Chapter 269

“Haa...”

Lying spread-eagle and staring up at the ceiling, Renka let out a long exhale. Why did she keep falling into this kind of relationship with Matsuda? She should have cut ties with him immediately, yet here she was.

Until now, she had always thought of herself as someone who knew exactly where to draw the line. But after talking with him, she realized she was nothing of the sort. She was entirely too indecisive, and she let Matsuda sway her far too easily.

What had possessed her back at the Hotel? To talk to him so completely out of character, just to satisfy his ears... Renka shook her head as she remembered the smirk on his face while he lay pinned beneath her.

‘I must be out of my mind...’

To make matters worse, she had actually enjoyed following his lead. She usually harbored those kinds of submissive desires in secret, but today, the feeling had surged stronger than ever. It was as if her feelings for him were growing deeper by the day.

“Haaaa...”

Sighing over and over, Renka grabbed her carefully maintained shinai and headed outside. She needed to swing her Sword and catch some fresh air, or her thoughts would stay in a tangled mess until tomorrow.

“Are you going to practice?”

Her mother called out from the living room sofa, where she sat beside her father. Seeing the two of them so deeply in love—her father's arm draped over her mother's shoulders, and her mother's arm around his waist—brought a bright smile to Renka's face.

“Yes.”

“You could just practice indoors. Do you really have to go outside?”

“I want to get some fresh air.”

“Alright. It's late and chilly out tonight, so don't overdo it.”

“Got it.”

What would her parents think of Matsuda if they met him? He was surprisingly polite and sociable when dealing with the coach or older customers... They might actually end up liking him.

Still mulling it over, Renka stepped outside, pulled her clothes tighter around herself, and began to swing her shinai. The biting cold and fierce wind meant she would have to oil the bamboo thoroughly after practice, but maintaining her shinai was already a part of her daily life. She didn't find it bothersome in the slightest.

She spent a long time drilling through repetitive motions. When the Cell Phone she had left on the wooden bench suddenly vibrated, she snatched it up, her heart leaping with an inexplicable burst of anticipation. But her expectations plummeted the moment she saw the caller ID.

[Junior: Miura Tetsuya]

It wasn't the call from Matsuda she had been hoping for. She scowled fiercely at the screen before suddenly snapping out of it and lightly slapping her own cheeks.

Reacting like this made it seem as though she held a grudge against Miura Tetsuya. That wasn't the case at all, so she needed to control her expressions. She might be alone right now, but if she let her reactions run wild, she might slip up and do the same thing in front of others.

‘Maintain a proper mindset,’ she reminded herself, reining in her emotions before answering the call.

“Hello?”

“It's been a while, President! I'm sorry for calling so late. Is it alright to talk?”

Energetic as always. Had he been keeping up with his Kendo practice? Come to think of it, Matsuda hadn't mentioned Kendo much lately... Had he given up on it entirely? Someone with his level of talent absolutely shouldn't quit. She would have to casually bring it up with him tomorrow.

“It's fine. How have you been?”

“I've been doing great! What about you, President?”

“I've been...”

Renka's voice trailed off, her mouth pressing shut. She had been under so much stress lately because of Matsuda that she found it hard to readily claim she was doing well.

Wait, was she actually stressed? Or was she genuinely enjoying her dangerous relationship with him? Just as she began asking herself these questions—

“Is something wrong?”

Tetsuya's innocent question made her flinch, and she quickly changed the subject.

“No, it's nothing. Anyway, why did you call?”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing, and I also wanted to ask about the next Kendo tournament. Do you know roughly when the matches will be held?”

“There will be one right before break ends. The date should be finalized soon, and the coach will let us know then.”

“Is that so? By any chance... am I included in the boys' tournament roster?”

“Of course you are. Everyone who participated in the last tournament will be going. Unless something extraordinary happens, I guarantee the roster won't change.”

“That's a relief.”

“Were you worried about that?”

“I-I wasn't worried, exactly... I just wanted to show that I've been practicing hard...”

Tetsuya's honest and naive response made Renka chuckle. A sudden thought struck her: what if Matsuda had a gentle, easygoing personality like Miura?

No matter how she looked at it, it was a terrible fit. Every person had an image that suited them best. Matsuda was far better suited to his current forceful and overbearing self.

Switching her Cell Phone to her other hand, Renka leaned her shinai against the bench's post and said, “We all know how hard you work, so don't worry. By the way, I recently started a part-time job. I'll send you the location, so you should come visit sometime.”

“A part-time job?”

“Yeah. I'm working at a cafe. Together with Matsuda.”

“...Huh? What was that?”

“I said I'm working.”

“No... not that... Who are you working with?”

“Matsuda.”

“...The Matsuda I know? Matsuda Ken?”

From the sheer confusion in Tetsuya's voice, he clearly had absolutely no idea that Matsuda was working at a cafe. Weren't the two of them friends? Even if they weren't incredibly close, it was something worth mentioning... Had they just not contacted each other all break?

“That's right.”

A heavy silence fell over the other end of the line. Wondering if he hadn't heard her, Renka asked, “Hello? Are you there?”

“Ah, yeah... I'm here. That's... really unexpected...?”

