Chapter 152

Scent of Destiny

"Master, did you have a good weekend?"

"..."

Chinami just stared up at me, offering no answer to my greeting.

Why did she look so incredibly cute standing there with her eyes wide open and an ice cream bar in her mouth?

Her cheeks were all puffed out... She was so cute I could die.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" I asked.

At my urging, Chinami furiously chewed for a moment before pulling the ice cream away from her mouth.

"I have something to tell you, Junior."

"Go ahead."

"Are you interested in the upcoming national winter tournament?"

"Not particularly... Why?"

"I was hoping you would participate. Do you remember? Shortly after you joined the Kendo Club, you asked me to teach you. I told you that we should work hard for the winter tournament."

"I remember."

"Mhm... Since we made a promise back then, I think it's only right that you participate this time."

I didn't exactly remember making a promise, but oh well...

If Chinami wanted me to go, I would go.

It was a pretty useless tournament from my current standpoint, but I would participate anyway.

Sometimes a change of pace was necessary. Naturally.

"Understood. I'll participate in the team matches."

Was she happy that I agreed so readily?

Chinami broke into a wide, beaming smile.

She stretched her arms out to pat my back and said, "The individual matches will mainly feature Second and Third Years, so there are no spots left. You don't have to worry about that."

"Okay. By the way, Master."

"Yes?"

"Isn't it unfair to eat ice cream all by yourself?"

"Ah... You're right. Should I go get a new one for you?"

"No. Eating a whole one is a bit much. I'll just have a bite. Give me that one."

"Which one?"

"That one. The one you're eating, Master."

I pointed at the saliva-slicked ice cream down by the bewildered Chinami's waist.

Her eyes went wide as she followed my pointing finger.

"You want this one...?"

"Yeah. Just one bite and I'll give it back."

"B-but I already got my saliva on it...?"

"I don't mind."

"Eeeeh...? You can't...!"

She reacted as if the sky was falling.

She was always a treat to watch.

I grabbed Chinami's wrist as she fidgeted, hesitating to hand over her half-eaten snack.

While she jolted in surprise, I leaned in, swallowed the top half of the ice cream, and took a bite.

"Hyaah...!?"

Chinami's horrified face instantly burned red.

Swallowing the peach flavor that exploded in my mouth, I said casually, "It's been a while since I've had one. It's delicious."

"...Eh? I-Is that so...?"

"What do we have to do today?"

"Um... Cleaning the Bogu... checking the equipment... ah, before that, some supplies are supposed to be delivered... so we need to carry some boxes..."

"I'll handle the heavy lifting, so why don't you check the equipment, Master?"

"Ah... We could do it together..."

Did Chinami know?

That she was twisting and squirming right now.

She probably thought we just shared an indirect kiss by eating the same ice cream.

That was so like Chinami. Typical Chinami.

I bent my knees to meet her eye level and leaned in close enough that our faces almost touched.

Then, with a gentle smile, I patted the small of her back.

"I'll take care of the physical labor. Okay?"

"...Okay."

"What are you doing today after club activities?"

"I-I'm supposed to hang out with Renka..."

"Really? Doing what?"

"Renka asked me to go eat cake, just the two of us..."

Leaving me out, is that it?

The rebellion of an insolent slave... As her master, I couldn't just let that slide.

"So, you agreed to it, Master?"

"Yes..."

"Leaving your disciple behind to go eat cake together... It feels like I'm being bullied. I'm a little hurt."

"Uh-oh...! Bullied? That's too harsh...! Of course I wanted to bring you along...! Hanazawa as well, if possible...! It's just that Renka didn't look too well today, so I felt we needed some time for a heart-to-heart talk between friends."

"Girl talk... something like that?"

"Mhm! Exactly. It's like that. I promise to take you next time, so I hope you can be magnanimous and understa— Hya?"

Chinami cut her sentence short and jolted.

It was because my hand was gently stroking the curve from her slender waist down to her plump bottom.

"J-Junior...! You have very, very bad hands...!"

I fully expected her to snap and ask what I thought I was doing, but she gave a line completely outside her usual repertoire.

Plus, she even gave off the impression that she knew exactly how provocative the spot I was touching was.

Our Chinami... had developed quite a bit sexually.

"I'm just petting you, though?"

"O-Of course you are, but... we're outside... If someone saw us, they might get the wrong idea and point fingers at us for being indecent..."

"There's no one here. The club members don't even come up to this hill."

"..."

Left without a rebuttal, she took a bite of her ice cream.

It was cold enough that our breath plumed in the air, yet she was eating that just fine.

But did she really favor peach these days? I hadn't seen her eat it at all lately.

