Chapter 401: The Second Summer Vacation #2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 401: The Second Summer Vacation #2
“Tetsuya-kun, what are you doing for vacation?”
Miyuki is too kind.
Asking a hanger-on like him a question just to give him a chance to talk.
He had just finished talking with a friend and was staring blankly at the whiteboard. He glanced at me, sitting between him and Miyuki, before answering.
“Me? I... don't really have anything to do.”
“Why not? There's so much you can do for self-improvement. We should meet up and study together sometimes.”
‘Sometimes,’ not ‘often.’
Before she started seeing me, she used to hang out with Tetsuya almost every day. It felt surreal.
Miyuki also wasn't telling Tetsuya to come over for dinner.
Even though she used to invite him over for family meals quite often.
As I silently listened to their conversation, I thought about how Miyuki's mindset had changed—and was still changing. It was an incredible turn-on.
“Yeah. I'll do that.”
“It'd be nice if the three of us could study together like we used to, with Matsuda-kun. Right?”
“.... Sure.”
Did he not like how Miyuki always includes me?
The guy's expression flickered for a moment before returning to normal.
How dare he make a face like that?
I'm the one who should be annoyed, but he's the one acting up.
That bastard, who doesn't know his place, is probably just glad he gets to spend any time with Miyuki at all, but I'll be the one to crush that hope.
“The grades are out!”
While everyone was enjoying a moment of peace, the vice class president came in through the back door of the classroom to announce the news.
At that, the students who cared about their studies quickly got up and swarmed toward the bulletin board in the hallway.
Miyuki wasn't quite as frantic, but she stood up as soon as she heard the announcement.
Then she grabbed my wrist and pointed outside the classroom.
“Let's go see, quick.”
“I don't want to.”
“Are you scared?”
“No.”
“You're chicken, aren't you?”
Where did she learn to provoke people like that? Did she pick it up from Hiyori?
I was stunned by her unusually aggressive words for a moment. As she giggled and grabbed my arm with both hands, I reluctantly got out of my seat.
Behind the students gathered in small groups, I craned my neck to see the rankings.
I stood on my tiptoes and could just see the bulletin board, but the students' heads blocked part of it, so I could only see up to 10th place.
And my name wasn't in the top 10.
So I failed my goal? I guess it's an expected result, since I didn't study all that hard.
“What's my rank?”
Miyuki, who was much shorter than me, couldn't see the board, so she patted my back repeatedly, urging me to check the rankings.
I looked at the very top, and there was Miyuki's name, plain as day.
First place. An expected result.
“You're first.”
“Not me, what about you, Matsuda-kun?”
“I'm not in the top 10.”
“Then? Are you 11th? 12th?”
Peeking through the gaps between the dark-haired heads, I could see a few characters of my name right below 10th place.
“Looks like I'm 11th.”
“Really? You did well.”
I thought she'd tell me to study harder during the break, but she was surprisingly praising me.
11th place is respectable enough.
With that thought, I returned to the classroom and sat in my chair.
I leaned way back, my back arching over the backrest.
Seeing my slouching posture, the vice class president spoke up.
“What are you doing?”
“A back exercise.”
“That's an exercise?”
“Yeah. Try it.”
“You seem to be joking...?”
Her expression was bright as she looked at me with suspicion.
I guess it's because she maintained her 2nd place rank.
Come to think of it, Bread Girl was 4th... I knew she was a good student, but her grades improved even more this time.
I trust that her passion for carnal studies is just as high as her passion for academic ones.
Not long after, Tetsuya returned with a sour look on his face.
Miyuki was consoling him; it seemed they had checked his rank together.
Normally, I wouldn't care what rank that guy got, but seeing that look on his face, you'd have to be inhuman not to be curious.
I secretly poked the waist of Miyuki, who had sat down next to me, and asked quietly.
“What place did Miura get to look like that?”
Miyuki glanced nervously at Tetsuya, then drew a number on the desk with her finger.
Seeing her long index finger trace a 1 and an 8, I just nodded.
It was a fitting rank for the ever-mediocre Tetsuya.
Next semester, it would be a perfect match if he just dropped about two more spots.
* * *
“Matsumatsu!”
Lunchtime.
I was walking alone on the well-kept path between the school grounds and the building when I turned my head at the unique nickname called from behind me.
It was Hiyori, trotting toward me.
