How To Ruin A Love Comedy – Chapter 32

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Nekorune
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“We’re here. Get out.”

“…”

Miyuki was blankly staring ahead.

It made sense for her to be in a daze since we had been holding hands for nearly 5 minutes.

I was feeling tense too, so I could only imagine how she felt.

I had held Miyuki’s hand a few times before.

Like when we went to the hospital after Samoyama beat me up, or when we got up after eating lunch on the rooftop.

But those times, I had just held her hand lightly, not to the extent of sharing each other’s warmth and feeling the cold sweat forming like today.

What I was feeling at this moment…

My heart was pounding.

That was the only way I could express it.

I gazed at Miyuki for a moment, soothing my surging emotions, then brought my hand in front of her and flicked my fingers.

*Snap!*

“Huh…?”

That managed to make Miyuki’s eyes regain focus.

She started looking everywhere around her, as if she had been suddenly released from a hypnotic trance.

Then was I, the one who flicked my fingers, the hypnotist? Not a bad scenario, to be honest.

I let out a soft laugh and said,

“I said we’re here.”

“Already…?”

“What? Are you disappointed?”

“N-No, why would I be disappointed…?!”

Visibly flustered, Miyuki reached for her handbag.

She opened the passenger door, got out of the car, and turned to look at me.

“… Matsuda-kun. Um…”

“What?”

“Ah, nothing… Get home safely…”

She hesitated and said something plain, but she was up to something, wasn’t she?

I didn’t know what she was hiding, but as long as it was good for me, it couldn’t be bad. Right?

I smiled wryly at Miyuki and drove away.

The scent of apricot lingered faintly in the car.

It was the smell coming from my right hand, which had held Miyuki’s.

Did we just share… hand cream?

I snickered like a pervert and called Miyuki as soon as I got home.

After a few rings,

– Hello? Ah, Matsuda-kun. Why…?

Miyuki answered the phone.

Judging from the echo of her voice, was she in the bathroom?

Hey, if you’re about to take a shower… Could you send me a nude pic?

“What do you mean why? I just thought I’d call you.”

­– Ah… Are you home?

“Yeah. What are you up to?”

­– I was about to take a shower… So you got home safely, Matsuda-kun?

She was in the bathroom after all.

Miyuki’s voice sounded unusually demure today.

She seemed to be so embarrassed she could die, but I didn’t mind that kind of reaction either.

“I just arrived.”

– ­I see… You didn’t forget about our dinner, right?

“The one your parents invited me to?”

­– Yeah.

“I remember.”

­– Then do you want to come to my house this weekend…?

Look at that fierce initiative.

I was so glad I held out my hand at the merry-go-round.

“Ask your dad and mom first.”

­– They said anytime is fine.

“Really? Then, Saturday? Or Sunday?”

– ­Hmm… I think Saturday would be better.

“Got it. I’ll keep my schedule open then.”

– ­Matsuda-kun, you’re always free anyway. Why pretend to be busy…?

Miyuki was slowly starting to joke around.

I clicked my tongue and spoke in a displeased tone.

“What’s that? Are you picking on me again? Want me to scold you?”

A small laugh was heard from the other side of the phone.

She sounded more relaxed. I was sure she would start thinking about how we held hands once she goes to bed tonight.

Furthermore, just seeing something similar to a merry-go-round would make her remember today’s events.

For example… something like one of those spinning platforms known as ‘roundabouts’ you can find on most playgrounds.

– Sorry. I need to take a shower, so I’ll message you later.

“Sure.”

­– You’re always so grumpy… It’s a little silly, honestly.

“What? Hey, you…”

*Beep.*

Before I could say anything in return, Miyuki hung up on me.

That cheeky girl. I’ll get back at her for this too.

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“Miyuki.”

“Yeah…?”

“Why do you seem so out of it today? Did you stay up late studying last night?”

At Tetsuya’s concerned question, Miyuki, who was walking with her shoulders slumped, shook her head.

