Chapter 37
We see Tetsuya coming out of his house.
He has a scrap of bread clenched between his teeth, but if he drops crumbs in the car, I'd kick him.
He must have at least that much sense, because the moment Tetsuya saw the car, he shoved the bread into his mouth.
He was about to open the rear passenger door, but then he suddenly seemed to remember something and opened the front passenger door instead.
Clunk.
Then his face flushed with confusion.
“Uh... Miyuki? Isn't it my turn to sit in the front today?”
He remembered that we'd agreed to take turns.
Miyuki answered with a radiant smile.
“Matsuda-kun looked bored, so I just took this seat.”
“I see... Should we switch?”
“I don't think there's any need for that. Hurry up and get in.”
“O-okay. Matsuda, I'll ride in the back again today.”
Perhaps sensing something off about Miyuki, Tetsuya hesitated before getting in the back.
I bared my teeth in a grin at the guy who had just thanked me.
“You bet.”
Tetsuya, Miyuki's a little different now, isn't she?
But that's the least of it.
Soon, I'll make you sob over having your childhood friend stolen from you.
Now, the only thing left for you is the hypnosis app.
Even if you somehow managed to obtain that nonexistent thing, I'd snatch it away from you immediately, though. www
Still, that bastard's lucky.
No, rather than lucky, he's absurdly lucky with women.
Both Renka and Hiyori end up falling for Tetsuya while he just calmly goes about his business.
I can't imagine anything more unfair.
I have to scurry around like crazy, taking care of events,
while women flock to that guy who is obviously just an inferior version of me.
I can understand, since this is the Dokiaka world and Tetsuya is the standard romantic-comedy protagonist type, but in any case, it is my wish and destiny to save all the heroines from that bastard's clutches.
That is the path to a happy ending.
Burning with fighting spirit again today, I arrived at school and headed for the entrance with the two of them.
After changing into indoor shoes, I opened the locker in the first-year hallway and took out my books, when Miyuki spoke to me from behind in a soft tone.
“Couldn't you tidy your books a little? It looks so messy.”
Just as she said, the books inside my locker had been piled in complete disarray.
Since I hadn't stood them up and arranged them properly, it took me a little while to find the textbooks for each subject.
Holding my books for class, I waved an arm dismissively.
“Isn't putting my books in here at all already something? Don't I deserve praise rather than complaints?”
“That may be true, but... wait... um...”
She seemed to have been about to say it was too much trouble to wait...
How coy.
I placed the locker key in her hand and said,
“You can organize it for me during the break after second period.”
“No. Why should I?”
“You can do at least this much for me. We're friends... right?”
When I asked, pointedly stressing the word ‘friend,’ Miyuki flinched and took half a step back.
She looked like she wanted to argue, but couldn't get the words out.
Snickering, I gave Miyuki's back a light tap and went into the classroom.
“Hi, Matsuda-kun.”
A classmate waved awkwardly at me.
She was the girl who had choked on a piece of bread at the front gate last time because of me.
What was her name again... Masako?
Still, now that we'd become acquainted, she greeted me first.
Thanks. But I'm not going to pursue you.
If she opened her legs first, though, I'd gladly accept.
I waved back perfunctorily and greeted her.
“Hi, Bread Girl.”
“B-Bread Girl...?”
“Did you choke while eating bread again today?”
“N-no... I was fine today.”
“Good. Take care.”
“O-oh, okay... You too, Matsuda-kun.”
After sitting down, I exchanged some pointless small talk with Tetsuya, then saw Miyuki come in.
A little time had passed since we split up in the hallway. Had she really organized my locker for me?
Judging by the fond glare she gave me for a moment, it seemed so.
**
[Matsuda-kun, stay behind for a moment.]
[Why.]
[Just stay behind.]
I secretly read Miyuki's message, then lay facedown on my desk.
Tetsuya lightly tapped my shoulder and said,
“Matsuda, it's P.E. class, so we have to go to the changing room.”
“I'll sleep for five minutes and then go. You go on ahead.”
“Really...? Okay. Don't be late.”
“Yeah.”
I heard my classmates chatting noisily as they all left together, and some time later, the classroom fell silent.
Something lightly tapped the crown of my head while I pretended to be asleep.
“Matsuda-kun.”
It was Miyuki's finger.
I slowly sat up and looked around the classroom.
It seemed everyone had gone to the changing room.
I looked up at Miyuki, who had one hand on her hip, and asked,
“Why did you tell me to stay behind?”
“Because I had something to say.”
“What is it?”
“Don't use friendship as a cover for ordering a classmate around like a servant.”
She seemed to be referring to what had happened in the hallway earlier.
I stood up and narrowed my eyes.
“Ordering you around? And we're classmates? That's a hurtful thing to say.”
“I-I mean, it's true...! At school, we're in the same year... and I'm the class president...”
“Class president? Are you trying to pull rank on me? Trying to draw a line between us? I'm seriously starting to feel hurt.”
