Chapter 110

By the time we arrived at the mountain on the outskirts of Tokyo, the evening glow had already set in.

Broadleaf trees dyed vibrant orange lined both sides of the road, harmonizing beautifully with the evening glow.

The other club members must have felt the same way, as gasps of admiration echoed throughout the bus.

I cast a glance at Renka. She had her arm propped on the armrest, gazing out the window with a faint smile.

The beautiful scenery seemed to have put her in a good mood.

Tetsuya was fast asleep with his mouth slightly ajar, looking so pathetic that I felt a sudden urge to punch him in the teeth.

And as for Chinami...

"Mmm..."

She was comfortably off in dreamland, resting her head on a Momo-sama neck pillow.

With her head leaning against my shoulder, she smacked her lips, perhaps dreaming about eating something delicious.

Since we were about to arrive, I gently shook Chinami awake.

"Master."

"Mmm...?"

Chinami blinked her sleepy eyes and looked up at me.

When I poked her cheek with my index finger, it sank right in.

Her skin felt incredibly soft, likely because her muscles were completely relaxed from sleep.

It wasn't quite as warm as Miyuki's, but it was a close second.

I wanted to touch it more.

After playing with her cheek for a moment, which earned only a sluggish response in her drowsiness, I spoke.

"Master. I think we're almost there."

"Yeaaah..."

"You need to get up now. Have some water first."

I held a water bottle with a straw up to Chinami's dry lips, and she softly bit down on the tip.

With her eyes still out of focus, she began to take small sips.

"Mmm... The water tastes sweet..."

She sounded like an old woman with that sleep-heavy voice.

I let out a soft chuckle. While Chinami stretched her arms out wide, I gathered up her empty peach juice boxes and jelly wrappers.

Meanwhile, the bus pulled up to the entrance of the mountain lodge.

The moderately sized parking lot was completely empty.

Five or six staff members were standing outside holding a banner that read [Welcome Yeboni Academy Kendo Club], making it seem like we were the only guests with a reservation.

Did they only accept one Academy at a time to provide focused care?

That worked out perfectly for me.

Tweeeet!

I had been silently admiring the lodge's exterior, but jolted in surprise at the sharp, piercing sound and looked forward.

Goro stood there, grinning with a whistle held to his lips.

Blowing that inside a bus was taking it a bit too far. He had way too much passion.

"Everyone, wake up and disembark."

Snapped awake by Goro's stern command, the groggy club members sluggishly pushed themselves up.

I reached over and unfastened the neck pillow from Chinami, who was still rubbing her sleep-filled eyes.

"Shall we head out too?"

"Yeah..."

Our assigned guest room was a tatami room for five people.

In truth, calling it a five-person room was just a formality. All the guest rooms were packed inside a traditional house, making it incredibly easy to move between them.

You only had to slide open a door and take two or three steps.

It was a Lodging perfectly suited for throwing a party.

Judging by the excited faces of the other club members, it looked like they were planning to break out the booze tonight.

Not that it mattered to me, since I had absolutely zero intention of joining them...

Goro would probably catch them and scold them severely.

"I look forward to rooming with you, Matsuda."

I had no idea what he wanted me to look forward to.

I gave him a half-hearted nod and asked,

"Do you snore?"

"I don't. Don't worry about it."

Considering you possessed every ugly human flaw, how could I not worry?

I was already so on edge that heavy sighs kept spilling out.

"That's a relief. We assemble in fifteen minutes, so get changed and unpack your stuff."

"I don't really have anything to unpack, so I'm fine. Should we lay out the bedding beforehand? We'll probably be exhausted after training..."

"I heard we're keeping it light today."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a manager, so I have a rough idea of the schedule. By the way, where are you sleeping?"

"Shouldn't the seniors choose first? I'll go ask them. I'm going to hit the bathroom first, though..."

Watching Tetsuya disappear into the attached bathroom, I pulled out my Cell Phone and called Miyuki.

After barely two rings, Miyuki's voice came through the Cell Phone.

"Yeah, Matsuda-kun. Did you get there safely?"

"Yeah. We just got to the Lodging. What are you up to?"

"I just got back from meeting a friend. How's the Lodging? Is it nice?"

"It's alright. I'm in the same room as Miura."

"Oh, really? So it's just the two of you sleeping there?"

"No. It's a five-person room, so I have to share it with three second- and Third Year sunbae-nims."

"Really? Well, you can take this chance to have a heart-to-heart with Tetsuya and get a bit closer to him."

I could safely guarantee that was never going to happen.

"Go to sleep first tonight. We're going to assemble, eat dinner, and then head straight into training. I have no idea when it'll end."

"That sounds like a brutal schedule... At least send me a text before you go to bed."

"Will do. I'm hanging up now."

"Okay. Work hard on your training."

After finishing a call that felt slightly sweeter than usual, I rapped on the bathroom door to inform Tetsuya I was leaving first, then slid the guest room door open.

I headed over to the assembly area, where I ran into Chinami.

She was busy dragging the Bogu sets and other equipment out of the bus's luggage compartment.

Hurrying over, I practically snatched the box right out of her arms.

"We're supposed to do this together. Why are you doing it alone?"

