Chapter 326

"Aaaaaaaah!!!"

Thump! Bam!

Renka screamed, pummeling her bed.

Her mother stepped into the room to find Renka throwing a tantrum, her face burning crimson with mortification.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

But Renka either didn't hear her or didn't care; she just kept throwing her fit.

She thrashed around on the mattress like she was having a seizure.

"Ugh! Eek!"

She flinched at the empty air as if she had seen a ghost, letting out bizarre shrieks.

"..."

Renka's mother stared at her daughter in speechless disbelief for a moment. Once she realized Renka wasn't actually hurt, she shook her head and left the room.

Completely oblivious to the fact that she had just bared her most embarrassing depths to her mother, Renka continued her eccentric thrashing for a long while before she finally stilled.

"Hah... Hah..."

Staring up at the ceiling as she gasped for breath, her mind was entirely consumed by humiliation.

All she could do was sigh. Every word she had exchanged with Matsuda via messages now felt agonizingly embarrassing.

She shouldn't have used those emojis. She had only done it so he wouldn't connect her real self to Ino-chan, but if she had known it would end up like this, she never would have touched them.

She should have been more careful. She had been far too complacent.

Bzzzt!

Laying as still as a corpse and holding her breath, Renka bolted upright when a vibration hummed from the foot of the bed.

Her Cell Phone must have slipped into the gap by the wall while she was pummeling the mattress.

Grunting with effort, Renka fished out her dropped Cell Phone, unlocked it, and checked the notification.

Then, she let out a short curse.

"God dammit...!"

An alert glowed on the screen: [You have received a message from MK.]

She didn't want to check it. A massive part of her just wanted to delete the app right then and there.

But she was also curious. No, rather than curiosity, it was the crushing realization that she couldn't avoid it—she might as well just get the beating over with.

Her hand trembled around her Cell Phone as she finally tapped the notification and opened AnyShare.

Then...

[Hello, President.]

As soon as she saw Matsuda's message, she screamed in despair.

"Aaaaaagh!"

She knew this would happen.

She shouldn't have admitted it. Not to the bitter end.

She should have shamelessly insisted that she had no idea what he was talking about.

Wait, back in the car she had only told him to drop dead; she hadn't explicitly admitted anything. If she just played dumb, wouldn't it eventually blow over?

Spinning that delusion in her head, Renka agonized for a long time over what to do before her reluctant fingers finally moved over the screen.

[What's a President?]

[Right. You don't need to know.]

Ah... she should have just replied with a hello.

Trying to pull a pathetic stunt like that only made her feel even more ashamed.

Scrolling up through her chat history with Matsuda, her face burned hotter than ever.

The thought that Matsuda had probably read every single one of her incredibly nerdy, otaku-reeking reviews drove her absolutely insane.

She wanted to die.

She had no idea how she was going to face Matsuda tomorrow.

She was confident she could avoid him during morning and afternoon classes, but at the Kendo Club...

"Ah..."

Just picturing Matsuda's amused face made her want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

[Are you not going to answer?]

Another message from Matsuda popped up.

If she didn't reply, he would definitely use that as an excuse to punish her again.

But what could she do? She had nothing to say.

Slumping down as if struck by lethargy, Renka stared blankly at her Cell Phone. When the screen timed out and went black from her lack of touch, she decided to just go to sleep.

Thump.

She weakly tossed her Cell Phone aside and pulled up the covers. Slowly, sleep crept over her... not at all.

"Eek! Ugh!"

Bam!

Bizarre groans tumbled from her lips, and her legs shot up against her will, violently kicking the blankets.

True, unadulterated embarrassment. Renka was feeling it to her very core right now.

Smack! Smack!

She slapped her still-burning cheeks hard a few times, then jumped up to turn off the light.

Returning to bed, she forced her eyes shut in the dark, quiet sanctuary of her room.

'Calm down. If I show Matsuda any weakness, he'll eat me alive.'

'I just need to act shameless so I don't lose the battle of nerves.'

I could tell from far away. Renka's face was utterly haggard.

She must have stayed up all night with her eyes wide open. Classic.

Looping around the schoolyard so she wouldn't spot me, I quietly crept up behind her and poked her shoulder.

Then, with a playful tone, I greeted her.

"Hello, President."

The exact same line I had sent in my message yesterday.

Renka reacted instantly.

"Heeeek...!?"

She froze completely, her arms snapping tight against her sides.

Was that what it looked like when all the hairs on someone's body stood on end?

I had certainly learned something new today.

Stepping up beside her, I asked, "Aren't you going to say hello back, President?"

"Ah, um... h-hello."

"What about Master?"

