Chapter 381

"Board Markers? By color?"

"Yes."

"Hold on a second."

The kind teacher opened his desk drawer, pulled out a few Board Markers, and handed them to me.

He then offered some words of encouragement.

"You've been doing very well lately. You still have plenty of room to grow, so keep up the hard work."

I often heard this whenever I stopped by the Faculty Office.

It was because my grades were good and I wasn't causing any trouble.

I was happy about it. Still, it was a shame—it would have been much better if a female teacher had been the one praising me.

"Thank you."

"Right. Any thoughts on joining the Disciplinary Committee? I could even recommend you for the Student Council."

Hmm. Considering how long he'd been keeping an eye on me, that was quite a bold offer.

Come to think of it, didn't Miyuki also tell me to join the Disciplinary Committee the other day?

I flatly shook my head and answered.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I hate waking up early."

"Understood. Off you go."

"Have a good day."

I gave a slight bow and left the Faculty Office, heading back to the classroom.

I walked over to Miyuki, who was chatting happily with the Vice Representative, and set the markers down on her desk.

"What? This is all they had?"

"Yeah. I just took what he gave me."

"Really? Alright. Thanks for the effort."

Miyuki patted my back and pulled out a chair for me.

I chuckled at her sudden display of maturity. But the moment I sat down, she abruptly rested her hand on my thigh.

I flinched and stared at her, but she was still chatting with the Vice Representative, completely unaware of what she was doing.

In short, it was an instinctual action... seeking out something reliable to lean on.

Why did her displays of affection feel fresher the more I received them?

Her repertoire was practically always the same.

It was probably because she was just that adorable.

Once afternoon classes ended, Miyuki and I left the classroom together.

I was about to split off in the hallway as she headed for the Student Council Room, when—

"Huh...? You there! Hold on a second!"

Miyuki, who had stopped to chat with me while idly glancing over the hallway railing, suddenly shouted as if she had spotted something below.

I leaned over to see what was going on. Through the gap in the railing, I caught a fleeting glimpse of someone in a short skirt running away at the sound of Miyuki's voice.

A flash of blonde hair peeked out for a split second. It was definitely Hiyori.

"Asahina! That's you, Asahina, right! Stop right there!"

Miyuki seemed to have figured out her identity as well, calling out to Hiyori with absolute certainty.

Hiyori, of course, completely ignored her.

"That little...! Matsuda-kun, Asahina's club was the Fashion Design Club, wasn't it?"

Miyuki asked, marching down toward the hallway where the girl had just vanished.

She was scowling fiercely. I massaged the back of her neck to calm her down and replied.

"Yeah. Are you going there now?"

"Yep. She is so busted."

"Busted for what?"

"Her skirt. It's a violation of the school rules."

"You're going to give her penalty points?"

"Obviously. Why? Are you going to stop me?"

Seeing the absolute fire in her eyes, I realized my harem dreams were still a long way off.

I raised both hands in surrender and spoke.

"No."

Hiyori would just change her skirt before Miyuki even arrived anyway.

She wasn't the type of pushover who would obediently take penalty points.

Still, I wanted to watch the show. And while it was unlikely, an unexpected situation might arise, so I figured I should tag along.

"Good."

Miyuki let out a sharp huff. I headed to the Fashion Design Club with her, taking a step back to watch her work.

She introduced herself and her position to the President of the Fashion Design Club, asked for permission, and stepped inside. She quickly spotted Hiyori.

"Asahina. Come here for a second."

"Yes?"

Hiyori, who had been reading a book with Miho, answered with a completely innocent tone.

Miyuki was about to scoff at her, but—

"...Huh?"

She looked down at Hiyori's lower half and was thoroughly bewildered.

It was because Hiyori's skirt was slightly covering her knees.

Miyuki's eyes widened in sudden confusion as she stared at the hem. Hiyori tilted her head.

"What is it?"

"...You're wearing your skirt properly...?"

"My skirt? What about my skirt?"

"No... I mean... Weren't you by the hallway stairs earlier? Over by the First-Year Hallway..."

"I go there every day. When, exactly?"

"About... three minutes ago."

"No? I've been in here for about five minutes."

She was playing dumb so calmly.

It was so flawless that even I had a hard time telling if she was acting or telling the truth.

"R-Really...?"

Miyuki scratched her head, having fallen for Hiyori's lie hook, line, and sinker.

Hiyori narrowed her eyes and asked.

"Why? What's going on?"

"Well... Some blonde girl was wearing a really short skirt, and when I called out to her, she ran away..."

"And you thought that was me? There are plenty of other blonde girls around besides me."

Perhaps she flinched at Hiyori's slightly offended tone?

Miyuki obediently apologized.

"I'm sorry. It was a misunderstanding."

"It's fine. It happens."

There was one fact that the embarrassed Miyuki had completely overlooked.

And that was the fact that Miho's skirt was incredibly short.

They must have swapped skirts... but because Miyuki was solely focused on Hiyori, she hadn't noticed at all.

Were all the Fashion Design Club members accomplices?

No, judging by their eyes, they seemed to have no idea what was going on either.

When Hiyori vaguely stated she had been there for five minutes, the timeframe wasn't vastly different from what Miyuki claimed, so everyone just accepted it.

