Chapter 85
It had been a while since Shizuna’s birthday.
That day, after receiving the ring from Ryuichi, Shizuna had been in a daze for a long time, as if she was floating around in a dream. She stared intently at the ring, then looked at Ryuichi, looking embarrassed, but then smiled beautifully before looking back at the ring again. She did this several times, but even that appearance of hers looked cute to Ryuichi.
“This is basically a promise of marriage, isn’t it? You’re saying I’m the wife and you’re the husband, right, Ryuichi-kun? No take-backs, okay? I definitely, absolutely won’t let you take it back; I will never, ever, ever leave your side now, okay? I’m going to stay with you for the rest of my life, okay?!”
She’d spitted all those words in rapid succession, and it was only natural that Ryuichi nodded his head as if to affirm all of it. Of course, although she never wore the ring to school, it was basically on her finger all the time aside from that.
“Seriously, I’m glad she was so happy.”
Ryuichi muttered to himself as he thought of Shizuna, who was not with him at the moment. It was already late and all he wanted to do was sleep, but Ryuichi currently had two women by his side.
“She sounded so happy as she told me about it on the phone. Nice going, Ryuichi.”
“That’s right. Also, I feel really jealous.”
The women who were beside him were Chisa and Satsuki. They were without their clothes and were leaning close to Ryuichi as if to show off their bare bodies to him, and it wasn’t hard to imagine what they had been doing just a few minutes ago.
His relationship with Shizuna had further strengthened when he gave her the ring, but he made sure to give Chisa and the other girls their fair share of attention, too.
“I mean, there’s nothing I can do about that, though… Well, I’m sure I’ll get you two a gift too one of these days.”
That was something Ryuichi had already decided to do. Of course, he was also thinking of a gift for Sakie, which would be a test for Ryuichi’s heart the same way it had been for Shizuna. This was by no means a present he would be giving her just because he had to, but because he sincerely wanted to give her something with the past and future in mind.
“You look really good right now. You look so happy without a single trace of darkness on your face, something I’ve always wanted to see from you.”
“That’s definitely thanks to you girls. Not just Shizuna, but all of you, helped me get here.”
That was something he could say with confidence. Chisa and Satsuki were also the catalysts for Ryuichi’s change, and they had taught him the happiness of being kind to someone and the happiness of being loved… He had said it many times, but it was clear that Ryuichi could not let go of them either.
“But… I really think what we’re doing is unfair. Normally, this form of love would not be allowed, but Shizuna-chan allows it… You even tell me not to worry about it too, Ryuichi-kun, so I feel like I’m taking advantage of your kindness.”
Satsuki hugged Ryuichi’s arms tightly as she said this. In fact, she was hugging his arm so tightly that her large breasts distorted in shape, which made him wonder just how conflicted she must’ve been. However, just as she said, their current relationship was something neither Ryuichi nor Shizuna minded; they even wanted it, so she had nothing to worry about. Even if it was a form of love that the world did not approve of, it was a form they agreed on, so there was no need for her to feel any hesitation about it.
“Ryuichi.”
“I know.”
Chisa tapped him on the shoulder, and Ryuichi turned his body toward Satsuki with a wry smile. He firmly put his arm around Satsuki’s back and took her lips in his, so as not to let her get away with her unimportant worries.
“Hnng…”
Satsuki was surprised, but soon she became enamored and started kissing him back, which made Chisa smile.
“You know, Satsuki, even if you’re strangely hung up on it, I think it’s impossible for you at this point to do anything about it, don’t you think? After all, when you want Ryuichi so badly like that, it proves that you can’t stay away from him no matter what, right?”
“…That’s…right.”
When she said Satsuki couldn’t stay away from him, that didn’t mean she was dependent on him, but rather, it meant she couldn’t stop loving Ryuichi no matter what obstacles may come in her way. Even though it may not be accepted by the world, Satsuki’s heart had already recognized their relationship now, thanks to Ryuichi and Shizuna’s encouragement and support.
“Don’t worry about it. Our relationship is ours and ours alone. So, Satsuki, stay by my side from now on.”
“…Yeshh. ♪”
Even if a slight uneasiness still remained within her, it all but dissipated with a single word from Ryuichi. Perhaps her emotions were jumbled with joy and excitement, but Satsuki continued to stare at Ryuichi’s profile for a long time after that. Seeing this, Chisa laughed, but admitted that she too, like Satsuki, was unable to part from Ryuichi.
“You’ve really grown into a fine man. I guess even a frivolous playboy playing as a lone wolf can change.”
“I didn’t mean to make myself look that way, though…”
“Still, that’s how you looked like to others. It’s all the more reason why I’m so happy right now.”
Chisa gave Ryuichi a kiss on the cheek. After that, they once again spent a time as sweet as honey with each other in bed, and Ryuichi, Chisa, and Satsuki went to sleep satisfied, all cuddled up to each other.
