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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Nekorune
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“Good work, everyone. Did you all have fun?”
At Goro’s words to the assembled club members, they replied listlessly,
“Yes…”
It was the morning of our departure, and we hadn’t even trained yet, but everyone was slumped over as if they had just run a marathon. The training had been tough, but they had also had fun together as young people, and now that it was almost time to part ways, they must have been feeling sentimental.
“I’m seriously considering doing this again right before or after summer break, so don’t be too sad. And…”
Goro started a long speech about martial arts. A look of boredom settled on the members’ faces.
Watching them with pity, I carried the equipment onto the bus with Chinami. Seeing Chinami inside the luggage compartment sparked a certain urge. A closed, narrow space where no one could see. Sex in a dirty, smelly place… It seemed like it would be a novel experience.
“Haa…! We’re about halfway done.”
Chinami said cheerfully, having organized all the luggage we had brought. I looked around and tilted my head.
“Isn’t everything loaded?”
“We have to unload it again when we arrive at the academy. And we still have to clean the other club members’ equipment.”
“That’s true.”
“It’s already daunting, isn’t it? You can go home first when we arrive at the academy, Matsuda-kouhai.”
“And leave you behind, Master? Why would I do that? Don’t be ridiculous.”
I scolded Chinami with a serious expression and wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with my finger. Chinami blinked her large eyes at the natural gesture, then blushed. I smiled down at her and said,
“My car is parked at the academy, how about we go back together and get some ice cream after we’re done?”
“Ah…! Sounds good. Let me buy it this time around.”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
After finishing our work, Chinami and I went to Goro, and he suddenly started clapping when he saw us. He was acknowledging our hard work, but the way he did it… it was so like Goro.
“Let’s thank our managers, who helped make the training go smoothly.”
“Thank you!”
Their voices were loud now that his boring speech seemed to be coming to an end. This kind of cliché, straight out of a youth story… I really didn’t like it.
The bus ride back to the academy was quiet. Most of the members were asleep. There had been drinking parties going on all over the lodge after we returned from the spar, and it seemed the aftereffects had hit them.
“Hey kouhai, try this.”
Chinami offered me something soft and peach-colored. It was the peach-flavored jelly we had been eating during every break throughout the training camp.
Letting out a wry chuckle, I accepted the jelly, popped it in my mouth, and chewed. She smiled brightly and asked,
“Delicious, right?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Hee hee… I’m glad you like it. Do you want some iced tea? I brought some in a thermos. I even got some ice from the dining hall and put it in.”
“You’re well prepared, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
While Chinami and I were having a pleasant conversation, the seats next to us were very quiet. Tetsuya and Renka were sitting there. They both seemed to be thinking about yesterday’s events. Tetsuya must have felt helpless after being defeated by me without being able to do anything, and Renka must be feeling complicated about losing three times to me, someone who had only been learning kendo for a few months. Or perhaps they were thinking about the wishes.
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“It wouldn’t be right to make the managers, who have been working hard since before the training camp, do chores until the very end, would it? Everyone, grab a box. Now.”
Goro said, lifting two heavy boxes of equipment at once. It was touching to see him taking the initiative. Although this was part of a manager’s job, Chinami and I were also club members.
Knowing that we were sacrificing our kendo practice time, none of the members complained, and with about thirty people helping, the cleaning was quickly finished. There was still some final cleaning left to do, but even just saving this much time was satisfying. It would have taken a long time for the two of us to organize all that luggage… So this was a very fortunate thing.
After dismissing the members in front of the clubroom, Goro said he had something to discuss with Renka and entered the coach’s office.
I had wanted to spend some alone time with Chinami in the empty clubroom… Feeling disappointed, I saw Tetsuya, with his bag, about to leave the clubroom with a first-year classmate. He usually said goodbye, but he was ignoring me now. I could clearly see how he was feeling.
How petty…
I chuckled inwardly and called out to Tetsuya,
“Miura! Leaving already?”
Tetsuya flinched, turned around, and gave me an awkward smile. Pointing his thumb at the ordinary-looking classmate next to him, he replied,
“Yeah, I’m going home with Ryota.”
So his name was Ryota? That was the perfect name for a cuckold protagonist in an NTR story.
“Is that so? Alright.”
“Thank you for your hard work. I’ll get going.”