“That's not what I meant...”
“Then what did you mean?”
As I stared down at Miyuki with a stern expression, she hesitated, then suddenly touched my bangs.
She removed a loose thread from my hair with her fingers, and her voice grew quieter.
“I just... felt kind of wronged...”
She rolled the thread around her finger as she expressed her honest feelings.
Lowering her head, she continued,
“O-of course, I know you asked me to organize your locker because you trust me...”
“You wanted to get back at me for what I did to you?”
“It wasn't exactly that... I wanted to give you a hard time while teasing you... But I didn't expect Matsuda-kun to take it so seriously... I'm sorry...”
Put simply, she'd meant to give me a hard time while joking around, but she'd played her part far too seriously.
I fell for it. What a relief.
I thought you were genuinely hurt, you know.
Shaking my head, I roughly ruffled Miyuki's hair.
“Stop...!”
Miyuki gave me a petulant scolding, then fixed her hair.
After smoothing down the hair on top of her head and carefully arranging her bangs, she began straightening the misaligned desks of our classmates.
Why does she even do things like that?
Maybe she felt awkward and didn't want to simply leave, so she was doing whatever came to mind.
Typical of kindhearted Miyuki.
I went in front of Miyuki as she adjusted the angle of the desk by the window, then placed both hands on the desk, trapping her in place.
Then I gave her a sly grin.
“It seemed like there was some genuine feeling behind your acting...”
“D-don't get the wrong idea... There was nothing like that...”
“Fine, then. Give me the locker key.”
“You should say thank you first...”
“I don't want to.”
“Then I won't give it to you either. Good luck getting through your afternoon classes without your textbooks.”
“I just won't go in. Guess I'll skip class for the first time in a while.”
Miyuki was dumbfounded by my offhand remark.
After staring at me silently for several seconds, she asked,
“Are you serious...?”
“Try it if you're curious.”
A hollow laugh escaped Miyuki's mouth, as though she had run out of things to say.
After letting out a few more such laughs, she asked,
“Aren't you hot, though?”
When I lightly tapped her sleeve and asked that, she startled and shrank back before asking in return,
“What is?”
“Why are you already wearing long sleeves? Especially when you run hot.”
“.... H-how do you know that I run hot?”
“I know because I've touched you a lot.”
“M-Matsuda-kun...!”
Miyuki angrily looked around.
Even though the classroom was empty, she was worried that someone might hear us.
Relieved that no one was there, she opened and closed her mouth as if to scold me.
But...
“Huh...?”
When I leaned back at the waist and brought my face close to Miyuki's, her eyes widened.
“Hey.”
“.... Why...?”
“Isn't it a bit much to get angry after our lips have already met?”
When I openly brought up what had happened over the weekend, Miyuki nearly had a fit, then played dumb.
“W-we...? Did we...? I don't really remember...”
“Want me to jog your memory? Come here.”
“.....”
At my blatant come-on, a blush began to spread from Miyuki's cheeks.
It started on her cheeks, then soon spread across her entire face until it reached her ears.
She twisted her body this way and that, not knowing what to do with herself, then looked at me with demure eyes.
“N-now...? Really? You mean it...?”
I was only half joking, but Miyuki took everything seriously.
She seemed a little tempted, so perhaps she was curious what a second kiss would feel like.
Since the opportunity had presented itself, I shouldn't back out.
“Yeah.”
“We... have to go to the gym...”
“There's still plenty of time. My back is starting to hurt, you know? It's hard to bend down to match a tiny girl's height.”
I even put my hands in my pockets to provoke Miyuki, and she flared up as if she were about to say something to me.
But then she saw my utterly serious gaze and clamped her mouth shut.
“.....”
She turned her head slightly to the side, watching my reaction and smacking her lips.
In other words, she was tempted.
After staying that way for a while, she
Rattle.
closed the window beside us.
It wasn't even a tinted window, so this was ridiculous.
I could see how she was trying to make herself feel safer by doing that.
Before long, she met my eyes with a look of firm resolve.
She even moved her arms behind her back.
I nearly burst out laughing, but held it in.
If I acted that way in such a serious situation, Miyuki might get sulky and leave.
“C-close your eyes...”
Her voice was quieter than a mosquito's buzz.
As she instructed, I closed my eyes, handing her the initiative.
Then, after a while, Miyuki's fragrant scent grew stronger.
It was proof that her body was gradually drawing closer.
Not long afterward, just as her nervous breathing began to tickle my ear,
Tap.
Miyuki's moist, warm lips touched mine.
We remained still like that.
Neither of us used our tongues or touched each other's bodies. We simply stayed still.
Maaam-! Maaam-!
As my senses grew sharper, the cries of cicadas clinging to the trees pierced my ears through the window.
On a morning before lunch, in an empty classroom, two people who hadn't confessed but knew they liked each other shared a youthful kiss.
It was exactly a scene from a romantic comedy.
The event cutscene is probably...
something like this, I guess.