Chapter 412

"What's that?"

Her mother greeted Hiyori with that question as soon as she returned home.

Noticing her mother's gaze fixed on the bag in her hand, Hiyori answered calmly.

"Clothes I need to wash after working out."

"Is that so? Put them in the washing machine."

"Okay."

Despite her words, Hiyori had no intention of putting the bag's contents into the washing machine.

They were stained with the evidence of her arousal, brought on by that ticklish encounter with Matsuda sunbae-nim today.

If her mother saw it, she would definitely figure it out. Out of concern for her daughter, she would start nagging about how she needed to be careful when engaging in sexual acts.

Getting caught would be far too embarrassing, so hand-washing them was the only option.

"Did you eat?"

"I ate before coming back."

"Don't go scrounging around for food later claiming you're hungry."

She was nagging her exactly the way Matsuda sunbae-nim did.

Looking at it this way, her mother and Matsuda seemed quite alike.

"I know."

Answering obediently, Hiyori returned to her room and flopped face-down onto her bed.

'Just a minute... I'll keep my eyes closed for two minutes, then go shower and wash these.'

With that thought in mind, she was exhaling hot breaths into her bedsheets when—

Click.

"Sis."

The door opened and her younger brother walked in.

She told him multiple times a day to knock, but he absolutely never listened.

Matsuda sunbae-nim had also told her to listen to him for once...

It was probably genetic.

"Get lost."

Faced with his sister's cold tone, delivered without her even turning her head, her brother confidently expressed his refusal.

"No."

"Do you want to get hit?"

"No. Lend me your game console."

"What game console...! Aren't you going to leave? Should I tell Mom that you do nothing but play games all day?"

"You're so petty."

Why did the way her brother spoke feel exactly like Matsuda sunbae-nim?

If the two of them ever met, she wondered if her brother would end up taking a strong liking to Matsuda sunbae-nim.

"I'll lend it to you later, so leave for now. I need to take a shower."

"Alright."

"You know what you have to do in exchange for borrowing it, right?"

"I'll log into Animal Crossing, pick up the fruits, and turn it off."

As a bonus, she got the sneaking suspicion that the dynamic between her and Matsuda sunbae-nim had somehow been reversed here...

'Maybe treating someone roughly from time to time isn't so bad after all...?'

"Good. Come back when I call you after my shower."

"Okay."

"I was planning on playing games today, but I'm making a special exception for you, so go fetch me some water, too."

"Didn't you say you were going to shower?"

"I am?"

"Then why do I have to bring you water?"

"Because I'm going to drink it after I shower. Bring some snacks from the kitchen and leave them on the bed, too."

"Aren't you going to brush your teeth?"

"Of course I will."

"They say your teeth rot faster if you eat snacks after brushing."

"Don't talk back and just bring them when I tell you to. Or do you want me to not lend you the console?"

"Alright. I'll bring them."

From a little kid's perspective, a game console was a matter of utmost importance.

Having successfully bossed her brother around using this leverage, Hiyori headed to the bathroom with her bag, a satisfied look on her face.

She turned on the faucet to fill the bathtub and flipped the bag upside down. Her underwear and Matsuda sunbae-nim's shorts tumbled onto the cold bathroom floor.

Seeing them, a blush crept across Hiyori's cheeks and her heart began to pound.

Something huge had happened today.

She had been subjected to Matsuda sunbae-nim's aggressive kiss in the car, and before she even realized it, she had been swept up in the moment and become aroused.

As if that weren't enough, back at the house, Matsuda sunbae-nim's fingers had even touched a very, very sensitive and important part of her.

Both in the car and at the house, for the first time in her life, she had experienced that ticklish pleasure... down there.

If she had stayed any longer, it really would have been dangerous.

When Matsumatsu firmly pressed down on her crotch, her brain had completely melted in the best way possible. If she hadn't insisted on going home and had just stayed put, she wouldn't have been able to hold onto her reason.

She would have been completely carried away by his lead after that.

'He could have at least given me a warning...!'

To spring that kind of surprise physical affection on her when she wasn't even prepared for it.

He seemed to tolerate her whining well enough normally, but deep down, he was as insidious as they came.

The same went for his offer to let her sleep over.

It was painfully obvious that he had made that suggestion with those kinds of ulterior motives in mind.

Even though he was seeing Hanazawa sunbae-nim, he was an absolute playboy.

Of course, she herself was also wicked for resolving to steal Matsuda sunbae-nim away from Hanazawa sunbae-nim, but well... she didn't care too much about that.

People were inherently selfish. You had to be shameless if you wanted to fight for what was yours.

"Jeez..."

She could count on one hand the number of times she had done her own laundry.

She was going to make Matsumatsu pay for putting her through so much trouble today.

Nursing her thoughts of revenge, Hiyori was soaking the shorts and her underwear in water when she suddenly realized something.

"Ah, right."

She hadn't brought the special underwear detergent with her when she came in.

It was probably in the master bedroom... Should she go get it now?

No. As a temporary measure, she could just wash them with body wash, let them dry in her room, and then secretly toss them into the hand-wash laundry basket later.

Then her mother would just wash them together with the rest of the laundry.

The same went for the shorts.

Deciding to take the easy way out, Hiyori stripped off all her clothes and grabbed the body wash.

She then squirted a generous dollop of it onto her panties and the shorts.

After diligently finishing her hand-washing—which was thorough in her own way—Hiyori carelessly draped the two pieces of clothing over the towel rack and slipped into the tub full of water.

Comforting warmth immediately enveloped her.

