Chapter 124

Despite carrying a heavy bag, Miyuki sprinted over at incredible speed to wedge herself between us. Instead of looking at Tetsuya, she glared up at me and threw her arms out wide.

“What are you doing! Why are you hitting people!? You know I absolutely hate this kind of thing, don't you?”

“I didn't hit him, I just touched him. Plus, that bastard crossed the line first. Hey, Miura. Spit out what you just said right here.”

As I pointed an agitated finger at Tetsuya, Miyuki pressed her hands against my chest and held her ground.

"I was just joking around..."

Tetsuya made his excuse, his momentum completely deflated.

He even threw his hands out in front of him, gesturing as if he were the most wronged person in the world.

I let out a dry, disbelieving laugh.

"Is that so? Then why don't you treat what I just did as a joke, too?"

Did she sense the situation was about to turn ugly?

Miyuki raised her index finger to my face, like she was calming down a vicious dog that had just caused trouble.

"Matsuda-kun...! Calm down!"

"How am I supposed to calm down right now..."

"Stop it! I'm really going to get mad."

"..."

Miyuki spoke with deadpan firmness.

I clamped my mouth shut, my face full of dissatisfaction but clearly forcing myself to hold back just for her sake.

Seeing this, she let out a sigh of relief, turned to Tetsuya, and pointed toward the main gate.

"Tetsuya, you go on ahead. I'll hear the whole story later."

"Miyuki, I..."

"I said I'll listen to your reasons later. Just go...!"

Miyuki's voice had risen sharply.

Startled, Tetsuya stepped back and nodded.

"A-Alright."

He backed away a few more paces before quickly walking out of the Academy.

Miyuki watched Tetsuya as he grew distant, constantly looking back over his shoulder. Only when he completely disappeared from sight did she press a hand to her forehead.

Then she dragged me over to the security office and began coaxing the guard with a sweet, soft voice.

"Um... mister. You saw that, right?"

"Hmm... I saw it. Though I don't know what happened."

"Could you let it slide just this once? You know how guys are. Close friends making immature jokes, and then they suddenly lose their temper and grab each other's collars..."

"Who's close friends?"

I cut into the conversation with a sullen tone. Miyuki shook her head at me in exasperation and said, "Look at this. He's being so childish."

The guard burst into hearty laughter at that.

"Alright. I won't report this to the higher-ups."

If it had been regular students fighting just now, the guard would have mercilessly called the faculty office.

And yet, he let it go with just a hearty laugh?

That meant getting friendly with the guard during my volunteer community service hours had really paid off.

"Thank you so much... Matsuda-kun, hurry up and say thank you too."

Miyuki tugged on my arm, urging me on.

Pretending to be reluctant, I gave the guard a slight bow with a very sullen expression.

"Thanks, mister."

"Sure thing. But you have to make up properly, alright?"

"I can't promise tha— ugh... Understood."

I had been about to add an unnecessary comment, but I hastily changed my tune when Miyuki pinched my waist incredibly hard.

Her hands were vicious. It hurt like hell.

Having politely bought the guard's silence, Miyuki grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward the gym.

Inside the gym, which was giving off a dreary vibe as the day darkened, Miyuki crossed her arms tightly and snapped at me.

"You're an immature kid who throws fists the second he gets mad, Matsuda-kun. But..."

"Don't say such hurtful things."

"Listen to me. Lately, you haven't been acting like an unprovoked thug. If someone gets into a fender bender that's entirely the other party's fault, yet lets it go without even getting annoyed, and then suddenly hits someone... there has to be a reason. Right?"

"How did you know I didn't get annoyed? I don't remember telling you."

"The vice-principal came to the Student Council Room and asked if you were doing any club activities. I found out when I asked him what was going on."

Ah... good karma returning through good deeds... My nostrils flared involuntarily.

The climax was unreal. I felt like I could achieve a hands-free release.

This must be why good people build up merit.

"Anyway, let's hear your explanation. What made you so angry that you hit Tetsuya?"

Snapping back to reality at her words, I smacked my lips awkwardly.

"I mean... do I really have to say it...? It feels a bit like tattling..."

"Now is not the time for that. Tell me everything, without leaving anything out."

The way she glared at me was subtly sexy.

"Well..."

Scratching the back of my head, I explained what had happened earlier.

From Tetsuya bringing up "forcing" me when the topic of ice cream came up, to me asking if he was blackmailing me using Miyuki's weakness, all the way to him claiming he was just saying it as a joke.

I didn't give a long explanation dripping with flowery rhetoric.

I just tried to keep it simple and speak from a third-party perspective.

"...Did Tetsuya really say those things?"

She asked with wide eyes the moment I finished speaking.

Expressing my frustration with a heavy exhale from deep within my chest, I lightly kicked a pebble rolling nearby.

"I figured you wouldn't believe me."

"Who said I don't believe you? I do. I believe you."

"Then why did you ask?"

"It's just... I couldn't believe those words came from the Tetsuya I know. Hmm..."

Miyuki began stroking her chin with her index finger, as if she had something to think about.

Miyuki, lost in thought... she was so pretty.

Could we just go inside the gym and have a quick round right now?

After keeping her plump lips sealed for a long time, she looked up at me.

"Alright. I understand why you were angry, Matsuda-kun."

"You do?"

"Yeah. But I still think resorting to violence was too much. I know from your perspective you got mad because Tetsuya did something wrong first, but..."

Pushing the issue here was something only amateurs did.

As long as Tetsuya was steeped in his inferiority complex, it was better for me to show that I was angry but holding it in.

