Chapter 97: The Aftermath of the Summer Festival

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

---

Speaking of which, today was supposed to be the day I went all the way with Nodoka and Airi.

…So much had happened in between that it had completely slipped my mind.

“Alright, then let’s go.”

As soon as I said that, the two girls smiled and hooked their arms around mine from either side.

Were we really heading straight for the love hotel district?

For some reason, my heart started pounding.

“T-Then I’ll head home first…”

Yui muttered quietly, keeping her eyes lowered.

Damn.

If things continued like this, I’d be leaving Yui alone.

And Yui still loved me.

Making her watch the man she loved head off to a love hotel with other girls would be far too cruel.

(What should I do…?)

I had to keep my promise to the other two.

But I couldn’t stop worrying about leaving Yui by herself.

Maybe I should at least walk her home first and ask Mom to keep an eye on her for a while.

No, come to think of it, Mom might still be drinking with Ayumi.

If only I’d asked Kokoa earlier.

“Yui-san.”

At that moment, Airi spoke up.

“Want to come with us?”

“…Huh?”

“Just to watch, of course. No touching.”

No, what kind of conversation was this?

Was she seriously suggesting that Yui watch what we were about to do?

What kind of bizarre punishment was that?

“Airi, that’s going way too far…”

“Ren-kun, this is punishment for Yui-san—no, for Kitayama-san.”

“Punishment?”

“Ren-kun had to spend an entire month watching that man steal Kitayama-san away from him.”

Airi continued while looking directly at Yui.

“Shouldn’t Yui-san experience the same pain?”

“…!”

Yui’s eyes widened.

“No, Airi, that’s still way too cruel.”

She was already emotionally unstable.

This would only make things worse.

Besides, my ‘nightmare’ hadn’t happened right in front of me.

Nagasawa-senpai had only shoved photos and videos in my face.

“Maybe it is cruel for Yui-san. But I’m only making a suggestion. Whether she accepts it or not is up to her.”

“…I accept.”

The answer came instantly.

Without thinking, I grabbed Yui by the shoulders.

“Are you serious? This might only end up hurting you.”

“I am serious. Because Master—no, Ren—suffered that much. I have to properly accept my punishment.”

“But…”

At last, Yui lowered her head deeply toward me.

“Please. Let me receive my punishment.”

What kind of situation even was this?

Was I the abnormal one here?

My head was starting to spin.

Nodoka whispered into my ear.

“Hey, Ren. I told you before, but if someone doesn’t receive proper punishment, how can they ever reform?”

“Maybe that’s true, but…”

“Isn’t refusing to punish her even crueler?”

When even Nodoka said that, I couldn’t find a response.

…Well, it was probably better than leaving Yui by herself.

Honestly, I no longer knew what was right and what was wrong.

“Alright. Then Yui can come too.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I questioned my own sanity.

And Yui was actually smiling happily.

That only made it feel even stranger.

◇

The four of us began walking through the love hotel district.

But we quickly ran into an unexpected problem.

“…No way they’re all full.”

Even Airi hadn’t anticipated this.

Every hotel we checked was completely booked.

It was the biggest summer festival in the region.

Of course every place would be packed with couples.

I’d never gone on a summer festival date before, so I had no idea it would be this crowded.

“What do we do? Postpone it until tomorrow?”

“No.”

“No.”

Nodoka and Airi rejected my suggestion immediately.

Apparently, they were determined to keep today’s promise no matter what.

…Maybe they thought I’d keep putting it off otherwise.

“Then should we go to another city?”

“Agreed.”

We immediately headed for the taxi stand in front of the station.

But that place was packed as well.

The trains were so crowded that I didn’t even feel like getting on one.

Seriously, was this festival always this popular?

“Then maybe tomorrow—”

“No.”

“No.”

“Come on, what other choice do we have?”

My house was empty right now.

But there was no telling when Mom might come home.

“Ah, I know!”

Nodoka suddenly raised her voice.

“Let’s go to my place. My parents won’t be back until late anyway.”

“That does seem like the most practical solution, Ren-kun.”

“…They’re really not coming home early, right?”

“They come home after midnight almost every day. There’s no way they’d suddenly decide to leave work early today.”

She had a point.

Since it would be Nodoka’s first time, maybe she’d feel more comfortable in her own room than in an unfamiliar love hotel.

Airi chuckled softly.

“Having sex in a house with no parents around feels kind of innocent, doesn’t it?”

