Chapter 226: Dressing a Slave
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 226: Dressing a Slave
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Squeak…
Hearing the squeal of a dry hinge, Renka stepped inside.
Her mother, who was sitting at the dining table writing in the household account book, greeted her with a gentle smile.
“You’re home?”
“Yeah… I’m back.”
“Did you eat?”
“I filled up on popcorn…”
“Is popcorn enough? I bought some bread, go have some. If you’re still hungry, let me know.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Why do you sound so down? Did another limited-edition figure sell out?”
“I-I didn’t go to the figure store…”
“Then are you sick?”
Considering how fuzzy my head felt, it wouldn’t be wrong to say I was.
Shaking her head, Renka untied the laces of her boots and answered.
“No. I’m just still feeling the effects of the movie.”
“Oh? Was it a good movie?”
It was good.
The problem was, the incident that happened afterward made me forget the entire plot.
Renka forced an awkward smile.
“Yeah, it was worth watching. I’m going to my room.”
“Alright, dear.”
Without even thinking to wash her hands, Renka went into her room and collapsed onto her bed.
She pulled the covers over herself without changing and placed a hand on her forehead.
She fiddled with the spot Matsuda had touched, wondering what his intentions had been.
Was he throwing down the gauntlet, trying to challenge me, the girl who grumbles at every opportunity?
No, that couldn’t be it.
Then was it to tease me?
If so, it had worked perfectly.
I couldn’t even think straight.
So much so that I couldn’t even remember what Matsuda had said before I got out of the car.
‘Did he say see you tomorrow…? Or to contact him…?’
Not only that, but my memory before that was also a blank.
Like someone who’d blacked out from drinking too much, I couldn’t for the life of me recall what I had talked about with Matsuda from the theater hallway all the way home.
But why did I just freeze when he did that?
I couldn’t even remember what I felt in that moment.
It was funny, really. I thought I wasn’t a complete novice when it came to this stuff… but I guess I was wrong.
Renka debated whether to contact Matsuda, then simply tossed her phone aside.
There was no need to contact him.
Why? Because I wasn’t Matsuda’s girlfriend, nor were we in some kind of situationship.
He had Chinami, so I didn’t need to worry about him.
Come to think of it, I always feel like I’m being played by Matsuda.
I can’t get swept up in this. Get a grip.
As she thought this, Renka recalled Matsuda’s prank in the theater.
Matsuda, mimicking the line from just before the main characters’ romantic kiss scene…
When he asked in that low tone if I wanted to kiss, I was so startled for a moment that I ended up causing a scene.
‘Is he a complete psycho…?’
He should at least try to gauge how the other person might react before saying something like that.
And to say it to someone he had no special relationship with was a bit…
No, strictly speaking, it wasn’t that we had no relationship, but still, wasn’t he being way too shameless?
Matsuda, who had teased me, was probably… on his way home right now without a single care in the world.
That slick bastard… If I had my way, I’d smack him on the head with a shinai.
A sudden surge of anger made Renka snort.
I’ll have to take my stress out on MK, Matsuda’s alter ego, later.
It felt a little pathetic, but what could I do?
If I just let loose on Matsuda to his face, he’d obviously find some weird reason to pick a fight.
It was better to chew out MK, who didn’t know Run Ino-chan’s true identity.
But what if, just what if, MK wasn’t Matsuda?
What if he was just some user who happened to share Matsuda’s name and initials and had a thing for training-themed content?
‘No way…’
As her thoughts reached that point, Renka shook her head vigorously.
Not only were their names, speech patterns, and tendencies the same, but the timing of when Matsuda started getting into anime and MK’s recent registration date matched up. The probability that they were the same person was extremely high.
Before, I was 80% sure, but now it was 90%… no, I’d say over 99%.
So I could curse him out with a clear conscience.
As she spent her time entertaining such sinister thoughts, Renka’s gaze fell upon the figure display case in her room.
In the center of the display stood a 1/7 scale figure of an action movie protagonist… It was glorious.
Just looking at it calmed my heart.
When I get my part-time pay, I should buy the main heroine’s figure to make a matching pair.
Feeling her troubled mind begin to settle, she picked up her phone.
And then she tilted her head.
There was a message from Matsuda.
[I made it home.]
When did this come? I didn’t even feel a vibration.
Wondering what was going on, she checked her phone’s settings and saw that it was on silent.
‘Oh, right.’
I’d set it that way for the movie.
The message had arrived ten minutes ago. I wondered if Matsuda would be angry that I replied late.
Wait, why did I even have to worry about that?
