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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Nekorune
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“You two go in first.”
As I said that after parking the car in the parking lot, Miyuki turned to me with a puzzled expression.
“Why?”
“There’s still plenty of time before the first period, so I thought I’d do some volunteer hours.”
“How unusually admirable of you.”
I waved my hand as if shooing away a mosquito, and Miyuki giggled as she walked away with Tetsuya.
Heading towards the main gate, I saw the security guard sweeping the nearby area with a long broom.
It was the same person who was there when I came to clean the bathrooms on the weekend.
I approached him and asked,
“Mister, can I do that for you?”
“Huh…? Oh, It’s you, Matsuda. Is this for your volunteer hours?”
“How did you know that?”
“I saw it while removing an old poster from the bulletin board. You came to clean the bathrooms on weekends last semester too… You’ve become quite diligent.”
“I’m trying my best.”
“That’s good. If you have the will to change yourself, the people around you will start recognizing your true value.”
The guard handed me the broom with words of encouragement.
“Just sweep the area near the school gate clean. Thank you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dragging the broom, I headed to the school gate.
“H-hello, Matsuda-kun.”
A girl from my class awkwardly greeted me, and I raised the corner of my mouth.
The pen set and notebook bribe I offered yesterday must have worked well.
“It’s really hot today, isn’t it?”
“Yeah… it’s really hot…”
“Hand over that bread wrapper you’re holding.”
“What…?”
“I said hand it over, I’ll throw it away for you.”
“O-okay… Sure, here…”
The girl’s hand trembled as she held out the wrapper to me.
I deliberately spoke in that rough tone because I wanted her to think “He’s intense but kind…! So cool…!”
But she seemed too timid to take my words that way.
I took the ketchup-stained wrapper and grinned at her, baring my teeth.
“Was it tasty?”
“….cough!”
She started coughing, likely scared by my behavior.
I clicked my tongue and patted her on the back.
*Thump! Thump!*
“Cough! Hack!”
It’s gotten worse. I should’ve just stuck to cleaning.
I glared as I swung the broom towards me.
“You can go now.”
“Okay… cough! I’ll go…!”
She quickly distanced herself from me with hurried steps.
I’ll buy you milk at the school cafeteria later.
Don’t think too badly of me.
As I silently swept up the small trash and leaves near the school gate,
“Oh? Matsuda-kouhai!”
Chinami’s bright voice rang out.
Renka was standing next to her, looking at me with indifferent eyes.
This is why I volunteered to clean the front gate.
To somehow create a point of contact with her.
Since my favorability starts almost at rock bottom, I have to do something, just like when I tried to meet Miyuki on weekends last semester.
I bowed to the two of them in the kendo-style salute that I briefly learned from Chinami yesterday.
Placing the broom firmly against the gate post and bending my upper body about 30 degrees from an upright position, their eyes widened in surprise.
They probably weren’t expecting me to have mastered the proper greeting to that extent, right?
That must be it.
Straightening my upper body again, I said,
“Hello, senpais.”
“It’s not perfect, but I can see you practiced hard. Well done, Matsuda-kouhai!”
Chinami’s praise somehow filled me with energy.
I smiled wryly and gave a slight nod.
“Thank you, Nanase-senpai.”
“But why are you sweeping the school gate? Are you filling in your volunteer hours?”
“Yes.”
“I see…! Keep up the good work, and see you after class!”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
Chinami waved her hand brightly.
You don’t seem afraid of me at all.
I’ll give you a reward for that later.
After Renka and Chinami nodded at each other, Renka then turned towards me and said,
“Your cleaning of the throat area is okay, but the deeper parts of the mask weren’t that well cleaned. Make sure to pay more attention there compared to other areas since it’s the part most prone to odors.”
Although it wasn’t exactly friendly, her tone has softened compared to yesterday.
If I consistently show this attitude, I should be able to quickly be recognized by her as an actual club member.
“Understood.”
“Keep up the work, and see you at club activities.”
“See you later.”
I wanted to gradually train Renka while showing a cheeky attitude from the beginning, but considering how my favorability was at the lowest at this point, I figured I should refrain from doing that.
I obediently bowed again, and once they went inside, I went back to sweeping.
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During the break after the first period…
I was pressing my temples, trying to soothe my throbbing head, when the girl with the bread wrapper from earlier approached me and placed a piece of candy on my desk.
“H-Here… Thanks for throwing away the wrapper for me earlier…”
After saying that in a timid voice, she quickly returned to her seat.
I was dazed for a moment, then unwrapped the candy she left.
She had acknowledged my good deed.
