Chapter 15
Having left that bastard Nathan behind, the two headed out into the street.
“…But will that guy be okay?”
Fidgeting, Vita timidly opened his mouth.
Truthfully, Vita was a little worried about leaving Nathan like that, sprawled unconscious.
“Well, it’s not winter. Even if he passes out in an alley, his mouth won’t get twisted.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
Carlisle answered in a casual tone as though it were nothing, but Vita felt a little frustrated.
As if that punk’s reputation had gotten bad for no reason.
If he had to define this feeling, it was worry about Carlisle, though he didn’t want to admit it.
‘What if he comes back for revenge…?’
They could get into trouble. People like him didn’t operate by normal standards.
He had looked too terrified to even dare that, but wasn’t unpredictability the defining trait of punks like him?
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about that guy? Or about me?”
“W-what?!”
Carlisle’s question suddenly exposed Vita’s true feelings, and Vita stammered in embarrassment.
“Me? You?”
Carlisle chuckled.
He already knew the answer from that reaction alone. So he said,
“A guy like that couldn’t beat me even if he brought a whole gang.”
He won’t even be able to complain to the academy.
“He was the one who wronged you first. Right, Bianca?”
Since that wasn’t particularly wrong, Vita nodded.
“Then don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”
You don’t need to worry about anything anymore.
Confidence was woven into that decisive tone.
Vita looked at Carlisle a little differently at that moment.
‘Is this the composure of the top dog?’
As much as he hated to admit it, this guy was good at fighting too.
So, just a tiny bit—no more than the dirt beneath a toenail—Carlisle looked a little different to Vita.
This kind of confidence was definitely worth learning from. Even if someone was a rival, you had to learn their strengths.
Anyway, Vita soon felt the lingering unease inside him disappear completely.
Step- Step-
The two walked down the street.
Once his unease was gone, other things began to bother Vita.
In fact, they had been bothering him for quite some time.
Like his own hand caught in Carlisle’s large grasp.
He should pull his hand free and say he’d go alone. He made up his mind to do so, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Even though barely half a day ago, he had firmly vowed to keep his distance from Carlisle Schultz.
Why now?
Why wasn’t he resisting having his hand held? Why was he meekly following this guy?
Vita silently thought to himself that this situation was strange.
This situation right now, that was.
For some reason, the fact that Carlisle was holding his hand bothered him, and his face was inexplicably hot.
For some reason, walking while continuing to stare at Carlisle’s back felt strange.
Amid the vermilion lights of the main avenue,
Carlisle walked ahead while Vita followed, and the situation felt to Vita like some kind of bizarre dream.
The sort of bizarre dream you had maybe once in your life.
Otherwise, he couldn’t explain this strange feeling he was having.
It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it wasn’t unpleasant either.
No, actually—
It had started when Carlisle had punished that bastard earlier. When he had gotten angry at Nathan on Vita’s behalf.
Vita didn’t know why, but at that moment, he had simultaneously felt—
A subtle feeling impossible to explain. A sense of relief, and something a little cathartic.
What on earth was he supposed to call this feeling?
“Here we are, Bianca.”
Apparently they had arrived. Even when Carlisle said that, Vita was too confused to notice that the scenery around him had changed.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Carlisle seemed to be going somewhere, leaving him behind.
But Vita had been following Carlisle unconsciously all this time, and the thought of Carlisle suddenly disappearing gave him a strange sense of loss.
…
Was that why?
Without thinking, Vita grabbed Carlisle’s collar, then released it with a start.
***
A strange silence descended.
What was that just now?
‘What the hell did I just do…?’
Vita was horrified inwardly.
It was as though he had grabbed Carlisle to keep him from leaving him behind.
Had he done something bizarre because this felt like a bizarre dream, or had he briefly gone a little crazy?
“Ah, this is…”
What a ridiculous mistake.
Beneath the soft light from the street lamps, Vita’s face turned red as a tomato.
Carlisle seemed momentarily surprised by what Vita had just done too.
“Ha, seriously.”
But his smiling face was filled with satisfaction.
“I’m glad you seem all right. You’re making it hard for me to keep holding back.”
“W-what…?!”
Vita immediately reacted.
Because he never knew what kind of nonsense Carlisle would spout next.
