Chapter 224

“Why are you acting so cocky?”

“Co-cocky...? Is that really something you should be saying to me?”

“I can say it since we’re close friends, right?”

“You keep trying to gloss over the situation by playing dumb, but we’re not close at all...”

Renka stopped mid-sentence and snapped her mouth shut.

Her eyes went wide in a sudden glare.

It was because I had leaned in even closer to her already near face.

“What are you doing...! Hey...! What are you doing...?”

Renka frantically demanded to know my intentions.

She seemed to think I was just going to push forward and crash my lips into hers.

I flashed her a grin.

“What are you smiling at...”

Renka gritted her teeth, ready to snap at me, but I gently pressed my forehead against hers.

Tap. Along with that soft sensation, Renka’s body heat transferred over.

Feeling that warmth against my skin, I pulled back.

If it were the old Renka, she would have slapped me for doing something like this out of nowhere.

But not now. She just sat frozen, her mouth hanging open at my sudden behavior.

Thinking her dazed expression was cute and pretty, I spoke.

“Let’s go.”

@@

Creaaak...

Listening to the dry hinges grind together, Renka stepped inside her house.

Sitting at the dining table and filling out the household ledger, Renka’s mother offered a gentle smile.

“You’re back?”

“Yes... I’m home.”

“Did you eat?”

“I filled up on Popcorn...”

“Is Popcorn going to be enough? I bought some bread, so grab a piece. Let me know if you’re still hungry.”

“Okay, Mom.”

“Why do you sound so down? Did another limited-edition figure sell out?”

“I-I didn’t go to a figure shop...”

“Then are you sick?”

Judging by how dazed she felt, calling it a sickness probably wasn’t far off.

Renka shook her head and replied as she untied her combat boots.

“No. I’m just like this because the movie is still lingering in my head.”

“Really? It must have been a good movie.”

It had been fun.

The problem was that she had completely forgotten the plot because of what happened afterward.

Flashing an awkward smile, Renka said, “Yeah, it was worth watching. I’m going to my room.”

“Alright.”

Without even thinking to wash her hands, Renka entered her room and collapsed onto her bed.

Pulling the covers over herself without changing clothes, she rested a hand on her forehead.

She absentmindedly touched the spot Matsuda had bumped, wondering what his intentions were.

Was he throwing down the gauntlet to challenge her, since she grumbled at him every chance she got?

That definitely wasn’t it.

Then was it just to tease her?

If so, it had worked perfectly.

She couldn’t even think straight.

To the point where she couldn’t even remember what Matsuda had said before she got out of the car.

‘Did he say he’d see me tomorrow...? Or tell me to call him...?’

And that wasn’t the only thing missing from her memory.

Like someone who had blacked out from heavy drinking, she simply couldn’t recall a single conversation she had with Matsuda from the hallway of the Screening Room all the way back home.

But why had she just stood there when Matsuda did that?

She didn’t even remember how she felt at that moment, so she had no clue.

It was funny when she thought about it. She hadn’t considered herself entirely clueless about this sort of thing... but she supposed she was.

Debating whether to contact Matsuda or not, Renka just tossed her Cell Phone aside.

There was no need to go out of her way to message him.

Why? She wasn’t Matsuda’s girlfriend, and it wasn’t like they had a thing going on.

The jerk had Chinami, so there was no need for her to care.

Thinking about it, she felt like she was being swayed by Matsuda at every turn.

She couldn’t let herself get swept up in his pace. She needed to pull herself together.

Or so Renka told herself, before suddenly recalling the prank Matsuda had pulled in the Screening Room.

Matsuda mimicking the male lead’s lines right before the romantic kiss scene...

When he’d asked in a low voice if she wanted to kiss, she had been so startled she ended up causing a disturbance to the people around them.

‘Isn’t he a total psycho...?’

He should have at least gauged how the other person would take it before saying something like that.

Especially since they weren’t even together...

Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t like they were absolutely nothing to each other, but it was still too shameless of him.

After teasing her, Matsuda was probably... heading back to his house with a blank mind.

That slippery bastard... If it were up to her, she would’ve smacked him over the head with a shinai.

Suddenly infuriated, Renka let out a sharp huff of air.

She decided to take her stress out on MK, Matsuda’s alter ego, later.

It felt a bit pathetic, but what else could she do?

If she snapped at Matsuda to his face, he would obviously just find some weird excuse to pick on her again.

It was better to comfortably torment MK, who had no idea of Run Ino-chan’s true identity.

But what if, just what if MK wasn’t Matsuda?

What if he was just some user who liked the training genre and coincidentally shared Matsuda’s initials?

‘No...’

Reaching that point in her thoughts, Renka shook her head vigorously.

Their names, speech patterns, and inclinations were the same, of course. Factoring in when Matsuda started showing interest in anime and MK’s recent registration date, it was highly, highly probable they were the same person.

She used to be eighty percent sure, but now it was ninety... no, she figured it was over ninety-nine percent.

So she could curse him out without holding back.

Passing the time with those wicked thoughts, Renka looked over at the figure display cabinet in her room.

