Chapter 43 – Strange Date #2
“Are you taking supplementary classes separately?”
To Tetsuya’s question after coming out of the shower, I answered in the middle of the room with Chinami.
“Uh. You have to go first today. Do you have an umbrella?”
“I decided to borrow it from the insolvent room. Then I will go back with Miyuki?”
Are you going back with Miyuki?
Would it be impossible?
You’re lonely on a rainy day and you’re not drinking makgeolli…
It’s fate to eat sake or okonomiyaki.
“Yes.”
“Thanks for your effort. Nanase-senpai, please work hard too.”
Tetsuya bows politely.
Chinami shook her hand with a bright smile.
“Kouhai Miura, please enter carefully.”
Tetsuya disappears, and the few remaining members have escaped.
Chinami, who had been spying on her director’s office, let out a sigh of relief, and she came back with the bamboo sword I was using from the storage room.
“Should we start practicing right away?”
Receiving the bamboo sword, I held the hilt properly and said.
“Before that, I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
“Senior Inoo said that Master mainly uses upper-tier tax… Is that right?”
“Right.”
“Please teach me too.”
“Yes…?”
She blinks her own eye at her chunky.
She did that for a while, but she refused with her single knife.
“No.”
“Why?”
“If you don’t learn the middle tax first, you can learn the upper tax. So no.”
“Please teach me anyway.”
“No.”
“Can.”
“… Junior Matsuda, are you kidding me with words? It’s fun, but I can’t.”
“Because it works.”
As I slowly approached her Chinami with a smile on her lips, she slowly raised her head in line with my steps.
Raising her head almost all the way, she suddenly crossed her arms.
“It’s not okay to force yourself.”
“Is it strange that a disciple follows in the footsteps of his master?”
“Your heart is unique, but if you learn the top posture, your posture will completely collapse.”
“Isn’t that the assumption you made when you learned to stop? It’s a different story if you start your first steps at the top. I want to be taught by Master, the Master of the Merchant.”
“It’s no use talking about candy. But can’t you move away a bit? My junior is too tall, so his neck hurts.”
“Shall I squeeze you?”
“Um…! No.”
I guess I was a bit squeamish?
His feelings are honest, so he seems like a person who is easier to get to know than Miyuki.
In any case, it seems that there is no point in trying to be more forceful here.
Give up cleanly and look for the next opportunity.
After moving away from Chinami, I took a stance while staring at the huge mirror attached to the corner of the room.
**
Shoot ah-!
Watching the rain show no signs of stopping, Chinami looked back at the only umbrella left and at my face and said,
“The juniors use the umbrella. I’ll have to take a taxi. Instead, we only share until the front door.”
“Taxi? Where is your house?”
“It’s a 15-minute drive.”
“Okay? Shall I give you a ride?”
“Yeah…?”
Chinami opened her mouth wide.
I want to stick my finger in it.
“Kouhai Matsuda, do you have a car?”
“Yes. I rode it today too.”
“Is that so…?”
“Let’s go to the parking lot together. I will carry the umbrella.”
After I finished talking, I immediately opened my umbrella and went out the door.
Dudududuk! Dududuk!
Heavy rain hitting the canopy.
The sound isn’t too bad.
I looked at Chinami and gestured.
“What are you doing? Not coming.”
“Ah yes…!”
Moving cautiously, she stood next to me at attention.
However, the distance was slightly off.
As a result, the raindrops landed on one of Chinami’s shoulders, and she could see that her uniform shirt was getting wet in an instant.
Moreover, due to the height difference between me and Chinami holding the umbrella, the rain penetrated the long space between her and the umbrella.
At this point, there is no point in using an umbrella together.
I burst into a light laugh and pulled Chinami so close that her legs touched, slightly bent her knees and lowered my umbrella so that her hair touched.
Chinami, noticing my consideration, smiled awkwardly and apologetically.
“Thank you… Junior Matsuda, contrary to rumors, is very kind.”
The 2nd year kendo club members tend to treat me fairly well, but that’s because I’m meticulous in my managerial duties, so I open up.
The other sophomores must be looking at me as a bully.
Let’s not pay attention to them.
It’s just an extra with no contact anyway.
Gently scratching the side of my head, I changed the topic as if I wasn’t interested in rumors.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes…!”
We walked toward the parking lot at a very slow pace, like toddlers walking.
It’s uncomfortable to walk with your knees bent, but…
What can I do for good feeling?
Furthermore, since I had to create the event with Chinami, it was good to accelerate as soon as I got the chance.
**
Arriving with Chinami at her eaves in the corner of her parking lot, I asked her for her understanding and called her Miyuki.
A couple of beeps pass,
-Hello?
Miyuki, who lowered her voice, answered the phone.
“Where are you? Not there yet?”
– I was just getting ready to go out. Is Matsuda-kun a parking lot?”
“Uh.”
-I think it will take about two minutes. I’ll be going soon.
I answered yes and pressed the end call button.
“I have more people to ride, but can I wait two or three minutes before going?”
