Chapter 337: An Unexpected Four-Way Confrontation #2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 337: An Unexpected Four-Way Confrontation #2
Renka looked like she’d just seen a ghost, while Chinami greeted me with a welcoming smile.
After greeting them both, I sat down in the empty chair at their table.
Then I asked, “So this was the place you said you were going to hang out?”
It was a simple question.
But Renka seemed to take it differently.
“Hk...!?”
She flinched all on her own.
It was funny seeing her act like that when she hadn't done anything wrong.
No, wait. From Renka's perspective, does this look like she got caught after leaving me out?
If that's the case, I can't possibly pass up the chance to use this to dote on my slave, can I?
“That’s right. We heard the cake here was delicious, so we came to try it.”
Chinami answered on Renka's behalf.
On her plate was a cake with white strawberries.
Seeing it, my eyes widened in surprise.
“It’s not a peach cake?”
“No. They don’t sell it here.”
The girl who sprinkles peach powder on her popcorn is quietly eating a strawberry cake?
Is this a sign of the apocalypse? I’m getting anxious.
“What brings you here today?”
At Chinami’s follow-up question, I glanced toward the stairs and replied.
“I came to have a cup of coffee with a junior of mine.”
“Oh, who would that be?”
“Asahina Hiyori... You’ve seen her before, right?”
“Asahina Hiyori...? Ah, is she the one who came to the kendo club orientation?”
“Yes. Speak of the devil.”
Chinami and Renka’s gazes followed my thumb.
Hiyori came up to the second floor carrying a small wooden tray. Seeing me sitting with Renka and Chinami, she tilted her head.
“Huh?”
She already looks like a little rascal, so seeing her with a bewildered expression felt both out of place and perfectly fitting at the same time.
It felt like the whole cafe brightened up.
For Hiyori, who was blinking her large eyes, I scooted closer to Renka to make room.
She approached without hesitation and bowed her head, still holding the tray.
“Hello.”
Has she been in situations like this a lot?
She greeted them brightly and sat down next to me, then started chatting with the two of them. Her gestures and attitude were incredibly natural.
“What are you doing here...?”
Renka took advantage of the moment Hiyori was talking to Chinami to ask me a question.
The whisper escaping her lips, as if she were plotting some conspiracy, tickled my ear.
I subtly moved my hand to her thigh and said, “Am I not allowed to be here?”
“No... I mean, why are you alone with her...”
“It just sort of happened.”
“Is there something going on between you two?”
Not yet.
No, maybe it's more accurate to say there is.
“No. What’s wrong with having coffee with a junior? You and I have done that plenty of times too, Captain.”
“Th-that's not what I meant...! Why are you using me as an example?”
Did she hear Renka’s grumbling?
Hiyori, who was eating the strawberry cake Chinami offered her like a mother feeding a child, turned her head.
Renka flinched, cleared her throat a few times, and changed the subject.
“That’s a shame...? It would have been nice if you’d joined the kendo club...”
I had no idea why she was suddenly talking about the kendo club.
She even slipped into that stiff, textbook-like delivery she gets when she's flustered. It was so obvious she didn't mean it.
“A-are you studying hard for the midterms?”
She must have felt the awkwardness herself because she changed her line, but the new one was even more out of place.
This was so much fun to watch. How can my Renka be this cute?
She didn't have to make it so obvious she was just talking about Hiyori...
This is exactly why I can't stop being a Renka fan.
“I’ve pretty much given up. I’m terrible at studying to begin with...”
“Really? Isn’t that friend you hang out with good at it? I heard she’s a model student...”
“Miho? She’s amazing at it. I’m thinking of trying to peek at her paper during the exam since she sits next to me.”
“You can’t do that. Cheating is wrong.”
Still, thanks to Hiyori kindly answering Renka’s robotic questions, the atmosphere didn't turn awkward.
“Got it~ But senpai, you used to work at that cafe, right?”
“That cafe? Ah... right.”
“Then can you use this?”
Hiyori took out a cafe coupon and handed it to Renka.
Why does she always carry that coupon around?
Is it to tease me? A reasonable suspicion.
“A coupon...?”
Renka’s eyes grew slightly wistful, then quickly turned fierce.
She had been reminiscing about the memories we made while she worked at the cafe, only to remember the multiple humiliations she’d suffered, which made her angry.
I found her honest display of emotion hilarious. I snickered to myself before putting on a stern face for Hiyori.
“Why don’t you ask the captain for a half-price discount?”
“Why would I ask her for that...? There’s a right person to ask.”
“So it’s okay to ask me?”
“Yup.”
“Then the captain is the one you’re uncomfortable with?”
“What are you talking about...? I didn't take you for the type to try and stir up trouble between people.”
Hiyori gave my arm a light push as she joked.
She was adapting remarkably well, despite the stereotype that seniors in sports clubs are scary.
Not that Renka and Chinami were rigid people in the slightest, and Hiyori probably didn't care about such stereotypes anyway.
Whatever the case, I was just glad she wasn't intimidated in front of two seniors.
Just as I’d thought before, could Hiyori really be the key to my harem?
I entertained the hopeful thought.
