Chapter 296

Knock, knock.

I rapped on the solid wood. When a kind voice called out from inside, I opened the door. The distinct smell of medicine washed over me the moment I stepped in... It felt welcoming, somehow.

"Where does it hurt?"

The school nurse asked, looking up at me from her round stool. Her white coat and the blouse underneath still couldn't hide her bountiful chest.

"Oh? It's you."

She seemed to recognize me, but her expression remained stoic. Neither pleased nor annoyed, that blank face of hers made me want to paint it with pleasure.

"Hello."

"Hi. It's been a while. Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm not sick. I just came by to say hello."

"Just for that?"

Just for that... I had graced her with my presence, so she could at least pretend to be glad to see me. She was too cold. I decided to give her one penalty point. Once she reached five points, I would turn her into a lewd bitch. Come to think of it, she only called me 'you' when she recognized me. Did she even remember my name?

I placed a vitamin drink on her neatly organized desk and beat her to the punch before she could say anything else.

"I owed you a lot last year... I wanted to give you this, at least."

A faint smile formed on the nurse's face. Perhaps she thought it would be rude to reject my sincere gesture? She picked up the glass bottle and thanked me.

"Thank you. I'll enjoy it."

She definitely wouldn't have accepted it if I'd shown any ulterior motives. If the school nurse were a heroine, how high would her capture difficulty be? Swallowing my curiosity, I offered a grin.

"You're welcome. I'll get going now."

I bowed and turned to leave the Nurse's Office, but then—

"Take care, Matsuda."

Her friendly voice called out from behind me. She actually remembered my name. Then again, considering how much trouble I'd caused, it would be weirder if she didn't.

Leaving the Nurse's Office, I was passing through the First-Year Hallway when I stopped dead in my tracks in front of the bulletin board. Club promotional posters were plastered all over it. Had they made these already? I didn't know whether to praise the students for their overflowing passion or not.

There were posters for athletic clubs like soccer, baseball, volleyball, basketball, the Judo Club, boxing, and the Archery Club, as well as arts clubs like light music, brass band, and the art club. The variety of tasteful designs was impressive.

But why were they put up so early? Were they meant for the first-years to see when they came to check out their future classrooms? The Kendo Club... didn't seem to have one yet.

I scanned the board and was about to move on when I paused. Tucked away in a corner, something very pink was covered up by another poster. Thinking the color resembled a peach, I peeled back the poster on top.

'Huh...'

I found the Kendo Club's promotional poster. It featured a short slogan—[Come check out the Kendo Club and we'll give you a delicious peach!]—alongside several drawings of peach characters. Its personality was so strong that anyone could tell Chinami had made it.

I hadn't seen it because it was covered. But what was with offering peaches to people who visited the Kendo Club? It seemed completely irrelevant.

In the center of the poster was a picture of Renka participating in a match while wearing her Men, and a long list of the tournaments she had entered and the awards she had won was laid out at the bottom.

It also included a brief and engaging explanation of Kendo as a martial art. So while it definitely stood out, it didn't stray from its purpose of promotion. Chinami must have really racked her brain over this. How admirable.

Yet, those bastards from other clubs had covered up the promotional poster Chinami had put so much effort into. That was really, really, truly despicable. Chinami would be hurt if she saw this.

I thrust out my lower lip and looked around. Once I confirmed no one was watching, I ripped down the Judo Club and basketball club posters that had been covering Chinami's and crumpled them into my pocket.

They were popular clubs that didn't even need promotion, yet they had the nerve to pull something so mannerless just to keep Chinami's unique poster in check... I wouldn't be satisfied until I got my revenge.

I decided to come back every day and tear down only the Judo Club and basketball club posters. If any other club covered the Kendo Club's poster, I would add them to my revenge list. Grinning at Chinami's now fully visible poster, I left the area.

"Could everyone pay attention?"

Lunchtime. Standing at the teacher's podium, Miyuki gathered the attention of the rowdy students, and the classroom quickly quieted down.

"Thank you. An official notice just came down telling us not to damage the club promotional posters on the First-Year Hallway bulletin board. I believe no one in our class would do such a thing, but I'm passing it along because it's an announcement."

I couldn't help but flinch when I heard her words. It had only been three hours since I took them down, and they had already received a report and issued a notice? The Student Council worked incredibly fast.

Having delivered the announcement, Miyuki returned to her seat and poked me in the ribs. Then she called out to me quietly.

"Matsuda-kun."

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"About not damaging the posters."

"Why are you singling me out? Think I caused some trouble?"

Miyuki's eyes curved into a smile. She must have seen me flinch when she was speaking at the podium. She seemed to have also read the slight guilt hiding beneath my current calm expression.

Rustle.

I smacked my lips, wondering what to do, as Miyuki held out two crumpled posters. I had thrown them in the trash the moment I entered the classroom, but she must have accidentally found them. Realizing there was no use lying anymore, I obediently confessed.

"Those posters were covering the Kendo Club's."

"You can't just tear down other posters because of that. You could have told me or someone else on the Student Council. Then we would have sent out a notice not to cover them up, instead of one about not damaging them..."

Miyuki's voice gradually grew stern. She seemed angry that I hadn't handled the matter like a gentleman when I easily could have... It was perfectly understandable.

"I'm sorry. I got mad because they covered up what Senior Nanase worked so hard on in her spare time."

When I apologized and lowered my head slightly, Miyuki let out a helpless laugh.

