Chapter 136

Whir!

The automatic doors in front of the apartment building slid open.

Chinami shuffled out, her shoulders slumped as she dragged her feet.

Renka, who had been checking the time, looked up at her and beamed.

“You're awake? If I hadn't called, you would have been in big trouble.”

“Yeah... I'm sorry... I couldn't sleep well last night...”

“Were you looking at limited-edition Momo-nim Merchandise again?”

“No... I was just thinking about a few things...”

“Really...? Well, let's head to the station. We're going to be late.”

“Okay... But close friend, aren't you hungry? Do you want a sandwich? I brought some from the table.”

A sandwich from Chinami's house?

It was bound to be slathered in peach jam.

“I'm fine. I had a quick bite before leaving.”

“Really...? You should eat more.”

Chinami rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up, and pulled out the sandwich to offer it, but Renka waved it away with one hand.

“I'm full.”

“You're full after just a quick bite?”

“It's morning, so it doesn't take much... By the way, did anything happen yesterday?”

Feeling a prick of guilt, Renka abruptly changed the subject.

However...

“Yesterday...? Yesterday... Yesterday...”

Chinami's reaction was a bit strange.

As she repeated the word, her pupils suddenly dilated.

“Huaaah...!? Yesterday...?”

Her face turned bright red in an instant, her eyes darted wildly, and her fingers fidgeted...

Observing her friend's abnormal reaction, Renka asked again, her tone full of doubt.

“Chinami...? I asked if anything happened...”

“N-N-Noooothing happened...”

A reaction that anyone would find suspicious.

At Chinami's answer, complete with chattering teeth, Renka's fists clenched tight.

“Chinami... don't tell me you and Matsuda...”

“Eek!?”

“...”

She looked shocked enough to faint the moment Matsuda's name popped up.

Sensing that something major had indeed happened yesterday, Renka's eyes grew cold.

Matsuda had definitely done something perverted to Chinami.

Convinced of this, Renka stopped dead in her tracks and met Chinami's gaze.

“Chinami. Can you tell me the details? What did you do yesterday?”

“...I-I received a massage...”

“What kind of massage did you get?”

“An oil massage...”

An oil massage... She had definitely said she received the exact same massage last time.

And yet, for her to act like this now, it must mean that something unspeakable had occurred during yesterday's massage...

“S-So I don't have any energy today...”

At Chinami's following words, Renka swallowed a groan.

Staring intently at her friend, she noticed that Chinami's voice and expression were full of shyness.

‘Hm...?’

There was no trace of bewilderment on Chinami's face.

She only wore an expression that looked as if something wonderful had happened to her.

An expression somewhat similar... to when she succeeded in purchasing brand-new, limited-edition Momo-nim Merchandise.

Observing her state, Renka wondered if she was the one jumping to strange conclusions.

Was she misunderstanding things? Was she being overprotective?

No matter how naive Chinami was, she wasn't foolish enough to fall for the glib tongue of someone like Matsuda...

Had Chinami perhaps tolerated or agreed to whatever Matsuda had done?

Was that why she was making that expression?

Then what on earth did they do?

She was curious. But if what the two of them did was the kind of thing she was thinking of... it would be better not to ask.

“Close friend... Matsuda didn't do anything coercive to me whatsoever...”

Chinami spoke in a trembling but serious tone after examining Renka's expression.

Snapping back to reality, Renka's face softened a little.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes... We just deepened the bond between Master and disciple...”

“A bond...? You didn't do anything explicitly erotic, right...?”

“What erotic thing...! Close friend, you really worry too much.”

“Then what did you do to make your face turn so red?”

“Gasp...!”

“Look at this...! Even now, just because Matsuda was mentioned...”

“Ahem...! Close friend. The thing you're worried about did not happen. Isn't that fine, then...?”

It was not fine.

It felt like Chinami was gradually falling into Matsuda's evil clutches.

She wanted to interrogate her about every little detail, but she felt like she had been suppressing Chinami too much lately, and she hesitated for fear of invading her privacy.

‘This is driving me crazy...’

It seemed certain that the concerning thing Chinami mentioned had not happened.

She could tell by looking in her eyes. Chinami was telling the truth.

Wasn't that enough?

Even so, the person named Matsuda was unsettling... but for now, she would let it go.

She decided she would have to have a talk with Matsuda too.

Having made up her mind, Renka nodded.

“Alright...”

At that, Chinami flashed a bright smile and patted Renka's back.

“That's right. Put aside your suspicions about our junior Matsuda, and have a taste of this sandwich I'm offering you.”

“I told you I already ate...?”

“Come on now...!”

Chinami held out the sandwich with a stern expression.

Letting out a weak laugh, Renka yielded to her cute friend's urging and opened her mouth.

*

[Are you at school right now?]

A text message came from Renka.

This was the first time she had messaged me first. I wondered what was going on.

It was probably because of what happened yesterday, right? I couldn't get a read on how much Chinami had told her.

[Yes.]

As soon as I sent my reply, another message arrived from Renka.

[Could you come behind the cafeteria for a second? I have something to tell you.]

