Chapter 274: The preparation has been completed, now...

As they walked out of the restaurant, Nana couldn't help but say, "Say, Shishio, that punch was dangerous, right?" She couldn't help but feel amazed when she saw how fast Inami's punch was, especially when she heard the sound of whistling wind around Inami's punch before.

"If any of you got punched by that girl, you might pass out directly," Shishio said with serious expression since Inami's punch wasn't a joke.

"That's serious!" Miu was dumbfounded.

"Luckily, she will only punch a guy, right?" Saki said with a sigh.

"You mean, is it alright for me to be punched?" Shishio's lips twitched.

"If you were defeated by that girl, then it was better for you to give up fighting tomorrow, right?" Saki said with a smirk.

"Also, we're lucky that we don't need to pay, right?" Nana also said with a smile.

Miu didn't say anything, but she also smiled.

"....."

Shishio couldn't say anything, and luckily he had an "Auto-Pilot," so even if he didn't do anything, he would dodge all the danger that would come to his body. "Well, I could dodge her punch easily, right?"

"....."

Still, Miu, Nana, and Saki had to admit that Shishio was amazing that he could dodge Inami's punch by tilting his head slightly to the right, and his expression was calm as ever when he was punched, which made them think that he was strong.

"I'm quite curious about tomorrow's match..." Even though Nana was worried, she had to admit that she was quite curious about Shishio's match.

"You will see my match tomorrow. Let's go back now," Shishio said.

"Um." 3x

After that decision, Miu and Nana left in the direction of their home.

As for Saki and Shishio, both of them were walking in the same direction, so they went back together, which made both Miu and Nana feel that they should ask Shishio to go home with them in the future.

---

As Shishio's group left, Kyouko looked at Souma Hiroomi, the chef, who sighed in relief, and knew that the trouble that was coming by punching Shishio wasn't something that she could handle. "Is he really that dangerous, Souma?" If it was a troublesome guest, then she could ask her junior during her delinquent time to cause trouble to Shishio's group, but she knew that the fault was at Inami, who punched Shishio so suddenly. Even though she was selfish and unreasonable, she was still a law-abiding person. Probably.

"Luckily, you apologized, or else, you might be fired directly, Kyouko-san," Souma said with a serious expression.

"That's serious!" Kyouko was dumbfounded.

"Souma, you're not serious, right?"

The employees in the restaurant looked at Souma with a surprised expression since they didn't expect him to say those words. However, they also knew that Souma's words had a lot of credibility. Even though Souma's character was quite dubious, his ability at information gathering was top-notch.

Inami, who was crying since she suddenly punched a guest, was also dumbfounded by Souma's words.

Looking at everyone's reaction, Souma could only shake his head and said, "I know that you might be surprised by my words, but even at the most basic of hospitality service, there won't be any waitress who will punch a guest, right?"

"....."

They couldn't say anything.

After all, were there any waitresses who would punch their guests?

Of course not, right?

"So Inami-san, let's be this a lesson for you or else..." Souma didn't continue his words since he wasn't that cruel.

Right now, Inami really hated her fear of men since it had caused a lot of trouble to everyone, but what could she do besides crying and apologizing?

"I'm sorry, everyone..."

Popura caressed Inami's shoulder and said, "If Oga-kun comes again, you should apologize to him, alright?"

"Um..." Inami also knew that she was so rude since she ran away without saying anything before.

"Alright, let's stop this depressing talk!" Kyouko clapped her hands so everyone would end their talk.

"Um, Kyouko-san..." Inami looked at Kyouko timidly.

"What's wrong, Inami?" Kyouko asked.

"As for their bill before, can you deduce them from my salary?" Inami asked.

"Are you sure?" Kyouko asked.

"Yes." Inami nodded without hesitation. "Everything was my fault after all... if I didn't punch him, then I wouldn't cause everyone trouble..."

Kyouko looked at Inami for a moment, then shook her head. "No, it was also my fault for not thinking about your condition before I had sent you as a cashier. You shouldn't think too much, and it is better for you to try to fix your fear of man as soon as possible, alright?"

"...Yes..." Inami was so depressed at that moment.

"Also, if he comes again, try to apologize to him," Kyouko said.

"Yes!"

---

As the employees of the Wagnaria started their discussion, Saki and Shishio were walking together as usual. She had to admit that she loved this feeling when she monopolized him alone. "Say, what kind of opponent that you'll fight tomorrow?"

Saki had seen Shishio fight twice, and she knew that each of them was powerful.

One, who had the ability to turn off the feeling of pain, and the other one was a muscular man with two meters tall and a scary face, so now, Saki was curious what kind of opponent Shishio would fight.

"I'm not sure, but my opponent should be a master of Chinese Kenpo," Shishio said after a moment of pause.

"Chinese Kenpo?" Saki thought for a moment and asked, "Now that you mention it, your martial art is also a Chinese Kenpo, too, right?"

"Yes." Shishio nodded. "I learned Bajiquan, which is part of Chinese Kenpo." He looked at Saki and explained. "Chinese martial arts have 4000 years of history."

"4000 years of history!" Saki was surprised, then asked, "What if you compare it with Karate?"

"Now that you mention it that you have learned Karate before, right?" Shishio asked.

"Um." Saki nodded. "But during a critical moment, I couldn't use it well." If Shishio didn't save her at that time, she wasn't sure what her future would be, but then she felt her hand was held tightly. "Shishio..." She looked at him, and he gave her a gentle smile, which made her heart thump uncontrollably.

Shishio patted Saki's head and said, "Do you know that Karate is created from the Chinese Kenpo?"

"Really?" Saki was dumbfounded.

"Karate has a history of 500 years, and Chinese Kenpo has a history of 4000 years. As for who is stronger, it depends on the individual since sometimes, a technique is simply useless in front of overwhelming power."

