Chapter 556

The day after spending such an enjoyable time with Matsuda.

After a lonely walk to school, Miyuki glared at Matsuda as he strolled in just as class was about to begin.

Glancing at the teacher who had just walked in, he mouthed a scolding, 'What are you looking at?'

Giggling inwardly at that, Miyuki turned her eyes back to the blackboard.

And so, classes began.

Until lunchtime, all Miyuki could think was...

'I want to change seats...'

She wanted to sit next to Matsuda as soon as possible.

She wanted to giggle while passing notes with him in a notebook. She wanted to stroke his thigh just to see him get flustered.

Under normal circumstances, she was supposed to be seated next to Matsuda, but even if things went awry, she had plenty of countermeasures in place.

She was fully prepared. But the waiting was hard.

It felt like her patience was being tested; it was pure torture.

Oblivious to her inner turmoil, Matsuda shot out of his seat and headed outside the moment the lunch bell rang.

'Let's go together, you idiot.'

Miyuki swallowed those words and hurried after him.

"Matsuda-kun."

"What?"

"Where are you going?"

"Skipping."

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm joking. They said the school lunch sucks today, so I'm heading out."

"What are you going to eat?"

"A burger or something."

"Hmm... Then I'll come with you."

"What about your little sidekick?"

"If by 'sidekick' you mean Tetsuya-kun, I suggest you correct yourself and speak properly."

"Is that so? You craving a burger too?"

"Yeah."

"Then come along. But are you going to be okay?"

"With what?"

"Don't you hate leaving school grounds during lunch?"

She had gone out with Matsuda during lunch before.

Every time they did, it felt immoral, like stepping into forbidden territory. It was no different today.

It was exhilarating in a good way. Of course, it wasn't actually against the school rules, so the thrill was entirely in her own head.

"A little bit. Will you grab takeout for me, then?"

"I don't want to."

"Then I guess I have no choice but to come with you. Even though I really hate it."

"Are you sure you hate it?"

Sometimes, Matsuda had a tendency to dig into things that could easily be brushed off as a joke.

Like right now. He could have just let it slide, but he always had to push like this and put her on the spot.

Of course, she was the one who gave him the opening.

"Yeah."

"That's a shame. I thought we got a little closer."

'Not a little. We've gotten a lot closer.'

Anyway, seeing one corner of his mouth curl up, it seemed he was just teasing her.

Did he like the tsundere type? Come to think of it, he had mentioned that Inoo-sunbae was really prickly...

Maybe she should try acting like that too.

Walking out the school gates with Matsuda, Miyuki went into the nearest fast-food joint and ordered a burger combo.

Since they didn't have much time, she ordered the first thing she saw without thinking, which happened to be a chicken burger.

Lettuce, tomato, a chicken patty, and a mayonnaise-based sauce... A rather bland burger.

It was a menu choice that didn't suit her current mood at all.

Taking her tray to the table, Miyuki muttered to herself.

"I should've ordered something else..."

Hearing that, Matsuda, who had ordered the exact same thing, paused while unwrapping his burger and asked.

"Why?"

"The chicken burger's flavor isn't very strong... I'm craving something with a kick right now."

"Yeah? You want me to spice it up for you?"

"Huh...?"

Miyuki stared in bewilderment at Matsuda's grinning face, her eyes widening as he smoothly took her burger and flipped it over.

"What are you doing...?"

"Hold on."

Matsuda turned the burger upside down so the flat bun faced up.

He then lifted the bun and squeezed ketchup over the patty in a spiral, like a snail's shell.

He used about half a ketchup packet. Once finished, he topped his own burger the exact same way.

"Eat it now."

It wasn't something the old Matsuda would have ever done, so Miyuki was slightly taken aback. Still, she followed his lead, bringing the burger to her lips and taking a bite.

"...It's good...?"

Flashing a bright, refreshing smile at her surprise, Matsuda spoke.

"Not bad, right? Just enough of a kick."

"Yeah... How did you know to do this?"

"You just figure it out naturally when you eat a lot of burgers. Now, every time you eat a chicken burger, you're going to think of me."

"What are you talking about... No, I won't."

Matsuda was definitely right, though.

And she was glad. Glad that he had squeezed ketchup onto her burger, not someone else's.

It was a simple gesture, something she had never experienced before, and it perfectly resolved what she had been craving.

Consciously or unconsciously, it would be weird if it didn't leave a strong impression.

If someone else had experienced this, just as Matsuda said, they would have thought of him every time they ordered a chicken burger.

"Yeah, right... Just you wait. But aren't you going to eat your fries?"