“Of course. By the way, junior Matsuda, how much does gas cost for a 15-minute trip?”
“Why is the price of gas all of a sudden… You really want to pay for it?”
“Yes.”
Looking at the plump eyes, I’m not drawing a line.
I honestly think that’s what I’m doing.
I said with a sly smile.
“Just take it as a favor.”
“I can’t…”
“Or maybe I should give money to Master. The price of teaching how to wear a uniform, the price of teaching how to clean the hukou, the price of teaching kendo skills…”
“Now, wait a minute…! Doesn’t that make sense…?”
“If you think about it that way, what Master just said makes no sense. The price of gas is over, and if you really feel bad, buy me a drink later.”
At the seemingly insignificant remark, Chinami’s round face softened slightly.
She said, bowing her head to her.
“I know. Then, I will be grateful for the ride today.”
It wasn’t long after they were having a casual conversation that Miyuki, wearing sandals, was seen approaching at a brisk pace, holding an umbrella.
She was about to go to my car, but stopped when she noticed me and Chinami under her eaves.
She panics for a moment, then she approaches us.
I introduced her Chinami as she grinned at her.
“This is Nanase-senpai, the manager of the kendo club.”
“Ah… That… What you said last time… Master…?”
“Right.”
Miyuki’s head shook slowly.
She bowed her upper body toward her Chinami and bowed.
“Hello, senior. My name is Hanazawa Miyuki…”
“Hello! My name is Nanase Chinami. Thank you, Hanazawa Junior.”
Seeing the two exchange greetings, I told them to stay here and hurried toward the car.
**
Chinami’s house… Is a mansion that can be seen everywhere.
I seem to be living a normal life.
“Thank you, Junior Matsuda! Please go in carefully!”
As the car arrived at the entrance of the mansion, Chinami hunched over in the back seat of hers.
Turning her back on her, I pointed to the umbrella dripping rainwater from under her seat.
“Take an umbrella.”
“Yes! Hanazawa kouhai-sama, please enter carefully! It was nice to meet you today, and it was nice to be able to talk to you!”
At the lively greeting, Miyuki’s face lit up in the passenger seat.
“It was nice to meet you too. Senior Nanase. I hope to go along well.”
After Chinami got out of the car, she greeted us again with a relatively large-looking umbrella.
Then he entered the mansion entrance.
Miyuki, who was watching her from the back, turned her head to look at me as her car started to move.
“Do you always speak respectfully like that?”
“The same goes for other people. No matter how old or young, he always respected me.”
“Okay…? You’re so kind… And cute… But Matsuda-kun.”
“Why.”
“I wish I had told you earlier.”
Miyuki’s voice sounds a bit chilly.
I came to understand the situation itself thanks to Chinami’s explanation from me in the car, and Chinami had no regrets, but…
Unknowingly, he is secretly jealous.
It’s natural for a normal person to feel awkward around women other than themselves.
If you have normal tastes, that is.
“I was going to tell you when I called you.”
“But why didn’t you?”
“I heard you were coming soon, so I was going to meet you.”
“… Is it difficult to just tell you? How long will it take you to speak?”
Just the right signal.
After stepping on the brakes and stopping, I looked back at Miyuki.
“Are you angry?”
Stunned, she averted my gaze.
“Why am I angry? There is no reason…”
Flinch.
Miyuki slurred her words, closed her mouth, and moved her body as if hiccupping.
It was because my hand, which slowly approached, grabbed her wrist.
I stared at her speechless Miyuki, raised the corner of her mouth on one side of her, and pulled her inward with my hand.
Then, her Miyuki’s body came out… Very lightly and came closer.
“Well… Come to think of it, I think the reason might be enough.”
“…. What does that mean…?”
Don’t pretend you don’t understand.
No matter how clumsy you are in a relationship with the opposite sex, you don’t know the meaning of what I just said.
I raised a corner of her mouth, took Miyuki’s hand, held it, and placed it on her console box, replacing her answer.
After that, I changed the topic by gently scratching the dent between her index and middle fingers with my finger.
“What are you going to make today?”
“…. I don’t know.”
“Then do you buy anything at the mart?”
“I’ll make my own choice…”
I’m pretending to be sulking, but my cheeks are twitching.
Proof that she likes light but subtle skinship.
Even if you do this, the reaction is obvious, but I wonder what kind of reaction will be shown at home, and I am also looking forward to it.
I glanced at Miyuki and asked.
“Would you like to buy a beer?”
“Beer…? It’s not good for your health.”
“You see. The taste is good. So, it is good for your health.”
Miyuki laughed in vain at my extremely calm words.
“Then should I drop it in the middle of the barley field?”
Originally, he would have beaten me and told me not to talk nonsense, but this time he is arguing with me.
I guess it bothered me that I kept taking it seriously.
By the way, he doesn’t seem to think that drinking alcohol can’t drive…
It’s not like I’m going to go back alone after serving food…
Then, should we even ask them to go to sleep using beer as an excuse?
I’ll have to look at the atmosphere and decide.