Right in the center stood a 1/7 scale figure of an action series protagonist... It was absolutely brilliant.

Just looking at it naturally soothed her heart.

Once she got her paycheck from her part-time job, she’d buy the main heroine’s figure to give him a partner.

Feeling her troubled emotions fade, she picked up her Cell Phone.

Then, she tilted her head.

She had a message from Matsuda.

[I’ve arrived.]

When did he send this? She hadn’t even felt a vibration.

Wondering what was up, she checked her Cell Phone settings and realized it was on silent.

‘Ah, right.’

She had set it to silent for the movie.

The message had arrived ten minutes ago. She wondered if Matsuda would be annoyed about the late reply.

Wait, why was she worrying about this?

Who cared if Matsuda was annoyed or not?

Briefly astounded by her own thoughts, Renka irritably untied her long ponytail and tapped away on her Cell Phone.

[So what.]

Even after she sent it, no reply came.

Just as Renka was starting to get pointlessly anxious, wondering if her response had been too cold...

[Why is your reply so slow?]

Matsuda’s reply arrived.

He must have seen his Cell Phone while doing something else.

[It can be slow. Am I supposed to wait around holding my Cell Phone so I can reply immediately the second you message me?]

[Obviously.]

[That’s the most absurd thing I’ve heard all year.]

[Barely a few days have passed this year.]

[It was for emphasis. You take things too literally. You have zero sense.]

[Sense? I probably have more of it than a conservative President. What are you doing?]

[None of your business.]

[When are we doing the cosplay?]

[Cosplay? Where is this coming from?]

[Let’s not play dumb. Before going home, I asked if you’d thought about it, and you said okay, that you’d do it.]

“What...?”

A dumbfounded gasp slipped from Renka’s lips.

She had agreed to cosplay for him?

She had no idea what kind of nonsense he was spouting.

[There’s no way I’d say something that ridiculous.]

[Should I pull the dashcam audio tomorrow?]

Seeing him so confident in checking the facts, she figured she really must have said it.

Did she actually agree to the cosplay?

It was utterly despair-inducing. She had been scammed.

This was... right, that was it.

Like smoothly coaxing someone out of their mind drunk, this was a scheme plotted for when the other party couldn’t grasp the situation properly.

This verdict was invalid, so she shouldn’t get roped into it.

[I’m not doing it.]

Bzzzzzzt-!

Her Cell Phone vibrated violently.

Seeing her denial, Matsuda called her immediately.

Would he be mad if she answered?

Clearing her throat once, Renka hit the accept button.

“What.”

—Wait, you made a promise. How can you do this?

“I have no memory of it.”

—I told you I’d pull the dashcam footage, didn’t I?

“How do I know the audio isn’t manipulated?”

—....Excuse me?

Matsuda asked, sounding completely baffled.

Honestly, even Renka thought it sounded ridiculous, so she just clamped her mouth shut.

—So this is how you’re going to play it? You’re playing dumb?

His voice sounded like he was plotting some wicked scheme.

At that, Renka began to consider... whether it would be better to just do it once rather than listen to him whine about it forever.

But she quickly snapped out of it and shook her head.

There was zero reason for her to do such a thing.

It wasn’t like she was some willing slave... Just having that thought was pathetic.

“Shut up. I’m going to rest, so hang up.”

—Just try hanging up. See what happens.

“What do you want from me...! I don’t want to cosplay...!”

—Actually, the cosplay was just an excuse. I just called because I was bored.

“....So you’re saying I don’t have to do it?”

—No. I’ll make sure you do it.

Flipping back and forth, she had no idea what his game was.

Scoffing in disbelief, Renka just decided to let it slide.

“Think whatever you want. Thoughts are free, anyway.”

—Alright then. I’m working the early shift tomorrow, right?

“Yeah.”

—And the day after is my day off?

“The Boss sent you the schedule. Read it properly, please.”

—But my President checks it for me. Come in ten minutes early tomorrow.

“Why?”

—Because I’ll be bored by myself.

“I don’t want to.”

—Please wear black skinny jeans.

Look at him, casually spouting demands again.

That was exactly Matsuda’s problem.

“Are you crazy? Don’t try to dictate my outfits, too.”

—I just meant I’d like it if you wore them.

“Why do you want me to wear black skinny jeans?”

—Because they’d look good on you, President.

“Then I’ll have to avoid wearing them.”

—Are you a green frog?

“Mind your own business.”

—What were you doing? Looking at figures?

Flinching at how spot-on he was, Renka furrowed her brow.

“Shut up.”

—I guess I nailed it. You have a figure display in your room too, don’t you? Is it packed full?

Now that she thought about it, she really was at the point where she needed a new display case.

“I have no obligation to answer that.”

—I’m hurt.

“Whatever.”

—Did you have fun today?

“No.”

—Well, I had fun.

“So what?”

—Let’s get dinner next time, too.

“I’m not eating with you.”

—Should we go check out a figure shop together tomorrow?

“....No.”

—Why did you pause just now? Were you tempted?

“Not at all.”

Strangely enough, she found Matsuda’s sly voice and random rambling kind of fun.