Chapter 187: Christmas
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 187: Christmas
“Junior.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I had peaches with Hanazawa-senpai for lunch today, but I left you out completely.”
Ah, so that’s why Miyuki disappeared for a bit.
But is she trying to mess with me right now?
She doesn’t have to report every little thing like that.
“Good for you. Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s all that matters. What did you and Miyuki talk about?”
“Wha...? Th-that, I can’t tell you...!”
Chinami flinched, shaking her head vigorously.
It must have been one of those girls-only secret conversations.
I don’t know what they talked about, but I’m sure it wasn’t about a threesome.
If it were, the look in Chinami’s eyes would have been completely different.
“I see. What are you doing for Christmas? Sleeping in?”
“Sleeping in? Is Christmas on a weekend this year?”
Come to think of it, Christmas isn’t a holiday in Japan.
What blasphemy. No, that’s going too far.
“Now that I think about it, it’s a weekday.”
“Then I’ll have to go to school.”
“What about after classes are over?”
“Hmm... I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll hang out with Renka?”
“Sounds like you don’t have any plans.”
“Not for now. There’s still a little time until Christmas, after all.”
I had no intention of saying anything about Chinami hanging out with her best friend Renka every day.
But I have to intervene when it comes to Christmas.
You’re spending it with me. And Miyuki.
She was looking up at me with her chin raised. I gently brushed her bangs aside and asked, “Why aren’t you wearing the gloves I gave you?”
“Ah, I’m currently attaching the Momo-nim embroidery. I want to do a really neat job, so it’s taking a little time.”
“Is that so?”
“I plan to show you first as soon as it’s done.”
“How admirable. I’ll be waiting.”
I grinned, then gently pressed down on a strand of hair sticking up on top of her head.
Her face immediately flushed red.
It was a rather exaggerated reaction for someone who was just embarrassed.
She must be having some strange fantasies.
A random thought occurred to me: what if Chinami had been in the tennis club?
Wearing a short tennis skirt, shouting “Hmph!” as she swings her racket... Just imagining it, she looks beautiful.
And imagining her at night, still in her tennis uniform, moaning softly... my desire surges.
“Master, could you come over here for a second?”
“Huh? Where?”
I grabbed the wrist of a bewildered Chinami and stepped between the hanging martial arts uniforms, then pressed my lips against hers.
“Mmph!”
Her body jolted as she let out a muffled cry.
Though startled by the sudden skinship, she soon stood on her tiptoes, aligning her face perfectly with mine.
An intimate moment between clothes hanging on a line.
You could call it a classic affection scene from the latter half of a romantic comedy.
The only problem is that the male lead’s intentions are as perverted as they come, and he’s not just kissing her but slipping his tongue in, too.
“Heup...!”
The female lead is a problem, too. As if to prove how quickly she’d gotten turned on, she was pressing her body against mine.
Let’s not call it a romantic comedy. Let’s call it adult content.
Just as we were enjoying the rapidly heating atmosphere—
Click.
The door to the drying room opened and someone walked in. We quickly pulled apart.
“Chinami, the coach is looking for you. Are you in here?”
The nuisance, Renka, has arrived.
I was wondering when she’d show up.
“Y-Yes...! I’m here...!”
Chinami weakly raised a hand and walked past the uniforms toward Renka.
Seeing Chinami’s flushed face and behavior, Renka couldn’t hide her bewilderment.
“...Wh-what? What were you doing...?”
Chinami wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her uniform, my face barely visible between the hanging clothes...
If she saw all that and still couldn’t figure out that something had happened between me and Chinami, she’d have to be an idiot.
“Ahem... The coach is looking for me...?”
“Ah, yeah...”
“Then I should get going... Thanks for letting me know...”
Acting mature, as if nothing had happened, Chinami patted Renka on the back and left the drying room.
Renka stared blankly at her retreating figure, then—
“Hey...!”
—she gritted her teeth, walked over to me, and stood ramrod straight.
As I had a staring contest with her, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
In harem rom-coms, why do they go through the trouble of conquering each heroine one by one, even at the cost of reducing the other heroines’ screen time?
Part of it is to cater to the readers’ preferences for certain heroines or to include sweet, one-on-one events, but situations like this are also a major factor.
One heroine sees a sweet moment between another heroine and the protagonist?
In any normal situation, it would be incredibly difficult to continue the plot.
Even if they somehow moved past it, the readers would feel sorry for the heroine nursing a one-sided crush on a protagonist who’s already taken.
That’s why they either split the story into separate parts for each conquest, or, if the story continues in a school setting like this, they dumb down the heroines, give them an airhead personality, or make them unusually tolerant of a harem.
In rare cases, they might add fantasy elements to the world itself, or include a heroine who is determined to steal the male lead.
Finishing my sudden analysis, I gestured at Renka with my chin.
“What?”
“I-I know you and Chinami are... on good terms... but could you please refrain from doing that in the club room...?”
“What are you talking about? Nothing happened.”
“Don’t play dumb...! I definitely saw...”
“Definitely saw what?”
“.....”
She can’t bring herself to say it out loud because she’s too embarrassed, can she?
Of all the heroines, she and Hiyori seem the most interested in lewd things, but in reality, she’s the one who gets embarrassed the easiest.
I suppose that’s one of your charms.
“And so what if something did happen? It’s not like we did it where others could see, and there’s no rule against showing affection in the club room.”
“There is too! There’s a rule against acts of public indecency...!”
“Come on... Public indecency is when a man and a woman...”