Was she just startled earlier?
Thanks, Bread Girl.
As I popped the apple-flavored candy into my mouth, Miyuki came over and asked,
“What’s that? Did Masako just give you something?”
So that girl’s name is Masako, huh?
Miyuki’s eyes were subtly downcast, unnoticeably even, unless you looked closely.
Was she feeling jealous?
I pointed to my bulging cheek with my finger, swollen from the candy.
“Candy.”
“Why did Masako give you candy, Matsuda-kun?”
“We had an encounter earlier.”
“An… encounter?”
“Why are you so curious? If you want to know, come closer, I’ll whisper it in your ear.”
I gestured to Miyuki, and when she leaned in with a puzzled expression, resting her hands on the desk, I whispered quietly enough so Tetsuya wouldn’t hear.
“When I drop you off today, can you leave your bag and come back out?”
At that, Miyuki’s head spun towards me.
Her eyes slowly drifted to the side.
She must have been mindful of Tetsuya, who was behind her.
After a while, Miyuki moved her lips.
Judging from the movement of her mouth, she seemed to be saying “Why?”
I scribbled on my open notebook and showed it to Miyuki.
[There’s a place I wanna go with you.]
Seeing that, Miyuki’s face flushed.
“Ahem…”
She let out a fake cough, and her head gave a small nod.
Having gotten her consent, the corners of my mouth lifted, and Miyuki let out an exaggerated laugh before returning to her seat.
Her expression of emotions is quite awkward.
“Matsuda, did you just tell Miyuki a dirty joke or something?”
Tetsuya asked after observing Miyuki’s expression.
He really is a dense idiot.
I regret sympathizing with you.
But do keep living like that.
“Ah, something like that.”
“Miyuki doesn’t like that kind of stuff. Try not to do that again in the future.”
You keep accumulating bad karma… I wonder if you’re going to bawl your eyes out later?
I’m looking forward to confirming whether Miyuki likes or dislikes dirty jokes.
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“Where are we going?”
Miyuki asked after quickly coming back down after leaving her bag at home.
As she sat in the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt, I slowly lifted my foot off the brake and answered,
“To the amusement park.”
“An amusement park…? All of a sudden…? At this hour?”
“Yeah.”
A little further from Miyuki’s neighborhood, there’s an empty lot with an old merry-go-round left standing alone.
It was a remnant of an amusement park that closed down, and this merry-go-round was scheduled to be taken down in the fall.
This event shows more intense skinship and service scenes than now.
Raising favorability with her would be a bonus.
It’s a limited-time event that has the potential to cover all those three elements, so it’s best to seize the opportunity now.
Originally, Tetsuya would discover this place by chance while taking a walk with Miyuki, triggering the date event, but…
It should be fine even if I drive her there like this.
Why? Because this is the world of Doki Doki Academy, where plot devices are placed everywhere for my sake.
I am the protagonist of this story, after all. It’s bound to happen.
“Are you planning to buy night tickets?”
“Be quiet. We’re almost there.”
“Almost there…? I don’t see any rides…”
Ignoring Miyuki’s words, I parked the car in the empty lot and opened the door.
Miyuki furrowed her brows and asked,
“How is this an amusement park…?”
“If there’s a ride, it’s an amusement park. Look over there.”
Miyuki looked in the direction I pointed.
Her mouth opened slightly as she discovered the merry-go-round sitting in the middle of the empty lot.
“A merry-go-round…?”
“I found it while driving alone the other day. Let’s go ride it.”
When I gestured for her to get out quickly, Miyuki let out a chuckle and took her phone before getting out of the car.
“It looks good for taking pictures. If we take them before it gets dark, it’ll capture the mood nicely.”
She seemed to assume the merry-go-round wouldn’t work, but I knew there was a way.
So let’s have a romantic date, shall we?
As I approached the merry-go-round with Miyuki, I said,
“Let’s get on.”
“Isn’t this illegal…? This has to be private property…”
“You really do like to complicate things, don’t you?”
At my disgusted remark, Miyuki giggled and held out her phone to me.
“Hold this for a moment.”
I took the phone, and chuckled as I saw Miyuki try to get on one of the merry-go-round’s white horses.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s too high, I can’t get on… There’s no step or anything…”
The event I knew was proceeding exactly as expected.
Feeling relieved, I approached Miyuki from behind.
“I’ll help you.”
Then I reached out both hands and grabbed her by the waist.
“Eek…!”
She let out a squeal and looked back.
Her face, reddened in an instant, was filled with embarrassment.