She wore a bright expression, as if she didn't have a care in the world.
Did she do well on the exam? No, I'm sure of one thing: that's definitely not it.
She probably ranked around 30th. I should ask.
“Did you eat?”
“Just now. It was really bad today.”
“I thought it was fine.”
“You look like it. Are you on a walk to digest?”
“Something like that. Did you get your exam results?”
“Yep.”
“What's your rank?”
“35th.”
So she was five spots lower than I'd predicted.
I severely underestimated her.
“How many students are in your class?”
“38.”
35th out of 38...
Isn't that the kind of rank you get if you guess on everything and just happen to get a few more right than the people below you?
She didn't disappoint. I nodded slowly and said.
“So there are three people below you.”
“What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying I should have been last?”
“Wouldn't that have been better? You could have had a mental victory by calling yourself first from the bottom.”
“Wanna die?”
The way she pretended to be angry, raising one hand to her shoulder, was incredibly pretty.
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the sight, and Hiyori smiled back before continuing.
“What about you, senpai?”
“11th.”
“We're pretty similar.”
“Don't say that so shamelessly.”
“Sorry.”
Miho is probably first place, just like Miyuki, right?
Usually, if you have a friend like that, you naturally end up studying and your grades improve on their own, don't they?
I don't know if Hiyori is a special case or if this is normal.
Anyway, it's something I've thought before, but Yebonie Academy is too cruel.
They should just let students check their ranks privately... If you post everyone's grades on a bulletin board, the lower-ranked students could get made fun of.
Though in Hiyori's case, no one would probably do that, and she herself doesn't seem to care at all.
“Ask Mitsushima to help you study during the break.”
“Miho has offered to help many times, but I always said no.”
“Why do you say that so proudly?”
“What can I do? I hate studying.”
It might be a good idea to have Hiyori or Miyuki come over to my place and then invite the other one to study.
It would create the perfect picture: Hiyori replacing Tetsuya from our group a year ago.
And as a bonus, they'd get a chance to become friends.
“Don't your parents say anything?”
“They say a lot. So I just pretend to be playing with my younger sibling.”
“Didn't you say your sibling was young?”
“Yep.”
“Why are you trying to use such an innocent kid?”
“Innocent? What's innocent about them...! They're a little devil.”
“Don't say that.”
“Why are you taking my sibling's side when you've never even met them?”
“Because you're saying bad things about your younger sibling.”
Pat, pat.
My hand rustled her hair a couple of times.
She covered the top of her head, protecting her precious ahoge, and said.
“I'm leaving.”
“Where?”
“To the classroom.”
“What's the occasion?”
“What do you mean, what's the occasion...! You're so annoying today, senpai.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“So annoying. I'm going to change my skirt.”
She meant she was going to change into a shorter skirt.
I looked at Hiyori, who was mixing rebellion and threats with such a trivial, cute act, and chided her with a look of disbelief.
“Go ahead. See what happens.”
After bickering with a pouting Hiyori, I sent a message to Chinami to check her grades.
[Master, the exam results are out, right? What was your rank?]
[I was second.]
[That's amazing. Congratulations.]
[Thank you. I was aiming for first, but it wasn't easy.]
[You can aim for it next semester. I'll give you a reward during club activities today.]
[I'm looking forward to it. What kind of reward will it be?]
[A massage.]
[Ah.]
Why is that one word such a turn-on?
Other heroines often make the same sound, but for some reason, it feels incredibly erotic only when Chinami does it.
Vowing to touch Chinami's body to my heart's content during club activities, I sent a message to Renka next.
[What rank?]
[Better than you, probably.]
Renka was average when it came to academics.
For her to give an answer like that, even knowing my previous rank?
She probably ranked somewhere around 15th.
[Higher than 11th?]
[Die.]
I let out a loose laugh at her immediate profanity and looked up at the sky.
It was perfectly clear. It would have been great if it weren't so hot, which was a shame.
[Oh dear. Looks like you need to study a bit.]
[Are you messing with me right now?]
[Didn't the club captain start it?]
[You broke my concentration. If I don't win the tournament, it's your fault.]
[Is the tournament today? You're being ridiculous.]
[Shut up.]
Unlike Chinami, who I planned to touch gently, Renka needed a good spanking.
After checking the heroines' report cards, I spent the next few days peacefully with them, enjoying the break that had started with the school trip.
And just like that, my second summer vacation began.