Chapter 377: Her Resolve
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 377: Her Resolve
“What are you fidgeting for?”
At my jab, Hiyori, who had been fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt, answered.
“This is the first time I've worn something like this downtown, so I'm not used to it.”
Baggy beige shorts and an equally boxy white t-shirt.
She must be uncomfortable because it was an outfit that clearly looked like she’d just thrown it on.
I scoffed, as if to say she worried about the strangest things.
“Nobody's looking at you, so don't worry.”
“Someone was just looking at me, though.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Just because nobody pays attention to you, senpai, don't assume it's the same for me, okay?”
“My bad.”
“Why are you apologizing? I thought this was the part where you hit me for being cheeky.”
She was saying things that would make anyone listening think I was a boyfriend, or a husband, who resorted to violence without a second thought.
When I couldn't think of anything to say and just kept my mouth shut, Hiyori giggled and patted my arm.
“I was just kidding. But that hat looks really good on you, senpai.”
“You think so?”
“It smells a little, though.”
She always has to ruin it at the end.
What do you call that again? A tsukkomi, maybe?
“Where does it smell?”
“From your body.”
“No, it doesn't.”
“It does, though. You didn't shower, did you? Ugh... so gross.”
Hiyori pinched my t-shirt between her thumb and forefinger, then let go.
Seeing her playful antics, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward my chest.
Like I was putting her in a headlock.
“Wha—!?”
As Hiyori let out a scream, her face suddenly buried in my chest, I asked in a deadpan voice.
“Does it still smell?”
“N-Now it smells even worse...! Are you an idiot, senpai!?”
“So, does it smell?”
“It does...! Let go...!”
“It really does?”
I asked, half-doubting her, as I made a fist and rubbed the top of Hiyori's head with my middle knuckles.
The friction on her scalp must have stung a little, because Hiyori started to squirm.
A motion that clearly said she wanted to escape my grasp.
But the difference in our strength was so great that her efforts were futile.
“Ow...! Senpai...! That hurts...!”
I wasn't doing it hard enough to actually hurt. She was just being dramatic.
I continued to torment her in silence.
“It doesn't smell...! It doesn't smell...!!”
Only when the words of surrender finally burst from Hiyori's lips did I let her go.
The moment she was free, she let out a gasp of air, her face flushed as red as a fruit about to burst.
I definitely hadn't held her so tightly that she couldn't breathe.
For her to react like that, it must have been an expression of embarrassment from our sudden, hug-like embrace.
She gets all flustered so easily, yet she still messes with me.
With that thought, I pretended to fix Hiyori's messy hair, but once she was standing still, I moved my hand and ruffled it all up again.
“...The more I get to know you, senpai, the more new sides of you I see.”
Hiyori said with a look of resignation, even as her hair was becoming a complete mess.
I gave a satisfied smile and replied.
“If you don't like it, stop messing with me.”
“I'll have to do it more, then.”
She didn't mean she disliked it; she meant she liked it.
Hiyori sometimes says things that catch me off guard like this.
In the past, I might have flinched, but not now that I understand her personality well.
I placed my hand over Hiyori's sharp eyes.
A cool sensation spread from my palm. Her body was always cold. Was that why she was so active in the summer?
It's not good for a woman's body to be cold... Maybe I should pack some ginger tea for her tomorrow.
“I can't see.”
“I know. Where do you want to go?”
“I dunno. Wanna go to the arcade?”
“The arcade? Nah.”
“Then how about the net cafe, like last time?”
“That's fine, but let's stop by a stationery store first.”
“Why a stationery store?”
“I need to buy a notebook and some pens.”
“For me?”
“I'll just buy yours while I'm at it.”
“Okay!”
Hiyori's cheerful reply, even with her eyes still covered, was adorable.
It's about time we took our relationship to the next level... Should I just close my eyes and ask Miyuki?
‘Can we have a threesome with Hiyori just once?’
She'd definitely fly into a rage.
This is a completely different situation from what happened with Chinami.
After that brief, hopeful thought, I took my hand away from Hiyori's eyes.
“By the way, have you been studying lately?”
“Nope.”
“Then do you need a notebook?”
“I need it for drawing.”
I envied Hiyori's confidence, saying something like that so brazenly.
I should try saying something similar to Miyuki when she tells me to study.
I chuckled, said okay, and looked for a stationery store nearby.