"I, I d-don't kn-know. First... School Store."

"Why are you stuttering so much? What are you trying to say? That you went to the School Store?"

Without answering, Renka just bobbed her head up and down like a freshly manufactured robot.

"Then why did you say you didn't know?"

"..."

She really couldn't even think about moving, just rolling her eyes around.

I was trying to make her feel comfortable, but apparently, she wasn't taking it that way.

I understood, though. After pressuring her so hard yesterday, it would be weird if she didn't think I was a crazy bastard for suddenly acting all soft and friendly today.

"Were you sleeping when I messaged you yesterday?"

"...Huh?"

"I asked if you were falling asleep when I sent those messages."

"Uh... yeah... that's right. That's why I couldn't reply."

Anyone could tell she hadn't slept a wink. 'Sleeping,' my ass.

I liked that our Renka was so easy to read.

"Are you not going to go?"

"Go? Ah, right. Yeah."

"Speak clearly."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't, know."

She wasn't even listening to me anymore.

Wondering how I should comfort this girl who was just answering via stream of consciousness, I leaned in and brought my lips to her ear.

Then, I whispered in a very quiet voice, "I let you go yesterday so I didn't get to mention it, but how about we talk about your punishment in the Club Room today?"

Having listened to me blankly like her soul had left her body, she violently jolted at the word 'punishment'.

"Hek!? Euk!?"

The weird little noises she made were cute.

And yet, she still couldn't put up a fight.

It was proof that she was incredibly ashamed of what she had done, while also completely lacking the mental bandwidth to lash out—that kind of reaction.

That was exactly why I wanted to keep teasing her.

Because the gap between her usual facade and her true self was just too massive.

"Shall we see each other later, then?"

"Ah, s-sure."

"Got it. I'll send Ino-chan a message."

"Eek!? Hyak?"

"Just kidding. See you later."

To ease the burden on Renka, who was starting to look genuinely pitiful, I patted her on the back a couple of times and quickly slipped away.

Before entering the school building where my classroom was, I glanced back.

I saw Chinami, who had just returned from buying food at the School Store, standing on her tiptoes and inspecting Renka's face from all angles.

Even so, Renka just stood rigidly in the exact spot where we had talked, completely motionless.

I couldn't see well from this distance, but she was probably breaking out in a cold sweat.

Fun. Very fun.

Just thinking about Renka over the next few days was going to keep a blooming smile plastered across my face.

"Matsuda."

Renka called out to me after I had changed into my Training Uniform.

Approaching her, I answered brightly, "Yes."

"What's wrong, with this shinai? Are you, joking?"

I thought she had recovered, but she was still speaking as stiffly as if she were reading from a textbook.

I guessed this would last for about a week.

As Renka held out a shinai she seemed to have brought from the Storage Room, I asked, "Why? What's wrong with it?"

"It's not, wiped, properly."

Her face was growing redder by the second as she spoke.

Facing me brought it all back. Everything she had done as Ino-chan.

Even in the midst of that, I had to praise her courage for trying to pick a fight just so she wouldn't lose to me.

"It looks perfectly clean to me."

"No, it's not."

"Are you sick or something?"

"..."

Did she feel a sense of self-loathing over the words slipping out contrary to her true feelings?

Renka's face turned sullen.

But only for a moment; realizing I was right in front of her, she quickly widened her eyes and glared at me.

I had already seen right through her, so I had no idea what she thought acting like this would accomplish...

Was she slowly going crazy? It was a little concerning.

"Wipe it, again... Ahem...! Wipe it again!"

"That was a bit more natural, but I think you put too much strain on your vocal cords this time."

"Shut up. Just wipe it down again."

After my critique, her tone sounded a bit more natural.

I didn't know whether to call it a relief or a shame.

As I grabbed the handle of the shinai Renka held out, I sneakily brushed the back of her hand.

At the exact same time, her shoulders twitched.

Grinning at her slight shudder, I said, "I have something quick I need to discuss with you, so could you come with me to the Storage Room?"

"N-no."

As if sensing that I was about to bring up the punishment I mentioned this morning, Renka shook her head frantically.

Today was the day the new club members were joining; if she acted this cute right now, her reputation as the rising star of the Kendo World would be completely ruined.

She had absolutely zero dignity right now.

"Don't be like that, just give me five minutes. It's free practice time right now anyway."

Renka furiously shook her head again.

Giving her a stern look for throwing a childish tantrum, I spoke again.

"Come here."

"..."

Our Renka always forced me to use a commanding tone.

I headed into the Storage Room, followed by Renka, who trailed behind me dragging her feet with her shoulders slumped in defeat, looking like a criminal marching to her execution.