Chapter 222

Renka had bristled at my relentless insistence, but her silence was basically a yes, right?

If she didn't show up, I'd have to dish out a severe punishment.

I’d been outside long enough for the cold to get to me, so I hurried back inside.

Then I gently shook Miyuki, who was dead to the world on the warm mattress.

"Miyuki. Wake up."

"..."

"Miyuki."

"..."

"Hey. Wake up."

Breathing in a steady rhythm as she slept, Miyuki only reacted after I gave her a few more shakes.

She fumbled blindly until her hand caught my ankle, then weakly shook her head.

"Nooo..."

"Let's eat."

"We had ramen... early this morning..."

"Then at least get up. It's lunchtime."

"Ugh, seriously...!"

After whining in annoyance, the first thing Miyuki did was clutch her lower stomach and grimace.

I gently massaged her inner thigh and asked, "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Yeah..."

Considering she had walked around perfectly fine and even taken a shower after getting that feel-good massage yesterday, it couldn't be hurting that much.

She might have had some mild muscle aches, but nothing severe.

In short, she was playing it up for sympathy.

I slipped a hand behind Miyuki's back and pulled her up into a sitting position. I gently rubbed the corners of her eyes, then—

Tap, tap.

I lightly tapped her lips—dry from sleep but still soft and plump—and asked, "Aren't you going to study?"

"Study...? Yeah, I should..."

Looking at her face, it wasn't that she found the idea annoying, but she definitely wasn't eager.

Mission accomplished. Now I just needed to give her a little push.

"Should we just skip it today and rest?"

"...I shouldn't..."

"Hey, you placed tenth in the finals. You can afford to take the first week of vacation off, can't you? Miura got eleventh, anyway. You're improving fast and the results speak for themselves. There's no need to push yourself this hard."

"You think so...?"

"Exactly. Take a good rest today, and figure out a date later. Call Miura right now."

"Then... we definitely have to do it next time, okay...?"

"Got it."

Miyuki squirmed and wiggled her way into my lap as I sat cross-legged.

Leaning against my chest, she raised a limp arm to grab her Cell Phone and dialed Tetsuya's number.

I could faintly hear the dial tone from where I sat.

It didn't even ring twice before the line connected, and Miyuki spoke in a weak voice.

"Yeah... Tetsuya... Ah, no, it's just... I'm feeling a little under the weather today, so I think we'll have to study some other time... Huh? No, I'm not that sick... I'll be fine if I rest a bit... Thanks for worrying. And I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah... Okay. Got it... Let's grab a meal with your aunt's family later..."

He was whining about having a family dinner together again.

When was this bastard Tetsuya going to realize his place?

He'd probably never figure it out unless Miyuki or I spelled it out for him, right? He was always that kind of guy.

"I'll call you... Yeah..."

After hanging up with Tetsuya, Miyuki clung to me like glue as I tried to stand, refusing to let go.

I grabbed her by the waist and gently nudged her back.

"Let go for a second. Let me go brush my teeth."

"I need to too... Let's go together..."

"You have to let go so I can get up and we can go together."

"You can just walk with me hanging on... dummy..."

If she was being this clingy, completely unbothered by the guilt of ditching her loser childhood friend, she must have been incredibly satisfied yesterday.

Clicking my tongue in exasperation, I slipped my arms under Miyuki's thighs, braced my legs, and stood up.

Then I headed for the bathroom with her dangling from my body.

It was a perfectly peaceful day. I'd enjoy it while it lasted, then go back to bickering with Renka tomorrow.

[Are you awake?]

[Heavy cream, milk, shrimp, bacon, button mushrooms, spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce, salt, pepper]

I tilted my head at Renka's bizarre reply.

Had I messaged her right when she was texting someone else, causing her to mix up the chat windows?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, another message from Renka arrived.

[Add a pinch of salt to the spaghetti noodles and boil them. While the noodles cook, stir-fry onions, bacon, button mushrooms, and minced garlic in a frying pan. Once the ingredients are thoroughly cooked, add the shrimp.]

[What are you doing right now?]

[When the shrimp start to turn red, add the noodles, along with four spoonfuls of the pasta water, and stir-fry. After that, add the heavy cream and milk, season with salt and pepper, and then add the tomato sauce, simmering until it reaches the right consistency.]

Wait, was she seriously... using our chat room as her personal notepad?

Of course, she wasn't actually being serious. It was most likely just to provoke me, but... she'd really gotten bolder.

Chuckling to myself, I immediately called Renka.

The line barely rang twice before—

-Ah, damn it...

Renka answered the phone with a burst of blatant irritation.

She must have gotten pretty comfortable with me lately.

First dropping that pasta recipe on me, and now answering like this...

She was getting way too bold. I'd have to teach her a lesson with some heavy compliments this time.

"Excuse me? 'Damn it'?"

-...Why are you calling?

"I booked the movie tickets, that's why. What was with the sudden spaghetti recipe?"

-Because I felt like it.

"That's annoying. Did you manage your shift alright by yourself yesterday?"

-I wasn't alone. I was with the Boss.

"Right, but did it go well?"

-Of course. Efficiency went up without you there.

"Is that so? Weren't you bored?"

-Not at all. It was pure bliss.

"That hurts. Anyway, be out at the Main Gate in an hour."

-An hour...? That soon?

"Yeah. I want to see you right away."

I heard Renka sharply suck in a breath over the phone.

She seemed completely thrown off by my sudden, blunt display of affection.

Chuckling quietly, I gave my final notice.

"Get ready."

