Chapter 279

Folding her cheap umbrella as she stepped inside, Renka locked eyes with her mother, who was sitting in the living room with a face mask on.

"You're late. I thought you said you'd be home around nine?"

"I ended up getting dinner..."

"With that younger coworker of yours?"

"Yeah. But what's with the face mask?"

"A friend gave it to me, so I figured I'd try it out. Want to do one?"

"No, I'm good..."

"Suit yourself. Oh, and I cleaned your room."

"You didn't touch the display shelves, did you?"

Her mother shook her head in exasperation.

"I was just going to dust the outside, but I knew you'd throw a fit, so I left it alone."

"Why would I throw a fit over that...?"

"You used to."

"Th-that was when I was a little kid!"

"So you wouldn't throw a fit now? Does that mean I can dust them?"

"No."

"See?"

She always felt like she was being swept into her mother's pace during these conversations. Just like when she talked to Matsuda.

The only difference was that she knew when to back down with her mother, whereas with Matsuda, she just couldn't stop herself from provoking him. She had no idea why.

Either way, sensing this was a losing battle, Renka decided to stop talking back and hurried off.

"I'm going to go wash my hands."

"Your hands? Not a shower?"

"I already took—"

Renka caught herself just before she could blurt out that she'd already showered, hastily changing her tune.

"Ah, I meant I'm going to take a shower..."

"Go ahead."

Her mother still thought she and Matsuda had just watched a movie and grabbed dinner. Not wanting to raise any unnecessary suspicion, Renka took a second shower, went to her room, changed her clothes, and flopped down on her bed.

After the freezing Club Room, the blankets felt remarkably cozy. Her face relaxing into a soft expression before she knew it, her cheeks flushed as she recalled the events of the day.

She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that she would actually sleep with Matsuda in the Club Room. Even knowing the building was empty, she'd been a nervous wreck, and when the security guard had come around on patrol, she thought she was genuinely going to pass out.

But it had been fine. Oddly thrilling, even? To say she enjoyed it might have been a stretch, but it hadn't been terrible. That felt like a fair assessment. Though, if asked to do it again, she'd refuse in a heartbeat.

Being left alone with Matsuda afterward had been genuinely wonderful. Not the humiliating positions, of course—what she'd liked was the way he had so sincerely pulled her into his arms once everything was completely over.

She had been spanked beforehand—it hadn't hurt much, but she had still been hit with his bare palm—and he'd kept it up even while they were having sex. Truthfully, it had made her feel a bit miserable. Like he was just treating her as his plaything.

She knew Matsuda didn't actually see her that way, but human emotions were fickle. The positions had been so degrading that she had been on the verge of actually getting upset, but the moment he apologized and held her tight, all those negative feelings melted away.

Matsuda just liked that sort of play, and was gentle once it was over. That was the conclusion she'd reached.

'Wait, doesn't that count as... spanking?'

No, there was no 'count as' about it—that was definitely spanking. She just wasn't sure if she should keep indulging him or not. She doubted Matsuda would ever cross the line, but it was just a bit... humiliating? The whole thing left her feeling rather conflicted.

Click.

Lost in thought, Renka tapped the home button on her Cell Phone and opened the AnyShare app. It was time to lightly poke the bear—Matsuda's online persona, MK.

No matter how much she had loved his embrace earlier, she couldn't just give up her greatest source of entertainment. Pestering him on a regular basis was exactly what she needed to unwind, making this the perfect time to shoot him a message. Since it had been a while since she last messaged MK, the chances of Matsuda connecting her to Ino-chan were practically zero.

Happily plotting her opening move, Renka ignored the flood of unread direct messages in her inbox and reached out to MK.

[Excuse me, MK.]

How long would he take to reply? Had Matsuda showered yet? Guys usually washed up faster than girls... Was he lying in bed right now, just like her? Or had he already fallen asleep?

Just as her imagination began to wander, a reply from MK popped up.

[Yeah, what.]

One corner of Renka's mouth curled up at his arrogant response. Completely oblivious to her own smile, she let her imagination run wild on how best to mess with him and quickly tapped away on her Cell Phone.

[Still as ill-mannered as ever, I see. Do your friends tell you you're a jerk often? Oh, wait, your personality is so rotten you probably don't have any friends to begin with, huh?]

[Did you get drunk today or something? Why are you being so damn rude?]

[I'm not talking, I'm typing.]

[You understood what I meant, there was no need to correct me. Aren't you the one with no friends, Ino-chan? Considering how frustrating you can be.]

[Please refrain from personal attacks. A polite chat culture is something we build together.]

[You literally started the rude chat yourself... Unbelievable.]

[(＾∇＾) Let's just smile.]