And so, in this way, Ryuichi’s days remained the same. His days with Shizuna as well as with Chisa, Satsuki, and Sakie passed by unchanged. These unchanging days were truly happiness, and they were the peaceful days that Ryuichi had been seeking from the bottom of his heart for a long time.
“Mom, how’s the seasoning on yours?”
“All good. What about you, Shizuna?”
Of course, Ryuichi was happy when he had sex with the girls, but even without that, he would not trade the time he spent with them for anything in the world.
“…Heh, this definitely isn’t bad.”
Ryuichi’s gaze fell on Shizuna and Sakie, who were cooking together amicably.
Thinking back on it, when he and Shizuna had yet to sleep with each other, he had been surprised to find out that Sakie was Shizuna’s mother when she appeared at the bar. Ryuichi, who rarely ever showed his surprise, had been truly dumbfounded and hadn’t known what to do.
“Ryuichi-kun?”
“You’re making an amused smile; is something up?”
“Huh? Ah, well, actually…”
When he told them what he’d just reminisced on, they too hummed in agreement and laughed greatly, their shoulders shaking.
“What a coincidence that was. But, that incident did spur on my will and determination, too.”
“You felt a rivalry with me since I was the one who had sex with Ryuichi-kun first… didn’t you?”
“G-Geez!!”
Shizuna then confessed that she had wanted to tell him, “How could you sleep with my mother but not me!” and Ryuichi’s truly noisy yet fun days continued. Such days were made possible not only by Ryuichi’s rebirth as himself, but also by the existence of these women.
“Thank you, Shizuna… Sakie, too. I’m so glad I met you two.”
Satisfied, Ryuichi slurped down the juice he had in his hand. However, the expression on his face when he thanked them sincerely seemed to stimulate their hearts, and not just Shizuna but Sakie too stopped cooking and walked up to him.
“Kiss…”
“Mmm…”
Ryuichi received a kiss on the cheek from both of them. Afterwards, he dug into a delicious meal served by the girls, took a relaxing bath, and then began his sweet time with Shizuna and Sakie.
“…Zzz… Zzz.”
“…Ryuichi-kun… ♪”
Smiling at the sleeping mother and daughter snuggled up together, Ryuichi got up and approached the window.
Looking up at the sky, he saw beautiful stars shining in the jet-black night sky, and although it may be a slightly convenient interpretation, it seemed as if they were illuminating his future. Ryuichi did not know what would happen in the future, but he was not anxious about anything. Even if something happened, Ryuichi already had a source of emotional support, and the strength to protect it.
“I really don’t know what’ll happen. People change when they interact with other people, and they live while supporting and being supported by others.”
For Ryuichi, the past was not forgotten. Even now, there were still times when faces of his parents and grandparents haunted him, but he no longer dwelled on them.
Because, for the second time, Ryuichi now had the girls by his side.
“Here’s to our future together.”
Ryuichi muttered those words and returned to the two with a satisfied look on his face.
“…But still, this whole thing feels like such a mystical experience.”
His words referred to how he had been reborn as a completely different person—a manga character at that—and taken on a new life.
Thinking about what words could explain this sequence of events in a single sentence, Ryuichi suddenly came up with an appropriate string of words and spoke them.
“‘The Story of a Man Who Is Reincarnated as the Shi*tiest Guy in a Doujin, but the Heroine Keeps on Coming Close to Him’… That sounds like a title a web novel would have, huh?”
He laughed, but still, that was exactly how he would describe it. Even if one was reborn as the worst kind of man, their life could change in any direction with just one way of thinking. And even if it may not always be an absolute answer like it had been for Ryuichi, it was possible to bring about the future one desired.
Let’s hope that he and the girls will have a happy future, for that is the wish of those who have watched over the reborn man and the women who have been involved with him.
~Fin~
Afterword
And with that, we have finally reached the end of the story! I would like to thank all of my readers for their patience with this work, which is now almost 300,000 words long!
As the author, I am happy to have completed another work like this. I had a lot of trouble with the setting and other things before I was able to complete it, but I am relieved that it turned out this way.
A manga adaptation is also in the works, so I hope you will take a look at it once it takes shape.
Again, thank you so much for reading this from beginning to end.
I seriously love all you readers who gave me so many supportive comments and ratings!!
That’s it from me. Bye-bye!!
HamletJr's notes:
With this, the main part of the story is finally complete. Sorry for the long delay in getting the finale out, and thank you for reading from start to finish. I wanted to get this out by August 31, but here I am, 2 days later. Man, if only I'd finished then, because it looks like the author released one after-story chapter right on September 1, so looks like I'll have to do that too. But anyway, thanks so much for reading, and for bearing with me. The next chapter will be out in 1-2 days hopefully. See ya then.