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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Nekorune
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“Matsuda-kun, have you decided which club you’re joining?”
Miyuki asked from inside the car.
I answered while waiting for the red light to change.
“Kendo Club.”
My answer seems to have caught Tetsuya off-guard, then he interjected.
“Huh? I was thinking of joining the Kendo Club too…”
Yeah, I know, you asswipe. Who else would join if you didn’t?
This damn bastard…
“Really? The club application deadline is tomorrow, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Let’s go together after class.”
“Okay.”
Miyuki, who was listening to our conversation, suddenly clapped her hands excitedly.
“That’s great! You two can stick together all the time then.”
Miyuki was definitely thinking about Takashi.
She was worried I might revert to my old ways if I hung out with that delinquent.
The emphasis on “all the time” made it very clear.
“What are you talking about…”
“But why the Kendo Club? Tetsuya has been interested in Kendo for a long time… Were you always interested too, Matsuda-kun?”
“I just thought it looked cool, so I decided to apply.”
“I-is that it…? That’s your only reason…?”
No, my goal is to seduce Rikka.
“Yeah.”
“Sounds just like you, Matsuda-kun… You shouldn’t say that during the Kendo Club interview, though.”
“Why? Will I get rejected?”
“I can’t say that for sure, but… you should at least try to make a good first impression…”
Wrong.
A bad boy turning over a new leaf makes a bigger impact than a goody-two-shoes who’s always been innocent and kind.
Your own case is proof enough.
But thanks for the concern. I’ll consider your advice.
“What about you? Are you joining any clubs?”
I already knew her answer.
“I’m not joining any clubs. But I’m thinking of applying for the student council.”
Of course, what’s a school setting without a student council?
It’s a classic trope in love comedies for the student council or disciplinary committee heroine to get involved with the protagonist and have cute interactions.
And if those games or manga are R18+, that heroine often falls prey to the protagonist’s advances and gradually becomes his bitch.
“That suits you perfectly.”
“Thanks. I really want to get in.”
You’ll definitely get in.
You’ve built a good reputation with the seniors during the first semester. They’ll probably scout you before you even apply.
In Doki Doki Academy, the student council also acts as the disciplinary committee.
That means there will be a day when Miyuki stands guard at the school gate, giving students warnings or reprimanding them for being late.
I’ll deliberately be late that day.
I’ll do some light skinship with her while she scolds me, and when she gets flustered, I’ll give her a smirk and ask her to let me off the hook.
Miyuki will be torn between following the rules and showing mercy, and she’ll eventually let me go, telling me to be on time next time…
And then she’ll secretly hold my finger when no one’s looking…
That’s a surefire way to get me hard, you know?
We kept chatting like that until we arrived at the academy. Parking the car at the front gate, I said,
“I need to register the car, so get out.”
“Oh, sure… Why didn’t you do it earlier…?”
“Are you going to nag me on the first day of school?”
“Well, you’re the one who makes me nag you… Should we wait for you here?”
“No. You guys go on ahead.”
Miyuki seemed taken aback by my slightly serious tone and replied,
“Oh, okay…”
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Since this wasn’t exactly an academy for rich people, the student parking lot was mostly empty.
I parked the car in a good spot after registering it.
As I was about to enter the school through the front gate with my bag slung over one shoulder, I saw a group of girls from our year gathering around Miyuki.
“Miyuki-chan! How have you been?”
She was popular, as expected. I bet there are tons of guys in this academy who have a crush on her.
But that honorific “chan”… No matter how many times I heard it, I still couldn’t get used to it.
Glancing at Miyuki, who was being welcomed by everyone, and the insignificant Tetsuya, I changed my course and headed to the classroom alone through the back entrance.
As I entered the hallway, I saw Takashi running towards me from afar. I cringed.
“Ken! Ken!”
“What a pain in the ass, first thing in the morning…”
“That’s harsh, man. Did you forget about how you owe me from when I saved you last time?”
“Saved me…? You were too scared to say anything while I was getting beaten up.”
“Hmm… But I did take you home. Isn’t that enough?”
“Yeah, I guess it was more help than I expected, coming from you.”
“See? You’re coming to the circle meeting today, right?”
Going to the meeting? Over my dead body.
