Chapter 183: Renka's Taste Is?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 183: Renka's Taste Is?
“Matsuda-kun, what’s your blood type? Let me guess. You’re a Type B, right?”
“You got it.”
“That explains why you’re so reckless.”
Miyuki teased me with a playful tone.
I smirked and shot back.
“And I guess you’re a Type O, which is why you’re so nosy?”
“Yep. I guess so.”
“Is Bread Girl a Type A because she’s so timid?”
At that, Masako, who had been rustling through her bread wrappers in front of us, started coughing. Cough!
She chokes up just from being mentioned. I wonder if she’s like that during sex, too.
Might not be so bad, actually...?
As I was killing time chatting nonsense with Miyuki, Tetsuya, who was sitting next to me, chimed in, and I shot him an annoyed look.
“Guys, the blood type personality theory has no scientific basis. You shouldn’t believe it.”
Ugh... what a fucking buzzkill.
This is exactly why you’ll never get anywhere.
Do you really think Miyuki is some idiot who blindly believes in blood type personalities?
It’s just a fun topic to get an interesting conversation going.
How do you think she feels when you shut down the conversation like that?
You’re just a one-trick loser who only has the childhood friend buff going for him...
I’m so proud of you for methodically stacking up reasons for people to hate you.
Please, keep it up.
“What blood type is for psychos with gloomy personalities?”
At my blatant jab at Tetsuya, Miyuki frowned and lightly slapped my arm.
After that minor incident, class began.
Miyuki seemed to genuinely want me to get a good score on the final exams. Even during class, she kept checking in to see if there was anything I didn't understand.
“This part here is...”
She’d tuck her hair behind her ear and explain things to me point by point.
“Hanazawa. Save the tutoring for break time.”
Then she’d get called out by the teacher who noticed, and her face would turn bright red. That was a bonus.
It was both funny and cute watching her hastily put distance between our desks and focus on the class.
The way she balanced her mechanical pencil on her philtrum, pouting her lips as she stared at the blackboard, was like a scene from a painting.
Is this one of those moments in a romantic comedy where the male protagonist falls for the female protagonist?
It’s a cliché that usually happens early on, but seeing it now doesn’t feel half bad.
As if sensing my gaze, Miyuki sat up straight with an embarrassed look on her face.
Then, she sneakily reached a hand under the desks, took my hand, and interlaced her fingers with mine.
We swung our arms back and forth in the empty space between our chairs.
It felt sweet. I wonder if Miyuki feels the same way.
If it weren't for Tetsuya breathing loudly next to me, I would have thought this was the perfect romantic comedy with me as the main character... My hate meter is filling up again today.
And so, break time arrived after first period.
Wanting to soak in the sunlight, which was warm for a winter day, I opened the window and saw a lot of people coming and going on the school grounds.
People of all ages were crossing the field and accepting pamphlets.
Most of them were middle-aged people who looked like parents.
Wondering what was going on, I asked Miyuki.
“Is today some special day?”
“What is?”
“There are a lot of people on the school grounds.”
“Oh... that? It’s the day of the Admissions Briefing.”
“Admissions Briefing? They’re doing that now?”
“The first and second rounds were last month, but they didn’t do enough promotion and guidance, so a lot of parents complained. That’s why they added another one.”
“Doesn’t our school use a lottery system? What’s the point?”
“They take applications, too. Half lottery, half application.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know?”
“Nope.”
“Idiot.”
She chided me with an affectionate tone.
I let out a chuckle and pulled my wallet out from under my desk.
“Want anything to eat?”
“Going to the school store? Get me a melon milk, then.”
“The new one? Didn’t you have one this morning?”
“I want another one. Get one for Masako and Honoka, too, please.”
“Sure thing.”
After leaving the classroom, I didn’t head straight for the store. Instead, I went to the gymnasium where the Admissions Briefing was being held.
There was something I needed to confirm.
“Hello, welcome to the Yebonie Academy Admissions Brief—huh?”
A student council member, who had been kindly guiding parents and students, saw me and her eyes went wide.
“Matsuda Ken? What are you doing here?”
She recognized me instantly.
Then again, there was no way the student council wouldn’t recognize the guy who was constantly causing trouble.
I gave an awkward smile, scratched the back of my head, and gave a slight nod.
“Hello, Senpai.”
“Hey. What’s up?”
“I saw a lot of people coming and going, so I was just wondering what was going on. Is it the Admissions Briefing?”
“Yeah. But why are you coming so close...?”
She stared at me with wary eyes, and suddenly, a wave of lust washed over me.
I wanted to corrupt that simple yet pretty face, completely devoid of makeup.
I imagined it would be a great picture if I pushed her into a corner of the gym, covered her mouth, and fucked her from behind.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“Help...? It’s fine...? Oh, ma’am! You need to go through this entrance over here, not that one!”
She sounded suspicious and confused, then ran off to a parent who was about to go the wrong way.
Seizing the opportunity, I slipped over to the desk where she had been standing.
‘Asahina... Asahina...’
Repeating Hiyori’s last name in my head, I scanned the guestbook.
‘There.’
