ODL – Chapter  60 – Rinjou Shizuka Climbed onto the Bed

“There’s no way I can calm down…” (Souma)

I couldn’t sit still at all, but there was nothing I could do except walk around the living room restlessly. The reason for my unease was clear, and the culprit was leisurely humming from the bathroom.

“What on earth is she thinking…?” (Souma)

Shizuka brought a change of clothes from home and, ignoring my protests, barricaded herself in the bathroom. Once she was inside, there was nothing I could do, and I found myself resentfully watching the shadow on the frosted glass. Why did she have to take a bath at my place? Shizuka’s thoughts were always incomprehensible.

*Haa…* (Souma)

I wandered aimlessly.

Just the fact that someone else is taking a bath at my house can make my heart so restless. It might be related to the fact that I saw Shizuka half-naked before. Actually, it definitely is. Otherwise, there’s no way I’d be so nervous around Shizuka. After all, she’s a garbage generator.

…However, that being said.

No matter how much I tried to ignore it, the image of her skin from lunch wouldn’t leave my mind. Honestly, even now, there was a possibility that being with Shizuka might lead to strange feelings developing. Whether it was sexual desire or something romantic, it’s hard to say. But the fact that I was reacting to the sound of water coming from the bathroom probably meant there was something wrong with me.

Just as everyone makes a mistake or two with alcohol once they become adults, I went through such experiences. And I learned something from that time: ‘Don’t do anything when your mind isn’t clear.’ Now is one of those times. I’m sorry, but as soon as Shizuka finishes bathing, I’ll ask her to go home quickly. That’s the only smart way to build a friendly relationship with Shizuka in the future.

As I was thinking about such things…

“By the way, I’m staying over at Souma-kun’s house today, okay?” (Shizuka)

After coming out of the bath, Shizuka who was wearing just a flimsy T-shirt, helped herself to some ice cream from the refrigerator and answered with a beaming smile as if she already knew what I was going to say. Unlike the unhealthy reddish hue she had during lunchtime, her healthy rosy cheeks reflected the light with a lustrous shine, thanks to various moisturizing creams, giving her an irresistibly radiant appearance. On top of that, she smelled amazing. We were supposed to be using the same shampoo, so where was this scent coming from?

“Oh, this ice cream is delicious. Maybe I should buy some for myself next time.” (Shizuka)

Shizuka, who seemed completely back to her usual self, blatantly ignored my troubles and made herself comfortable. I couldn’t help but stare at her pure white legs extending from her shorts. Maybe I really have gone crazy.

“Oh, by the way, Souma-kun, I think this might be my first time entering your bedroom. Wow, so this is the bed you sleep in?” (Shizuka)

Shizuka opened the door to my bedroom without permission and disappeared into me.

“H-Hey, wait a minute. You’re really staying over?” (Souma)

But… there’s only one bed in my place. I hurriedly followed Shizuka, but by the time I reached there, she already dove onto my bed. She wiggled her legs and looked completely relaxed.

“Oh, this bed is quite comfortable huh?” (Shizuka)

“Ugh…” (Souma)

A young woman of my age was exposing part of her bare skin on my bed, and to top it off, she was casually eating ice cream. The situation was too much for me, and I couldn’t help but avert my gaze. 

“Hey, Shizuka… What exactly are you planning?” (Souma)

I spoke to Shizuka while avoiding eye contact. There was something off about her today. It was clear that she had some sort of ulterior motive.

“Um…” (Shizuka)

I had expected her to say something incomprehensible as usual, but Shizuka’s tone was much more subdued than I had imagined. I turned my gaze towards her, and she clutched the blanket tightly, wearing a dark expression.

“…Just for tonight, I want you to stay with me.” (Shizuka)

The moment I saw Shizuka’s expression, I felt emotions welling up inside me. I immediately understood Shizuka’s feelings.

This person is definitely ──── extremely lonely right now. It’s probably because of the fever. Come to think of it, Shizuka was also homesick when she first moved here. I had thought of her as a lively person, but maybe she’s actually prone to feeling lonely. It seemed like those deeper emotions she usually kept in check were now becoming uncontrollable.

“Is it not okay…?” (Shizuka)

*glace* 

Shizuka looked up at me with puppy eyes.

…If you ask if it was okay, it was absolutely not okay.

In the past, there had been a few occasions when Mafuyu-chan crawled into my bed in the middle of the night. However, I had never once given my permission for it. Naturally, sharing a bed is something that couples do, at least according to my values.

But, in the current situation, I couldn’t bring myself to push Shizuka away. If I could do that, there would be no such thing as the Souma-kai. When Shizuka was seeking my help, there was a part of me that just couldn’t refuse.

“…Just for today, okay?” (Souma)

“Yay! Thank you, Souma-kun!” (Shizuka)

With Shizuka’s delighted voice washing over me, I retreated to the living room to calm my racing heart.

---

Thanks for reading!

So MC can understand her deep feelings like loneliness but couldn’t catch the implications of her ‘go out with me’ line. I mean I know that MC can relate to her loneliness but like bruh.

In other news, my Adsense got approved faster than I thought, so I can run ads now. I’ll only be putting one at the start and one at the end so it shouldn’t be too annoying when reading. There is also one in the initial post, but pretty much no one’s gonna pay attention to that.

P.S. I ended up changing internship companies and this new company is further away which means more traveling time. I now lost an extra 2-3h of my life on traveling back and forth so there might be days where I just don’t post. Well, I’ll still post ODL but just can’t guarantee for the other series.

P.S.S btw Vol 2 illustrations are in the next page, idk why NU nvr detect

---

1. None