You guys can play your little yakuza games without me.
I stopped in the hallway and called out to Takashi.
“Takashi.”
“Yeah?”
“Is Yamaguchi-senpai coming to the meeting too?”
Takashi nodded as if it was obvious.
“Of course. He’s the circle boss.”
Yamaguchi.
As I had thought before, the guy who more or less got his shit together after becoming a third-year.
My plan was to use this guy, who had learned to respect others, to leave the circle.
“Boss my ass… Hey, when you go to the meeting today, tell Yamaguchi-senpai that I’m quitting the circle.”
If I remembered correctly, the circle meeting that takes place after school starts would be held after the first period.
So I would probably be called in around lunchtime?
“….?”
Takashi blinked, seemingly confused.
“When you go… to the meeting… tell Yamaguchi-senpai… that I’m quitting… okay?”
I repeated myself slowly and clearly.
“Wha-what the hell!?”
Takashi freaked out with a dramatic reaction.
At least it wasn’t that typical Japanese reaction of “Eeeeeeh~?”
I rubbed my ears at Takashi’s loud voice, and then put on a serious expression before asking him,
“Please tell him. Do me that favor.”
I left Takashi standing there with his mouth agape, threw my bag into my locker, grabbed a few books, and entered Class 1-A.
It felt strange being back here. The smell of studying tickled my nose.
Inside, fifteen students were enjoying their reunion.
But the moment I stepped into the classroom, the atmosphere turned icy.
Some students avoided eye contact, while others even tried to discreetly move away from me.
Despite showing signs of change before the break and staying out of trouble, they had forgotten it all.
That was a little sad. After I had worked so hard cleaning the toilets…
But at least Miyuki acknowledged me. That was enough for me.
Deciding to be optimistic about it, I put my books in my desk drawer.
I wondered if the same nurse with those huge medical bags of hers was still working here
But I’d confirm that after I quit the circle.
I was staring at the ceiling with a detached look when,
Slide!
The sliding door opened, and I turned my gaze towards it.
Miyuki and Tetsuya entered the classroom.
The students greeted her brightly. She was the class representative and the only person who could keep the other students in check.
After accepting everyone’s greetings, Miyuki walked towards me with a slightly hardened expression.
“Matsuda-kun, didn’t you see us at the front gate? Why did you ignore us and just leave?”
She approached me casually, questioning me in a gentle voice.
Everyone in the classroom widened their eyes in surprise.
Are you guys surprised that Miyuki was talking to me so kindly?
Things happened during the break, you know.
Conscious of the surrounding stares, I whispered to Miyuki,
“Act like you don’t know me today.”
“Huh?”
“Just do as I say.”
I then glanced at Tetsuya, signaling him to take Miyuki away.
Surprisingly, he understood what I was thinking and said to Miyuki cautiously,
“Miyuki, let’s do as Matsuda says… Let’s go to our seats for now.”
But Miyuki didn’t seem to want to listen to either of us.
“Is it because of that? The circle…”
At least she lowered her voice.
“Yes. So just go.”
“Can’t we just tell the teachers about it? I really want to tell them right now, but… I’m holding back because you asked me not to, Matsuda-kun. But asking me to pretend I don’t know you is a little too much…”
Quitting the circle was a new event that wasn’t in the original game.
I was confident I could finish it today.
But since it wasn’t an event I had complete control over, I didn’t know how the aftermath would unfold. I didn’t want any repercussions, no matter how small, to affect Miyuki.
As I stared at Miyuki with an annoyed expression, she asked,
“Is it that hard to just quit?”
“Who said I’m quitting? I never said anything like that.”
“You said it with your eyes before.”
“What are you, a mind reader? … I’m doing this because I’m worried about you guys getting mixed up in this, so listen up. You said you trusted me before, right? Then trust me today.”
Perhaps my sincerity got through to her.
Miyuki pondered for a moment before taking a step back with a softened expression.
“… Fine. But if something like last time happens again, I won’t just stand by and watch. Just like you worry about us, we worry about you too.”
I knew she would say something like that, considering her current stance.
I expected it, but it still touched me…!
Come to the bathroom right now.
Let’s go for a quickie. I can’t hold back anymore.
I nodded silently and felt relieved as Miyuki returned to her seat with a troubled expression.