"I am going to eat them."

"You haven't even touched them."

"I've only taken one bite of my burger, why would I touch them already...! Ah, don't touch that...! I said don't touch them...! They're mine...!"

Waving her half-eaten burger in the air, Miyuki threatened Matsuda as he tried to steal her fries.

Chuckling at her reaction, he popped a fry into his mouth anyway, just to provoke her.

Tap.

A carton of Melon Milk was placed on her desk.

Seeing it, Miyuki slowly looked up at Matsuda.

Suppressing the smile threatening to break out on her face, she asked aloofly.

"What's this?"

"To clear your palate."

"I don't really want any."

"Are you still sulking?"

She wasn't sulking. She was just pretending to, trying to give Matsuda a fresh, stimulating experience too.

Fortunately, it seemed to have worked perfectly.

"Don't you think it's weird for Matsuda-kun to go out of his way to steal mine when he still had his own?"

"I shared mine with you, didn't I?"

"Your intentions were impure."

"Can't even play a joke around you. If you don't want to drink it, don't."

Miyuki snatched the milk away right out of Matsuda's hand as he tried to take it back, quickly peeling open the carton.

"Who said I didn't want it? I'm going to drink it."

"Then pay up. 100 yen."

"...Are you serious? Then Matsuda-kun better pay me tutoring fees."

"I never asked you to tutor me."

"And I never asked you to buy me this."

"You're being childish."

"Who was being childish first?"

"You."

"Ugh... You're like an elementary schooler."

"You too."

Having an argument that even elementary schoolers wouldn't bother with somehow made her feel good.

Honestly, it wasn't the argument itself; it was the fact that her relationship with Matsuda had progressed to the point where they could act this chummy inside the classroom. That was what made her so happy.

For some reason, it felt like their relationship was progressing even faster when she just sat back and did nothing.

Since it had come to this, maybe she shouldn't try to force anything and just wait quietly for Matsuda to approach her?

Then, once they got suitably close, it would probably be fine to just throw herself at him...

"Miyuki."

"..."

"Miyuki?"

Sipping her Melon Milk, Miyuki was letting wild, sweet, and erotic fantasies run rampant in her head when—

"Miyuki, are you okay?"

She finally snapped out of it only after Tetsuya had called her name three times.

"Huh...? Yeah?"

"I asked if you were okay. Did Matsuda say something mean to you?"

She hadn't realized it before, but now she could see it clearly.

Exactly what Tetsuya's intentions were.

He had definitely seen Matsuda hand her the Melon Milk.

Furthermore, he had probably overheard their conversation, considering how close he sat.

Yet he was asking if Matsuda had said something mean... Tetsuya himself knew better than anyone that it was absolute nonsense.

Just as she had thought before, she did understand him.

Tetsuya used to get picked on by Matsuda for no reason.

It hadn't been severe, but bullying was bullying.

It had been one of the reasons why she used to hate Matsuda so much.

Even so, Tetsuya's question was laced with the clear intention of tearing Matsuda down.

Tetsuya had an indecisive personality.

But his insides were incredibly dark, and that darkness, twisted together with his personality, was manifesting in all the wrong ways. Miyuki's expression soured significantly.

"No? Why would he say something mean... It wasn't anything like that, so please don't have any pointless misunderstandings."

"Ah, right... Sorry."

Scratching his head awkwardly, Tetsuya returned to his seat.

Casting a sideways glance at Matsuda, she saw him fiddling with his Cell Phone, seemingly oblivious to her conversation with Tetsuya.

Come to think of it, it was right around this time that the old Matsuda had stopped bullying Tetsuya.

Of course, he still disliked him, but he no longer took it out on Tetsuya.

Why was that? To win her favor?

It felt like he had suddenly changed completely at some point... She didn't know.

She needed to take off her rose-tinted glasses to look at things objectively, but she couldn't.

Not that she had any intention of taking them off anyway.

But what was he doing, tapping away at his Cell Phone with an occasional smile?

Was it the drummer teacher?

Or had he gotten Inoo-sunbae and Senior Nanase's contact info without her knowing?

If not them, then Asahina? No... The chances of that were incredibly slim.

Whatever it was, she couldn't take her eyes off him for even a second.

That wandering eye... or worse, that playboy temperament of his—she needed to fix it immediately.

[Matsuda-kun, let's study in the classroom today.]

She sent the text out of the blue, and Matsuda's fingers immediately froze.

Meeting his gaze as he turned his head to look at her, Miyuki simply shrugged and made a gesture telling him to wait after school instead of leaving.