Chapter 562

'Where is he going...'

Trailing far behind Matsuda as he strolled through the city center, Miyuki jumped in surprise.

"Ah...!"

Matsuda had suddenly looked over his shoulder.

Miyuki immediately crouched behind a nearby signboard. Paying no mind to the stares of passersby, she kept her eyes glued to Matsuda.

Thankfully, he was only looking at a building's sign behind him.

He hadn't noticed her yet. Breathing a sigh of relief, Miyuki stepped away from the signboard just as Matsuda started walking again.

But why was he walking in circles?

Matsuda wasn't bad with directions... Did that Samoyama whatever-his-name-was fail to give him proper directions?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Matsuda vanished into the crowd.

'A-Ah, this is bad...'

A large crowd had gathered on the street for a roulette event, and Miyuki lost sight of him in the blink of an eye.

She hurriedly dashed over and frantically scanned the area where Matsuda had last stood, but it was no use.

The crowd was packed so tightly that finding him seemed impossible.

"Haa..."

Of course. Had she managed to do a single thing right since coming here?

Returning to the past and getting to spend sweet moments with Matsuda was nice, but her self-esteem was rapidly plummeting.

Still holding out hope, she wandered around the area for another twenty minutes, but there was no sign of Matsuda.

Eventually, Miyuki trudged all the way back home. She slumped down and watched a drama with her parents and older sister, only heading to her room when she figured it was time for Matsuda to be back.

[Matsuda-kun.]

[What.]

His reply came immediately.

Was he secretly waiting for her to text him?

[Did your meeting go well?]

[Yeah. More or less.]

[Then are we studying tomorrow?]

[No. I want to rest a bit. We've been doing it every day lately.]

[Not every day, though?]

[We did it often.]

[Often and every day are completely different.]

[Anyway, let's just rest tomorrow. Don't you know that trying to forcefully teach someone every day only builds resentment?]

[When did I ever try to force anything on you? We're studying based on mutual agreement.]

[Don't talk back.]

Acting tough just because he ran out of things to say...

Still, judging by his tone, it didn't seem like anything had happened.

Had everything been resolved? If so, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Sending Samoyama packing was a completely separate matter, but she was truly relieved.

[Then what are you doing the day after tomorrow?]

[Me? Or us?]

That was a rather meaningful statement.

Me, or us... It sounded like he wanted her to make her stance clear from here on out, but it also felt like he was subtly trying to tame her.

[Us.]

Just as she had decided before, she wasn't going to play hard to get anymore.

Those sorts of games were for experts; a romance amateur like her just needed to charge straight ahead.

But why wasn't he replying?

Was Matsuda flustered? Because she had said something out of character?

He was the one constantly playing games and trying to tame her whenever he pleased, so what was his deal now?

He seemed momentarily stunned by her unexpected response. Surprisingly, he might actually be weak to this sort of thing.

[The day after tomorrow isn't great either.]

A reply finally arrived from Matsuda after about a minute.

Miyuki furrowed her brow at the displeasing message.

[Why? Are you heading down to the countryside or something?]

A sudden thought occurred to her: Matsuda never went to places like his grandparents' house.

She knew his parents weren't around, but since he never received calls from relatives on either side and never traveled back for the holidays, she had always assumed he had no other family left.

[No.]

As long as Matsuda was okay with it, couldn't they see each other anytime?

But that didn't matter right now. She needed to focus on the conversation.

[Then what is it?]

[Ah, why are you so curious? I'm going to sleep.]

It didn't seem like anything major had happened.

He must just really want to rest. She decided she would barge into his place unannounced around lunchtime.

If he wasn't home when she got there, she would just squat in front of his Main Gate and wait pitifully.

Then Matsuda would feel guilty and tell her to come inside, and they could enjoy the cool air conditioning, watch TV, or study.

[I'm bored. Let's hang out.]

[You want to meet up?]

[No. I mean let's just chat.]

[About what?]

[Just this and that. Like what movies you've seen recently, or if you know any good restaurants...]

[Didn't I watch my most recent movie with you, and didn't we go to those restaurants together too?]

[Ah, damn it... I was just giving examples. We can talk about plenty of other things, you know.]

[Fair enough. Do you still hang around with Miura lately?]

Mmhmm. It was about time he got curious about that.

[Wouldn't Matsuda-kun know better about that?]

[How would I know?]

[I've spent a lot of time with Matsuda-kun lately, you know.]

[I wouldn't know what happens after we part ways and you go back home.]

[Are you asking if we hung out after that?]

[No. I'm just asking if you still hang out.]

[We haven't met up since break started.]

