Chapter 553

"Matsuda-kun, what did you do yesterday?"

Miyuki asked, suddenly poking her head over his shoulder.

Startled, Matsuda flinched and let out a dry laugh.

"Do you have to sneak up on people like that?"

"I made plenty of noise. Maybe you just didn't hear me? Anyway, what did you do yesterday?"

"I was chatting with you."

"I meant before that."

"Yesterday... I just went somewhere."

"Where? Somewhere shady?"

"What exactly do you consider a shady place?"

"Hmm... I don't know."

"Then don't ask such presumptuous questions. And quit making assumptions."

She wasn't making assumptions; she had just been hoping he would crack a dirty joke.

Perhaps because it was still early on, his reaction was entirely lukewarm.

"Sorry."

"Forget it. Did you eat before you left?"

"Yeah. What about you? Did you grab a bento from the Convenience Store on your way out?"

"How did you know?"

"I just had a feeling. What are you doing for summer vacation?"

"Well... I'd like to keep studying, if that's possible?"

"Of course it is."

"You agreed to that pretty readily."

Naturally, she had no choice but to gladly accept.

Tutoring him was practically her only excuse to be alone with him in a closed room.

Since her goal was to drastically advance their relationship as quickly as possible, this was the opportunity of a lifetime.

"Because there's no better opportunity to make an idiot smart."

"Did you just insult me?"

"It wasn't an insult."

"I'm pretty sure you called me an idiot."

"It's just your imagination."

"You've got some nerve... Are you sure you're actually Hanazawa? Did someone else possess you or something?"

"How long are you going to keep bringing that up?"

"I haven't brought it up that much."

"Really? Well, it's me, so don't worry."

"I wasn't worried."

"Good. Want to go buy your study books after school?"

"Books?"

"Yeah. At the used bookstore."

Going to the used bookstore at this point might be a bad move.

The event where falling books would cause Matsuda to accidentally grab her breasts wasn't supposed to happen until after vacation started.

Even so, Miyuki was certain that if it was her and Matsuda's fate, something would happen there.

'This makes me sound a bit shallow...'

Whatever. She just had to go for it.

Today, she was going to act recklessly, just like Matsuda.

"Do we have to go right now? Summer break is still a while away..."

Matsuda's attitude was rather reluctant.

Miyuki flashed him a bright smile and urged him on.

"We have to prepare in advance."

"Well... sure, whatever."

As recently as yesterday, there had still been a faint trace of wariness in Matsuda's eyes when he looked at her.

Not because he found her suspicious, but simply because she was unfamiliar.

It made sense; it must have felt like her personality had suddenly flipped.

But not anymore. A peaceful aura now flowed from him.

It really felt like she was conquering his route step by step. She had once played a simple dating sim with Matsuda at an internet cafe.

This felt just like that—a very sweet... kind of game.

And it seemed to be unfolding right before her eyes.

"So where did you go?"

"Why the hell are you so curious about that?"

"I can ask, can't I... I thought we'd gotten a bit closer, so that hurts my feelings..."

When Miyuki feigned the pathetic look of a frail kitten, Matsuda's resolve seemed to soften, and he meekly confessed.

"I'm looking into learning the drums."

"The drums?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to start a band?"

"I don't know yet."

"Why the drums all of a sudden? Were you always interested in that?"

"Not really. I just saw a band performing on TV the day before yesterday, and it looked like fun, so I figured I'd try learning."

The drums... Imagining Matsuda sweating as he enthusiastically beat on drums and cymbals, she thought it suited him perfectly.

The problem was that a sweating, focused Matsuda would look so handsome that he'd end up attracting a bunch of annoying flies...

Since that hadn't happened yet, she decided there was no need to worry about it now.

Matsuda wasn't the type to pay attention to people like that anyway, and even if he seriously learned the drums, they were destined to get together before his skills improved enough to put on a real show. It was fine.

"So did you have your first lesson yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"How was it?"

"It was doable."

"Are you going to keep at it?"

"For now?"

That meant they might not be able to see each other as often over summer break.

That was absolutely unacceptable.

Still, she didn't want to get in his way, so she would have to consider registering at the academy herself.

"Really...? I think that's great."

"I wasn't asking for your permission."

"It was a compliment, so don't read too much into it."

"Whatever."

"I'm actually getting kind of interested too. Maybe I should learn..."

She muttered the hint to herself, and Matsuda instantly took the bait.

"Which instrument? Guitar?"

"Don't bands usually have a piano too? I learned it when I was little, but a band piano seems like a totally different area, so I'm curious."

"I think the drums would suit you too."

"Anything too intense is a bit exhausting..."

"Really?"

Matsuda gave a strange smile.

Knowing exactly what he was thinking, Miyuki narrowed her brow.

"You're having dirty thoughts, aren't you?"

"What on earth makes you think I'm having dirty thoughts?"

He had clearly thought of a physical relationship at the word 'intense,' yet he was playing dumb.