Whenever Carlisle said things like that, he always had some ulterior motive.
“Then keep holding back! I told you clearly!”
“Then I will.”
Carlisle chuckled.
“Otherwise, coming all the way here would have been pointless.”
The guy spoke with a relaxed expression, as though soothing him.
“So wait, Bianca. Don’t be anxious.”
Vita was rendered speechless.
“I’ll be right back.”
Then he even gently stroked Vita’s hair, and Vita could only stammer as he watched Carlisle walk away.
“Hah, seriously.”
Only after Carlisle disappeared did Vita grumble under his breath.
“Anxious? What anxiety?!”
He had given Carlisle an opening, yet somehow felt wronged.
It had only been a mistake. He had just briefly lost his mind.
Yes, that was all.
After Carlisle disappeared, Vita sat on a bench and desperately kept rationalizing things to himself.
“Talk about jumping to conclusions.”
He was anxious? It was so absurd that it left him speechless.
“I hope he walks straight into something and smacks his nose.”
After saying that, Vita shook his head.
‘No, this isn’t right.’
He still had a conscience. Even if the guy was obnoxious, Carlisle had definitely helped him.
He had just had a mean thought.
“Hoo-”
Vita let out a deep sigh, unable to understand his own feelings.
“What’s wrong with me today…?”
A moment later, Carlisle returned.
His arms were full of various kinds of ice cream, especially parfaits.
“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I just bought everything.”
“…Why a parfait all of a sudden?”
Vita tilted his head and explained his preference.
“I don’t like parfaits.”
They were just sweet, after all. He generally didn’t like sweet foods.
***
“Hmm…”
But—
When a trace of dismay appeared on Carlisle’s face, Vita unconsciously snatched up a parfait.
“G-go on, give it to me!”
Yes, this was probably the right thing to do.
If only out of consideration for his sincerity.
Vita carefully took a bite of the parfait.
“How is it? Everyone says they’re delicious.”
But wait, this was strange.
‘No, why?’
Because it was actually a little delicious. At Carlisle’s question, Vita gave a slight nod with a thoroughly dissatisfied expression.
Then, after gauging Carlisle’s reaction, he cautiously said,
“Can I have another one…?”
“Heh, sure.”
How long had they been like that?
‘This is delicious!’
What the hell, really?
As Vita experienced his changed tastes and ate enthusiastically,
Carlisle suddenly spoke.
“How are you feeling? We took a walk and had something tasty, too.”
Carlisle’s expression as he looked at Vita was serious, so Vita forgot how to respond for a moment.
Actually, rather than forgetting, his mind had probably stopped.
In other words, what Carlisle meant was—
Vita could only interpret it as Carlisle having taken a walk with him in mind and deliberately trying to cheer him up.
So Vita ended up flustered.
“Ah… mmm…”
He was already feeling better. In fact, he had been fine for quite some time.
Why? He remembered being furious because of Nathan, but it now felt like something from long ago. It was a little confusing, but he felt fine now.
“I’m fine, really.”
Carlisle gave a small laugh.
“Good. I’m glad.”
Suddenly, Vita thought Carlisle was rather funny.
‘Come to think of it, this guy…’
He had gone all the way with Vita, yet acted as though he were the most considerate person in the world, which was a little funny. But strictly speaking, Vita had accepted, so he couldn’t really complain.
[Then go ahead and try!]
It had been a competition, after all.
Anyway, even thinking that made the situation awkward, so Vita changed the subject.
“…But aren’t you going to eat any?”
“I don’t like parfaits. I bought them for you.”
The parfait that had tasted so good suddenly lost all its flavor.
“W-what?”
This was strange. Definitely.
What was with this guy? He was seriously making Vita cringe.
While Vita hesitated for a moment, Carlisle’s gaze was fixed on something.
“Don’t tell me you’re touched?”
“Touched by what…?”
Carlisle deftly diverted his attention.
Just as Vita turned his head sharply, bristling at Carlisle’s words, Carlisle pressed his lips against what he had been staring at for quite some time.
Vita’s moist, cherry-red lips.
The lips that had met beneath the vermilion streetlamp pulled apart.
“Mm, but this parfait is delicious. Delicious enough to make me want to keep eating.”
Flustered, and overcome by some inexplicable embarrassment.