Miyuki would definitely call Tetsuya out to cross-check the story.

That bastard would score an own goal all by himself then. There was no need for me to preach about why I had resorted to violence.

Letting out a sigh with a flutter of my lips, I gazed at Miyuki for a moment before nodding.

"I'll apologize tomorrow while giving Miura a ride."

At those words, Miyuki's cold expression softened considerably.

"Are you reflecting on your actions?"

"Not really."

"Matsuda-kun."

"I mean... I honestly can't feel remorse right now, so what do you want me to do? Still, I admit that using violence was wrong, so I'll sincerely apologize for that much."

"And you'll reflect on it too, right?"

"...I'll try."

"Good. Let's head back now."

"Are you not mad anymore? Then let's drop by the gym for a sec..."

"I am mad, and hearing you say that makes me even madder."

"Got it. Sorry."

Obediently shutting my trap, I left the Academy with Miyuki.

@@

"You're going out right after coming back?"

Her mother's voice called out from the kitchen.

Miyuki, holding her Cell Phone, replied.

"I'm just going out to meet Tetsuya for a bit."

"Really? Seems like it's been a while since you two met. Don't come back too late."

"Got it."

Slipping on her sneakers and opening the front door, Miyuki headed to the small playground where she and Tetsuya often met.

As she sat on a swing waiting for Tetsuya, thoughts of Matsuda naturally drifted into her mind.

She recalled the past... shortly after Matsuda had saved her and begun their tutoring sessions, when she had seen him sitting alone on these very swings.

Back then, Matsuda had been planning to meet Watanabe Takashi, hadn't he?

'Haa...'

But that wasn't the important part; today's incident was.

Matsuda had said it before. That Tetsuya was incredibly insidious.

Come to think of it, Matsuda had seemed uncomfortable around Tetsuya since then... Had he perhaps heard something similar to today back then as well?

As Miyuki sat lost in these various thoughts, Tetsuya ran into the playground, panting heavily. "Haa... Haa..." She greeted him as he approached.

"You're here?"

"Yeah... sorry. I'm a bit late."

"I just got here too. Want to sit down next to me?"

Catching his breath, Tetsuya sat on the swing beside hers.

Miyuki stared at him quietly before asking, "Why did Matsuda-kun hit you today?"

"Ah... so what happened was..."

Tetsuya's ensuing explanation was identical to Matsuda's, only from a different perspective.

How the topic of ice cream came up on the way to the main gate to meet her, and how, when it was mentioned that Senior Nanase, Matsuda, and he would go eat it together, he had brought up force and blackmail under the guise of a joke.

It really was no different from Matsuda's explanation.

The only difference was that unlike Matsuda, who had tried to explain things as objectively as possible, Tetsuya's words carried a subtle undertone of self-defense.

"...That's what happened... Did you hear it from Matsuda too?"

"Yeah."

"What did Matsuda say? Didn't he just say things that were favorable to him? Like distorting the truth or something..."

Miyuki frowned slightly.

She didn't look kindly upon Tetsuya's attempt to drag Matsuda down the moment he finished his explanation.

"He didn't do that at all."

"Really...? That's unexpected. A-Anyway, it was just a joke."

Looking at it now, it was obvious that Tetsuya had committed the first wrong.

Even so, Matsuda had stepped up to apologize to Tetsuya first.

Of course, he had seemed a bit reluctant and was only doing it for her sake, but he had taken a step back regardless.

Even right after their fight, he showed his willingness to give Tetsuya a ride as usual.

But what was this reaction from Tetsuya now?

Such an attitude, so desperate to make excuses.

Even considering that he had been hit, he seemed a bit... narrow-minded.

Since meeting her, Matsuda had become genuinely kind—well, not kind, but well-behaved.

His cursing hadn't been completely fixed, but knowing how much Miyuki hated physical violence, he had absolutely never raised his fists.

And yet he had swung his fist, unable to overcome his anger?

It seemed like something else had been festering aside from today's incident.

Was it because Tetsuya kept slamming the car door too hard?

No, that couldn't be it.

He had complained about it, but Matsuda wasn't petty enough to throw a temper tantrum over something so small.

'I'll have to ask Matsuda-kun about this.'

As for asking Tetsuya directly, she was unenthused by the reaction he was showing right now.

She trusted Tetsuya, but she felt it would be more accurate to get the answers from Matsuda, who had tried to maintain an objective attitude today.

Matsuda would probably hate talking about it, saying it felt like talking behind someone's back...

But he would tell her if she kept prying.

At any rate, the usual Tetsuya wasn't this kind of person... Did something happen to him lately?

Miyuki, who had been listening while kicking the ground and holding the swing's chains, spoke up.

"Tetsuya, do you have a lot of worries these days?"

"Worries...?"

"Yeah. Is something going on?"

"No. If something was wrong, I would have told you first. You know me."

"Right... I suppose so. Let's go back then. Why did you say that to Matsuda-kun? Didn't you think it was too harsh?"

"Well... you hate Matsuda, don't you? That..."

Miyuki shook her head and cut Tetsuya off.

"I don't hate him, I hated him. Not anymore, not at all."

"...Not at all?"

"Right. I like Matsuda-kun now. But what does my hating him have to do with you saying that to him... Ah!?"

Miyuki covered her mouth and let out a scream.

Tetsuya, who had been lightly swinging while listening to her, had suddenly tipped over backward.

Back home resting, I perked up my ears when I heard the front door open just as I was about to go to bed.

'Miyuki?'