But saying that out loud would be too much of a disconnect from her 'current' self.

"I feel like you'd have those thoughts no matter what you're looking at."

"Making assumptions again?"

"If not, whatever."

Tossing his own words right back at him brought an amused smirk to his face as he shrugged.

"It's not that you're wrong."

"Huh...? What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Had Matsuda really just been imagining sleeping with her?

Judging by the look on his face, he definitely had... He really was a total pervert.

Of course, he wasn't as bad as her current self, so she couldn't really say anything. Rather, she hoped he would let his imagination run wild and approach her more boldly.

"I'm heading to the School Store. Want me to grab you anything?"

Miyuki's lips curled into a wide smile at Matsuda's offer of goodwill, and she shook her head.

"I was going to go to the School Store anyway. We can go together."

"Sure."

"It feels like she's been glued to Ken Matsuda lately, doesn't it?"

"Cough! Y-yeah... Cough!"

Glancing at Matsuda, who was sleeping face down on his desk like usual, Honoka and Masako spoke in quiet voices.

Why was she getting so close to someone she usually avoided making eye contact with and often wished would just get expelled?

That implication was heavily embedded in the two girls' words.

"Well... he's not as bad of a guy as I thought. Surprisingly diligent, too."

"Diligent? In what way?"

"Like when the teacher gave him bathroom cleaning duty out of nowhere, and he did it without a word of complaint... Or how well he follows along when I teach him... Things like that."

"You teach him?!"

"Cough!"

Their voices having risen slightly, the two girls hurriedly covered their mouths.

It was loud enough that someone might have heard, but Miyuki didn't care in the slightest.

She planned on sticking closely to Matsuda's side inside the classroom later on anyway.

It was best to give other people room to catch on early so they wouldn't make a huge fuss about it later.

"It just seems like Matsuda-kun is having a hard time keeping up with the classes."

"What... Are you helping him as the class rep? That th—I mean, delinquent?"

"He's not a delinquent. You guys are just misunderstanding him."

"That sounds like a line from someone completely blinded by love... People brainwashed by cults usually say things like that..."

"Oh, whatever... The teacher's here. Face the front."

Seeing the teacher enter the classroom just in time, Miyuki glossed over the situation.

Today, she would go to the used bookstore, check out the academy Matsuda went to, and then eat dinner with him...

She had a lot to do. It was a good feeling.

After enduring the agonizingly slow class time, Miyuki headed straight for the dozing Matsuda the second closing announcements ended.

Looking at his desk, she saw a single textbook sitting all by itself.

It was open to the page they had covered halfway through the lesson, meaning he had probably been dozing since then.

Thinking it was still commendable that he hadn't fallen asleep right at the start, Miyuki gave his desk a light tap.

"Huh...?"

Flinching, Matsuda looked up at her.

"Is it over?"

"Yeah. Why didn't you stand up when we greeted the teacher earlier? Were you asleep?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I was sleepy."

"You're lucky the student in front of you blocked the view. I'll let it slide this once. But don't do it again."

"Since when do you cover for things like this?"

"People can just get hit by sudden sleepiness sometimes."

"You make it sound like this is the first time I've ever dozed off."

"Anyway, we're still going to the bookstore, right?"

"That's what I was waiting here for."

"Were you originally planning to ditch?"

"I seriously debated it."

"Absolutely not as long as I'm watching."

At Miyuki's firm words, Matsuda let out a wide yawn and stood up.

Then he looked down at her with a smirk.

"Why are you acting so cheeky?"

Because of his tall height, it looked like he was threatening her.

Of course, Miyuki herself didn't feel that way in the slightest.

In times like this, it was best to give a slightly quirky, bold response... The kind of answer typical of Matsuda.

"Because I'm the class rep."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I guess it can't be helped."

Look at this. He was clearly finding it amusing.

Since she knew the walkthrough, racking up affection levels seemed incredibly fast.

What was this called?

When she used to play games with Tetsuya as a kid, he had occasionally mentioned wanting to just use a cheat code to make things easy.

This exact situation felt like that. A cheat code.

While straightening out the desk of Matsuda, who had stepped away for a moment to use the restroom, Miyuki plastered on a fake smile when Tetsuya approached with a question.

"Miyuki, are you busy today?"

"Ah, Tetsuya-kun. I think I'll be a little busy. I have a lot to do."

"I see... What are you doing?"

"Matsuda-kun seems pretty interested in studying, so we're going to drop by the used bookstore together."

"Is that really necessary...?"

"What do you mean? Obviously I should help him out this much."

"I-is that right...?"

"Let's talk later. I'll get going first, okay?"

"Ah, sure... Bye."

Waving at the flustered Tetsuya, Miyuki quickly left the classroom.

Being around Tetsuya made her feel uncomfortable.

It wasn't because she knew his true nature; it was because she felt unnecessarily self-conscious about what Matsuda would think.

Was she unconsciously trying to mold herself to Matsuda?

That was probably it.