Chinami blinked her round eyes at me and replied.

"We're eating in five minutes anyway. I just thought I'd spend the spare time organizing things a little. It'll make moving everything easier later."

"Just leave it. I'll handle it once we're done eating."

"We should do it together."

"You were literally just doing it alone. The only way to balance the ledger is for me to do it alone next."

"What a ridiculous way to calculate things. That is an unbelievably unfair argument."

"Just think of it as your punishment for acting recklessly on your own."

"Ehh...? Where in the world is there a disciple who punishes their Master?"

She looked so cute arguing with me with that little pout.

I set the box down and, without any warning, placed my hand on the back of Chinami's neck.

"Hic—!?"

Chinami let out a sharp hiccup as her shoulders shot straight up.

I gently tickled the area around her hairline with my fingernails. Instantly, her wide, startled eyes glazed over.

"Mhaa..."

A languid sigh slipped from her lips, and her raised shoulders melted back down into a relaxed slouch.

As an added bonus, she stared back into my deep gaze, her eyes rolling around languidly.

It had been a long time since I'd touched her there, and the reaction was instantaneous. If I kept this up, I suspected she might just go over the edge.

"Ju—Junior...! What are you..."

"Does it feel good?"

"I-It does feel good, but... doing this here is a problemmm—!!"

Barely clinging to her remaining senses, Chinami let out a high-pitched squeal.

That was because I had gently massaged and pressed down on the slight bump of the cervical spine at the nape of her neck.

She had always loved it when I massaged this spot in the past... and it seemed nothing had changed.

"Chinami! Are you over there!? It's time to assemble!"

At the sound of Renka's voice calling from a distance, Chinami's eyes snapped wide open.

Deciding she couldn't take any more, she tightly clenched her fists and sprinted forward.

The moment she escaped my grip, she gasped out the breath she'd been holding in.

"Haaah... phew...!"

I hadn't been holding her tight or stopping her from leaving, but seeing her react like someone who had just escaped a kidnapper nearly made me burst out laughing.

Pounding her chest to soothe her racing heart, she spoke.

"Junior... are you going to keep touching my body without permission like this...?"

"You looked tired from lugging heavy things around. It had been a while, so I wanted to give you a massage... I just wanted to take care of my Master as a disciple..."

"I-I wasn't asking for a massage right now...! Please be more careful next time...!"

Was it just my imagination, or had she heavily emphasized the words 'right now'?

It probably wasn't.

"Understood. The walking trails around the lodge look pretty nice. How about we go for a short walk after training?"

"Ah...! That sounds like a wonderful idea, but... training might end up being really tough, so let's see how things look later."

"I thought you said today's training wasn't going to be too intense."

"It won't be intense by the director's standards, but by our standards, it'll likely be exhausting."

True enough. Given Goro's personality, he would undoubtedly run us into the ground.

"So we're going to end up completely drained?"

"Mmm... probably?"

That meant it would be perfect for her to get a massage before bed.

Since I also knew a good spot where no outsiders could barge in, I'd just have to gently coax Chinami into it during our walk.

Even though I frequently ate cafeteria food back at the Academy, this group meal felt distinctly unusual.

Maybe it was because Renka and Chinami were sitting with me.

And, unfortunately, the lingering dead weight, Tetsuya.

"Matsuda."

Renka, who had been quietly eating across from me, called my name. I chewed and swallowed the food in my mouth before looking up.

"Yeah?"

"Can you keep your schedule clear tomorrow at lunch?"

"Why?"

"You've only been learning from Chinami lately. You need to be taught by multiple people who favor the middle stance so you can learn various ways to counter it."

"So you're offering to teach me?"

"Exactly. You promised to put in the effort, and I promised to help. Like I said last time, I'll let you have the sparring match you want. But only if you follow my training without a single word of complaint."

She was plotting something.

Judging by the situation, I suspected she was planning to thoroughly run me into the ground under the guise of mental training.

What's more, given the confidence in her tone, it seemed she had a surefire way to land a solid hit on me.

Was she going to spar with me herself?

Or was she going to put forward another highly skilled club member?

If it was the former, did she really have a surefire way to take the lead?

"President, what about me? I want to learn from you, too."

"Of course. I'll teach you as well."

"Thank you. I'll do my best to keep up."

After briefly running through all sorts of thoughts, I glanced at Tetsuya, who had tactlessly barged into the conversation.

He was the perfect tool to use.

The guy was already starting to develop an inferiority complex toward me, and here he was, willingly sticking his neck out to be eaten. It would be a crime not to use him.

"close friend Renka is exactly right. I only know the basics of the middle stance, so learning from close friend Renka will be a massive help to you, Junior. Remember our promise from last time? That you could focus primarily on the Sangdanse, but you wouldn't neglect the middle stance either."

I looked at Chinami, who was backing Renka up from the side, then turned my eyes back to Renka.

"How long are we going to do it?"

"That depends entirely on your perseverance."

What a laughable provocation.

I'll gladly accept the match.

Shoveling rice and side dishes into my mouth, I nodded.

"Sounds good. Let's do it."

"Smart choice. We're starting tomorrow immediately after lunch, once our food has digested, so keep that in mind."

"Works for me."