-...You could just go by yourself... so annoying.

I hung up on Renka's empty grumbling without replying, then took a thorough shower and got dressed.

Afterward, I drove over to Renka's place.

I hadn't been waiting out front with my hazard lights on for long before the Main Gate opened and Renka walked out.

She was wearing tight black jeans, combat boots that reached her lower calves, and a black shearling jacket patched with white fur.

It was the same dark, mature outfit she'd worn back when she'd first used her nephew as an excuse.

Back then, I'd thought she looked mature and full of sex appeal, but it felt a little different now.

Somehow, it seemed like a scoop or two of cuteness had been mixed in.

It might have been because she had zipped the jacket all the way up, letting the fluffy shearling collar wrap snugly around her neck. But honestly, it was mostly because of all her recent antics.

I found her cute because she had shown me her clumsy side so many times.

Lost in thought as I admired her, I waited until she crossed the distance with those long legs of hers and opened the passenger door before flashing a grin.

"Hey there."

"Just start driving."

"Say hello first."

"No."

"Who was it that said people need basic manners?"

"...Hi."

"Do you always have to be so stubborn? Wouldn't it be nicer if you just said hello like a normal person?"

In response, Renka ducked her chin deeply into the collar around her neck.

She looked like a pouting child refusing to speak anymore. I let out a chuckle, suddenly feeling the urge to tap the sharp tip of her nose peeking over her collar, and put the car in gear.

Then I casually threw out, "You look pretty today."

"..."

She instantly buried her nose into the collar as well.

Was she just ignoring me because she thought I was teasing her?

Or was she actually embarrassed?

It was probably a bit of both.

*

Renka was tall.

Because of that, she was the perfect height to put my arm around, especially compared to the other heroines.

Her shoulders sat at the exact right height—my arm didn't have to reach up or dip down.

Perhaps she found my intense staring uncomfortable, because Renka, who stood with her arms crossed in the elevator, shot me a glare.

"What are you staring at? You wanna die?"

"Why are you getting mad again? Am I not allowed to look?"

"No."

"Why are there so many things I'm not allowed to do? Are you a dictator or something?"

"Shut up."

"Then don't give me a reason to talk."

As we bickered, the elevator arrived at the ticket floor.

I stepped out and crossed the quiet lobby to the ticketing kiosks.

Then I printed out our reserved tickets and checked the School Store menu.

"What kind of Popcorn do you want?"

"Caramel."

"Eating all that sweet stuff will rot your teeth."

"Do I look like a kid? Besides, the regular Popcorn at this theater is too salty and tastes terrible."

"Is that so? How do you know that?"

"Because I've been here a lot with Chinami."

"Don't you usually get the peach powder flavoring when you come with Master?"

"I do, but... how did you know that?"

"Because I've been here with Master before, too. Anyway, we're going with caramel Popcorn, right?"

"Yeah."

"And drinks?"

"Iced coffee. You?"

"Just a cola."

"Got it. I'm paying for this, so go wait over there."

Renka waved her hand dismissively.

Instead of moving, I stuck even closer to her side and said, "Why should I go wait over there? I want to stay right here with you."

"Suit yourself."

With a light snort, Renka strode over to the counter on her long legs.

Without a second of hesitation, she ordered the couple's combo and upsized the Popcorn.

Back when Miyuki and I were still in the talking stage, she'd get completely flustered whenever I ordered a couple's set, but Renka was completely unfazed.

It didn't seem like she attached any real meaning to the "couple's" part—she was probably just thinking about the discount.

Carrying our Popcorn and drinks in a plastic carrier, we showed our tickets and headed straight into the Screening Room.

I had booked us seats in the far left corner of the back row.

If the Screening Room had been large, the angle might have ruined the viewing experience, but since it was a smaller theater, the entire screen was easy to see.

"There are plenty of seats. Why did you pick these?"

Why else? So we could secretly flirt in the corner.

I took the seat next to a complaining Renka and replied, "I've always liked sitting in the corner. Besides, it's not like we'll have trouble seeing the screen from here."

"You've got some weird hipster tendencies."

"It's not being a hipster, it's just personal preference. Do you prefer sitting in the center, President?"

"Yeah."

"That's a bit disappointing."

"Hearing that you're disappointed makes me feel great."

Soon enough, she'd come to love corner seats.

I'd make sure to train her that way.

How long had we been sitting there, watching the pre-show ads and playfully bickering back and forth?

The soft lights inside the Screening Room finally dimmed to black, hushing the quiet whispers of the few other patrons in the theater.

The distributor's logo flashed in the center of the screen, accompanied by the opening music.

Seeing it, Renka suddenly leaned in close and whispered, "By the way, what genre is this? The poster made it look like a romance, is that right?"

A ticklish thrill ran through me as Renka's voice brushed my ear. I leaned in, bringing my lips right next to her ear, completely enveloped in her sweet scent.

Then, deliberately letting out a puff of warm air, I whispered back, "I don't know."

"Eek...!"

Renka flinched hard, her shoulder shooting all the way up to her ear.

She frantically rubbed her arms as if trying to soothe goosebumps, then snapped in annoyance.

"Ah, what are you doing...!"

"What?"

"You blew in my ear...!"

"I was talking. Breathing is kind of unavoidable, don't you think?"

"What do you mean unavoidable...! You absolutely did that on purpose...!"

"Keep it down. You're bothering the other people here."

"I am being quiet...! You Trash...!"

"Calling me Trash just for exhaling a little too hard is pretty harsh. What, am I not even allowed to breathe around you?"