“The moment you say that, it stops being innocent.”

For some reason, I felt like moving into that apartment had loosened some kind of restraint inside me.

I really needed to keep my self-control.

After that, we headed toward Nodoka’s house.

I thought we’d make it there without any trouble.

But then—

“Huh? A-Are you Yuzuki…?”

Yet another familiar face appeared.

It was Ito-san.

Seriously, why was I running into so many classmates today of all days?

Yui answered awkwardly.

“Y-Yeah.”

“Did you change your look? I barely recognized you.”

“Yeah, a little.”

“A little? It’s way more than that! Wait, did you get back together with Fukagawa-kun?”

“T-That’s…”

Yui looked away.

Perhaps sensing something from that silence, Ito-san quietly said, “Ah, sorry…”

Then, trying to change the subject, she hurriedly continued.

“So, did you all go to the summer festival together?”

“Yeah.”

“Ahh, I wanted to go too! But I couldn’t finish my homework, so I missed it.”

“I see.”

Yui’s replies felt strangely cold.

…Maybe she was still angry with Ito-san.

After all, the reconciliation the other day had only happened because I’d asked her to. She had probably just been putting on a polite front.

“We should get going. We’re kind of in a hurry.”

“Oh, sorry. Looks like I interrupted you. See you at school, Yuzuki.”

“Yeah.”

With a cheerful smile, Ito-san waved and walked away.

Yui raised a hand in response.

But the moment Ito-san was far enough away not to hear, she muttered under her breath.

“…Stupid b***h. She didn’t even apologize to Ren.”

For an instant, Yui’s eyes turned cold.

Even back when I used to get teased, I’d never seen an expression like that on her face.

Lately, it felt as though I kept discovering sides of Yui I’d never known existed.

Yui spoke to me in a small voice.

“Sorry. I held everyone up because of me.”

“You don’t need to apologize for something like that. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Before long, we arrived at Nodoka’s house.

It really seemed that nobody was home; the place was completely dark.

Nodoka led the way inside, turning on the lights as she went.

This was probably the fourth time I’d visited her house.

We stepped into Nodoka’s room on the second floor.

Maybe because I knew exactly why we’d come here, I felt unusually nervous.

“Compared to the bed at your house, Ren, it’s a little small… but it’ll be okay, right?”

“Don’t worry about it, Nodoka-san. Humans have been doing these things long before beds ever existed.”

Well, that might be true, but the way she put it…

“Oh, right, Yui-san.”

“Yes?”

“Rather than just sitting there doing nothing, wouldn’t it be better if you had something to do?”

Airi took something out of her bag.

…A camera?

“Use this to take cute pictures of us.”

“Hold on a second, Airi.”

“What? Oh, this? It’s an action camera I bought with the salary Ren-kun paid me.”

That wasn’t what I was asking.

“You’re seriously planning to film this?”

“Is that a problem? It’s an important first experience. I want to keep a record of it.”

“…Why am I the one being asked for permission here?”

“Hehe. That’s the difference between Ren-kun and that trash.”

Taking my right hand, Airi guided it beneath the opening of her yukata toward her chest.

Then she whispered into my ear.

“In Ren-kun’s nightmare, all those photos and videos were directed by that trash, right? But Ren-kun is different. Ren-kun’s heroines have already been won over completely. That’s why, instead of being forced, they’re the ones who beg Ren-kun for what they want.”

“Ghh…”

“T-That’s right!”

Next, Nodoka grabbed my left hand.

Just like Airi had done, she pressed it against her chest and began whispering into my ear as well.

“We’ll show you that you’re worth far more than that piece of trash ever was, Ren. If that guy could do it, then so can you!”

“Me…?”

“That’s right, Ren-kun. You’re not inferior to that scumbag in any way. If anything, you’re a far superior man. For your sake, we’d wear any costume, do it outdoors, anywhere at all.”

“We’ll remind you as many times as it takes! If even a piece of garbage like that could do it, there’s no way you can’t, Ren!”

At last, I realized what the two of them were trying to do.

They were offering everything they had in an attempt to erase my trauma.

They wanted me to overwrite that “nightmare” with my own hands, along with all the feelings of inferiority that came with it.

“R-Ren…”

Nodoka pulled her lips away from my ear.

Then she took something out of her bag.

It was a pair of black leather handcuffs, the kind you might see in certain videos.

“Please teach my body that I’m Master’s pet. Nya nya…”