[You're just pissing me off.]

This was fun. Truly, genuinely fun. It was an incredibly childish conversation, so why was she enjoying it so much? She felt like a kid again.

[You haven't been active much lately. Did something happen?]

MK's next question followed. I haven't been active because my real life is too busy thanks to a certain someone, you bastard. Swallowing back those exact words, Renka sent her reply.

[Who asks people on a forum about their personal lives?]

[I can ask if I want to. We're close, aren't we?]

[I'm pretty sure that's entirely in your head.]

[We aren't close?]

[I wouldn't say we aren't close, but we're definitely not close enough to say it openly.]

[Now I'm hurt.]

[Well, I'm not hurt at all.]

[You really have a knack for earning yourself a beating. Want to meet up?]

[Are you planning to beat me up if we meet?]

[No. So we can get close.]

A sudden thought crossed her mind. What if she actually agreed to meet up, and Matsuda found himself face-to-face with Renka? What would happen when he realized she was Ino-chan?

At first, he'd probably just stare at her with a blank, dumbfounded expression before freaking out, right? And then... he'd give her a massive punishment. It wouldn't just end with the sort of affectionate spanking she'd gotten today. Forget getting her bottom smacked; he might actually bring out a whip.

She could absolutely never let him find out. But at the same time, she couldn't help but be a little curious about his reaction.

[I have no desire to meet you, so I'll just admit that we're close.]

[Suit yourself. What a weirdo. Anyway, since you messaged me, I'll recommend a training genre manga.]

Recommending a training genre manga completely out of the blue... She wasn't particularly eager to read it, but Matsuda did have good taste in manga...

[Spit it out, then.]

[Watch your mouth, why don't you?]

Wasn't that what he always said to her in real life? Why would he say that to Ino-chan...? Obviously, she was Ino-chan, but it still felt a little strange to hear.

Was he flirting with Ino-chan because he knew she was a girl? No, his messages were way too abrasive for that to be the case. Should she be relieved that he wasn't trying to score points with her online alter ego?

[If you aren't going to recommend it, I'm logging off.]

Feeling a faint twinge of disappointment—so slight she didn't even notice it herself—Renka sent a snappy reply. Immediately, MK responded with an image attachment.

It was an image of a female character covered in small cuts, dripping clear fluid from between her legs. An incredibly explicit character. Right beside her were the words: [Shinobi, Fallen.]

It looked like a story about a ninja who had been captured by enemies and subjected to training... It was intensely explicit. Surely Matsuda wasn't planning on giving her scars as severe as that... right?

Regardless, this wasn't a long-running serialized manga; it was a short volume... Specifically, an erotic doujinshi purely focused on smut.

[You expect me to read this?]

[Yep. Read it and shoot me a DM with your review.]

Judging by the serial code on the cover, it was an officially published commercial work. But looking at the grainy quality of the image, it was blatantly an illegal scan.

There was no way Matsuda had actually downloaded it. For one, he was an analog type, and despite his image, he was actually quite honest. He had probably just searched for it to show her the title and cover together, and screenshotted whatever popped up.

Even so, she wasn't going to let an opportunity like this slide. Matsuda always tormented her over the most trivial things, so this was simply karmic retribution.

[Illegal downloads are a bannable offense.]

[I didn't download it.]

[A very unconvincing excuse. I'm reporting you.]

[Knock yourself out.]

That hadn't fazed him at all. Was he just that confident in his own innocence? She felt inexplicably annoyed. Since she had no intention of actually reporting him, Renka swiftly changed the subject.

[The character design is pretty explicit.]

[Because it's for adults.]

[I get that, but isn't this a little much? Don't you feel bad for the character?]

[She ends up finding happiness through her training anyway, so it's fine.]

[You are so utterly shameless. You sound like a sociopath.]

[So you don't want to read it?]

[I'll read it since you recommended it, but don't hold your breath for a glowing review.]

[Make sure the review is at least 500 words long.]

[凸( '-´ )凸]

Flipping Matsuda off with an emoticon, Renka closed AnyShare before he could reply. Having a childish conversation that even an elementary schooler wouldn't have had left her feeling thoroughly refreshed. Now, it was time to get a good night's sleep.

That being said, she really dreaded having to work all by herself tomorrow... Should she ask Matsuda to come in and help her out? The Boss had explicitly told her to ask Matsuda for help, find a substitute, or just let him know if things got too overwhelming, so it wasn't like she'd get in trouble for it...

No, if she did that, he would definitely use it as an excuse to make her do something weird again. She could always just ask Chinami to pitch in or reach out to another friend, so she decided to just wait and see how things played out tomorrow.

Having completely wrapped up her day, Renka tied her long hair up and closed her eyes.

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