you. It’s not the time for you to become an adult. If you need someone’s help, it’s okay to rely on us, alright?”

Rumi stared at Shishio and saw his gentle expression, feeling something she had been holding back was broken and couldn’t be contained anymore. Her eyes were red, and tears kept dripping from her eyes. She started to sob, and her voice choked.

Shishio squatted down and put her head on his shoulder, patting the back of her small shoulders gently.

Yukinoshita and Hikigaya were stunned when they saw how Rumi was suddenly sobbing.

Yui, who saw the three of them, wanted to approach and greet them with a smile, but she was dumbfounded when she saw Shishio hugging Rumi, who seemed to be sobbing. She slowed down and quietly approached them.

Shishio knew Rumi needed to vent her emotion since she had been keeping all of them bottled up inside her heart. It was like a ball of frustration that holed up inside her body.

However, one thing was for sure. He must admit Rumi was a strong girl.

This was a problem that even an adult couldn’t handle, yet Rumi had encountered it when she was in elementary school.

Rumi couldn’t cry, ask for help, and could only helplessly stay in silence.

Still, in this case, Shishio shouldn’t say anything since Rumi hadn’t told him what had happened to her, and he shouldn’t jump to a conclusion since one had to fully understand everything to comfort someone when they cried.

Rumi cried even harder when she was treated this gently by someone but didn’t want to be heard, so she hugged him tightly and put her lips near his chest to muffle her voice.

Yukinoshita was in silence, watching the two, feeling bitter and envious since, in her childhood, no one would help her like this. Yet she was also glad since she hoped that no one would experience what she felt.

Yukinoshita looked at Shishio for a moment, wondering why they couldn’t meet earlier.

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