Chapter 25: Two pieces of junk

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Translator: Soafp

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Weekend.

When I headed to the meeting spot, even though I was ten minutes early, both Nodoka and Sugawara-senpai were already there.

Nodoka stood with her hands on her hips, frowning.

“You're late!”

“Sorry, sorry. If you got here first, you could've messaged me—I would've left earlier.”

“It's not like Fukagawa-kun needs to apologize. This girl just showed up forty minutes before the meeting time.”

“T-that's not true!? I just got here too!?”

“I got here thirty minutes early today since my shift ended sooner, and you said you'd already been waiting ten minutes. That makes forty, right?”

“Ugh…”

Unable to argue back, Nodoka puffed her cheeks and turned away.

I smiled a little and said,

“You were that excited, huh? I'm kinda touched.”

“I-I wasn't excited or anything!”

“Really? Then what's with that outfit? You clearly put a lot of effort into it.”

She was wearing an off-shoulder cropped top that boldly showed her shoulders, paired with a frilly checkered mini skirt.

Her nails were painted cherry red, and a playful heart charm bracelet dangled from her slender wrist.

“T-that's not it! It's just my normal clothes!”

“Really?”

Sugawara-senpai quietly stepped behind her.

“Komori-san, you still have the tag on here.”

“Huh, no way! I cut them all off yesterday!?”

“Just kidding.”

“Senpai, mou!!”

Maybe they had gotten a bit closer while waiting for me.

Though it looked more like Sugawara-senpai was just teasing her one-sidedly.

“By the way, Fukagawa-kun.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think of my outfit? I didn't buy anything new like Komori-san, but I picked the best from what I had.”

She wore a sleeveless white dress that reached mid-thigh, showing off her long, slender legs without hesitation.

Over it, she had a light blue shirt draped loosely over her shoulders, all the buttons undone, softly wrapping around her arms.

It highlighted her clean silhouette while cleverly covering her slightly thin frame.

It was a perfectly calculated outfit, designed to make the most of her charm.

“It suits you really well. Honestly, it wouldn't look out of place in a magazine.”

“You're exaggerating. But… thanks. It's the first time a boy's complimented me this directly—it's not a bad feeling.”

“Really? You've never had a boyfriend? Or gone on dates?”

“Nope. I never had the time for dating, and honestly, I wasn't interested until now.”

Just like with Nodoka, that was surprising.

But then again, Sugawara-senpai never had the time or luxury for that kind of thing.

Suddenly, Nodoka puffed her cheeks.

“Aren't you going to compliment me? All you said was I ‘put effort into it.'”

“Huh? Oh—yeah, you look cute. It suits you.”

“That sounded so half-hearted!?”

“Want me to go full host mode and say, ‘You're the cutest in the world,' with a wink?”

“Ughhh… stop that.”

A mischievous urge hit me.

I leaned closer to her face and kept repeating “You're cute,” while winking over and over.

She leaned back as far as she could, frantically turning her face away.

Watching that, Sugawara-senpai let out a small laugh.

“Fukagawa-kun, you really aren't normal, are you?”

It was the first time I'd seen her laugh out loud like that.

“Is that so? I'm just your average high school guy.”

“No way. There's no such thing as a high school boy as strange as you. I mean, look—you've got two girls with you.”

“It's not a date. We're just hanging out.”

Sugawara-senpai kept emphasizing “date” lately.

Did she actually mean it?

Could it be she had some interest in me…?

No, that's just me overthinking.

She's just going along with this because I'm her employer now—and because I've been giving her money and meal tickets every day.

I shouldn't mistake a business smile for something more.

“T-two girls with you…!”

Nodoka blushed and placed her hands on her cheeks.

“S-so that means… I'm one of the flowers too… hehe… hehe…”

No, that's the part you focus on?

Looks like her introvert switch flipped at a weird moment.

“Fukagawa-kun, what's wrong with her all of a sudden?”

“Ah, don't worry about it. Nodoka had a ‘high school debut,' so she gets like this sometimes.”

“Don't just reveal my secrets like that!!”

“You also went around telling people in the classroom that I’m an otaku. We’re even.”

“Ugh… petty!”

Sugawara-senpai hummed thoughtfully.

“Should I reveal a secret too, then? How about my measurements?”

“Oh, yes please.”

“Not ‘yes please'!! Ren, you pervert!!”

I didn't think she was serious—I just played along lightly.

But then, Sugawara-senpai suddenly leaned close to my ear.

“From the top—”

She actually told me.

Bigger than I expected, I thought for a split second.

---

We arrived at the mystery-themed amusement park Nodoka had picked.

First, we tried a beginner-friendly 10-minute course.

None of us had ever done an escape room before, and we struggled just to find the keys.