Seeing that it was framed as a request rather than an order, maybe she wasn't angry?

I would only know once I got there.

After excusing myself to Miyuki, I left the classroom and headed to the place Renka had mentioned.

Renka was there, pacing back and forth with her arms crossed.

Spotting me walking over calmly, she—

“What did you do yesterday?”

—strode right up to me and fired off that question without preamble.

“I was with Master.”

“I mean, what did you do with Chinami?”

Just how much had she heard from Chinami?

Although the two of them kept no secrets from each other, she surely wouldn't have gone as far as revealing that she had climaxed.

If that was the case, I needed to keep my answers vague while shutting down Renka's aggressive momentum.

“A massage.”

“Was it really just a massage?”

“Yes. I gave her a massage, and then I took her home. Her legs had lost all their strength, so I just escorted her to the front door. That was all.”

“...Really...?”

“I'm telling you, yes. But President, are you Master's mother or something?”

“What...?”

“Why does it feel like you keep smothering Master?”

“Hey...! Smothering, you say...! As you know, Chinami is kind and naive. When there's someone like you... no, well... um... when there's a strange, lewd aura hovering around her, wouldn't anyone be anxious?”

It made sense for her to think that way.

Especially since I had made a wish fully reflecting my tastes to Renka last time, her attitude was entirely justified.

In fact, I should be thankful she wasn't speaking more harshly.

By the way, Renka had trailed off just now, but it seemed she had been about to say, ‘Wouldn't anyone be anxious leaving her with someone like you?’

A little training, and she softens up on her own. My slave... how commendable.

Still, her way of speaking was a bit rough. I needed to teach her a lesson.

“So, what you're saying is that I'm the one spreading that kind of aura?”

When I pressured her with a lowered voice, her momentum slightly deflated.

“W-Why...? Do you feel guilty...? You can't exactly call it good... after pushing someone so fiercely...”

That last wish must have left quite an impression on her, seeing how she was rambling on.

The master-servant dynamic subconsciously established between us likely played a part in the reaction she was showing now.

“Who did I push fiercely? You, President?”

“Y-Yes...! Forcing your weird tastes on me...”

“It was a wish.”

“Even if it was a wish... don't you think there's a line that shouldn't be crossed?”

“Did you keep to that line when you worked me to the bone without a penny of pay, President?”

“That's...! You were the one who said you wouldn't accept it...!”

“The uncles only tried to pay me because I worked hard, but you never had any intention of giving me a daily wage in the first place, President.”

“How do you know if I was going to pay you or not...! And who are your uncles...? Are we cousins or something...?”

Hm... a twisted romance between cousins... that's a little... just a little bit hot.

I thought about adding that kind of roleplay when I made her cosplay later.

Letting out a chuckle at Renka, who was fiercely talking back, I shrugged my shoulders.

“The uncles seemed to like it.”

“...”

Nothing to say to that, right? Because it was a fact that the twins liked me.

As if she found my brazen attitude obnoxious, Renka bit her lower lip hard.

What if she hurt those pretty lips? I wanted to suck on them.

“Why? Are you upset?”

“Of course I am...!”

“That's a shame... But President.”

“What...!”

“You look pretty today.”

“W-Whaaat...?”

She went beyond shock straight into horror at the casual compliment I threw out; did she really hate it that much?

That actually hurts my feelings a bit.

Looking around wildly, Renka expressed her sheer disgust with her entire body and crumpled her face into a deep frown.

“Are you crazy...? Did you hit your head or something...?”

Still, compared to the training camp, I felt that our relationship had progressed quite a bit.

It was progress in a slightly different direction, and it was barely a single spoonful of freshness added to the desolation, but still.

“I meant it sincerely, but you're asking if I hit my head... I'm disappointed.”

“Disappointed, my foot...! Don't try to play with me...!”

Before we knew it, the main subject of our conversation had shifted entirely to the two of us.

“Is this really something to get so angry about?”

“...Y-You're trying to threaten me again, aren't you...!?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Y-Your voice got even lower...! I can feel your murderous intent...!”

“To be able to detect murderous intent just from a voice... That's amazing. Are you a manga protagonist?”

“Ugh...!”

Mm-hm... Seeing that expression mixed with annoyance, trouble, and anger was starting to give me an erection.

When should I use my final wish?

I wanted to spend the whole day together and train her... so I would have to gauge the situation first.

I needed to call it in before the awareness of being a slave—rooted deep in Renka's heart—faded away.

“If you're done saying what you need to say, may I go? There isn't much time left before class.”

Flinching at my words, Renka checked the time on her Cell Phone.

Then, letting out a deep sigh, she nodded.

“Right... Go. We'll talk later.”

“You can just text me.”

“...Just hurry up and leave.”

“Have a safe trip back yourself, President.”

“I never told you to have a safe trip.”

“That's what I heard. Take care.”

Smiling slyly and waving my hand, I walked away from a dumbfounded Renka.

It seemed she had wanted to warn me not to deceive Chinami, but in the end, she only got strung along by me and couldn't even achieve her original goal, right?

Our Renka was surprisingly naive too.