Stealing Spree

As I expected, Izumi-senpai soon found herself uncomfortable with that position. However, because she didn’t want to admit it, she tried to endure as much as possible.

Not wanting for the girl to hurt herself because of this weird stunt of hers, I opened up her legs, allowing me to lean forward. Before she could call out what I did, my arms were already enclosed to her back, and used a little bit of force to carry her to my lap.

As soon as she found herself straddling me, Izumi-senpai cupped my cheeks, trying to squeeze my head with all her might.

Obviously, with how weak her arms were at the moment, she only managed to pull a duck face from me. She then unwittingly laughed, finding that too funny at the same time as forgetting her annoyance for bringing her to my lap.

“This should be your default face, shameless junior.” While still holding my head in between her palms, Izumi-senpai’s humorous giggles filled this abandoned clubroom.

To humor her more, I simply stared blankly at her and she actually found that funnier.

“If I can see you laugh heartily like this, I won’t mind getting this permanent.”

Upon hearing that, the girl’s laugh instantly stopped. Her lips also retracted to their default state. “You know what? I think I have to say this here… That’s the best trait of you but at the same time, it’s also the most hateful. Why can’t you just naturally treat us the way you always do before any of us get to this point of intimacy with you?”

What trait?

“Hmm? What do you mean?” I asked, a little confused about it.

Izumi-senpai stared at me with a serious expression for a few seconds before acting like she had just got a realization. She then placed her hand on my cheek and said, “I see now. Arisa is right about this. You’re someone who’s always full of considerations yet, you’re also too insensitive at times. Knowing her, she possibly noticed it way before but unlike me, she loved it. However, I’m not her.”

“Yeah, will you enlighten me, senpai?”

“Will you release me if I do so?” She answered with a question.

Regardless of what she meant by releasing her; from my lap or my close relationship with her, I still felt a little bitter.

Nonetheless, I still answered positively. “Yes, if that’s what you wish.”

As soon as she heard that, Izumi-senpai pinched my cheek with all her might just to make me frown.

And when she succeeded, the girl also immediately released it before leaning down and pressing her forehead with mine.

As our sight locked on each other, Izumi-senpai resignedly sighed. “There you go. This is what I’m talking about, Onoda-kun. You’re always so easy to give in when it comes to the girls you… ‘love’.” There’s a slight pause there as she seemingly found it difficult to pull that word out. Yet she still succeeded. I already confessed after all.

In any case, she’s not finished with pouring out what’s on her mind yet.

“…I laughed and enjoyed it because it’s not every day I could mess with you. These past few days or weeks, you were always so dominant that all I could do was get flustered whenever we were together. Yet with that phrase ‘I don’t mind getting this permanent’, I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve turned soft when it comes to chiding me.”

“You don’t like it?”

“I never said I don’t. How should I put it? Wait…” Izumi-senpai pressed a finger to my lips as she started gathering her thoughts and rearranging the message that she wanted to convey to me. Perhaps, to let me understand why she felt that way.

And taking this chance while the girl contemplated, I also returned to my mind palace and tried to understand what she was trying to convey. But I doubt I would reach an answer.

She said I’m too soft. Is it because I always prioritize their happiness? But that’s normal, isn’t it?

In any case, now that she mentioned it, I also couldn’t help but try to compare the way I treated her before and after we’d grown this close.

Taking what had just happened as an example, if this was last week, I wouldn’t mind teasing her and making her all flustered or even angry just to get those adorable reactions. Today, however, I easily gave in to her. Choosing the words that would really sound great. Or maybe I just thoughtlessly said that because I wanted to hear her laugh more. I don’t know. Like she said, I’m still insensitive at times and without explanation, it’s really hard to understand it.

Everyone has their flaws. No one’s perfect after all.

Izumi-senpai getting this vocal about it just means it’s really problematic for her.

Although we still hadn’t straightened up our relationship, my mind was already treating her as one of my girls.

Five minutes later, apart from Izumi-senpai using my shoulder to rest her head on as well as letting her arms circle around my neck, the time passed in silence as I waited for her. Anyway, having finished rearranging my thoughts faster than her, I also didn’t stay idle. I went ahead and fixed her posture on my lap. Following that, I simply started caressing her hair and back.

Although I carried her to this position, Izumi-senpai somehow accepted it without struggling. That clearly shows the development of our relationship. She could now comfortably straddle me without being embarrassed.

Ah. There’s also a possibility that she simply forgot because of this sudden issue.

In any case, Izumi-senpai soon finished gathering her thoughts. She lifted her head off my shoulder and faced me again. This time, she’s blushing slightly, finally realizing our suggestive position.

The girl then quickly shook her head, getting those thoughts out of her mind before continuing.

Her eyes narrowed a little to give her that imposing look yet with that hint of red still occupying her face, she simply appeared beautiful in my eyes.

“Okay, listen well shameless junior. I’ll only say this once…” After that opening message, she took a deep breath and covered my mouth with her hand. She didn’t want me to interrupt her and perhaps, it was to cover the smile that unknowingly showed on my face as a result of watching her act like this.

“I… want you to share in my joy and laughter. Laugh together with me… Also, what you did was simply hand me the satisfaction. It’s like instead of placing a plate of sushi on the conveyor belt after making it, you placed it right in front of me, taking away the joy from picking it up…”

This girl… She even used an analogy that’s kind of hard to understand.

Let me deconstruct that. In other words, this girl found it unsatisfying that if I simply answered positively whenever she found something fun? Ah. No, that’s a rough simplification. It’s even more confusing

The key phrase there was… ‘I want you to share in my laughter’.

Using her analogy, Izumi-senpai wanted me to sit down with and pick up plates of sushi that we can enjoy together.

I see. I finally got it. That was really insensitive and thoughtless of me.

It was truly the case of my insensitivity acting up. Instead of simply agreeing to that, I should’ve laughed with her by doing the same thing she did or just staying silent and enjoying her genuine laughter.

A while later, I nodded and put my hands on her cheeks before letting my lips stretch to the side, “Thank you for enlightening me, senpai. I’ll be sure to laugh and tease you as much as I want.”

I intentionally twisted my words there and as I expected, the girl’s reaction was priceless.

“E-eh? No. That’s not what I—”

With a shocked expression as though she couldn’t believe my stupidity in picking up the true meaning of her message, Izumi-senpai hurriedly tried to correct me.

However, before she could even finish her sentence, I straightened my back and pushed my face close to her, capturing her lips with mine before whispering, “Don’t worry, I get what you meant, senpai. I’ll be careful next time.”

“R-really?” She asked, clearly unconvinced.

But with our lips only a few centimeters away from each other, I kissed her once more before replying, “Un. Let’s get some sushi one of these days. My treat.”

“You! Get serio—” She was about to flare up but like the first time, I cut her off with a kiss.

This time, I prolonged it to the point that I started using my tongue to seek hers. And from there, our kisses deepened. With occasional whispers that continued that conversation, the room soon became filled with the sound made from the smacking of our lips and tongue as well as the rough breathing every passing minute.

By the time we finished with that, Izumi-senpai weakly laid her head on my shoulder while her arms embraced me as tight as she could. A few seconds later, in her almost inaudible voice, the girl lovingly muttered, “Shameless Ruki…”