"Shall we stay like this for a bit before working?"

At my soft question, Chinami slowly nodded.

Warmth radiated from her back as she curled her toes inward, clearly embarrassed.

By the time my freezing hand had warmed up sufficiently from that, I smoothed down the heavy-breathing Chinami's hair and straightened my knees.

Inside a building packed tight with people and deafening noise.

Miyuki and I cut through the dim lighting and flashing machines, stopping in front of a booth in a pink-hued corner.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah."

We were at a sticker photo booth inside a massive arcade in the city center.

We came because Miyuki said she wanted to take photos to keep in her wallet. I thought enjoying this kind of analog, retro vibe wasn't half bad.

Above all, it was refreshing to come to a new place after going back and forth to the same spots every time.

"There's no one here? We're so lucky... Let's go in quickly."

Miyuki grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the booth.

She operated the machine skillfully; it clearly wasn't her first or second time.

Lounging lazily on the chair provided inside the booth, I asked, "I guess you've done this a lot?"

"I used to take them a lot with my friends back in high school."

"Is that so? With Miura too?"

"Yeah. Not a lot, but we did take some."

"That's annoying."

At my grumble, Miyuki spun her head around and offered a sweet, eye-crinkling smile.

She seemed to find my grumbling funny.

Looking at that bewitching face made me want to go a round right here... Calm down, my dick.

What was I supposed to do if I kept getting turned on at all hours? If this kept up, I was going to get blue balls.

Miyuki tapped on the screen as cute sound effects popped out, adding various filters and effects before sitting down and linking her arm through mine.

[One, two...!]

While I was relishing Miyuki's affection, an innocent voice rang out from the machine.

Quickly pasting on an awkward smile, I—

Click!

As the countdown finished and the photo snapped, I examined the two of us displayed on the decoration screen.

The vibe was a little cold on one side. Was my expression a bit awkward?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Miyuki started slapping poop stickers all over the screen.

To be exact, all over my face.

Dumbfounded by her actions, I asked, "What are you doing?"

"I don't like your expression. Smile a little for the second one. Okay?"

Even so, slathering me in poop... That was just mean.

I snorted. As Miyuki pressed the button to take the second photo, I deliberately put on a sulky pout and crossed my arms.

Miyuki giggled at me acting like a green frog, and then—

[One, two...]

Right before the countdown ringing through the booth reached three, she suddenly cupped my chin with one hand and pressed her lips against my cheek.

A warm, soft sensation spread across one side of my face.

Regardless of my will, the corners of my lips and eyes shot straight up, forming a dopey grin.

Did Miyuki eat something wrong today? She was being so aggressive and practically overflowing with affection, it was driving me crazy.

Was she trying to bewitch me so I wouldn't turn my eyes toward a threesome?

"See how nice this looks? You should have smiled from the start..."

Miyuki flashed a satisfied smile as she looked at the photo on the screen.

She soon began decorating the background beautifully and cutely with me. After taking two more photos, we stepped outside and cut up the picture strips.

I had been watching Miyuki's actions in silence before speaking up.

"Are you going to stick them in your wallet?"

"They peel off easily if you stick them to leather... so I'm just going to slide the photos into the card pocket as they are."

I wanted to stick a few on my desk separately.

So that Tetsuya could see them and howl in all four directions.

"I don't carry a wallet around."

"Stick them on the back of your Cell Phone case, or on your table at Home."

"The table is a no-go. They'll get stained if I spill food while eating."

"I suppose. You already spill things while you eat, Matsuda-kun... They'd probably get covered in all sorts of things in less than a day, huh?"

"You're asking for a beating again."

Joking back and forth, we finished cutting the sticker photos, gathered them up, put them in her bag, and got ready to head home.

Just then, swoosh...

A subtle, refreshing scent drifted into my nose.

It was a lemon fragrance, packed with sweet sugar... It smelled incredibly good.

It was a scent subtle enough to be called fateful, yet it pierced right through me.

And if it was making me feel this way, the owner of this scent was probably...

'Is it Hiyori?'

There was a high chance it was Hiyori, the final heroine.

With the end of the year approaching, was she finally about to show herself before my eyes?

To me, and not Tetsuya?

If so, that was great news... but no matter how much I scanned the arcade, I couldn't even catch a glimpse of Hiyori's back.

"What's wrong? Looking for the restroom?"

Miyuki asked, noticing me stopped dead in my tracks, looking around.

Snapping back to reality, I looked down at her and smiled brightly.

"No, let's go."

"What was that...? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

If the owner of this scent really was Hiyori, we were bound to run into each other soon.