Chapter 168

Look at him... using that unmatched, venomous mouth of his to humiliate her again.

She felt very... very...

"I'm joking. I'll help you relax a bit more before we go. Want to lie down for a second?"

‘Hmm... maybe that wouldn't be so bad?’

"Y-yes... should we...?"

Chinami, who had completely fallen for the temptation, suddenly turned pale.

She had just pictured herself wetting herself again right before they went to take a shower.

Glancing at the now-clean bed, she trembled and asked:

"A-are you planning to... touch my sensitive areas again...!"

"I won't. Just a massage."

"...Really...?"

"I promise."

Seeing Junior Matsuda's serious expression, Chinami felt her heart begin to pound wildly, and she shook her head vigorously.

‘It's bad for my heart. I shouldn't look at his face.’

Having made that firm resolve, she wiped it completely from her mind the moment Junior Matsuda sat on the sofa and beckoned her over, scurrying toward him instead.

"Master."

"Yes..."

"We're here."

"Yes..."

"Shouldn't you get out? You must be sleepy."

"Yes..."

Chinami kept repeating the same answer, fiddling with her fingers.

She was wearing a large, fluffy white fleece, and the way the sleeves covered the bottoms of her palms looked adorable.

She had taken the final massage just fine, yet here she was, suddenly acting shy again.

I understood. Now that she had regained her senses, the aftermath of today's deviation must be hitting her hard, leaving her conflicted.

I undid the buckle of her seatbelt as she sat there, staring down at her lap.

At the crisp click, Chinami flinched and raised her head.

"Ah...? Where are we...?"

"Your place, Master."

"Aha... We're already here...?"

"Yeah."

"Well then... Thank you for today... Drive safe..."

Chinami gave me a small bow and reached to open the passenger door.

Turning on the hazard lights and shifting into park, I got out of the car first and walked around to the passenger side.

Then, I held my hand out to a puzzled Chinami.

"I'll walk you to your door."

"Y-you don't have to go that far..."

"I'm doing it because I'm worried."

"....."

Was she happy about the consideration?

Smiling shyly, Chinami placed her hand on my palm.

Then she spread her fingers wide, as if trying to compare the size of our hands.

"I-it's big..."

"Is it?"

"Yes... It's so big..."

Maybe it was because we had just shared our first time, but her calling it big sounded incredibly erotic.

Was it normal for me to get turned on by her pure, innocent amazement?

I had thought about this before, but I really might need to see a psychiatrist soon.

Curling my fingers to envelop Chinami's hand completely, I spoke.

"Shall we go?"

"...Yes."

After passing through the automatic doors at the mansion's entrance, we stood before the elevator.

I pressed the button, and the floor indicator counted down with a quiet mechanical hum.

The moment the elevator arrived and the doors opened on the first floor, I led Chinami inside.

"What floor?"

Instead of answering, she pressed the button for the fifth floor.

I thought she would be restless, but she was surprisingly calm.

"Your parents must be asleep, right, Master?"

"That's right..."

"You did tell them, right? That you'd be back late."

"Yes... But, um... Junior."

"Yeah."

"Are you going to... keep holding my hand...?"

"Of course."

At my utterly nonchalant reply, Chinami let out a soft ‘Aha...’ in acceptance and pulled her feet inward.

Seeing her act like a little girl, lightly tapping her soles with the toe caps of her sneakers, brought an automatic, fatherly smile to my face.

The slow elevator finally arrived at the fifth floor, and I guided Chinami out.

Because the apartment building had an open gallery corridor, the path only went one way, so there was no need to ask her which direction to take.

As if our minds were linked, without either of us saying a word, we matched each other's pace and strolled down the hallway illuminated by white ceiling lights.

Just as we arrived in front of Room 505, Chinami came to a sudden halt and looked up at me.

"It's right here..."

"I see. Go inside and get some good rest. Make sure to wash your hands and feet."

"Okay..."

I let go of a still-embarrassed Chinami's hand and gently pulled her into a hug.

Her head tucked snugly against my chest.

Gently stroking the round back of her head, I spoke.

"See you tomorrow."

"...Get home safely, Junior..."

"Yeah."

Releasing the hug, I took a few steps backward. Maintaining her demure smile, Chinami raised both hands above her shoulders and waved them side to side.

It was a gesture reminiscent of waving goodbye to kindergarteners.

I chuckled at the sudden, innocent action, waved back at her, and got in the elevator.

By the time I took the wheel, returned home, washed my face, and lay down in bed, it was already three in the morning.

It had been about twenty minutes since I parted ways with Chinami. What was she doing right now?

Was she perhaps scarfing down peaches?

There was no way she was sleeping peacefully yet... I should contact her.