“I just… have a lot on my mind…”

Miyuki had dark circles under her eyes since leaving her house.

A clear sign that she hadn’t slept well.

She probably tossed and turned all night, lost in her own fantasies until dawn.

Miyuki’s gaze shifted slightly towards me.

After examining the expression I was making, she stuck out her tongue at me.

She must have felt resentful seeing me so carefree while she was so troubled.

“I think it’s best for you to catch some sleep before class starts.”

At Tetsuya’s kind words, Miyuki managed a weak smile and replied,

“I’m fine… But thanks for worrying about me.”

“Okay… Then should I go buy you a hot drink or something?”

“In this weather…?”

“Ah, maybe it’s a little too hot for that…?”

As I silently followed behind the two, listening to their conversation that wasn’t going anywhere, I secretly opened the front pocket of Miyuki’s bag and put in a piece of jelly.

Shortly after, we split up towards the lockers in the hallway.

I took out the books related to the class and entered the classroom, where I saw Miyuki, already seated at her desk and with that piece of jelly in her hand.

Holding the packaging with a large plum printed on it, she spotted me and smiled brightly, a smile so beautiful that it was hard for me to take my eyes off her.

As I sat down, trying to maintain an indifferent expression, my phone vibrated.

[Thanks for the jelly, but you shouldn’t just open someone else’s bag.]

A message typical of Miyuki, showing her strict side.

I exhaled with a smirk and tapped the keypad to reply.

[Give it back then.]

[Nope.]

Along with her firm refusal came a cute emoticon of a smiling rabbit.

I slightly raised my head to look at Tetsuya, who was opening his book, unaware of anything.

Somehow, it felt exciting. Was it because it was as if we were secretly dating behind his back?

As I leaned back in my chair and stretched,

“You’ve been coming early these days, Matsuda.”

The professor, who had entered the class at some point, spoke, and I straightened my shoulders and replied,

“Well, I’m a student, aren’t I?”

“So you were late and absent all the time last semester because you weren’t a student?”

Back then, I was a piece of trash.

Still am, to be honest.

As I rubbed the back of my neck with an embarrassed look, small bursts of laughter erupted from various parts of the classroom.

Even if I didn’t have a good reputation among other classes or the 2nd and 3rd years, at least in this classroom, the wariness towards me had significantly eased.

It was nice, but it also felt a little bittersweet, as if my identity was fading away.

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Miyuki’s head slowly rose and then suddenly dropped.

Her nodding off was adorable.

“Should I wake her up? We need to go eat…”

Tetsuya said, looking at Miyuki’s back.

“We have plenty of time, so let her sleep a bit more.”

“Okay. I’ll go to the school cafeteria. I should at least buy her an energy drink.”

“Good idea.”

I sent him off and went in front of Miyuki, my eyes catching something.

There was a drawing at the edge of the notebook on her desk.

It was a cute doodle using the pre-printed characters for marking the date and number in the upper right corner of the notebook, depicting a mischievous-looking male character having his date invitation freshly rejected by a female character.

I couldn’t hide my smile as I examined the drawing up close.

It was obvious at a glance.

These two characters represented Miyuki and me.

If there was a flaw, it would be that the hairstyles of the drawn characters were different from reality… but it must have been an inevitable choice to express the cute art style.

“These are good…”

It looked like it was hastily drawn, but the quality was good.

When I saw her scribbling something during the break after 3rd period, she must have been drawing this.

It was so adorable, I could go crazy.

As I gazed intently at Miyuki, who had fallen into a light sleep with her mouth slightly open, I pulled the textbook over to cover the drawing.

“Mmm…”

Did she sense my actions?

Miyuki’s eyes fluttered open.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around.

“What…? Why is no one here…?”

“It’s lunchtime.”

“What…? Really…? What about class…?”

“You dozed off. Don’t you remember?”

“I-I didn’t know… Why did the professor just let me sleep…?”

“You started dozing off 5 minutes before the end of class, and the professor said to let you be and not wake you up.”

She let out a sigh of relief and asked,

“Where’s Tetsuya-kun…?”