Still, we somehow managed to escape.

“But seriously, aren't you two completely useless!?”

Sugawara-senpai and Nodoka both looked away at my outburst.

Even though we all listened to the same explanation, they kept searching in completely wrong places.

Solving riddles, decoding clues—it all ended up being my job.

“I-it's just that you're unnecessarily smart, Fukagawa-kun!”

“Y-yeah! It's just because this is a real mystery setup, so it's hard!”

“…You do realize we escaped almost last place, right?”

All the other groups had already worked together and found the keys.

These were simple puzzles that could be solved quickly if three people worked together.

It just took longer because I handled everything alone.

Nodoka clenched her fist and pointed at the ticket booth again.

“O-okay, revenge time! We've got the hang of it now, so we can try something harder! Senpai, we can't let Ren keep calling us useless!”

“Right. Let's show him we can step up when it counts.”

This time, the two of them chose a 60-minute game.

Even the 10-minute one gave us trouble—could we really handle this?

Once again, we listened to the staff explain the story and rules.

Then we received the first puzzle: a letter inside an envelope.

“I can only read Japanese, you know.”

“Senpai, this is even simpler than Japanese—it's just numbers and pictures.”

“I got it, Ren! This means we need to go to the 7th floor!”

“This building only has five floors.”

Sugawara-senpai aside, Nodoka clearly wasn't good at this kind of thing.

Then why did she want to come here so badly?

“It looks like you solve it like this… oh, there it is.”

In the end, I solved the code again and picked up the next envelope.

“A-amazing, Ren! Aren't you a genius?”

“If this makes me a genius, then everyone in the world is one…”

“Geniuses always judge others by their own standards. Well done, Fukagawa-kun. I believed in you.”

“Why are you the one acting proud? Try a little harder, please.”

Inside the second envelope was more story text and instructions for the next puzzle.

This time, unlike before, we had to move around the building and search for hidden clues.

“This is something we can do too! Senpai, we can't let Ren hog all the credit!”

“Exactly. Brain work isn't really my specialty anyway. Let's divide the tasks.”

This is supposed to be a place where you enjoy using your brain, though…

Anyway, the three of us split up and went looking for clues on our own.

Some were in pretty obvious spots, while others made you think, “Wait, even here?”

Impressed by how well everything was designed, I regrouped with the two of them.

“Ren, I found a clue! See? Pretty amazing, right?”

“Ah, yeah…”

It was placed so obviously that it almost hurt.

“Komori-san, only one? I found two, you know.”

“Eh? Really!?”

Sugawara-senpai brushed her long hair back with one hand in a graceful motion.

Seeing her look so confident, maybe I could expect something this time?

“…Senpai, these two aren't even clues.”

“Eh? Th-that can't be right. Aren't you mistaken, Fukagawa-kun?”

“You're the one mistaken… Look.”

I explained carefully why they weren't clues.

Once she understood, her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

In the end, we used up the full hour again, and I ended up solving almost everything myself.

“I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of it. Fukagawa-kun, next time I'll show you my brilliant thinking.”

“…You're planning to do this again?”

“Next time, Ren, stay quiet! You help too much, that's why we can't improve!”

“So it's my fault?”

In the end, we spent another four hours with me solving almost all the puzzles by myself.

---

After leaving the theme park, we checked into the hotel I had reserved.

Since Nodoka was looking forward to good food, I deliberately chose a hotel with a Michelin-listed restaurant.

“Th-this is so clean yet so deep in flavor! How do they even make this!?”

“I see… so this is what bourgeois pigs eat, huh.”

Both Nodoka and Sugawara-senpai seemed satisfied for now.

…Probably.

After finishing a satisfying dinner, we headed to the front desk to check in.

That's when something completely unexpected happened.

“We sincerely apologize. Due to a system error at our hotel, one of the rooms you reserved is unavailable.”

“Wait, does that mean we only have one room?”

“Yes. We deeply apologize, but we are currently fully booked and unable to provide an alternative room…”

I was certain I had booked separate rooms—one for me and one for the two of them.

I swallowed my frustration.

Even if I yelled at the staff, it wouldn't magically produce a room.

(The most important thing is making sure Sugawara-senpai doesn't stay at her house.)

I could just take a taxi home and meet up again tomorrow.

It'd only be a minor inconvenience for me.

—Just as I reached that conclusion and was about to speak:

“In that case, we'll just have to stay in the same room. That's fine, right?”

“W-wait, senpai. I can just leave, there's no need to force that—”

“What are you talking about? You're the main character here, Fukagawa-kun, aren't you?”

Sugawara-senpai smiled brightly and continued:

“Fukagawa-kun, you should join our girls' night too.”

But, I'm not a girl though.