Chapter 382

“Hey. Follow me.”

Renka pointed arrogantly toward the laundry room.

I had been swinging my shinai around absentmindedly, and I could feel the surrounding club members casting me looks of pity.

Given Renka’s dark mood, they probably assumed she was about to scold me for playing around with the sword.

She would definitely bring that up, of course, but I wondered what faces they’d make if they knew her actual motive.

“All right.”

I nodded and followed Renka into the laundry room.

She stood with her arms crossed and jerked her chin toward the door. I obediently shut it behind me and spoke.

“What is it?”

“Should you really be playing around with your shinai?”

“I wasn’t playing around. It’s just been a while since I held one, so I was seeing how it felt in my hands.”

“So what? That’s your fault for taking a break in the first place. This is what happens when you slack off on practice.”

Hm. She’s awfully feisty today.

I shrugged, grabbed a piece of candy I kept hidden in here, and went to tear the wrapper.

Renka immediately scowled.

“I don’t want any.”

“Wait, you didn’t call me in here to ask for one?”

“What...! You think I pulled a guy like you aside just to get a piece of candy?”

“A guy like me?”

“Ugh, whatever...! Listen... about that thing you mentioned. Gathering together with Chinami.”

Renka had been nothing but haughty in front of the other club members, but the moment the topic of physical intimacy came up, she shrank into a timid mess.

I loved how consistent our Renka was.

“Yeah. Did you talk to Master about it?”

“No... Chinami and I both really need to focus right now. How are we supposed to concentrate on practice if you keep bringing that up?”

In short, she wanted to shelve the topic entirely until we finished focusing on the upcoming tournament.

She could have just said that upfront. I wondered why she felt the need to beat around the bush.

She probably thought I would retaliate or something.

“Is that so? All right, I get it.”

My casual response caught her off guard, and Renka’s eyes went wide.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? You made a valid point, so I agreed. Or what? Were you testing the waters because you actually wanted to do it before the tournament?”

“Wh-What are you talking about...! It’s nothing like that, you sex-crazed lunatic...!”

“Do I really deserve to be cursed at right now?”

“That’s only because you kept tacking on all that weird, unnecessary nonsense...! A-Anyway, you agreed to postpone it, right?”

“I did.”

“You won’t go back on your word?”

“I said I got it.”

Renka shot me a suspicious glare before speaking.

“Good... Then get out of here.”

“Do you have business in here?”

“No.”

“Well, I have business in here, so shouldn’t the President be the one to leave?”

“What kind of business?”

“I’m going to do my laundry while I’m here.”

“Go out, wait for me to leave, and then come back in to do your laundry.”

“Isn’t that a little ridiculous?”

“I’m allowed to treat you like this.”

If she had pushed the issue with an ambiguous tone—making me wonder if she was actually serious—I would have taught her a lesson. But since her demand was so blatantly absurd, it just made me laugh.

Finding her unique way of showing affection incredibly cute, I pulled Renka into a tight hug without any warning.

I gave her rear a few hearty pats.

“Wh-What are you doing...! You crazy psycho bastard...!”

Ignoring her as her face flushed crimson and she stomped her feet in rage, I simply stepped out of the room.

Those peaceful—yet, thanks to Hiyori, somewhat anxious—days passed by...

And soon, the exam period right before our school trip arrived.

“Everyone, space your desks out.”

Under Miyuki’s instructions from the teacher’s podium, the students scrambled to rearrange their seats.

I looked around at them and, feeling incredibly lazy, only nudged my own desk slightly away from the window.

Miyuki, who had been watching me, immediately called me out.

“Matsuda-kun, please move Honoka’s desk too.”

“Who’s that?”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“No.”

Snickers broke out across the classroom.

Seeing them laugh at such a light, trivial joke, I figured the looming weight of the exams was getting to everyone.

I put on a blank expression and pushed the Vice Representative’s desk away. Then, I sat down and leaned heavily back into my chair.

Once most of the desks in the classroom were properly spaced, Miyuki walked over and tapped my shoulder.

“You studied hard, so let’s aim for the top ten again this time.”

“That’s impossible. The second-year classes are way too hard.”

“Are you giving up already without even trying?”

“I’ll do my best, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“Doing your best is enough. I’ll grade your answers when we get home later, so don’t throw your test papers away.”

“Do we really have to do that? The results will be the same either way.”

“The official results won’t come out until after the school trip. Don’t you think it’s better to have a rough idea beforehand?”

“I’m not really curious... Let’s just finish building up Home and go for a walk in-game.”

I was talking about the online game we played.

Catching my drift, Miyuki let out a chuckle and nodded.

“All right.”

“We should also watch a movie before the trip. That new one that just came out.”

“Sounds good to me. What kind of movie is it?”

“An action comedy. Apparently, it’s one of those movies you can just turn your brain off for.”

“That definitely sounds like your favorite genre.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah. It’s not gory, is it?”

The last movie we’d watched together had been a bit on the gory side, and she clearly hadn’t forgotten it.

I chuckled. Twirling a few strands of her long hair that had fallen onto my shoulder between my fingers, I reassured her.

“No, it’s not.”

“Good.”

I suddenly remembered how she had hunched her shoulders, half-turned her head, and squinted at the screen, only to nervously stomp her feet whenever a jump scare popped up.

