Chapter 186

When I subtly revealed my feelings, Miyuki turned her head coyly.

Her lips curled up slightly; she seemed to be in a good mood.

Chuckling at her transparent reaction, I quietly opened my book.

It was a peaceful Friday.

So peaceful it was almost a shame nothing was happening.

Just like that, I prepared for my final exams under Miyuki's earnest tutoring.

The next day at lunch.

As Miyuki and I headed to our meeting spot with Chinami, I heard something unexpected.

"Matsuda-kun, Inoo-sunbae is asking if she can join us for lunch... Is that alright?"

"The President?"

"Yeah."

An uninvited guest was crashing our plans?

If it were Tetsuya, I would have told him to fuck off for being so clueless, but I'd let it slide since it was Renka.

"Tell her sure."

"Got it."

Honestly, considering Chinami's current state, having Renka around might not be a bad idea.

I expected the atmosphere to be pretty awkward, and Renka might be able to smooth things out.

She was a party crasher, but on second thought, I decided to view her as a welcome guest.

After parking the car in the bustling department store Parking Lot, we took the elevator.

As soon as we stepped off on the restaurant floor, we ran into Chinami and Renka.

"Hello, sunbae-nim!"

Miyuki bowed deeply.

Renka greeted her back. "Thanks for agreeing to my sudden request."

"Not at all. You're always welcome. Have you been well, Senior Nanase?"

When Miyuki asked with a smile, Chinami nodded with a bright expression.

"Y-Yes...! I've been well. And you, Junior Hazanawa... Ah, I mean Hanazawa, not Hazanawa. I'm sorry..."

She was stuttering from nerves, but she was treating Miyuki much more naturally than I'd expected.

I thought she'd freeze up completely and babble, so this was a relief.

It seemed my reassurance last time that everything would be okay had actually helped.

Fortunately, Miyuki's expression barely changed.

I'd find out what she was really thinking tonight, but for now, it looked like we'd be able to finish our meal in a friendly atmosphere.

Watching Chinami and Miyuki with a pleased look, I glanced over at Renka, who was standing with her arms crossed.

In stark contrast to Chinami's cute outfit, Renka was dressed in an elegant, haughty style.

It was a mystery how two people with such completely mismatched appearances and personalities had become best friends.

Sensing my gaze, Renka mouthed, 'What are you looking at?'

Wanting to tease her for acting so aloof, I took a half-step back from where Chinami and Miyuki were chatting.

I slipped over next to Renka and whispered.

"Why is the President here?"

"Why? Can't I be here?"

"Normally, no. Tagging along without prior plans is a nuisance."

"Chinami was supposed to meet me today too, but since time seemed tight, I figured I'd ask if I could just join you guys. Both Hanazawa and you agreed. If you'd said no, I would have waited somewhere else."

"I was just joking. I'm glad you came."

"You're funny, you know that?"

"What is?"

"You act all friendly to my face, but you try to leave me out behind my back?"

Was she upset I hadn't invited her to lunch?

Didn't she hate me? She shouldn't care whether I left her out or not.

Or at least, that's what I would have said, but we had gotten a little... just a tiny bit closer.

"It's not like that..."

"Then what is it?"

I couldn't exactly tell her this was a bonding session to ease the awkwardness before a threesome.

At least not yet.

"Never mind."

"I'm right. Just be honest."

"I said no. You've been awfully clingy since yesterday. Do you want to be punished?"

Renka scoffed at that.

"Punish me? How exactly?"

There were plenty of ways.

Starting with basic things like whipping, shibari, restraints, and orgasm control with a vibrator...

All sorts of things came to mind.

Did she sense some unknown danger after seeing my lewd expression?

Swallowing hard, she continued.

"Never mind... don't say it."

"Why not? I really want to tell you."

"Don't."

"Then can I punish you however I want?"

"You really...!"

Renka glared at me with raised eyebrows.

Admiring the flashy earrings dangling above her pale nape, I flashed a toothy grin.

"Just kidding."

Did our whispered bickering look weird?

Pausing her conversation with Chinami, Miyuki looked back at us and tilted her head.

"What are you two doing?"

Renka flashed a bright smile—the complete opposite of how she treated me—and answered.

"It's nothing. Shall we go in?"

"Ah, sure..."

A pure girl, a cute one, and a seductive, perverted vixen all sitting together in one place.

I thought it would look incredibly bizarre, but they surprisingly made a good picture.

If the free-spirited Hiyori joined them, it would be absolutely perfect.

"...So I visited Momo-sama's site, right? But the homepage was a little..."

"Ah...! Were you going to say it looked like it was thrown together too haphazardly?"

"Um, yes... exactly."

"That's a fake site. It was made by scammers piggybacking on Momo-sama's popularity."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. I know because I got fooled once. I report it every time I see it, and it gets shut down, but it always pops right back up. It's much safer to just click the very first site that appears when you search."

"I see... Could you show me?"

"Sure, give me a second..."

Miyuki was deep in conversation with Chinami.

It was the exact same reaction as before we entered the restaurant.

She probably had a vague idea that Chinami and I had some questionable involvement, yet she was acting so magnanimous.

Was it an 'if you can't avoid it, enjoy it' kind of mindset?

Or was she burning up inside but trying hard to play it cool?

I sincerely hoped it was the former.

I did kind of want to see Miyuki getting into a battle of nerves with the heroines.

But that opponent shouldn't be Chinami.

Treating the soft-hearted Chinami well while subtly clashing with the strong-willed Renka... just imagining it turned me on.

Miyuki guarding the front gate and ruthlessly handing Renka penalty points for being late... that sounded like fun.