Her expression naturally grew languid as she spent a very long time soaking in the tub, ruminating on the day's events.

Her face flushed slightly from the steam rising off the hot water, and her body grew pleasantly heavy.

It was immensely comfortable. But amidst that comfort, a subtle arousal began to bloom.

It was because she kept thinking about what had happened with Matsuda.

Was it because it was the first time she had ever felt that ticklish sensation?

It was far too addictive. To the point where her curiosity flared, making her wonder what would have happened if she had stayed at Matsuda sunbae-nim's house.

As Hiyori indulged in those fantasies, she flinched when she realized her hand had subconsciously moved to cover the space between her legs.

"So annoying..."

She muttered the word, converting the slight yearning bubbling in her heart into petulance.

She sank into the tub until the water reached her nose and exhaled, blankly watching the bubbles rise to the surface before—

Click.

"Sis."

The bathroom door opened slightly, and when her brother's face peeked through the gap, she scowled.

"Why are you barging in here? And didn't I tell you to knock? Do you want to die?"

"Sorry. But why are you taking so long in the shower?"

"I'm taking a long time because I want to."

"My game console."

"I said I'd give it to you after my shower, didn't I?"

"Alright. You have to give it to me."

"I said I got it. Get out."

Nodding, her brother gave Hiyori a lingering look before turning to close the door.

Just then, a good idea struck her, and she called out to him.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Can you bring me my Cell Phone?"

"Then give me the game console."

"I'll tell you where the game console is if you bring it. The Cell Phone should be on the bed."

Her brother's face lit up at her words, and it took him less than a minute to return with the Cell Phone.

Checking the Cell Phone that her brother had carefully placed on the bathroom floor, Hiyori flashed a satisfied smile and spoke.

"If you open the closet in my room, there's a drawer at the bottom. It's in the bottom right corner."

"You're so petty, hiding it like that."

"Petty? Apologize."

"No."

"I'll take it back as soon as I'm done showering, you know?"

"Sorry."

"Did you put the snacks there?"

"Yeah."

"And the water?"

"Yeah."

"Now go. Close the door."

"Thanks, Sis."

He was probably forcing himself to say thank you out of fear that she would take the game console away, but it was better than nothing.

Clicking her tongue as her innocent brother left, Hiyori picked up the Cell Phone and slipped back into the bathtub.

Afterwards, she sent a message to Matsuda.

[Matsumatsu.]

[Hey.]

[Hey.]

[Hey.]

[Hey.]

[Asahina Hiyori has sent you a pre-payment.]

She aggressively spammed the chat.

A reply came almost immediately.

[What are you doing?]

He must have been lying on his mattress watching TV or something.

[Chatting. Isn't it a bit shameless of you to only check my messages after I said I sent you a gift?]

[What are you talking about? I just picked up my Cell Phone. And you made a typo. You were supposed to write 'gift,' not 'pre-payment.']

[I suppose I did. What are you doing, sunbae-nim?]

[Just lying down.]

Didn't he mention that Hanazawa sunbae-nim wasn't coming over today either?

Imagining Matsumatsu all alone in a dark living room made her feel a pang of sympathy.

[Aren't you bored?]

[A little.]

Hiyori was about to type, 'Should I come over to hang out?' when she froze.

She suddenly remembered Matsuda sunbae-nim's invitation to sleep over.

Why was she getting embarrassed over nothing? Her body felt like it was heating up again, too.

[I'll return your clothes to you in two or three days, sunbae-nim.]

[Sure. What are you up to?]

[I'm taking a shower.]

[Really? Send me a picture.]

She knew he was going to say something like that.

Matsumatsu... he was surprisingly easy to read.

[A naked picture?]

[Yeah.]

[I don't want to.]

[Whatever, then.]

He gave up so quickly.

Did he think it didn't matter because he would get to see it in person later anyway?

If he was treating her like a caught fish in his net, he was severely mistaken.

She wouldn't be that easy.

But because such a steamy event had happened just a little while ago, she kept slipping into strange fantasies.

And since the thrill those fantasies brought wasn't exactly bad, there was a part of her that was slightly... very slightly looking forward to it.

She wanted to call Matsuda sunbae-nim, but it seemed like a bad idea for today.

Because it was obvious that hearing his voice would just make her keep having dirty thoughts.

So she would just stick to chatting a bit longer.

No, wait. If she seemed too eager, Matsumatsu might take her for granted.

She needed some proper push and pull... What should she do?

She was always the one giving advice to her friends whenever the topic of romance came up, but now that she was in this situation, her mind had gone completely blank.

She really shouldn't pretend to know what she was talking about from now on. People needed to be humble.

While Hiyori was sitting there, unable to decide on her next move, another message from Matsuda arrived.

[I'm hungry. Do you want to eat together?]

Feeling a wave of relief, she quickly tapped on the screen.

[You mean meet up to eat?]

[No. At our own houses.]

[How can we eat together if we're eating at our own houses?]

[We're eating at the exact same time, so it counts as eating together.]

[Are you an idiot?]

[Less of one than you, who placed 35th.]

[Ah, why would you bring up my exam rank! You're seriously petty.]

Talking with him was fun.

It was always like this, but today it was especially so.

Should she call it a flutter in her heart? She suddenly felt like she could do anything.

Matsumatsu would be meeting with Hanazawa sunbae-nim tomorrow, right?

Should she cancel her plans with her friends, crash their date, and ruin it for them?

Imagining all sorts of sabotage schemes popping into her head, she exchanged messages with Matsuda for a long while before finally stepping out of the bathtub.