Chapter 279: A Childish and Dangerous Prank
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 279: A Childish and Dangerous Prank
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Folding her cheap umbrella, Renka stepped inside her house and met the eyes of her mother, who was doing a face mask in the living room.
“You’re late, aren’t you? I thought you said you’d be home around nine?”
“We ended up getting dinner...”
“With that junior you work with?”
“Yeah. But what’s with the face mask all of a sudden?”
“A friend gave it to me, so I thought I’d try it. Want one?”
“No, thanks. I don’t really...”
“Alright. Oh, and I cleaned your room.”
“You didn’t touch the display case, did you?”
At that, Renka’s mother shook her head as if to say her daughter was hopeless.
“I was going to wipe down the outside, but I figured you’d get pouty, so I left it alone.”
“Why would I get pouty at you, Mom...”
“You used to.”
“Th-that was when I was a kid...!”
“So you won’t get pouty now? Does that mean I can wipe it down?”
“No.”
“See?”
Talking with her mother always made her feel like she was being drawn into her pace.
Just like with Matsuda.
The only difference was that, unlike with her mother where she knew when to back down, she always found herself acting up when she talked to Matsuda.
She wasn’t sure why.
In any case, sensing she wouldn’t win this, Renka decided not to talk back and started to walk away.
“I’m going to go wash my hands.”
“Your hands? Not take a shower?”
“A shower is...”
Renka, who had been about to say she’d already taken one, quickly changed her words.
“Ah, I meant I’m going to take a shower...”
“Go ahead.”
Her mother thought she and Matsuda had just seen a movie and had dinner.
Not wanting to arouse any suspicion, Renka took a second shower, then went to her room, changed her clothes, and lay down on her bed.
After being in the cold club room, the duvet felt exceptionally cozy.
An unwittingly relaxed expression spread across her face as she recalled the day’s events, her cheeks flushing.
She had never dreamed that she would have sex with Matsuda in the club room.
Even though no one was there, it had been incredibly nerve-wracking, and when the security guard made his rounds, she thought she was going to faint.
But it was okay. Should she say it was surprisingly thrilling?
To say she enjoyed it would be an overstatement, but it wasn’t bad.
That seemed like the perfect assessment.
Of course, if asked to go through it again, she would say no.
But the time she spent alone with Matsuda afterward was truly wonderful.
It wasn’t that she enjoyed the humiliating position, but that she loved how he had held her so sincerely after they were completely finished.
It hadn’t hurt before they started, but he had still hit her with his palm, and he’d done it during, too, so she had honestly felt a little miserable.
It was as if he was treating her like a toy.
Of course, she knew Matsuda didn’t genuinely think of her that way, but human emotions weren’t always so logical.
The position itself was shameful, and she had been on the verge of feeling genuinely upset, but when Matsuda apologized and pulled her into a tight hug, that feeling melted away.
So Matsuda likes that kind of play, but he’s gentle when it’s over.
That’s what she thought she had concluded.
‘But that’s... spanking, isn’t it...?’
It wasn’t a question; she was sure of it...
She didn’t know if she should keep accepting it or not.
She didn’t think Matsuda would cross a line, but it was a little... humiliating?
That’s why it felt awkward.
Click.
Lost in thought, Renka pressed the home button on her phone and opened the AniShare app.
It was time to gently provoke MK, Matsuda’s alter ego.
No matter how nice today’s hug had been, she couldn’t give up her greatest pleasure.
Acting up periodically helped her blow off steam, so sending a message now was perfect timing.
It had been a while since she’d last exchanged messages with MK, so the probability of Matsuda connecting her to Ino-chan was practically zero.
Happily pondering how to start things off today, Renka ignored the countless private messages she’d received and tried to contact MK.
[Hey, MK-nim.]
When would he reply? Had Matsuda showered yet?
Men usually shower faster than women... so maybe he was lying down just like her right now?
Or was he already asleep?
Just as she was imagining this, a reply arrived from MK.
[Yeah, what.]
Seeing the arrogant reply, one corner of Renka’s mouth curled up.
Unaware of her own expression, Renka’s imagination took flight as she thought of ways to tease Matsuda, her fingers tapping on her phone.
[Still as rude as ever, I see. Do your friends tell you you’re a jerk a lot? Oh, wait, with a personality that rotten, you probably don’t have any friends, do you?]
[Did you drink today or something? Why are you being so bitchy?]
[These are written words, not spoken.]
[You know what I mean, you just have to point it out. Aren’t you the one with no friends, Ino-chan? Since you’re so frustrating to deal with.]