She had looked incredibly cute clapping her hands over her mouth, desperately trying to stifle her screams so she wouldn’t bother the other theatergoers...

It would probably be pretty fun to watch horror or thriller movies at home with her every once in a while.

“Good luck on the exams, Ken-kun.”

My first name had popped out of nowhere.

I flinched and looked at Miyuki, only to see her flashing a bright smile before returning to her seat.

It had been a very long time since she last called me by my first name.

I think the last time had been back when we first started dating. What had gotten into her all of a sudden?

She really knew how to make my heart race.

If her goal had been to encourage me, she completely failed.

How was I supposed to focus on my exam after hearing something like that?

I was definitely going to bomb these tests. If Miyuki scolded me later for doing so poorly, I’d just use this as my excuse.

Why did exams even exist?

Not that an idiot like me pondering the question was going to yield any answers.

After finally finishing the day’s exams with my brain practically steaming, I smiled quietly to myself as I watched the students immediately flock to Miyuki.

She was always popular, but they swarmed her especially hard during exam season.

At this rate, she wouldn’t be heading home for another hour.

“Matsuda-kun, where are you going?”

Miyuki called out to me just as I was about to slip out of the classroom.

She craned her neck over the crowd of students around her desk to project her voice. I called back that I was going to drop by the School Store and then headed out of the building.

Some looked completely relieved, while others looked like they were marching to their graves.

I took in the sight of the students—who all sported the same few expressions during exam week—as I made my way to the School Store. Suddenly, I spotted a familiar back of a head over by the field bleachers and stopped in my tracks.

A single strand of hair stuck out right from the center of her small head, looking just like a stubborn weed.

I suppressed the sudden urge to poke at it, approached the owner of the cowlick, and spoke.

“What are you doing out here?”

Hiyori turned around, beaming with sheer delight at the sight of me.

“Matsumatsu! Sit down here.”

She enthusiastically patted the empty spot next to her.

She was smacking the hard bleachers so forcefully I wondered if her hand hurt.

With that fleeting thought in mind, I sat down on the bleachers. I didn’t stick right to her side, but I still sat close enough that it felt quite intimate.

“Where’s Mitsushima? Are you on your own again?”

“All the other girls swarmed Miho, so I managed to slip away.”

I figured as much.

Miho really was in the exact same position as Miyuki.

Regardless, Hiyori seemed to be in surprisingly good spirits.

Did she actually do well on her exams today?

“How did your exams go?”

“Do you honestly think I did well?”

“No.”

“Exactly. I completely bombed them. I just guessed on every single question.”

“Why do you sound so proud of that?”

“What’s wrong with admitting I suck at studying when I actually suck at it? And please, don’t give me that whole ‘it’s not that you can’t, it’s that you didn’t try’ speech.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“That’s only because you always nag me about it, sunbae-nim. How about you? Did you do well? Were there a lot of questions you knew?”

“I knew enough of them, I guess.”

“That’s a relief. Have you packed your bags yet?”

“Not yet.”

“The trip is right around the corner! Aren’t you taking this a little too casually?”

“Have you already packed?”

“Of course!”

I knew she was really looking forward to the school trip, but I didn’t expect her to have packed this early...

Impressive. I fully expected her to pack on the day of the trip, so this was definitely exceeding expectations.

“Take a look at this.”

Hiyori held out her phone to show me a picture she had taken.

On the Cell Phone screen, a wide assortment of items was neatly laid out in perfect rows next to her suitcase.

She seemed to have everything she’d need. After looking it over, I asked her a question.

“Are you really going to wear that swimsuit you showed me the other day?”

“Yup.”

“Isn’t it a bit too revealing?”

“Can you please stop sounding like an old grandpa?”

“I’m only saying this because I’m worried about you.”

“What are you worried about?”

What do you mean, what? I thought. I’m worried because it’s obvious everyone is going to stare at you.

Wearing a swimsuit like that as a student was practically a violation of public morals.

That was an automatic three penalty points. I was definitely going to have to spank her for that sooner or later.

However, if she only planned on showing it to me, I was more than willing to make an exception.

“Whatever. Just make sure you pack a cardigan.”

“Why?”

“Just pack one.”

“All right, all right.”

Did she actually like it when I acted all conservative and protective over her?

Her lips curled into a faint smile as she lightly punched my leg.

Was this her unique way of showing affection? Not bad at all.

She blinked for a moment, perhaps surprised by how hard my thighs were, before quickly returning to her usual mischievous expression.

“Make sure you let me inspect your bags once you finish packing, sunbae-nim.”

“Sure. But what is there to inspect?”

“I need to make sure you aren’t trying to bring any inappropriate items.”

Inappropriate items... Was she talking about things like condoms?

With my dirty mind, that was the only thing I could think of.

“Don’t you mean checking for things I forgot to pack?”

“I guess that’s part of it, too. Anyway, let’s head to the School Store.”

She grabbed my wrist and started pulling me along.

Her red nail polish was incredibly pretty, I mused. Since I wasn’t budging, Hiyori started whining with a mix of cute annoyance, and I finally gave in, pretending she’d forced me to my feet.

After that, we strolled across the peaceful school grounds together, exchanging trivial banter as if we were close childhood friends.