“He said he was going to the school cafeteria to get you an energy drink.”

“Really…? He didn’t have to do that…”

Miyuki, trailing off, started organizing her desk.

Then, noticing the textbook covering her notebook, she made a puzzled expression.

She seemed confused as to whether she had covered the notebook or not.

Let’s pretend I didn’t see anything for now.

I’ll tease her about it at her house on the weekend.

“Why are your hands fidgeting?”

Caught off guard by my question, Miyuki twirled her hair between her fingers.

“Ah, no… I’m just a little hungry…”

“Let’s go eat when Miura comes back.”

“Yeah… Oh, Matsuda-kun. Here…”

Miyuki rummaged through her desk drawer and took out a small container, holding it out to me.

I took it and opened it to find three cookies inside.

“What’s this? Cookies?”

“…You gave me that cake the other day, so… I wanted to give you a thank-you gift too… The one on top is chocolate, the middle one has cranberries, and the bottom one is just vanilla.”

“Is that so…? Well, thank you.”

“If it’s not enough, let me know… I have more at home.”

I was about to pick up a cookie, nodding absentmindedly, but I paused.

A thought had crossed my mind…

She has more at home?

Upon examining the cookies, the edges were uneven here and there.

They were pretty in their own way, but not well-made enough to be sold in a store.

Then the only conclusion I could draw was… that these cookies were made by Miyuki herself.

“Hey, Miyuki.”

“What…?”

“Did you make these?”

“Yeah… They don’t look that great, don’t they? But they taste good, so try one.”

Was this why she was so out of it today and even fell asleep during class?

And yesterday, when she hesitated after getting out of the car… Was it because she wanted to ask me if I liked cookies?

To think she would even show this much thoughtfulness… I was truly touched.

This made buying that cake for her all the more worth it.

I glanced at Miyuki’s eyes, shining with anticipation, and picked up the chocolate cookie, bringing it to my mouth.

Then I started chewing it noisily.

Startled by this, Miyuki asked,

“Wh-Why are you eating it so aggressively…?”

I finished one cookie in an instant and nodded.

“I was hungry. These are freaking delicious.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course it is. Bring all the ones you have at home tomorrow, without leaving a single one.”

Miyuki understood the sincerity hidden in my blunt tone.

Her tired face instantly brightened.

“Since the day after tomorrow is the weekend, I’ll give them to you when you come to my house for dinner.”

“Then what about tomorrow? Are you telling me to starve?”

“What do you mean starve…? These are just snacks…”

“Do you really need to take everything I say so seriously?”

“I can’t help but take it seriously when you say those things with such a serious face, Matsuda-kun…! A-Anyway, I’m glad you found them delicious… I should let Tetsuya-kun try them too and get his opinion.”

I couldn’t let that slide.

“What are you saying? Why are you giving them to Miura?”

“Why…? I made a lot, so of course…”

“Didn’t you make these for me?”

“W-Well, that’s true, but I can give them to a close friend too…”

Tetsuya isn’t a friend, he’s a rival!

I frowned and looked at Miyuki, and then conceded a little ground.

“Then give him exactly one.”

“… Why are you being like this?”

“One.”

“Matsuda-kun, do you know how childish you’re being right now?”

“Okay, one and a half. No more than that.”

“If you’re going to give half of a cookie, wouldn’t it be better to just give a whole one…? Not that I’m saying I’ll do that, of course…

“Then it’s settled. One cookie.”

“You really are unbelievable…”

“By the way, what time should I come on Saturday?”

As I naturally changed the subject, Miyuki quickly replied,

“Ah, I asked my mom about that this morning, and she said noon would be fine. Is that okay with you, Matsuda-kun?”

“Noon? That’s fine with me. Then I’ll come around that time.”

“Okay. You know noon is twelve o’clock, not one o’clock, right?”

She still remembered the ignorant side I showed during the break.

Looks like it left quite the impression on her, huh?

With a resigned expression, I silently ate the second cookie.

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