ODL – Chapter  61 – Rinjou Shizuka Cuddles in Bed

If I were to describe Rinjou Shizuka in an objective manner… then I would say that she is petite.

She has no chest to speak of, nor does she have a prominent butt. Her waist is slender, but her entire body is thin. It’s probably due to an unbalanced diet… No, it might even be her entire lifestyle habits.

I remember that there was a time when Shizuka said, ‘No matter how much I eat, I don’t gain weight.’ It happened during one of the usual Souma-kai’s. At that time, Shizuka pushed her rice bowl forward and asked for seconds of white rice. That’s right…. Shizuka can’t even serve herself rice. Well, eating more isn’t exactly bad per se. The women of Souma-kai were all slender, so I wasn’t really worried about their weight, but I feel that a certain group of people would resent me for saying that.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Hiyorin on a diet? Maybe Shizuka is being secretly resented by Hiyorin. Snacking on chips in the middle of the night, indulging in naps during the day, and basically not leaving the house at all. For a woman, losing to someone like that in terms of waistline might be even more unforgivable than the increasing tax rates each year.

Rinjou Shizuka is petite. Rinjou Shizuka is petite.

I repeated that in my mind.

Begone elements of lust.

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“…Souma-kun, are you asleep?” (Shizuka)

Shizuka’s voice echoed in the silent room. There was no way I could fall asleep. My senses were sharpened, and I had the illusion that a faint sweet fragrance had spread throughout the room.

…Had Shizuka’s voice always been this cute?

Come to think of it, I did like Ette-sama’s voice. Although it’s not exactly the same, maybe it’s natural to like Shizuka’s voice which was coming from the same throat.

“…I’m awake.” (Souma)

I silently gave a signal to “Please go to sleep soon”. If you want, you can even go back to your room right now. At this rate, I might not be able to sleep at all. My eyes were still wide awake with not a hint of sleepiness. On top of that, despite having the air conditioning on, my body was still covered in a thin layer of sweat. I wondered if Shizuka could hear the relentless pounding of my heart.

“That’s good. Hey, can we talk for a bit?” (Shizuka)

From the way her voice sounded, I could tell that Shizuka was lying on her back, looking up at the ceiling. I was lying on my side with my back facing Shizuka, so I could only sense her through her voice.

My bed was placed with one of its long sides against the wall, and I had been ordered to sleep on the side away from the wall. I wanted to at least sleep on the side closest to the wall because I felt that it would help me clear my mind. However, Shizuka preferred to be by the wall and I couldn’t go against her wish, so I lost my chance for a peaceful night.

Naturally, I couldn’t sleep on my back without seeing Shizuka out of the corner of my eye, so I ended up lying on my side while desperately trying to keep my eyes closed. 

“…Talk?” (Souma)

As we exchanged these quiet conversations just before we sleep, it reminded me of the night of my school field trip. I tried to recall what I had said back then when the topic of the girls in our class came up, but it happened a long time ago so I couldn’t recall much.

“Yeah. We don’t really get a chance to talk like this often, do we?” (Shizuka)

That’s because you’re usually so noisy.

I managed to hold back those words that were about to slip out of my mouth.

“Well, that’s true.” (Souma)

Speaking of which, I hardly ever get a chance to have this kind of heart-to-heart talk with both Mafuyu-chan and Hiyorin. Despite all the weirdness that we have been through, we’re just neighbors after all, and our relationship consists of nothing more than sharing a meal every now and then.

“Souma-kun, are you having fun right now?” (Souma)

Shizuka asked me this as if she had prepared the question in advance.

“What do you mean?” (Shizuka)

I couldn’t quite grasp Shizuka’s emotions since her expression wasn’t visible.

“Well, I kind of forced you into joining [Virtual Real] with me, didn’t I? I hope it wasn’t a bother.” (Shizuka)

“…Ahh.” (Souma)

My VTuber channel “Otona Kodomo” is currently thriving. I have also recently managed to surpass the 500,000 subscribers milestone. Despite streaming much less compared to others, I somehow ended up becoming quite popular. I was told by Maya-san the other day that it’s unusual for Just Talking sessions to be more popular than gaming sessions. I’m not that knowledgeable about VTubers, so I could only nod and say, “Is that so?” Well, I enjoying being a VTuber to some extent right now.

“It’s not a bother at all. It’s actually been quite refreshing to talk about some IRL (in real life) things.” (Souma)

Talking about my daily life to an unspecified number of people I don’t even know is a sensation I’ve never experienced in my life, and it’s been somewhat pleasant. Perhaps it’s because the comments are generally positive, although there are a few overzealous onee-chans out there.

“Well, that’s true. Between university, cooking, and streaming, you sure have a lot to tell.” (Shizuka)

“…Taking care of your housework too.” (Souma)

“Ugh… Sorry.” (Shizuka)

“I was just kidding. I don’t really mind taking care of you, you know.” (Souma)

“Is that so?” (Shizuka)

Even just from the tone of her voice, I could tell that Shizuka had brightened up and was smiling.

“It’s just painful to watch a garbage dump accumulating without doing anything.” (Souma)

“I see, so that’s why…” (Shizuka)

Ah, she looks a bit down now. She’s quite expressive with her emotions huh?

“…Well, thanks to Shizuka living next door, I was able to save my oshi from a pinch, so that’s a relief.” (Souma)

“Mmm…” (Shizuka)

Her cold didn’t seem too serious, but there’s a saying that illness begins in the mind. While rabbits don’t die from loneliness, Shizuka might if she were left alone, so having someone by her side probably contributed to her quick recovery.

……

A warm sensation touched my back, causing me to let out a voice. Right now, there was only one thing that could be touching me. It was Shizuka’s body.

…If I were to trust the sensation on my back, then Shizuka must be facing my way and pushing her hand and head against my back.

“Shizuka…?” (Souma)

“Goodnight, Souma-kun.” (Shizuka)

Shizuka’s hand passed over my back and wrapped around my stomach.

She then proceeded to fall asleep, clinging to me from behind.

Of course, in the end, I couldn’t sleep.

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Thanks for reading!

Damn, cuddling in the spooning position.

Also am I the only one who prefers to specifically sleep on the side with the wall if there is one? For some reason, sleeping on that side really does make you feel relaxed, idk why.

Sorry if there are any mistakes, I translated this while half-asleep.

P.S. I think I accidentally wrote ‘Otoma Kodomo’ instead of ‘Otona Kodomo’ for some chapters. It is supposed to be with an ‘n’ and not ‘m’.

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