“Matsuda-kun… Your hands…”
“Would it have been better if I hadn’t been looking?”
“It’s not about where you’re looking…”
“Stop acting like a kid and get on, come on!”
“…”
She mumbled as if she had something to say, but then seemed to give up and placed both hands on the saddle.
Seeing that, I put all my strength into my hands and lifted her up.
At that moment, as my hands slid up towards Miyuki’s chest area, causing her uniform top to ride up with them, and revealing her fair skin.
Miyuki’s slender waist right in front of my eyes…
Those indented obliques of hers are quite erotic.
And… Miyuki’s underwear faintly visible from under her top…
A beige full-cup bra covering her large breasts.
Its design was a little plain. I’ll have to replace it with something sexier later.
“Matsuda-kun…! Put a little more strength into it…! You’re stronger than this…”
Miyuki suddenly started complaining.
She seemed to be focusing solely on getting on the saddle, regardless of whether I was looking at her body or not.
I used the strength I had been saving while admiring Miyuki’s figure and placed her on the horse, brushing off my hands and grumbling,
“Well, you’re freaking heavy.”
At those words, Miyuki, who was fixing her clothes, became flustered and then blurted out,
“I-I’m not heavy…! Who are you calling heavy…?!”
I laughed off her cute behavior and headed towards the control device standing tall in front of the merry-go-round, ignoring Miyuki’s outstretched hand asking for her phone.
Giving Miyuki a mischievous smile, I took advantage of the moment her eyes filled with confusion and kicked the device very hard.
*Klang!*
The device leaned slightly to the side with a loud noise.
Startled by the sudden action, Miyuki scolded me,
“Matsuda-kun! What are you doing!!”
But then, the merry-go-round’s lights turned on with a pop, and she fell silent.
I looked at her and shrugged.
“Sometimes machines only listen if you hit them.”
“…You are unbelievable… We’re going to get reported if we get caught…”
“Don’t be so uptight, let’s just enjoy this for a bit and then go.”
“Ah, fine…”
*Whirr…!*
The merry-go-round slowly started moving.
Miyuki’s face, holding onto the pole next to the horse, instantly brightened.
“It’s been so long since I’ve ridden one of these… I think it’s my first time since elementary school. But why is there no music?”
She was nitpicking even though she was enjoying it.
Scoffing, I adjusted the speed of the merry-go-round before getting on the horse next to Miyuki’s.
But at that moment,
“Huh…?”
A surprised gasp escaped Miyuki’s mouth.
The merry-go-round had suddenly sped up.
“Ma-Matsuda-kun…! Why is it going so fast…?”
I was also startled by this situation.
‘This isn’t right…’
The idea behind this event was to create an atmosphere where we could enjoy a slow ride on our horses while making eye contact and smiling at each other, which would lead to having a serious conversation, and so on…
But this was a little different.
Did an error occur because I kicked it too hard?
Did it trigger an unexpected event?
Considering that all other events thus far had proceeded without incident, this is the only plausible explanation.
“Matsuda-kun…! Shouldn’t we stop this…? Can we… Can we get off this thing…?”
At Miyuki’s urgent question, I came to my senses and silently tried to gauge the speed at which the merry-go-round was going.
It didn’t seem as if it was going to go much faster than this.
This should still be enough for us to be able to enjoy the date.
But Miyuki was holding onto the pole with both hands, visibly scared.
At this rate, I’ll only experience the service scene and be done… And that wouldn’t do.
What should I do? I quickly racked my brain and decided to take control of this situation, just like the last time an unexpected event occurred.
“Are you scared?”
“A little… Yeah…”
“Then, hold onto this.”
I stretched out my hand towards Miyuki with my palm facing up.
Miyuki flinched and looked at me with wide eyes.
“…”
After a while, she gulped and reached out her hand, placing it on my palm.
Our fingers naturally intertwined.
I could feel the strength in Miyuki’s hand as she grasped mine.
“Is that better?”
After staying silent for a moment, I broke the silence with a gentle tone, and…
“…Yeah…”
Miyuki replied in a barely audible voice.
Perhaps it was because of the merry-go-round’s bright lights, but Miyuki’s face was clearly visible in all its splendor.
Her cheeks were as red as tomatoes, enough to tell at a glance that her feelings for me had grown.
Yes, even if an unexpected situation arises, it’s fine as long as I take the lead.
I’ve done this many times before, haven’t I?
Even if the process deviates slightly, the result would be the same, or even better.
That’s all that matters.
Thus, without saying a word, we rode the merry-go-round without any music until the timer ran out and it stopped on its own.
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