What did I care if Matsuda got angry or not?
Momentarily baffled by her own thoughts, Renka irritably pulled the band from her long ponytail and tapped on her phone.
[So what.]
No reply came after she sent it.
Just as Renka was starting to feel anxious, wondering if her response had been a bit too cold,
[What took you so long to reply?]
Matsuda’s message arrived.
He must have been doing something else and just saw his phone.
[I can be slow if I want. Am I supposed to just sit here waiting for your text and reply instantly?]
[Of course.]
[That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all year.]
[The year just started.]
[It’s an exaggeration. How can you take it so literally? You have no sense.]
[Sense? I bet I have more than a conservative captain like you. What are you doing?]
[None of your business.]
[When should we do the cosplay?]
[Where did that come from? What cosplay?]
[Let’s not pretend you don’t know. Before we went home, I asked if you’d thought about it, and you said you understood and that you’d do it.]
“What…?”
A dumbfounded gasp escaped Renka’s lips.
She’d said she would cosplay for him?
She had no idea what kind of nonsense he was spouting.
[There’s no way I would’ve said something so ridiculous.]
[Should I pull the audio from the blackbox tomorrow?]
Seeing him so confident about confirming it, she must have actually said it.
She really agreed to do that cosplay?
It was utterly despairing. She’d been scammed.
This was… yes, that was it.
This was a conspiracy, timed for a moment when I couldn’t grasp the situation, like sweet-talking someone who’s blackout drunk and not in their right mind.
This verdict was invalid. I wouldn’t fall for it.
[I’m not doing it.]
Vrrrrrr-!
Her phone vibrated intensely.
Seeing her negative reply, Matsuda had called her immediately.
Would he get angry if I picked up?
Renka cleared her throat once before pressing the call button.
“What.”
—Hey, you made a promise. How can you just back out like this?
“I don’t remember.”
—I told you, I can get the blackbox audio.
“How do I know the audio wasn’t doctored?”
—…What did you just say?
Matsuda asked back, his tone incredulous.
Honestly, even Renka thought it was a ridiculous thing to say, so she just kept her mouth shut.
—So this is how you’re going to be? You’re just going to play dumb?
His voice sounded like he was plotting something sinister.
At that, Renka found herself thinking that maybe it would be better to just do it once rather than listen to Matsuda whine about it forever.
But she quickly came to her senses and shook her head.
There was no reason for her to do such a thing.
It’s not like she was some kind of willing slave… The fact that she even had such a thought was pathetic.
“Whatever, I’m going to rest, so I’m hanging up.”
—Just try hanging up. See what happens.
“What do you want from me…! I don’t want to cosplay…!”
—Actually, the cosplay was just an excuse. I just called because I was bored.
“…So that means I don’t have to do it?”
—Nope. I’m definitely going to make you do it.
She had no idea what he was trying to do, going back and forth like this.
Renka let out a disbelieving laugh and decided to just let it go.
“Think whatever you want. Thinking is free, after all.”
—Right. I’m the one who goes in first tomorrow, right?
“Yeah.”
—And the day after is a holiday?
“The boss sent you the schedule. Please, just look at it properly.”
—The captain looks at it for me. Come in just ten minutes early tomorrow.
“Why?”
—Because I’ll be bored all by myself.
“No.”
—For pants, please wear black skinny jeans.
Look at him, spouting whatever he wants again.
That was the problem with Matsuda.
“Are you crazy? Don’t you dare try to dictate my outfits.”
—I was just going to say I thought you’d look good in them.
“Why did you think I’d look good in black skinny jeans?”
—Because I thought they’d look good on you, Captain.
“Then I’ll have to make sure to wear something else.”
—You just have to do the opposite, don’t you?
“Mind your own business, will you?”
—What were you doing? Admiring your figures?
The comment hit a little too close to home, and Renka scowled.
“Shut up.”
—Looks like I was right. You have a figure display in your room, don’t you, Captain? Is it full?
Come to think of it, it was about time she got a new display case.
“I’m not obligated to answer that.”
—That hurts.
“Deal with it.”
—Did you have fun today?
“No.”
—I did.
“And?”
—Let’s get a meal together next time.
“Not happening.”
—Want to go check out the figure store together tomorrow?
“…No.”
—Why did you hesitate just now? Were you tempted?
“Not at all.”
Strangely, Matsuda’s smooth, teasing voice and his nonsensical chatter felt… fun.
So much so that the thought of hanging up vanished from my mind.
And so, feeling a strange emotion she couldn’t quite define, Renka continued talking with Matsuda on the phone for a long, long time.