Chapter 8
Tetsuya and I are worlds apart academically.
If he's around average to below average, I'm at the very bottom.
With such a difference in ability, there was no way studying together would work out.
That was what I thought, but I couldn't hide my surprise when Miyuki skillfully taught us at our respective levels.
She separated Tetsuya and me and taught each of us according to our individual ability.
She never stumbled, and whenever Tetsuya asked a question, she answered quickly and without hesitation.
Even while looking after me and reviewing this semester's classes, she explained things so clearly that even a blockhead like me could follow along.
I knew she was passionate about education and good at teaching, but wasn't this practically a cheat code?
She'd be hugely successful if she became a teacher someday.
After giving us nearly two hours of uninterrupted, customized tutoring, Miyuki placed a hand on the tatami and leaned her upper body back slightly, as though a little exhausted.
“Can I take a break for about twenty minutes?”
“You're the teacher, so do as you please.”
Apparently pleased by the word ‘teacher,’ Miyuki's lips curled faintly upward.
A beige bra was faintly visible beneath her white T-shirt.
They weren't as big as the school nurse's, but she still had a huge rack.
The urge to fondle them wouldn't go away.
After coming to my senses with a single blink, I got to my feet.
“Want some juice?”
“Is that okay?”
“Since you're getting lessons for free, of course I should give you some. Stop asking like that, and while you're in this house, do whatever you want. Take out something to drink yourself too...”
I let my voice trail off and looked at Tetsuya.
I had to show him some kindness too. That was how I would earn points with Miyuki.
“Miura, don't sit there looking so timid. Make yourself comfortable.”
But that didn't mean anything nice was going to come out of my mouth.
Tetsuya timidly thanked me.
“Yeah. Thanks, Matsuda.”
I placed three cups on a small tray, poured orange juice into them, then carried the tray over to the round table and set it down.
Miyuki smiled with her eyes and said,
“I'll enjoy this, Matsuda-kun.”
Miyuki brought the juice to her lips, and soon her throat began to bob as she swallowed.
Her face was as pure and innocent as could be, yet the way she swallowed was incredibly sexy.
No matter how many times I thought about it, she was meant to be mine.
“Matsuda, do you work out?”
Tetsuya's shitty voice reached my ears while I was admiring Miyuki through half-lidded eyes.
I turned my head and answered.
“I used to. Why? Do you want to work out?”
“No... I only asked because your arm and chest muscles are so solid.”
He said no, but he was obviously dying to try it himself.
Did he want to show off his body in front of Miyuki?
Too bad, but I had no intention of teaching you how to exercise.
Look up macro ratios and scapular retraction and depression on the internet, and figure it out yourself.
“If you used to, does that mean you've stopped now?”
Miyuki's question followed.
I nodded listlessly.
“Yeah.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“Because I stopped enjoying it.”
I put a faintly wistful look in my eyes.
I acted as though I had my reasons but didn't want to talk about them, brushing the matter off.
“Ah... I see. What do you do for fun on weekends, Matsuda-kun?”
Hook, line, and sinker, Miyuki looked apologetic and changed the subject.
Once I got closer to Miyuki and we were alone together, I would tell her.
“On weekends? I either meet up with the guys or stay home.”
“The guys? You mean Watanabe's group, right? The students who belong to that circle... What was the circle called again...?”
“The Supree Circle.”
“Right... Supree... There are a lot of really nasty students in it, aren't there? Do you belong to it too, Matsuda-kun?”
“Yeah. I'm in it with Takashi and a few other friends.”
“Why on earth?”
Since the immature Ken Matsuda had become notorious for causing trouble, they offered me a place.
I never wanted to join.
And I'll be leaving soon.
I'll only use it for affection points during your events.
“I don't know. I guess it just happened.”
“.... Are you proud of belonging to it, Matsuda-kun?”
“No. Not really.”
“Then you can just leave. Being there only hurts you, Matsuda-kun...”
“Are you saying that because you're genuinely worried about me?”
“Of course I am...! That's a place only students who don't care about their future get into...! You're trying to change yourself, Matsuda-kun, but a place like that...”
Miyuki trailed off and looked straight at me.
Seeing my smirk, she cautiously continued.