I mumbled a reply and was about to enter the storage room where Chinami was when I ran into Renka, who was coming out of the coach’s office.
“… Uh…!”
Renka flinched when she saw me. I said to her, as she averted her gaze,
“Thank you for your hard work, Captain.”
“…Likewise. Do you know where Chinami is?”
“She’s in the storage room. Should I call her if you need to talk to her?”
“No, it’s not that… I was thinking of helping with the cleaning.”
“There’s only the armor cleaning left, so it’ll be done soon.”
“The sooner, the better. I was thinking of going home with Chinami.”
“Master and I were going to get ice cream after this.”
“What? Why?”
“Why, you ask? Because we agreed to. Would you like to join us, Captain?”
“…I’m good.”
Shrugging at her cold reply, I reached for the storage room doorknob. Then, Renka called out to me, a hint of urgency in her voice,
“Hey…! Matsuda.”
“Yes?”
“I have something to say about the wishes.”
“That again?”
At my exasperated expression, Renka retorted,
“It’s better to clarify any ambiguities…! Who knows, you might use your last wish to ask for more wishes.”
At that moment, I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Renka seriously worrying about me making such a request.
Gritting her teeth at my reaction, she continued,
“A, anyway, I was going to say that’s not allowed.”
“I won’t do that. I’ll only use the three wishes, unless we make another bet.”
“…Okay.”
“But it seems like we’re getting more and more restrictive about those wishes.”
“It wouldn’t be good for you if I made that kind of wish either. Isn’t it a fair restriction…?”
“Well, that’s true. Let’s make everything crystal clear, then. The deadline to make our wishes is one month from today, no sexual wishes, no canceling wishes with wishes, no adding wishes with wishes… those are the current restrictions, right?”
“Right.”
“Anything else you’d like to add?”
Renka’s eyes darted around. I could hear the gears turning in her head… I could hear them.
“…No demanding money or valuables.”
“Are you that worried about me asking you for that kind of stuff?”
“I never thought that. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Alright. What else?”
“Nothing. That’s enough.”
“Okay. Let’s go in. I’ll drive you home after we finish cleaning.”
Renka’s eyes widened.
“You don’t have to…”
“Well, since you’re not getting ice cream with us, you won’t be going home together with Master, right? And going home all by yourself must be pretty boring. You don’t have to take my offer or anything, but Master might be sad.”
“…”
Renka let out a long breath through her cute nose. She seemed to be contemplating. After a moment, she nodded slightly.
“Then… I’ll take you up on your offer.”
“Alright.”
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After dropping off Renka and having a quick ice cream with Chinami, I parked in front of my apartment building.
“Today’s yogurt peach was heavenly.”
She said with a blissful smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She seemed to be in a great mood after enjoying her favorite dessert after all the hard work during the training camp.
I took Chinami’s bag from the back seat and placed it on her lap.
“Good work. Go inside and get some rest.”
“You worked hard too, kouhai. I’m sorry for making you drive me all the way home.”
“You don’t live that far from the ice cream shop, so there’s no need to apologize.”
“Okay… See you tomorrow.”
“See you.”
Chinami wiggled her fingers as she said goodbye, got out of the car, and bowed deeply to me. Her bag, slung over her back, shifted downwards, making her stumble.
I chuckled at her clumsy behavior, and as she, embarrassed, hurried into the building, I started the car.
Arriving home, I smiled, feeling a sense of comfort. It had only been three days, but it felt like two weeks. I felt at ease. A lot had happened since the day before yesterday, and I wanted to go inside, wrap myself in a thick blanket, and sleep.
After parking, I unlocked the door and entered the house. I walked along the stone path, up the steps, and opened the window to the living room/bedroom, letting in a gust of cool air. It felt cold, yet cozy… a contradictory feeling.
It was nice to be finally home. I felt relaxed and drowsy as soon as I entered.
As I turned on the heater and lay down on the futon, I felt my eyes closing. I hadn’t gotten enough sleep due to Tetsuya’s snoring the night before last and the members’ drinking party last night, and I had been physically active and driving, so I couldn’t fight off the sleepiness.
I knew I should wait for Miyuki, who would be here soon… but I couldn’t stay awake. She had a key, so she could let herself in, right?
[Hey. I’m going to take a short nap.]
I slowly typed a message to Miyuki and closed my eyes.
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Tyftc neko