CH 43

Practice Session, Completed!

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by

“―Alright! That’s enough for today!”

Asamiya-san clapped her hands, ending the practice session at a good place.

It’d be dangerous if we stayed here too late into the night, plus, pushing oneself was never a good thing either.

Besides, tomorrow’s a holiday too, so today’s session can serve as a way for their bodies to get used to it before doing the real practicing tomorrow.

It also goes without saying that Asamiya-san must be sleep-deprived too since she spoke to Rinka till late at night.

“Nice work today. Hold on a minute.”

I operated the remote control attached to the wall and turned on the monitor in the dance studio.

A video with a frontal view of Shiorin and the others who had been dancing earlier appeared on the screen.

“There’s a video camera mounted right in front of you there. You can use it to review your dance moves.”

“Wow, that’s incredible! Oh right, we usually practice with a video camera recording us, don’t we…? We were so excited, we completely forgot to do that this time.”

Shiorin and the others smiled and laughed at each other. So cute.

“So you’ve been secretly taking pictures of them, huh, Suda-kun… As expected.”

Hasumi gave me a look of respect that didn’t please me at all in the slightest.

It was just that I lost the timing to tell them about that because the practice had already started… Now that I think about it, that certainly is a hidden camera, huh.

“N-Next time you record us, make sure to tell us, okay? …Umm… since it’s embarrassing and all that…”

Mihorin then smiled with a troubled expression.

Ah, I think I just fell for her a bit.

“I’m really sorry…”

I bowed my head sincerely.

◇◇◇

While Shiorin and the others were taking showers and washing off the sweat they accumulated from practice, I called out to wake up Rinka, who should be sleeping comfortably upstairs.

“Rinka~! We’re heading home now~!”

I called out from the first floor, but there was no answer.

Looks like she’s fast asleep.

“Hasumi, can you go and wake her up?”

“Hiih?! W-Won’t she be in a bad mood if I wake her from her sleep?! Won’t she cut my stomach open?!”

“You’re being too scared of her… Well, it’s not like I don’t get how you feel. I guess it can’t be helped; although I feel somewhat reluctant about seeing her in her sleep, I’ll go and wake her up myself.”

I left the frightened Hasumi behind and headed upstairs to the second floor’s bedroom to wake Rinka up.

“Rinka~? I’m coming in, okay~?”

There was no answer when I knocked, so I opened the door and went inside.

On the bed by the window, I found Rinka asleep with her beautiful red hair spread out on the pillow.

―She looked so beautiful.

I had always thought of Rinka as a strong, assertive woman, but seeing her sleeping in her nightgown made her look like a refined, young lady; almost like a princess.

This sleeping princess suddenly opened her mouth and muttered something in her sleep.

“Uhehe~… Ritsuki~, can I lick you? [舐めて (namete): to lick]”

“No, you’re already looking down on me 24/7, you know? [ナメくさってる (namekusatteru): to look down on/underestimate]”

I retorted at Rinka’s mysterious sleep-talk.

She was such a beautiful girl, but right after she muttered those words in her sleep, she started drooling with a disheveled expression on her face.

As you may already know, Rinka has protected me from nasty playboys once, escorted me home when it was late at night, and just today tried to help me carry my heavy load. She was constantly looking down on me as a man.

I tried to shake Rinka’s shoulder to wake her up.

Inwardly, I was really nervous about touching a girl’s shoulder.

If she found out about this, I bet she’d look down on me even more.

Soon after, Rinka slowly opened her drowsy eyes.

“Mmm~…?”

Then, with a confused expression on her face, she looked me over before finally jolting awake, her eyes wide open in shock.

“Ritsuki?! And I’m on a bed…! H-Have I finally spent the night with yo―”

“We did not spend the night; it’s still 4 PM. Stop dreaming and let’s go home now.”

“…Ah, right. I was just having a nap, huh…”

After Rinka changed out of her nightwear, Shiorin and the others were ready and waiting to go, so we all left the house together.

【Extra】

・Asamiya Shiori

【Notes】

A second-year high school student. Is in the same class as Ritsuki.

The center of the up-and-coming idol group with 3 members, “Synchronicity.”

Nicknamed “Shiorin.”

Is treated as a bit of a clumsy girl by the other members?

Admires Rinka.