[How come?]

[Who knows? It just turned out that way, I guess?]

The truth was that she was keeping her distance to win Matsuda's favor even more, and because she knew Tetsuya's insidious intentions, but oh well...

Even if she had decided to be completely honest with him, she didn't need to lay all her cards on the table. She would keep this a secret.

A bright smile spread across Miyuki's lips as she fiddled with her Cell Phone.

Utterly unaware of it, she kicked at the bedsheets with her crossed legs and poured her entire focus into her conversation with Matsuda.

'Huh...?'

The following morning.

Miyuki was heading toward a restaurant she frequently visited with Matsuda in her past life. Catching sight of a familiar back up ahead, she immediately looked around for a place to hide, just like she had yesterday.

She could see a man wearing a cap pulled low over his face.

Broad shoulders, a reliable-looking back, a tall stature, and that specific gait...

Taking everything into account, that man was definitely Matsuda.

She saw him every single day; how could she possibly fail to recognize him?

To run into him at this exact hour... Destiny truly was destiny, it seemed.

In truth, her chances of running into him were naturally higher because she had deliberately walked toward the street near his house where his preferred restaurant was located. Still, she really had spotted him by chance, hadn't she?

She decided to just count it as a stroke of luck.

But why was Matsuda here at this hour?

He had said he was leaving Tokyo... Was he planning to head out around lunchtime?

Whatever the case, she had to tail him.

She had spotted him by accident, and she was simply following him because she was curious about where he was going.

Therefore, this was a completely legitimate tailing operation.

Having thoroughly rationalized it to herself, Miyuki pumped a fist in the air in disappointment when Matsuda walked into a nearby Gyudon Restaurant.

So it wasn't the restaurant she had been planning to go to.

That was a bit of a shame. Next time, she would have to think broader so they could end up in the same restaurant.

In any case, she needed to switch up her menu.

She had originally intended to eat udon, but since Matsuda was getting gyudon, shouldn't she eat the same thing?

That was only right.

Brazenly spinning her own sophistry, Miyuki opened the door to the Gyudon Restaurant that Matsuda had entered.

After greeting the employee who welcomed her, she immediately scanned the room for a corner seat walled off on all sides.

That was the type of seat Matsuda preferred.

'There he is...!'

She could see Matsuda looking at the menu with his back to her.

She should go greet him right away. She couldn't forget to control her expression so it would look like a chance encounter, either.

"Matsuda-kun, what are you doing here?"

When she tapped his broad back and called out to him as calmly as possible, he immediately turned around.

"What? Why are you here?"

But upon seeing him widen his eyes in surprise, Miyuki was struck completely speechless.

"....."

It wasn't because she was flustered by Matsuda's question.

It was because his entire face had swollen up red like a steamed bun.

If his face had merely been puffy, it wouldn't have been an issue, but he had a dark purple bruise over one eye.

Not only that, a scab had formed on his lip. With bandages stuck all over his face, anyone could see he had been beaten up.

"W-What happened to your face?"

She gaped like a fish before finally squeezing out the words. Matsuda scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

"Well... it's nothing."

Matsuda had met with Samoyama yesterday.

He hadn't explicitly said he was meeting him, but the circumstances made it absolutely certain.

In that case, the culprits who did this to Matsuda were Samoyama and that incredibly childish... garbage-like circle he belonged to.

"No... It's not 'nothing'! I asked what happened...!"

Was the reason he refused to meet today and tomorrow because he hadn't wanted her to see his face like this?

Thinking about it that way, it all made sense.

"Just sit down for now. Since we ran into each other, let's eat first."

In stark contrast to Miyuki's growing agitation, Matsuda's voice was incredibly calm.

Influenced by his demeanor, Miyuki took a few deep breaths and sat down across from him.

"Who did this...? Was it those second-years..."

"I said calm down and let's eat first, didn't I?"

Saying so, Matsuda pushed the menu toward her.

Taking it with slightly trembling hands, Miyuki swallowed her anger while pretending to stare intently at the menu.

This anger was directed at Samoyama and the Superi circle, but it was also a self-reproachful fury directed at herself.

She suddenly remembered Matsuda's warning that her going to the Rooftop with the PE teacher and the Student Council would only escalate the situation into a bigger mess.

It seemed that Matsuda had taken a beating he never needed to suffer, all because of her.

It was exactly the situation she had tried so hard to avoid. She was utterly flabbergasted, and furious.

Just yesterday she had thought about how much she despised frustrating, stifling situations, yet to think she would end up causing one...

Overcome with guilt and embarrassment, she couldn't lift her head.