Chapter 504

"Matsuda-kun...! I'm tired. Can we stop for today and do it again tomorrow...?"

Did I hear that right?

Tired...? I could hardly believe those words were coming from Miyuki, who usually squeezed every last drop of stamina out of me.

"What's so tiring?"

"I'm sore..."

"Don't give me that. You normally brush off this much without a sweat, so why the sudden whining?"

"I'm not whining...! It was genuinely exhausting... because the car was so uncomfortable..."

"You sure there isn't another reason?"

"Another reason...? There's no such thing...! If there was, would I have asked to do it again tomorrow?"

She had a point.

I quietly watched Miyuki splash through the water to pull away from me, and spoke.

"Will you do it tomorrow?"

"I will... Even if you say you don't want to, Matsuda-kun, I'll still do it."

"So we're stopping here for today?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want to."

"Don't be like that. Just hold me..."

Reaching her arms out to me from the corner of the tub, Miyuki looked incredibly fragile.

Feigning indifference, I brushed off her plea—one that fiercely tugged at my protective instincts—and slowly waded over until I was right in front of her.

"I'll hold you, but promise you'll bear my children."

"Wh-What...?"

Miyuki's mouth fell open in a daze.

She looked completely caught off guard by the unimaginable demand.

Crouching in front of her, I pressed the issue.

"Say you'll have my kids later."

"Where is this coming from all of a sudden...?"

"Aren't you going to live with me?"

"No... I-I will, but..."

"Then say it."

"....."

"Not going to say it?"

I narrowed my eyes and gave one of her legs a light tug. She hurriedly shook her head and clamped her hands around my arm.

".... I-I'll have them..."

It felt like a scene straight out of the training genre.

Like threatening someone after kidnapping and locking them up... that kind of vibe.

Deciding I quite liked this setup, I asked another question.

"How many?"

"Do I have to give a number, too...?"

"How many."

"Um... two...?"

"That won't do."

I clicked my tongue. The moment I shifted away, Miyuki frantically corrected herself.

"Th-Three...! No... four...!"

"Four?"

"Yeah... four..."

Four. Assuming the other three heroines also had four each, it was a perfectly reasonable number.

It was a bit on the heavy side, but as long as I was confident I could raise them, it would be fine.

"That's a promise, right?"

"....."

"Why so quiet? Were you just saying that to get out of this?"

"No... It's just that I wasn't ready to hear something like that..."

"So the promise is void?"

"N-Not that... Okay, I promise..."

"Good."

Finally satisfied, I stroked Miyuki's head, pulled her against my chest, and hugged her tightly.

"You're the one who said you'd have them."

".... Th-This is basically a threat..."

"You don't want to?"

"Ah, when did I say I didn't want to...! I..."

"Be quiet."

"....."

A sharp sting pricked at my chest.

Annoyed by my persistent bossiness, Miyuki had bitten me right there.

Unable to talk back, she was rebelling through her actions instead—which reminded me of Renka. Chuckling at Miyuki's cute little tantrum, I humored her as we finished our shower together.

Strangely enough, even though we had just shared such a rough session, Miyuki was clinging to me much more than usual.

Whether we were in the shower or lying together on the futon right now, she stayed plastered to my body like a cicada.

It didn't seem like a silent protest telling me not to go to Hiyori...

I wondered if making her promise to have my kids had given her some sort of reassurance.

Or maybe everything that happened today had simply exhausted her mentally?

After spending a while absentmindedly groping and kneading my body, Miyuki soon fell asleep.

I checked the time; it wasn't too late yet.

So I carefully slipped out of the futon, tucked the covers around Miyuki, and stepped outside.

Then I gave Hiyori a call.

"Hello..."

Her voice sounded utterly terrified.

She knew exactly what I was planning.

If she had just played along with my desperate little act earlier, none of this would be happening. She always had to cause a scene first, only to regret it later.

"Get ready to come out."

At my demanding, borderline threatening tone, Hiyori's voice dropped even lower as she tried to refuse.

"I-I can't go out..."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, it's my curfew..."

"Curfew?"

"You know I can't leave the house this late, right?"

Come to think of it, her parents had clamped down on her because she'd been wandering around so much.

"I thought they just cut off your allowance?"

"They gave me a curfew, too..."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah... That's why I had to leave early last time."

"Are you arguing with me? Are you talking back right now?"

"No? I didn't mean it like that at all...?"

"So you are talking back."

"No, no...! I'm just explaining..."

"Talking back again."

"Should I just keep my mouth shut, then?"

"Now you're catching an attitude?"

"Ugh, why are you being like this...!"

At her adorable, whiny complaint, the corners of my mouth twitched upward.

Seeing Miyuki and Hiyori both get so flustered brought a natural smile to my face.

Just as I'd realized earlier, I should have been handling them like this from the very beginning.

"So you're saying we can't meet today?"

"Yeah... I'll get caught if I sneak out..."

I wasn't expecting her to go that far anyway.

Swallowing those words, I let out a heavy sigh, making sure Hiyori heard it over the line.

"I'll call you tomorrow, so don't make any plans."

"When tomorrow...?"

"I don't know. Just be ready to head out at a moment's notice."

"I need at least a rough idea of the time to get ready, though... Ah, that wasn't me talking back."

"Sounded like talking back to me."

"I swear it's not...!"

"I'll call you in the morning, so make sure you're awake."

"Okay... B-But um..."

"What."

"Do you mind me asking... what exactly you're planning?"

"Curious?"

"Well... Yeah, of course I am..."

Hiyori knew exactly what I was going to do.