Anyway, the closer the two got, the better it was for me. I picked up the menu while stealing glances at the two chattering girls who hadn't even ordered yet.

All things considered, Renka tagging along turned out to be a good move.

If she hadn't, I probably would've been sitting there staring awkwardly at the menu like a loser.

"What do you want to eat?"

At my question as I offered the menu, Renka scanned it and answered.

"Chinami will have the Neapolitan spaghetti and peach iced tea, and I'll take the chicken karaage bowl."

It was the perfect choice for Chinami, whose palate matched that of an elementary schooler with a sweet tooth.

"Understood. Then Miyuki will have yakisoba, and I'll get the oyakodon."

"Oyakodon? Isn't that a bit too simple?"

"Neapolitan spaghetti and chicken karaage are just the same."

"True... But is it okay to just order for Hanazawa without asking her?"

"She was singing about how much she wanted yakisoba on our way here today."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You two seem really close. But Miura didn't come?"

"Why bring up Miura?"

"You three always hang out together."

Why would I bring that nuclear waste here? He'd just pollute the air.

But suddenly, I was a bit curious.

What kind of face would Tetsuya make if he stumbled upon us by chance?

Miyuki and Renka, the girls he had his heart set on... and me, sitting right in the middle.

He'd probably have a massive breakdown if he saw this, wouldn't he?

After making sure Miyuki was still engrossed in her conversation with Chinami, I lowered my voice to a whisper.

"No need to invite him. He doesn't even have any connection to you, Master."

"That's true, but..."

Trailing off, Renka started eyeing me suspiciously.

It seemed she found it suspicious that Miyuki and I had met up alone before the scheduled time.

Plus, while we weren't exactly glued together, we were sitting quite close, so her doubts were justified.

I wondered if she'd pass out if she knew we were planning a threesome.

If you were to ruin this mood, Renka?

Then I'll have no choice but to give you a very, very severe punishment.

So to prevent that, let's just quietly chat and eat our meal today.

Catching sight of a waiter walking past our table, I raised a hand to change the subject.

"We're ready to order here."

"Well then... see you next week, Junior Hanazawa."

Chinami gave a deep bow.

She was being so overly polite that, with only a slight exaggeration, her head practically touched the floor. Miyuki freaked out and quickly pulled Chinami back upright.

"S-See you next week. I had a lot of fun today."

Flashing a silly smile at the flustered Miyuki, Chinami said, "Me too. I'll bring some of my treasured peaches on Monday, so I really hope we can eat them together."

"O-Of course, I'd love to."

"Okay, then... goodbye to you too, Junior Matsuda."

Half-hiding her lips with her scarf, Chinami raised a hand.

Waving her hand with her small but perfectly proportioned fingers pressed tightly together, she looked incredibly pretty.

Come to think of it, she wasn't wearing the mittens I'd given her.

When I asked her about it later, she wouldn't say she had safely stored them away because they were too precious to wear, would she?

"Yeah. Have fun hanging out with the President."

"Yes...!"

"Take care, President."

A completely different tone from how I had just addressed Chinami.

Narrowing her brow, Renka gave a half-hearted nod.

"Yeah."

As if taking revenge for the attitude I'd just shown her, she offered Miyuki a sweet, friendly farewell.

She was pouting. It kept making me want to tease her.

Still, she hadn't brought up any unnecessary topics and had gotten along well with Miyuki today, so I'd let it slide.

Watching Renka's back as she headed to the shopping section with Chinami, I got into the elevator with Miyuki.

After we got off at the Parking Lot and were walking toward the car, Miyuki, who had been chewing on some thought, looked up at me and asked.

"Do winter peaches exist? I think I might have seen something on the news..."

"Well, I don't really know either... Why winter peaches?"

"No... It's just that Senior Nanase said she was bringing peaches."

"Ah... that? I heard last time that she buys them in early autumn and freezes them. There are a lot of varieties, but I guess Senior Nanase has a specific one she really loves."

"Ah... That's amazing..."

"I think so too. How was today?"

"It was fun."

It wasn't a bad answer, but a bit plain.

Was that it?

"I think I'll need to reach out to Senior Nanase personally a lot more."

Guess not. It seemed Miyuki had her own realizations.

True to her word, she hadn't directly brought up the threesome to me.

This was definitely better than her constantly bringing it up.

Grateful that she hadn't said anything unpleasant, I firmly grabbed her hand.

And I gave it a gentle squeeze.

At that, Miyuki let out a soft chuckle.

She had caught on to exactly what I was feeling.

'Just once. I can do it at least once.'

Maybe that was what she was thinking.

That might be why she was showing such a calm reaction.

But if she started messaging Chinami personally, what would they talk about?

I hadn't even mentioned the threesome to Chinami yet... Surely they wouldn't talk about that, right?

I was a little concerned, but I decided to stay quiet and not ruin the mood.

Miyuki was much wiser than I was; she would handle it properly on her own.

"Should we catch a movie at the theater next door before we go?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"Matsuda. What brings you here?"

On Monday morning, I dropped by the Club Room to quickly check our supplies, only to run into Director Goro.

He had dark circles under his eyes and looked like his life force had been sucked dry.

Did he have a tough title defense this weekend? If it was too hard for him, I could help out a little...

I had sworn not to touch Goro's wife, but if it was consensual, that was a whole different story.

I wanted to ask if he ever invited another man over.

"Hello. A delivery arrived this morning, so I came to check if everything was here."

"I already checked it earlier. It's all here."

"I should check it myself too. I'm the manager, after all. Oh, it's not that I don't trust you, Director. I'm just looking through it to organize things."