"I understand. But let's try to be a bit gentler from now on, okay? You can do that, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'll let it slide this time since you've been doing well lately. Covering up other clubs' posters is definitely wrong too, so I'll notify all the clubs by the end of the day. So don't tear them down again."

"And if they cover them up after you tell them not to?"

"Then instead of crumpling them up like today, peel them off carefully and stick them next to it. Then tell me about it. Got it?"

I was planning on ripping them to shreds, but Miyuki stopped me in my tracks. Then again, it was exactly the kind of immature behavior she hated. In the past, it would have been enough to make her furious.

Even so, the fact that she let it slide with a verbal warning that barely felt like one was probably because the Judo Club and basketball club had spare posters... but more importantly, it was because she really liked me.

"Understood."

"Good."

Satisfied with my answer, Miyuki stroked my thigh. Her long, slender fingers gently swept up my winter uniform pants. Relaxing my lower body as a ticklish sensation crept up from there, I spent the rest of the time listening to Miyuki's gentle scolding.

"Junior! How is it!?"

Chinami held up the poster she had made right in front of my eyes. The way she presented it with both hands and a 'Ta-da!' was so cute it killed me. I had already seen the poster, but I needed to play dumb here.

"Did this come out today?"

"Yes!"

"How many did you make?"

"I only printed about five for now. I also put one up on the First-Year Hallway bulletin board."

"You made hardly any, huh?"

"Please consider this a sample for now. I want to design the official poster together with you, Junior."

"Is it okay if just the two of us make the poster?"

"The coach said the manager should have a strong say in the posters. I'll ask for everyone else's opinions too, of course, but for now, I think it's best if the two of us brainstorm."

"Is that so? Then could I take a look at it?"

"Of course. I'd love your feedback."

I agreed and took the poster Chinami offered, examining it closely. I had thought the same when I saw it earlier, but objectively speaking, she did a great job on this.

"It's unique, but I don't think it strays at all from its purpose of promoting the club. You did well."

"Hearing you say that makes it all worth it. Thank you, Junior."

"Don't mention it. But this part here... where it says we'll give out peaches if they come to visit? Are you planning to hand out peaches to everyone?"

"Of course. We can't break a promise, after all. I brought some frozen peaches today and put them in the Lounge refrigerator."

"...Really?"

"Yes. Do you think I should take that part out?"

"No. I think it's fine because it adds character."

"Doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Hehe... Hearing you say that makes my motivation soar even higher. Why are we just standing here? Shall we find a quiet spot to brainstorm ideas together?"

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the rather spacious Drying Room. Taking down a Blanket she had hung out earlier, she spread it on the floor, immediately sat on her knees, and patted the spot across from her.

"Here, take a seat. Let's put our heads together."

Chuckling at Chinami's enthusiasm, I sat down in front of her. She then set the poster down to the side between us, and—

Tap.

She pressed her forehead against mine. Then, before I even had time to be surprised, she squeezed her eyes shut, crossed her arms, and let out a sigh as if deep in thought.

"Hmm...! What kind of ideas could we use?"

It was both hilarious and adorable that she had taken the idiom 'put our heads together' so literally. Bursting into laughter on the inside at her eccentric behavior, I replied.

"Well... I really don't know anything about this stuff... I think the current poster is fine."

"Hmm... There's still time before the new students enroll, so it's okay to take our time thinking about it."

"Let's do that."

Readily agreeing, I grabbed Chinami by the hips and pulled her forward.

"Uh...!?"

The center of the Blanket laid flat on the floor folded up, bringing Chinami right in front of my nose. Taking in the sweet scent of peaches that immediately pierced my nostrils, I grabbed her soft, slender waist and spoke.

"Since we can take our time with the poster, should we just stay like this for now?"

"B-but we should still come up with at least one idea today... Ah...! Ah! That tickles..."

Every time I applied pressure to my fingertips, Chinami's body twitched, and I could feel the strength slowly draining from her. Her eyes were already starting to lose focus. Pressing firmly into her waist like a massage as she breathed out hot puffs of air, I moved my hands.

"Haa..."

She let out a languid breath as I moved my hands up to her ribs and armpits.

"Mgh...!?"

At the same time, her body gave a massive jolt. Seizing the opportunity, I put all my strength into my arms and lifted her onto my lap.

"Ngh...! J-Junior...! What if someone comes in..."

Chinami glanced at the Drying Room door with anxiety in her eyes. I stroked the back of her neck and slowly rocked my body back and forth like a swing to reassure her.

"It's fine, I locked the door."

"Huh...? When..."

"I locked it when we came in."

"Aha... I see..."

"Are you convinced?"

"Yes... Ah... My butt..."

"Why? Do you hate it?"

"N-no... That area was actually feeling a little tight... so I was going to ask... for a massage..."

One of Chinami's charming points was how quickly she accepted things when faced with an erotic situation like this.

"But..."

"But?"

"Your lower half... feels like it's getting hard..."

Saying incredibly naughty things in her own innocent tone was just a bonus. Flashing a gentle smile at her as she indirectly brought up my blood-engorged crotch, I spoke.

"It's because I'm having muscle problems."

"O-oh my... That's terrible... How should we fix it...?"

"It'll get better naturally."

"Aha... Ah...? It'll be a problem if you reach inside..."

"I'll just put it in a little."

"I-if that's the case... Alright..."

Chinami wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her crotch tightly against my stomach. Proof that she was properly turned on. Feeling her body heat rise in real time, I weighed exactly how far we could go here while continuing to caress her.