Lowering my Cell Phone's brightness to the minimum, I opened the app to leave Chinami a message, but then—

‘Huh?’

I noticed that the expression of Momo-sama in her profile picture had changed.

Heart eyes this time?

Not a dizzy Momo-sama or an angry one, but a completely swooning Momo-sama...

Given that Chinami often expressed her emotional state through her profile picture, putting up a Momo-sama like that was proof that today's events would remain a fond memory.

I had been slightly worried that she might have been stressed out, so this was a massive relief.

Anyway, considering how incredibly diverse the Momo-sama variations were, was it possible there was an ahegao version too?

If some hardcore fan out there had bizarre tastes, there was a chance they had commissioned it.

I suddenly felt afraid. I didn't want to peer into the abyss.

I changed my mind about contacting Chinami.

Since she seemed to be deeply immersed in the afterglow, I decided to leave her alone with her thoughts.

I would talk to her when we met tomorrow. That seemed best.

"Didn't you sleep? Why are the bags under your eyes so dark?"

Miyuki asked, taking one look at my face the moment she got into the car.

I let out a short yawn and grabbed the steering wheel before answering.

"I was just... messing around on my Cell Phone."

I needed to tell Miyuki about my relationship with Chinami.

But not today.

Why? Because my ulterior motives would be far too obvious.

Even though Miyuki had given her blessing for my relationship with Chinami, it was only right to leave some breathing room.

"You weren't staying up late watching porn, were you?"

"Are you just going to keep milking that one time you caught me? It's getting old; tease me about something else."

"Like what?"

"That's for you to figure out."

"All right. I'll think about it real hard."

Hearing the studious Miyuki say she would think hard about it genuinely terrified me.

It felt like she would come up with something that wouldn't actually offend me, but would put me in a tough spot... a tease that would be incredibly hard to counter.

Chatting softly with Miyuki on the way to the Academy, I arrived at our classroom, half-heartedly greeted my classmates, and immediately faceplanted on my desk.

There were plenty of times I had slept far less than I did last night, yet the exhaustion was intense.

While probably not to Chinami's extent, I must have expended a lot of mental energy as well.

"Matsuda-kun. Class is starting soon, are you going to sleep?"

At the worried tone of Miyuki sitting beside me, I kept my forehead buried in my arms and merely nodded weakly.

Then, Miyuki gently poked my back and continued.

"Then shut your eyes for a bit. I'll wake you when class starts."

Ah... that was Miyuki for you.

If it weren't for her incredibly kind nature, I would probably be skipping class right now.

No, wait, why was I acting like some model student who thought missing a single class was the end of the world?

Snap out of it. This isn't like Matsuda Ken at all.

"Matsuda...! Wait."

Lunchtime.

As I was heading back to the classroom after buying snacks for Miyuki—and some to toss as charity to that hanger-on Tetsuya—I heard Renka's urgent voice from behind and turned around.

"Hello, President."

"What did you do with Chinami yesterday?"

She started interrogating me right off the bat.

I furrowed my brow slightly and spoke again.

"Hello."

Only then realizing what I wanted, Renka reluctantly returned the greeting.

"...Hi."

"Right. Now, why are you asking about yesterday?"

"Because Chinami is acting weird."

"Weird? How so?"

"She spaces out right in the middle of talking to me. And she can't seem to focus during class either."

She hadn't told Renka.

Well, talking about your first time is embarrassing even if you beat around the bush.

Still, it was surprising. Given how deeply close the two were, I figured she would have confessed everything.

Was she perhaps being careful with her words because of where they were?

Would they head to a cafe after club activities and have a heart-to-heart then?

"And... the way she walks is a little strange."

At Renka's following words, I narrowed my eyes and asked.

"What do you mean, the way she walks is strange?"

"She looks incredibly uncomfortable, but it seems like she's desperately trying to hide it."

So she had muscle aches. I was certain she'd be sore, but if Renka was emphasizing it with the word ‘incredibly,’ it must be quite severe.

Chuckling softly, I imagined Chinami walking beside Renka, pretending nothing was wrong.

I would have to help her loosen up those muscles later during club activities.

"Master should be fine."

"How do you know that? She's even breaking into a cold sweat."

"Are you really that curious about what happened yesterday?"

"T-to be honest, I am curious... but it's not like I want to obsessively dig into it. I'm just anxious because you said something suspicious yesterday."

She had grown. Yeah, don't try to dig too deeply.

That only breeds resentment, and when those knots pile up, they lead to fights.

I wouldn't mind seeing you two best friends bicker a bit because of me, but I really don't want you genuinely tearing at each other's throats.

"What exactly did I say that was suspicious?"

"Well, like... you sounded like you were plotting some kind of conspiracy..."