Near the bottom, I found the names [Asahina Rion] and [Asahina Ryuushin], and the corners of my mouth lifted into a smile.
These two were Hiyori’s parents.
It seemed they had missed the first two briefings and came to this one... This confirmed it.
Hiyori was going to enroll in our academy next year.
I wasn’t sure if a fun-loving girl like her could get into this prestigious academy through an application, but even if she couldn’t, she would get in through the lottery.
I wonder what she’s doing right now.
She hinted at her appearance at the arcade the other day, exuding a fresh lemon scent. I want to see her soon.
“What are you doing here?”
The senior had finished guiding the parent and returned.
I shrugged nonchalantly and replied.
“Can’t leave the post empty, so I was just holding down the fort.”
“Really...? Thanks for the help, but you can’t stand there.”
Why is she so authoritarian? It makes me want to discipline her.
I could probably see Hiyori’s parents’ faces if I wanted to, but there was no need to go that far.
I obediently stepped away from the makeshift desk and said.
“Got it. Good luck with your work.”
“Yeah. See you.”
* * *
Lunchtime.
While waiting for Miyuki, who had gone to the restroom for a moment, I spotted Renka talking to some guy in a corner of the school grounds.
Both of them had serious expressions, but the guy was fidgeting nervously.
He looked like someone who had just confessed and was waiting for the girl’s answer.
Renka’s face, on the other hand, showed no emotion at all. It was almost chillingly cold.
Is this some kind of confession event from an extra, meant to make the heroine stand out?
My curiosity piqued, I moved without making a sound and hid behind the wall of the stands behind them to eavesdrop.
“I’m sorry.”
Renka apologized to the guy in a flat, emotionless tone.
The guy sucked in a sharp breath and held out his hands as if he couldn’t understand.
“Why? What’s the reason?”
“I don’t like you. You’re not my type.”
My guess was right.
A classic cliché was unfolding right before my eyes: an extra confesses, and the aloof heroine mercilessly rejects him.
It’s a device typically used to show readers how popular the heroine is... It’s a bit old-fashioned.
Still, it’s fun. The saying that a confession and a rejection are as exciting as watching a fight really hits home.
“Ah... I see...?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what misunderstanding you had, but I was never interested in you at all. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do this again.”
Renka drove the final nail in the coffin.
As cold as she could be, she was usually warm on the inside. For her to be this harsh, the guy must have been doing something akin to stalking without realizing it.
“I see...”
The guy’s shoulders slumped as he nodded and turned away dejectedly.
If he had thrown a fit out of anger from the harsh rejection, it would have given me an excuse to step in, but he just left quietly. What a shame.
Thinking that the guy’s completely defeated back looked like Tetsuya’s future, I peeked my head out from the stands.
I looked down at Renka, who was fiddling with her phone as if nothing had happened.
“Captain.”
“Hyaaaah!”
She jumped in fright at the voice coming from above.
I chuckled and waited for her to calm down before speaking.
“You got a confession?”
“Y-You heard everything...?”
“I couldn’t help but overhear.”
“...You’re really everywhere, aren’t you? It’s so annoying...”
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me right now?”
“Who said I was picking a fight...! I wasn’t...!”
Her reaction was on a completely different level from how she’d been with the extra.
Even her expression was different. Delicious, just delicious.
This is why I can’t stop teasing Renka.
“If you say so. But, Captain.”
“What...!”
“What kind of guy is your type?”
When I brought up the reason she had used for her rejection, Renka flinched and then glared up at me.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Just got curious all of a sudden.”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Come on, tell me.”
“One thing’s for sure, it’s definitely not you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
Is she being serious? Or not?
I wish I had the ability to read people’s minds.
But if I did, there would be no reason for this tightrope walk, and that would take all the fun out of it.
I’m satisfied just being thrown into DokiAka with nothing but my own two hands.
“That hurts. After all the time we’ve spent together.”
“What time together...! There’s been nothing of the sort...!”
“Really nothing?”
“I said nothing...! Now hurry up and disappear.”
“Nothing, you say?”
“.....”
Did she realize I wouldn’t back down if this continued?
Renka bit her lower lip and forced out the words.
“Th-There’s the bond of a senior and a junior. Happy now?”
“No bond between a man and a woman?”
“How could there possibly be something like that?”
“We had fun at the hotel, didn’t we?”
At those words, Renka jumped and glanced around nervously.
“B-Be quiet...! And get your facts straight...! You were the only one who had fun...! You did unspeakable things to a person just to satisfy your own desires...”
“You didn’t like it, Captain?”
“I didn’t. It was the absolute worst.”
“Then next time, I’ll try to make sure you enjoy it too.”
“Like I care if you... What? Next time?”
“Yep. Next time.”
I gave Renka a wide grin, then spotted Miyuki approaching in the distance and continued.
“You did well today.”
“...Well? What did I do well?”
“See you during club activities.”
“Hey...! What did I do well...!?”
It’s no fun if I spell everything out for you.
I said it in a way that’s easy to misunderstand, so you can think about it on your own.
Leaving Renka to jump up and down in an agitated fit, I walked away.