I raised my arm to block Hiyori's hand as she pretended to scratch me, then turned to Chinami and asked, “How’s the cake? You seem to be enjoying it.”
“It can’t compare to a peach cake, but it’s satisfactory. Would you like a bite, junior?”
Chinami carefully balanced the piece with the biggest strawberry on her fork and held it out to me.
I casually leaned my head past Hiyori, and—
“Eek...”
I inwardly snickered at Hiyori's small, involuntary gasp of surprise and the way she jerked her chin back as I accepted the cake.
She acts all open-minded, but she still gets flustered when I get this close out of the blue.
The more she shows this side of her, the more I look forward to a situation where it’s just the two of us in a mellow, intimate atmosphere.
“Are you heading straight home after this? Or are you going somewhere else?”
After chewing and swallowing the cake, I asked Chinami. She pointed to a distant window.
“Some new Momo-nim merch was just released. Renka and I were planning to go buy some.”
“Can I come too?”
“Of course, you can. But didn’t you have plans with Junior Asahina?”
“Asahina said she’s meeting her friends here.”
“Oh, is that so? That’s a shame. I wanted to spread the cuteness of Momo-nim to her.”
At those words, Hiyori’s ears perked up.
“Oh, I know that! They did a collab with a beverage company recently, right? I think I saw it on TV.”
“What? You saw that commercial?”
“Yeah. It looked super cute... Senpai, you like Momo-nim?”
“Yes. I have a hobby of collecting merchandise.”
“Oh, really? Do you have any pictures or anything?”
“Mufufu... Of course, I do. Shall I show you?”
I could tell it wouldn't be long before Chinami grew to like Hiyori.
No, she might already like her quite a bit.
With Hiyori showing such active interest in her fandom, it would be strange for someone with Chinami’s personality not to take a liking to her.
“Where’s Miyuki? Why are you hanging out with us...”
Renka, who had been silently listening to their conversation, grumbled so quietly only I could hear.
I reached my hand under the table, placed it on her thigh, and said, “Miyuki went to the countryside.”
“Really...? Is something wrong?”
“Doesn’t seem like anything serious... But, Captain.”
“What...”
“You keep poking at me. Are you sure you can handle the consequences?”
“Wh-when did I ever poke at you...”
“Are you doing this on purpose? Because you want to be punished?”
“Of course not...! Stop getting lost in your delusions and live in reality...! You’re saying the weirdest things... It’s so annoying...”
I’m working hard to make my fantasies a reality, you know.
I swallowed those words and instead answered with a meaningful smile, just to make Renka flinch.
“Wh-what are you grinning about...?”
Then, ignoring her as she anxiously darted her eyes around just as I expected, I joined Chinami and Hiyori's conversation.
* * *
Time flew by in the cheerful atmosphere, and soon our drinks were empty.
Is it time to part ways?
I hoped Hiyori’s friends would forget about her and go play somewhere else, but I knew that wouldn't happen.
Hiyori was the center of her group.
Meeting Renka and Chinami by chance had turned this into something other than a date, but I was still satisfied.
I think this unexpected four-way meeting today was a small glimpse into a fragment of my future.
It felt like a fleeting vision of a peaceful life at home with Renka, Chinami, Hiyori, and Miyuki.
So, I decided to look on the bright side.
“Are you going to the Momo-nim store now?”
Hiyori asked as she placed her cup on the return counter. I nodded and replied.
“Yeah, we should. Let’s get coffee again sometime.”
“What’s with the change of heart? You were so lukewarm about it before we came.”
“When was I ever lukewarm?”
“You told me to be quiet and all that.”
“And that’s being lukewarm?”
“Whatever you say.”
Hiyori, with her carefree remark, saw me to the door.
Renka and Chinami were waiting for me outside the alley.
I glanced at them out of the corner of my eye and asked Hiyori, “You staying here?”
“Yeah. My friends will be here in two minutes, so I’m going to save our seats.”
“Don’t go messing around and getting into a fight.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m saying don’t get into an argument trying to save seats.”
“Hey... Do I really seem that thoughtless to you?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s so mean... You’re kidding, right?”
“Think whatever you want.”
“I will.”
She never lets me have the last word.
I’m looking forward to seeing if you can be this cheeky in a hotel, so I’ll happily put up with it for now.
“I’m leaving. Have fun, see you tomorrow.”
“Yup. See ya, Matsuken-senpai.”
Hiyori's unique way of calling people she's close to by shortening their first and last names.
The moment I heard it, I cheered inwardly.
“Matsuken?”
Forcibly suppressing my joy, I pretended to be bewildered. Hiyori gave a small smile and said, “I decided to start calling you that from today.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?”
“Nope.”
Yes, yes.
From now on, treat me even more comfortably.
I let a weak smile serve as my response and waved my hand as if to say, whatever.
“Later.”
Then, as soon as I turned my back on Hiyori, who was waving back, one corner of my mouth curled up.
I’d been wondering when she’d call me that, and she finally did it today.
She might have just said it casually, but it sounded better than I ever imagined.
It was proof that Hiyori and I had grown closer, and that made me incredibly happy.