“Of course, you might think I'm meddling in something that isn't my business...”
“You said you're genuinely worried, so I won't think that.”
“Th-then... shouldn't you leave?”
“It's hard to get out.”
“What do you mean, it's hard...? Are they threatening you or something?”
“Do I look like someone who gets threatened?”
“N-no, but... if there's something difficult going on, you can tell me...”
“So you can tell a professor?”
“The Supree Circle is somewhere the Academy is keeping a close eye on... You know it causes a lot of trouble too, right, Matsuda-kun...? Some kind of disciplinary action might be taken soon...”
Some kind of disciplinary action? Expulsion, most likely. Suspension at the very least.
Thanks for the little piece of information I didn't know when I played TokiAka.
So I shouldn't be in it, huh?
I should probably make use of that as soon as vacation ended...
Before then, I needed to raise Miyuki's affection for me.
“Thanks for worrying about me.”
At my serious tone, Miyuki seemed about to say something more, but closed her mouth.
As though she had realized what decision I had made, her expression brightened slightly.
“Yeah... If you've had enough rest, shall we study...?”
“Sure.”
**
“I was surprised you stuck with it today.”
After walking Miyuki and Tetsuya to the main gate, I let out a dry laugh at her words.
“Did you think I'd quit after a few minutes?”
“Do I have to be honest?”
“No. Just go.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow.”
“We're doing this tomorrow too?”
“If you don't study every day, you'll forget everything. Until you have a basic foundation, Matsuda-kun, and Tetsuya-kun develops some practical application skills, it would be best to do this every day.”
I scratched my head with an expression that said, What kind of person is this?
Of course, what I was thinking was the exact opposite of what I looked like.
“This is no joke...”
“It's hard, isn't it? That's because you're learning from nothing. Once a little time passes, you'll start to enjoy it.”
Are there actually people who start enjoying studying?
Good grief... She was a subject worthy of research.
More importantly, it was depressing that they were leaving without even taking a shower.
I'd gone to the trouble of preparing an open-air bath and making a peephole.
“Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. We're leaving. Take proper care of the plants, and be sure to review, okay?”
“All right.”
“You have a test tomorrow, you know?”
“I said I know...”
I waved my hand with an exasperated expression, exchanged a few pointless words with Tetsuya, then closed the main gate.
Then, along with Miyuki's giggles, I heard two pairs of footsteps that gradually faded into the distance.
I poked my head over the wall and watched Miyuki and Tetsuya slowly walk away.
The reason I was letting them go was because of an event.
Miyuki, unable to sleep, was supposed to end up playing alone on the swing at a small playground near her house, and I planned to intervene.
Because I had studied with her today, the future might have changed and the event might not happen.
But even so, I had to go.
This was the time to milk Miyuki's affection for all it was worth, so shouldn't I try everything I could?
Once I had finished thinking, I checked the time.
It was seven o'clock. I would leave after the sun had completely gone down and I'd waited a little longer.
And I had to call Takashi and arrange to meet him.
I needed an excuse to give Miyuki.
**
Houses facing a narrow road stood here and there in uneven rows.
Could you call it peaceful? Miyuki's neighborhood was as quiet as mine.
After quietly looking around the neighborhood, I headed for the playground.
The dim playground was completely empty.
That made sense. The playground across the street was larger than this one, and it had streetlights.
I clicked my tongue and sat on the playground swing to wait for Miyuki.
Even after a long time had passed, Miyuki didn't come.
Had the event changed because I had intervened, just as I had thought earlier?
That was certainly possible, but I believed in the god who had sent me here.
You got pissed off playing TokiAka too, just like I did.
That's why you sent me here, right? So I could become the true protagonist.
While consoling myself like that and kicking at the sand for no reason, I heard someone at the playground entrance and quickly pretended to be riding the swing.
“.... Huh? Someone was here...”
Miyuki's voice came from the entrance.
As expected, I—not Tetsuya—was the true protagonist of TokiAka.
I silently cheered, stopped the swing, gazed intently at Miyuki's silhouette in the streetlamp's glow, and spoke.
“Hanazawa?”
“Umm...?”
Miyuki seemed extremely flustered.
She apparently hadn't expected to hear my voice in a place like this.