Unexpected... Considering how she and Matsuda usually looked at each other like mortal enemies, it was the perfect word for the situation.

“I didn't think things would turn out like this, either. I'll buy you a drink, so drop by when you have time. And if you have any questions about Kendo, feel free to ask me anytime.”

“Understood... Thank you.”

“Yeah. I'm hanging up now.”

After ending the call, Renka thought about sending Matsuda a message through AnyShare, but ultimately decided against it. She had been chatting with MK a lot recently, and Matsuda had already grown suspicious of her once before. It was best to avoid doing anything risky.

She couldn't afford to lose her only safe outlet for thoroughly cursing out Matsuda over a single momentary mistake. She needed to milk this for as long as possible.

Fiddling with her silent Cell Phone, Renka figured it was about time to change Matsuda's name in her contacts. Something like [Trash As Always] would be perfect.

Honestly, he should feel special. Other than Chinami, she never put this much thought into what she named people in her phone. Matsuda ought to be thanking her. Of course, if he ever found out, he would jump on it as fuel to run wild all over again.

Anyway, what kind of play would they do next? What happened today had been a massive shock. A Choker with a cat bell attached to it on a person's neck... She wasn't sure if she should consider herself lucky that he hadn't used a leash.

‘Does that mean the leash is next...?’

MK had mentioned a leash before, so regardless of when it happened, he was definitely going to try that play eventually. When that time came, how should she accept it? She didn't know. She would have to wait until it actually happened to decide.

To be completely honest, today's play was intensely humiliating, but it hadn't actually been bad. It was obvious how much Matsuda loved her body, and since he had climaxed much faster than during their first time, she felt a subtle sense of pride. That was probably why she found herself secretly looking forward to it—looking forward to the next time they slept together.

‘No...!’

Forcing down the overwhelming feelings bubbling up inside her, Renka stared up at the starry night sky for a moment before heading back inside. ‘Tomorrow, I'll bundle myself up completely just to annoy Matsuda...’ she thought to herself.

“I already knew. Why didn't I say anything? Is it something I really needed to mention?”

Sitting on the mattress, tightly wrapped in a blanket, Miyuki was on the phone with someone.

“Yeah, yeah... Right. No, it's fine. Our next study session? Let's do it on Wednesday. That's Matsuda-kun's day off.”

Listening to the conversation, I realized Miyuki was talking to Tetsuya. It seemed he had figured out I was working with Renka through some avenue. Of course, that avenue was definitely Renka herself. He must have called the President he admired so much after a long time, only to get hit with a massive shock.

I was genuinely curious about the look on his face when he found out, but right now, I didn't have time to care about a piece of trash like Tetsuya. Rather than that bastard's face, I was much more worried about how I was going to tell Miyuki about my relationship with Renka.

I thought about it constantly, but not only could I not figure out the right angle, I couldn't even bring myself to open my mouth. Remembering how Miyuki had reacted before our threesome with Chinami... I was terrified of how she would react this time.

Since she had already given me permission for a threesome once, there was a chance the situation wouldn't escalate as badly as I feared, but the odds of that were incredibly low.

Wasn't there a good way to go about this? Should I ask her to marry me and just slam down a marriage registration first? It felt a little extreme, but we were planning on doing it in the future anyway. I could tie Miyuki down firmly with that, and then... No, was that going too far?

But suddenly, I was curious. If I brought up marriage to Miyuki right now, how would she take it?

There was no doubt that she loved me, but I felt like she might say she needed to think about it, simply because the idea of getting married at such a young age was scary. On the other hand, Miyuki was deeply sentimental, so if I set the mood and confessed properly, she might just accept it on the spot.

“Alright, see you later.”

Ending the call with a cheerful voice, Miyuki thrust her Cell Phone toward me. Realizing the gesture meant she wanted me to charge it for her, I let out a dry laugh.

“Am I your servant?”

“I can't move right now, so you could at least do this much for me.”

“What do you mean you can't move...”

“Ah, come on, hurry...!”

Seeing her bounce her blanket-wrapped body up and down as she whined, a smile threatened to spread across my face. She seemed to be in a good mood... Should I bring it up now? No, dropping it on her without warning would only shock her.

I took her Cell Phone, plugged in the charger, and then tapped Miyuki, who was still lying curled up in her blanket.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Just felt like calling you.”

“What the... so childish...”

Looking at me like I was being ridiculous, Miyuki scrunched up her face playfully. Seeing how lively she was made me even more hesitant to bring it up. Had I always been this indecisive?

What if I asked for another threesome with Chinami? She would probably be less resistant to that than hearing about Renka, so starting from there might not be a bad idea.

For now, I should focus on raising Miyuki's affection even more. Only when her feelings for me were much deeper than they were now would anything I tried actually work.

Tucking away my fears about the impending future into a corner of my heart, I climbed on top of Miyuki and forcefully pulled open the blanket she was trying so hard to keep wrapped around herself. Then, I started tickling her.

“Ah, stop it...!”

Miyuki burst into a fit of giggles, loving every second of it. I spent a long time sharing sweet, affectionate touches with her as the night slipped away.