“Wait...! Stop...! Don’t do anything vulgar...!”
As I was about to demonstrate with a hip thrust, Renka frantically waved her hands.
Then, she shot a glare at me as I licked my lips in disappointment and continued.
“Public indecency isn’t just about that...”
“Then what is it?”
“...A-anyway, I’d appreciate it if you’d restrain yourself.”
I don’t want to. I’m going to keep doing it.
Next semester, I’ll be doing it with you, too.
Shrugging, I decided to just play along with Renka for now.
“Alright. But, Captain.”
“No, I refuse.”
“Huh? How can you answer before you even know what I’m going to say?”
“Because every time you say ‘But, Captain,’ some weird topic always comes up.”
It’s that ingrained in your head? That makes me happy.
As a reward, I’ll give you a heart-shaped nipple patch.
“Did I do that?”
“You did. Anyway, get to work.”
“I’m already done.”
“Do more. Find something to do.”
“Find something to do...? You’re the epitome of an exploitative boss. A real boomer.”
“Shut up. Work. I said, work.”
“Let’s do it together, then.”
“If we do it together, will you shut your mouth?”
“I won’t say a single word.”
“Fine. Go collect all the dry uniforms.”
“Let’s do it.”
Was she displeased with my cheerful reply?
Renka muttered something under her breath, then moved a good distance away from me and started taking down the hanging uniforms.
I thought she was going to make me work alone, but she’s actually helping.
Our Renka... she’s gotten so much nicer. A proud smile is about to bloom on my face.
“What are you smiling about so smugly? I told you to work.”
Still as sharp-tongued as ever. Like a savage little bitch.
* * *
The closer it got to the end of the month, the more frequently the students mentioned Christmas.
And Tetsuya was no exception.
“Miyuki. What are you doing on Christmas evening?”
While I was resting my head on my desk, Tetsuya quietly asked Miyuki about her personal life.
“On Christmas?”
“Yeah. If you have time, you’ll have dinner with our families, right?”
Look at this bastard, at it again.
I don’t understand why this piece of trash, who’s too scared to show any direct interest in the heroines, is so hung up on Christmas.
On top of that, he’s bringing up family, his tone grating on my nerves as if he’s certain Miyuki will agree.
The Christmas family dinner is an annual event for Tetsuya’s and Miyuki’s families.
Every year, they’d eat dinner together on Christmas evening, and then the two of them would slip away to take a walk or go see a movie.
But this year is different.
This Christmas, Tetsuya will be alone.
Or maybe he’ll end up having dinner with Miyuki’s family, without Miyuki.
I was about to get up and tell the guy to get lost, but I changed my mind.
I wanted to hear Miyuki’s answer.
“Um...”
After a brief, thoughtful hum, Miyuki spoke.
“I don’t think I can this year. I have plans on Christmas.”
“Plans? With who?”
Poke.
I felt a finger poke a spot on my back.
Miyuki was answering with her actions.
My plans are with him.
“With Matsuda?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah... really? You’re skipping the family dinner for him?”
“It’s going to be difficult this year. I’m sorry.”
Her tone was gentle, but there was a firm resolve underneath.
I’m going crazy over how much I love Miyuki for being so open about our relationship.
I’m going to tell her not to go home tonight.
“Right... I guess it can’t be helped... If you happen to have some free time, could you let me know?”
The life drained out of Tetsuya’s voice. I’d love to see his twisted expression right now.
Should I get up? No, I’ll let this play out a little longer.
Seriously, how can every single word he says ooze with such patheticness?
That’s a talent in itself. And I was controlling and empathizing with a bastard like that?
It’s humiliating.
“I will. And we can always have dinner some other time. The meal we had every year wasn’t to celebrate Christmas, but to celebrate the end of the year... right?”
I feel sorry for Miyuki, trying so hard to console Tetsuya.
I need to make her completely lose all affection for him. Will there be another chance like the time he misspoke before?
“Of course.”
Though he answered calmly, Tetsuya must be burning up inside.
Honestly, he was probably on the verge of suggesting they schedule the dinner for a day before or after Christmas.
But he’s probably holding his tongue now, terrified that Miyuki might invite me.
Will he try to ask her later in a private message?
If Miyuki mentions me then, he’ll surely make up some excuse to refuse.
It might seem like an exaggeration, but knowing Tetsuya, it’s entirely possible.
He’s probably resentful that I’ve intruded on this cozy time with his childhood friend.
It’s only natural to hate the person who stole the heart of someone you like.
Of course, he’d brought this on himself with his lukewarm attitude while I was pursuing Miyuki, but Tetsuya would never realize how pathetic he is, so expecting him to understand is a fool’s hope.
‘Idiot.’
Cursing Tetsuya in my head, I grew tired of his obsessive behavior and slowly sat up.
Then I looked at Miyuki, pretending I had just woken up.
“You’re awake?”
“Yeah. If you’re going to talk, do it in a corner.”
“Sorry. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when class starts.”
As I watched Miyuki gently pat my back, I wondered what Tetsuya was thinking.
Even though Christmas isn’t a public holiday in Japan, it’s still a major occasion, just like in other countries.
That means people know it’s a special day.
And that should be true for Tetsuya as well.
Go ahead, let your imagination run wild.
But don’t you dare try to interrupt whatever Miyuki and I are doing with a phone call just because you’re curious. Just go cry and have a go at water bottle masturbation.
That’s the fate of someone who doesn’t even have the courage to make a move on a heroine.