After being confused for a while, she poked her head farther into the playground and asked,
“Could that be... Matsuda-kun?”
“Yeah. What are you doing here?”
Miyuki hurried over to me.
As if trying to confirm that I was really Ken Matsuda, she examined every part of my face before speaking in a surprised tone.
“Why are you here...?”
“I just asked you that.”
“Ah... um... this is my neighborhood...”
“Your neighborhood? The neighborhood where you live?”
I pretended to be utterly shocked, and Miyuki slowly nodded before pointing at one of the houses.
“Yeah... That's my house.”
“Really...? I had no idea.”
“Now you answer me, Matsuda-kun. What on earth are you doing here...? Weren't you resting at home?”
“I was going to meet Takashi, but it seemed like it would be boring, so I turned back. Then I noticed how quiet it was around here and stopped by for a while. I had some things to think about too.”
The moment I mentioned Takashi, Miyuki's expression filled with disgust, as if she were looking at a cockroach.
Poor Takashi. That's why you should stop acting like a delinquent.
Not that I had any room to talk... I almost felt sorry for him.
“Does Watanabe Takashi live around here too? Or was the meeting place just nearby?”
“The latter, but the meeting place is a little farther away.”
“Ah... That's a relief...”
Genuinely relieved, Miyuki climbed onto the swing beside me.
Then she pointed at the cellphone vibrating in my pants pocket.
“Isn't that a call?”
“It's a text.”
“It seems urgent. Is it Watanabe Takashi?”
“Yeah. I'm ignoring him whining about why I haven't shown up at the meeting place. Want to see?”
“Ah, no... I don't really want to...”
Even though I heard Miyuki say that, I took my phone out of my pocket and showed it to her.
And although Miyuki had said she didn't want to see it, she stared intently at the screen.
It was only natural to be curious about someone else's phone.
“What does it say?”
“.... It's asking why I haven't come to the meeting place... Th-there are so many swear words that I can't make it out...”
That should have dispelled even the last lingering doubt she had, right?
This was why you needed insurance.
I chuckled and slipped the phone back into my pocket.
Miyuki rested her arms on her knees, leaned her upper body forward, and asked,
“But what's the thing you said you had to think about?”
“That? I was just thinking about the future. About what I'm going to do with my life... Just pointless thoughts like that.”
“Ah...”
“You were just about to ask if even Matsuda-kun has worries like that, weren't you?”
Had I hit the nail on the head?
Miyuki's shoulders flinched.
“Ah, no...?”
“No, my ass. I nailed it. You're not good at lying.”
At that, Miyuki let out a shallow sigh.
“I'm sorry if that made you feel bad.”
“Why are you apologizing? You're too nice, and that's the problem.”
“Really...? Do I seem nice to you, Matsuda-kun?”
“Honestly, yeah. You seem like the type to get conned easily.”
“What...? Then you're saying I'm not kind, just gullible.”
Miyuki let out a light laugh, kicked the ground with her foot, and pushed the swing.
Then she continued.
“Rather than thinking about the future already, how about focusing on the present? We're still first-years. We still have plenty of time.”
“Isn't that the kind of thing lazy people say? ‘We're still young, we still have our whole lives ahead of us...’ Then time passes and they regret it.”
“That's not what I meant. I meant that we still have plenty of time to lay a solid foundation. If you keep steadily doing what you need to do, Matsuda-kun, I think your future will naturally take shape.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“For now, you have studying. Did you review what you learned today?”
“No.”
“What am I going to do with you? If you get everything wrong on tomorrow's test, I'll punish you.”
“Are you going to tie me up and whip me? I like that.”
If Tetsuya had said something like that, Miyuki would have glared at him and scolded him.
But because I was the one who said it, with my usual lighthearted manner, Miyuki burst out laughing.
I couldn't have said even that if we weren't close, but after the pervert incident, we'd grown close enough that Miyuki easily let my words slide.
“What are you talking about...? I can't.”
The atmosphere wasn't bad. I should keep things this way.
I kicked the ground like Miyuki and moved the swing as I talked with her for a long time.
We mainly talked about studying, but I also made light jokes that suited my image.
I made sure not to cross the line.
And fortunately, Miyuki liked those jokes of mine.