It was entirely Hiyori's one-woman show.

She was cunning beyond measure.

"Then... I've confirmed it, so I'll get going."

"Okay. But why is Matsumatsu-sunbae-nim here?"

Was Miyuki displeased by Hiyori calling me with such a familiar pet name?

Miyuki grabbed my wrist just as I was about to answer, gave a stiff bow to the President of the Fashion Design Club, and dragged me out of the room.

Then she spoke.

"Matsuda-kun, you go straight to the Kendo Club Room now. Don't stop anywhere else."

She was openly worrying about Hiyori.

Would there ever truly be a day when those two could get along?

I wished there would be some sort of turning point to make that happen... I wondered if an event for it would pop up.

Or did I have to create one myself? I might have to.

"Alright."

"Good."

She nodded her head, then suddenly hopped up and crashed her lips against mine.

She could have just stood on her tiptoes. Seeing her jump so aggressively was funny.

Her lips had collided with mine a bit too forcefully. I chuckled as she pressed down hard on the corners of her mouth in pain, told her to call me when she was done, and left the building.

The next day.

I arrived at the Academy alone for the first time in a while. I parked and was about to enter the building when a message notification stopped me.

[Are you here?]

[Yeah.]

[Then can you come straight to the School Store? The place where you gave me that massage.]

She could have just told me to come to the alley near the School Store like yesterday, so I was curious about her underlying motive for specifically adding the word "massage."

I sent a reply and headed over. It wasn't long before I heard Hiyori's cheerful voice from behind me.

"Matsumatsu."

She hadn't been in sight on my way here; she must have been hiding somewhere and only revealed herself when she saw me.

I turned around, spotted Hiyori in a long skirt, and chuckled.

"You wore a long skirt, huh?"

"Yep. I'll get penalty points if I give them an excuse to nitpick."

Just as Miyuki worried about Hiyori, it was obvious that Hiyori was also acutely aware of Miyuki.

"Good job."

"Did you not come with the demon today?"

"Demon?"

"Miyuki Hanazawa."

If Miyuki heard this, she really would be furious.

It seemed their relationship had gotten off on completely the wrong foot and stayed that way.

I patted Hiyori on the back and spoke.

"Miyuki had a Student Council meeting, so she left early. And don't call her that. I told you to play nice."

"Are you looking out for her just because she's your girlfriend? I guess you really do favor your own, huh?"

"If I were just looking out for her, I would have told her that you and Mitsushima swapped skirts yesterday."

"You noticed?"

"I noticed."

"Then why didn't you say anything? Were you trying to protect me?"

"Partially that, and also because I want the two of you to get along."

"I think that's going to be difficult."

"Why? I feel like you'd get along great if you both just compromised a little."

Hearing that, Hiyori suddenly plugged her ears and squeezed her eyes shut.

I gave her a questioning look, wondering what she was doing. She cracked open one eye, unplugged one ear, and stuck her lip out in a pout.

"You can't use that tone on me either."

"What tone?"

"That persuasive tone."

"Did I sound like that?"

"Yes."

'Aren't you just interpreting my voice however you want?'

I swallowed the words and pulled out the lemon-flavored lollipop I had bought yesterday from my pocket.

"Here, I'll give you this."

"What's that?"

"Candy."

"You know giving me a bribe is useless, right?"

"I'm just returning the favor for the one you gave me last time."

"Then I'll gladly take it."

She snatched the candy away and tore open the wrapper.

I watched Hiyori roll the lollipop around in her mouth, likely savoring the sweet and tangy flavor, and spoke.

"Besides, isn't the whole point of a bribe hoping that it works?"

"You're giving me a mere piece of candy as a bribe?"

"If you're enjoying it, then it's doing its job as a bribe perfectly fine."

"It tastes terrible, though?"

"Then give it back."

"What are you going to do if you take it back?"

"I'll eat it."

"I've been eating this, you know? I've got my spit all over it!"

"Who cares? It's not like you're riddled with bacteria."

Did she sort of like that answer?

The corner of Hiyori's mouth twitched upward.

She wedged the candy between her teeth and lips, rolling the stick side to side with her hand as she sucked on it noisily, and shrugged.

"I like the bribe. I'll at least think about it."

"That's a relief. But why did you call me out here?"

"I was bored."

"Then should we kill some time before class?"

"Sounds good. Oh, do you want to see a picture of a swimsuit by any chance?"

"What swimsuit?"

"I tried on the one I just bought. Tell me how it looks."

Hiyori lifted her Cell Phone, jingling the keychain I had bought for her. She flicked her fingers across the screen quickly and showed it to me.

Seeing the picture of Hiyori in a swimsuit, which looked like it was taken in her bathroom mirror at home, I couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Because the swimsuit was incredibly mature.

In other words, it was extremely revealing.

"You're planning on wearing that?"

"Yep."

Just how was I supposed to educate that little exhibitionist?

Since she was only going to be hanging out with me anyway, it didn't really matter what she wore, but I still needed to tell her to throw on a cardigan.

There had to be some development in Miyuki and Hiyori's relationship during this upcoming school trip.

At this rate, the two of them would just be growling at each other every single day.

I'd have to think carefully about how to resolve the situation and hope for an event to trigger.