* * *
“What's this? I haven't seen this notebook before.”
The question came from Miho, her precious deskmate.
In response, Hiyori tapped the light blue notebook she'd bought with Matsuda yesterday and asked back.
“What do you think?”
“It just looks... plain? And light blue isn't your style.”
“It's not like I hate it, so what does it matter?”
“That's true.”
“I'm going to the school store. Want me to get you anything?”
“No, I'm good.”
“Alright.”
As Hiyori stood up and was about to leave the classroom, a male classmate she was friendly with stood up as well and asked.
“Asahina, want to go together?”
“Do you need to buy something? I can get it for you.”
“Nah, I need to get rid of my coins, so I have to stop by anyway.”
“Oh? Okay, then.”
Hiyori left with her classmate and got in line at the school store, which was unusually crowded with students today.
She muttered her thoughts aloud.
“It's so crowded... Did they get something new in?”
“Who knows. Should we check?”
“How?”
“We can just push our way in for a second and check.”
He was suggesting they cut in line.
It was a suggestion she didn't like, and Hiyori's brow furrowed slightly.
“Don't.”
Was he flustered by Hiyori's subdued voice?
Her classmate looked chagrined as he apologized.
“Ah, sorry... I was just kidding.”
Normally, she would have just laughed off a comment like that, but after getting to know Matsuda-senpai—and the more she got to know him—she started to care about these things.
She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she knew that beneath Matsuda's grumpy exterior, there was a kind and polite side to him.
After waiting in line for quite a while, Hiyori bought her favorite Suichu and a lollipop for Matsuda-senpai.
She then vaguely agreed with whatever the male student was saying while scanning her surroundings.
He's not here.
The person she was looking for was Matsuda.
He usually came to the school store around this time to buy strawberry milk, jellies, and other things, but it seemed today wasn't the day.
Could he be in the classroom, being all lovey-dovey with Hanazawa-senpai?
Just imagining it made her pout.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her connection with Matsuda was fate.
He, who had never even met her before, had happened to see her on the way to the kendo tournament and kept her in his memory...
The smile he'd worn when he explained it to her was so cool and refreshing that it was unforgettable, remaining vivid even with the passage of time.
Imagining Matsuda's face from that day, Hiyori entered the building and was about to go into her classroom when she paused.
It was because she saw a familiar back in the distance.
“What's wrong? You're not going in?”
Hiyori told her classmate to go on ahead and immediately started walking quickly after Matsuda, about to call out to him with a happy expression.
“Ma—”
But seeing his broad back in front of her, the thought vanished.
She'd always thought his dependable back was one of his attractive points, but it was even more so today.
It always was, but today was different.
Why was that? Maybe it was because he had tucked a lot of his shirt into his pants, making the fabric taut and defining the lines of his body more clearly.
She felt like she wanted to just admire it, so Hiyori decided to quiet her footsteps and follow Matsuda.
Where is he going?
He was heading toward the hallway that led to the old school building.
The place with the storage room for skipping class that he had told her about.
Could he be looking for her?
Matsuda walked at a leisurely pace, tossing something he was holding in his hand up and down.
Realizing it was a padlock, a hint of anger appeared on Hiyori's face.
Is he planning to lock it?
Was he trying to stop her from skipping class so often?
If so, that was incredibly petty.
To think he would seal off her sanctuary, which she had just cleaned... Disappointing. So disappointing.
As Hiyori was thinking this, she saw Matsuda start to put the padlock on a door with a sign that read [Materials Storage Room], and she felt incredibly awkward.
So a teacher or someone else had just asked him to lock it.
She felt sorry for the pointless misunderstanding.
Click, clack.
After checking that the padlock was secure, Matsuda started walking in the same direction he had been heading.
This time, it really seemed like he was going to look for her.
A strong sense of certainty hit her, and she quickly moved her legs to get closer to Matsuda.
Then, with a mischievous smile, she stretched out both hands, pushed his back, and shouted.
“Matsuken!”
Sensing her presence, he turned around without a hint of surprise.
“What? What are you doing here?”
Hearing his low voice, Hiyori made a resolve in her heart.
I have to steal him away.
Before, she'd only had abstract thoughts, like... if she wanted to take him, she probably could.
But not anymore.
No matter how she thought about it, Hanazawa-senpai and Matsuda didn't suit each other.
So she had to be the one to have him, no matter what.