When Shishio thought about Hanma Yuujiro, he knew that guy didn't even use martial arts. Instead, that guy used overwhelming power to defeat his opponent, either crushing their pride or killing them. He wasn't sure what that guy would do when that guy met him, but he knew that it wasn't something good to meet Hanma Yuujiro, and that guy was simply a walking nuclear bomb.

"Can you win?" Saki asked while looking at Shishio curiously. However, she didn't feel worried, or rather, she didn't think that someone could defeat her man.

"Of course." Shishio smiled and said, "When I win, I'll get a house later, then we can..."

Saki blushed and felt shy, but she didn't hate his idea, or rather, she quite anticipated it.

---

After he sent Saki back, Shishio returned to Sakurasou and cooked dinner before talking with Misaki about the anime script. He looked at the time, and there was still a time before he visited Nanami at the place where she worked, so he thought to handle Misaki first.

As for Shiina, she left for her room since she had to draw her manga.

Shishio and Misaki were in the living room, discussing their anime.

"Have you read it, Senpai?" Shishio asked while looking at the character designs drawn by Misaki and had to admit that the protagonist, Noboru Terao, was quite similar to him. As for the heroine, Mikako Nagamine was a bit similar to Misaki, but with a flat chest, but he didn't feel surprised since drawing big boobs was more complicated than a flat chest.

It might sound rude, but unlike the big boobs, there was no need to worry for a flat chest to undulate up and down because of a slight movement. Also, if the heroine had big boobs, it would turn into an ecchi anime rather than a romance anime, so Misaki decided to make the heroine's chest smaller.

"Um."

"What's wrong?" After he had given the anime script to Misaki in the morning before, she told him that she was going to read it before they discussed it later at Sakurasou when they returned. However, her expression seemed strange, and it was as if she was constipated or something. "Did you get constipation?"

"How rude! I'm not!" Misaki was mad.

"So what's wrong? If you don't talk, then I won't know what the problem is," Shishio said.

"It's just... I just don't get the feeling..." Misaki murmured.

"The feeling?"

"I mean..." Misaki tried to put her thought into words, then said, "Noboru Tera (Protagonist) and Mikako Nagamine (Heroine) are separated by a very far, far distance, right? They can't meet each other, and they can only communicate with each other through text, but because of the distance, their text can only arrive in few years, right? I'm just not sure how to draw the expression when someone feels the feeling that Noboru and Mikako feel."

"Expression, huh?" Shishio thought for a moment and looked at the character design that Misaki drew. He could see that the heroine and the protagonist showed various expressions, but somehow, it felt wrong to put those expressions on this anime.

The theme of this anime was the feeling of two lovers being separated by years of distance, and the only thing that could connect them was a text from their phone that they could only receive by few years of time.

Misaki had a hard time seeing what expressions they should show in those moments, which was why she had been watching a romance movie and anime to see the expressions of the actresses and actors. While she was thinking, she suddenly heard a voice that caused her heart to tremble.

"The time between Mikako and I drifts further and further apart. That is why I have made a goal: to make my heart harder, colder, and stronger. The door that I know will never open. I won't knock on it eternally. I will become an adult, even alone."

His cold voice reverberated through the living room, and everyone in the living room could feel the sadness felt by this voice alone.

Not only Misaki, who was the closest at Shishio, but Shiro-san, Mayumi, Chihiro, and Ritsu were dumbfounded by Shishio, who said those words with such a sorrowful expression as if he had given up everything. They wanted to say something to cheer him up, but they didn't know what to say until...

"What do you think? Have you seen my expression?" Shishio asked quickly.

"..."

"Um... Shishio-kun, are you acting?" Ritsu asked with a strange expression.

"Yes." Shishio nodded, then looked at Misaki. "I'll try to show what kind of expression the characters will show so you can try to draw or take a picture."

"Okay!" Misaki was full of spirit and nodded without hesitation since she knew that her problem was solved!

When Shishio and Misaki were doing their jobs, everyone was looking at Shishio in a daze.

"...." Everyone.

'This guy can act!' They were dumbfounded, but then they thought that if this guy became an actor, without a doubt, he would be so popular.

Chihiro stared at Shishio for a moment and said, "By the way, don't forget about the Monthly Exam, alright?"

"Yes..." Misaki, Shishio, and Ritsu answered at the same time.

When Shishio let Misaki take a picture of him, he suddenly looked at Chihiro and said, "Chihiro-nee, I'll go out a bit tonight."

"Where?" Chihiro asked.

"My friend," Shishio said.

"..."

"Don't go back too late." Chihiro drank her beer in sorrow.

"By the way, Chihiro-nee."

"What's wrong again?"

"I'll be out again tomorrow with Mashiro and Roberta until the next day," Shishio said.

"Why?" Chihiro asked with an explicable expression.

"Manga." Shishio took out his ultimate weapon directly.

"...." Chihiro sighed and said, "Just don't forget to go to school the next day." She drank her beer again, sulking a bit. She felt that she wouldn't be surprised if Shishio suddenly told her that he would move out in the future. Still, she felt a bit sad somehow.

Shishio had finished all the preparation, but he knew that there was something that he needed to do first and what he needed to do next was to do all the things that he needed to do. Still, he had to admit that his week was so busy, and he really anticipated Golden Week, the time where he could rest and enjoy a holiday.

"Shishio, Shishio, don't forget to show the expression again," Misaki said.

"Wait a moment. Let's do it later since I have somewhere to go," Shishio said since it was almost the time for his appointment with Nanami, and he needed to prepare, right?

"Oga-kun, Oga-kun, what do you think of this bondage technique?" Shiro-san asked with a smile.

"...."

Shishio almost forgot about this pervert just now.