The only reason she was asking was to turn her suspicion into certainty.

She wanted to brace herself for what was coming.

"You don't need to know."

"Why not... Just tell me..."

Her voice was so cute I felt the sudden urge to sprint over there right that second.

But I had to hold back. There was only one day left of this little waiting game; if I couldn't hold out for that much, I'd never build my harem.

"I'm hanging up."

".... Geez..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

She was really piling up the karma, wasn't she?

She was dead meat tomorrow.

I ended the call with Hiyori and took a moment to enjoy the unusually cool summer breeze. Then, I cleaned up the lingering traces of our intense session inside the car before heading back indoors.

I slipped back into bed beside the soundly sleeping Miyuki.

As if sensing the comforting presence of a familiar body next to her, Miyuki wriggled closer and buried herself against my chest.

Feeling Miyuki's soft skin and warm body heat pressing against me, I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes.

Yeah, it wouldn't be right to just leave Miyuki here by herself.

Let's let her get a good sleep and then take her home.

A heavy weight pressing down on my chest stirred me awake, only for me to open my eyes and find Miyuki's round face hovering right in front of mine.

She was straddling me, blinking her eyes. She looked like she had something she was dying to ask.

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"For about twenty minutes."

"That long?"

"Yeah. Did you not go see Asahina yesterday?"

"Nope."

"I thought you were going to... Why not?"

"Just because. Let's get some food."

Unable to immediately adjust to my sudden shift in attitude compared to yesterday, Miyuki looked briefly flustered.

But it only lasted a second. A bright smile broke out on her face, clearly pleased by my return to a gentler demeanor. She happily agreed and trotted over to the refrigerator.

We ate the simple breakfast Miyuki had whipped up, hopped in the shower together, and then I dropped her off at her place. Afterward, I immediately headed straight to Hiyori's neighborhood.

I parked the car near Hiyori's house and gave her a call.

"Hello."

Her voice had a slight edge of rebellion to it.

It hadn't even been a full day yet, and she was already trying to act up again?

If that was the case, Hiyori would be going home completely drained today.

"Come outside."

"You're already here?"

"Yeah."

"Give me ten minutes."

"I'll give you five."

"Ah, shit... Okay."

"'Ah, shit'?"

"That slipped out. Sorry."

Earning her own punishments just like that—how convenient.

It definitely put my mind at ease, knowing I wouldn't have to feel an ounce of guilt when I disciplined her later.

I waited for Hiyori in a relaxed mood. Exactly six minutes later, she finally appeared.

Unlike yesterday, she was wearing a slightly more revealing outfit. Judging by the shopping bag hanging from her arm, it seemed she had packed a change of clothes.

How uncharacteristically well-prepared of her.

Well, at least it was a relief to see she was mentally prepared.

The only problem was the massive gap between the level of intensity Hiyori was expecting and the level I actually had planned, but I could just teach her that bit by bit. It didn't matter.

Click.

"Hello."

Hiyori offered a somewhat polite greeting as she pulled open the passenger side door.

I gave her a curt nod in response and ordered, "Get in."

"Please don't be mad. It scares me."

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Are your parents fairly open to the idea of you living on your own?"

"Living on my own? Like getting my own place?"

"Something like that."

"Hmm... I'm not really sure."

"Has it never come up in conversation during a family dinner or something?"

"I can't really remember... I think it might've been brought up in passing. Why do you ask, though?"

"Because I'm having you move in with me after graduation."

"Excuse me...?"

Hiyori completely froze mid-motion, her hands still gripping the seatbelt.

Her eyes had shot wide open in sheer shock.

I just shrugged at her unmoving, bewildered stare and casually continued.

"If your parents are against it, we're going to have to convince them together. That's why I'm asking."

"No... no, no, no... I have no idea what you're talking about, sunbae...? What about Miyuki Hanazawa...?"

"Miyuki's moving in too, obviously."

"Huh...?"

Hiyori's head tilted entirely to one side.

She looked completely incapable of processing what I'd just said.

I let out a low chuckle. I placed my hand on her thigh—she was still clutching her seatbelt for dear life—and slowly slid it between her legs.

"We'll pick this conversation back up in a bit. Let's get going first."

"How can you just drop something that crazy on me out of nowhere and say we'll talk about it later...? Tell me right now...!"

"You don't get a say in the matter."

"What the heck...! I don't want to!"

"Don't want what?"

"I am not moving in with you, sunbae...!"

Hmm. Very rebellious.

Given Hiyori's naturally rebellious personality, I had fully expected her to answer exactly like that.

Of course, my timing was a little abrupt. If I had brought it up later, after deeply cementing our bond through physical intimacy, her answer would have been much softer.

Something like 'I'll think about it,' at the very least.

I could have tried slowly sweet-talking her into it, but I decided this wasn't the time for that.

That was exactly why I'd ambushed her with it. Now that I had drawn my sword, I had to bulldoze forward like a tank. This was not the time to act indecisive and hand over the initiative.

"What are you doing...? Why are we driving? I wasn't finished talking...!"

She immediately snapped at me as I silently put the car in drive and pulled away.

Ignoring her complaints, I drove straight ahead, eventually turning onto a street lined with motels.

"Why are we already here?!"

Hiyori frantically shouted my name as she recognized the surrounding buildings. Glancing over at her, I pulled into the parking lot of the Raffia Hotel we always frequented and tossed out a casual reply.

"Yeah, I like you too."

"Wh-What...?"

That shut Hiyori up in an instant.

It was definitely the most effective method for silencing her.