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“Did you all have a good break? I’ll take attendance and then we’ll start class right away.”
The students booed at the kind-looking English teacher’s words.
He chuckled and said,
“I’ll only teach for 25 minutes, and you can relax for the rest of the period. But only if everyone pays attention in class.”
All eyes turned to me.
“…”
Hmm… There’s a bit of fear mixed in, but look at those strong gazes.
I understand your expectations, alright?
“Whatcha looking at?”
I glared at them with a frown, and all of them quickly looked away.
Except for Miyuki.
She was looking at me with a gentle gaze.
As if she was telling me not to be so harsh.
I pretended to be embarrassed and scratched my head, then quietly opened my textbook.
The teacher looked at me with surprise and said,
“Matsuda-kun, you’re here early.”
“Yeah, well…”
“The professors were surprised to hear that you’ve been consistently cleaning during the break. I heard you even cleaned on weekends. Is that true?”
Who did he hear that from? It couldn’t be Miyuki…
Was it the security guard who asked me to sign the guestbook?
Or another teacher?
Anyway, this teacher wasn’t particularly fond of me.
But his voice was quite gentle, which meant my image among the teachers was gradually improving.
As expected of educated people, unlike the students who had already forgotten how I’ve cleaned the toilets for them.
Young female teachers with boyfriends or husbands, I have a big dick right here.
Feel free to show your appreciation for my change by spreading your legs for me.
“I didn’t know I didn’t have to do it on weekends, but I promised to clean every day until summer break, so I came.”
“Good attitude. I see you brought your textbook too. Are you finally coming to your senses?”
“Are you going to teach or not?”
The teacher laughed off my flippant tone and said,
“Alright. Ask if you have any questions.”
You dare underestimate me?
I’ll show you the skills I honed during my study sessions with Miyuki.
As I was thinking that, the teacher finished taking attendance and began the lesson. My mind went blank.
I thought I had studied hard, but I was still struggling to keep up.
At least I could understand more than before. That was something.
Did he like my attitude in class?
The teacher, who kept glancing at me during the lesson, kept his promise and gave the students a break after 25 minutes.
He told them to keep their voices down if they were going to chat and then approached me as I was struggling with the material.
“I told you to ask if you had any questions.”
“I should at least try to figure it out on my own. I don’t want to waste other people’s time… Can you just tell me this one thing?”
The teacher smiled at my words.
“Alright. What don’t you understand?”
“This part right here, about finding grammatical errors. Everything looks like an error to me.”
“Okay. Let’s go through it slowly, one by one. First, in this sentence…”
The teacher began to tutor me in earnest.
After about 10 minutes of guidance, I was able to perfectly identify the errors and received praise from the teacher.
“You must have worked really hard during the break. Well done.”
“I’m the type who gets things done when I set my mind to it.”
I puffed out my chest with pride. The teacher chuckled and moved on to help other students. I then made eye contact with Miyuki.
‘Good job,’ she mouthed.
She seemed proud, just like me.
I tried to ignore her and turned my attention back to my textbook, spending the rest of the break studying.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. As the teacher said goodbye and was about to leave,
Slide! Bang!
The sliding door slammed open.
The second-year seniors I had seen at the hideout shouted from the hallway,
“Matsuda Ken! Where the hell are you!?”
I couldn’t help but cheer inwardly.
The more commotion they caused, the higher the chance that the circle would be disbanded and I would be forgiven by the school.
“What do you think you’re doing? Even if it’s break time, you shouldn’t be barging into a first-year classroom and using foul language…”
The teacher frowned and spoke sternly, but the seniors just scoffed.
They completely ignored the teacher and said, pointing at me,
“Get your ass up to the roof right now.”
I thought they would call me during lunch when they had more time… This was unexpectedly quick.
Surely they weren’t planning to finish the expulsion process within the 10-minute break…
Were they just going to skip the second period?
Well, they broke every rule in the book, so they probably didn’t care about missing a class or two.
I stood up and walked towards the seniors with a nonchalant gait.
“Alright.”
I’d probably be sent to the disciplinary committee after this, right?
Miyuki wasn’t on the student council yet, so she wouldn’t be there…
It was a shame. I wanted to see her defending me.
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