Vita’s face began to burn bright red. Of course, shame and anger were mixed in too.
He had forgotten, hadn’t he?
The Carlisle Schultz in front of him was just as crazy as any other lunatic.
Vita felt like a fool for having tried, even for a moment, to see this guy differently.
“Drop dead…! Just drop dead!”
“Heh-heh—sorry.”
So Vita immediately flailed his little fists at him, but not one of them touched Carlisle, who burst out laughing.
***
The next morning.
Ring-ring-
Vita woke early to his alarm.
He went into the bathroom, rubbed his sleepy eyes blankly, and washed his face, then casually tossed his clothes onto the shelf.
The oversized short-sleeved shirt and shorts he had enjoyed wearing as a man were still Vita’s pajamas.
And at this moment, as always.
For some reason, he could never act nonchalant at this moment. It was awkward, in other words.
‘It’s my body, my body.’
Repeating those words under his breath, Vita stripped naked. He slowly began to shower.
Whoosh—
Could he almost pass for a girl at a glance?
Amid the hot droplets, his youthful cheeks gradually turned rosy.
Was it because this body still felt unfamiliar? Or for some other reason?
Perhaps it was simply because the water touching him was hot.
In fact, Vita had just recalled yesterday without meaning to.
He had been late on the first day of classes, and then there was what happened in the infirmary.
Creak-
“Hoo-”
Vita sighed and adjusted the water temperature.
His face felt strangely hot, so he made the water colder.
But even so, his stray thoughts kept chasing one another.
Yes, last night.
The incident with the delinquent.
But the truly strange thing was—
‘I was absolutely furious at the time, wasn’t I…?’
But now, somehow, how should he put it?
Looking back, it felt as though the memory had barely stayed with him.
What remained more vividly was the time afterward, with Carlisle Schultz.
As if it had been a bizarre dream.
The back of Carlisle as he led Vita beneath the vermilion lights of the main avenue. The words telling him not to worry because Carlisle would handle it.
In truth, Vita had felt strange ever since yesterday.
But he didn’t want to know why it felt strange, or why last night’s events kept coming back to him.
“…What a ridiculous guy.”
So Vita lumped it all together like that for the time being and finished his shower.
He quickly dried himself, left the bathroom, and then spent quite some time struggling into women’s underwear.
Once he put on his spring-and-fall school uniform over it, Vita looked every bit like a pretty female student.
A white frilled blouse and a fluttering navy skirt.
On top, a thin cardigan and pure white knee-high socks.
He made do with breakfast.
Vita left the room with an untoasted dinner roll clenched in his mouth.
And then he finally became aware of the atmosphere he had missed yesterday by arriving late.
Murmur-murmur-
-Is that her?
-Oh, seriously…?
Vita felt flustered.
He was attracting a great deal of attention, but he didn’t know why.
‘Why is everyone staring at me…?’
Rattle-
It was no different when he opened the classroom’s front door.
He almost closed it again immediately.
‘Did I do something wrong…?’
The countless stares left Vita genuinely flustered. By nature, he wasn’t an outgoing person.
But he couldn’t exactly skip class.
Sneak-sneak-
Vita moved toward a corner like a wallflower and found a seat.
“Is someone sitting here…?”
When he asked cautiously, the female student beside him gave him an unintelligible reaction.
“Huh? No! If you want to sit, go ahead!”
“Th-thanks?!”
Her reaction was strangely intense, and the startled Vita responded just as intensely.
There was no other reason for the cold sweat trickling down his face.
Truthfully, Vita had always been rather awkward around girls; even confessing to Emily Swan in the first place had taken an incredible amount of courage.
On top of that, something else—
The female student beside him was obviously a total social butterfly. It was enough to make him nervous for no reason.
A light-brown ponytail and sparkling eyes. Her ruby-like irises gazed at him intently.
‘W-what…?’
Why did she keep staring at him like that?
When she suddenly complimented him, Vita was momentarily flustered.
“You’re really pretty!”
“Huh, m-me?”
“Ah, no—! I just blurted that out. I mean, I was genuinely impressed.”
Whether she meant it sincerely or had flustered herself, the female student giggled and asked Vita,
“By the way, are you and Carlisle dating?”
At the same time, everyone’s attention turned toward him, and Vita’s mind came to a halt.