[Please refrain from personal attacks. Polite chatting is something we build together.]
[You’re the one who started with the impolite chat... I’m speechless.]
[(^∇^) Let’s just smile.]
[You’re just pissing me off.]
This was fun. Definitely fun.
It was clearly a childish conversation, so why did she enjoy it so much?
It felt like she had returned to her childhood.
[You haven’t been active lately. Is something wrong?]
MK’s question followed.
It’s because of a certain someone that my real life has been too busy, you bastard.
Swallowing those words, Renka replied.
[Who asks a community member about their personal life?]
[I can ask. We’re close, aren’t we?]
[I think that’s just what you think, MK-nim.]
[We’re not close?]
[It’s not that we aren’t, but we’re not close enough to openly say we are.]
[That hurts.]
[I’m not hurt at all.]
[You’re the type who just asks for a beating. Should we meet up?]
[To hit me?]
[No. To get closer.]
A sudden thought occurred to her.
What if she agreed to meet, and Matsuda saw her—Renka—standing in front of him?
What would happen when he realized she was Ino-chan?
At first, he’d probably freeze with a dumbfounded look on his face, then be completely shocked, right?
And then... he would mete out a very severe punishment.
It wouldn’t end with an affectionate spanking like today.
She might get whipped instead of just having her butt slapped.
I must never get caught. But I’m kind of curious about his reaction.
[I don’t want to meet, so I’ll just say we’re close.]
[Whatever. You’re a weird one. And since you messaged me, I’ll recommend a manga from the training genre.]
A training genre manga, all of a sudden...
She wasn’t sure if she needed to read it, but Matsuda did have a good eye for manga...
[Go on, spit it out.]
[Can’t you say it nicely?]
Isn’t that what he always says to her?
So why was he saying it to Ino-chan... Of course, Ino-chan was also her, but it still felt a little strange.
Could it be that he knew Ino-chan was a girl and was trying to make a move?
No, for that to be true, the content of their messages was far too aggressive.
Should she be relieved that his words weren’t meant to win her affection at all?
[If you’re not going to recommend anything, I’m leaving.]
Slightly... just a tiny bit.
Feeling a sliver of disappointment she herself barely noticed, Renka sent a snappy reply. MK attached a photo.
It was a picture of a female character covered in small cuts, a clear fluid dripping from between her legs.
A very explicit character. Next to her were the words, [Shinobi, Corrupted.].
It seemed to be about a ninja captured by the enemy and being "trained"... It was quite provocative.
Surely he wasn’t thinking of inflicting wounds on her that would leave scars like that...?
Anyway, this wasn’t a long-running manga, but a short work... an erotic doujinshi, colloquially known as a tteok-inji.
[You want me to read this?]
[Yep. Read it and leave your thoughts in a private message.]
Judging by the product number on the cover, it was a commercially published work.
And from the image quality, it was clearly an illegally scanned file.
There was no way Matsuda would have downloaded this.
He was more of an analog person, and contrary to his image, he was honest.
He probably just searched for the title and picture to show her and took a screenshot of what came up.
Still, she had to use this to pick a fight.
Matsuda was always tormenting her over nothing, so this was just karma.
[Illegal downloading is a bannable offense.]
[I didn’t download it.]
[An unbelievable excuse. I’m reporting you.]
[Go ahead.]
It had no effect on him at all.
Was he that confident in his innocence? For some reason, it was getting on her nerves.
Since she had no real intention of reporting him, Renka changed the subject.
[The character is very explicit.]
[It’s adult content.]
[I know, but isn’t this too much? Don’t you feel sorry for the character?]
[It’s fine, she ends up happy after being trained anyway.]
[You’re so shameless. You sound like a sociopath.]
[You don’t want to read it?]
[Since you recommended it, I’ll read it, but don’t expect a good review.]
[The review should be at least 500 characters long.]
[凸( `-´ )凸]
After flipping Matsuda off with an emoticon, Renka left AniShare without waiting for his reply.
Having a childish conversation that not even an elementary schooler would have made her feel refreshed.
Time to get some deep sleep.
By the way, I really don’t want to work alone tomorrow...
Should I ask Matsuda to come in?
The boss said if things got tough, I could ask Matsuda for help, find a substitute, or just tell him, so there shouldn’t be a problem...
No, he would definitely use it as an excuse to make me do something weird.
I can ask Chinami for help or contact a friend, so I’ll see how things go tomorrow and decide then.
Having wrapped up her day, Renka tied her long hair up and closed her eyes.