Stealing Spree

Hayashi-sensei falling down upon my mention of her current state was definitely a reaction I never thought would happen. Yet, here we are.

True, she looked stressed in my eyes but I guess I overdid it by pointing it out. Although following up on that should be my next move, I refrained from doing it and just waited until she completely recovers before approaching her.

With an apologetic expression, I reached a hand to her, “I’m sorry, sensei. I have no idea it will be this impactful. I won’t mention it again.”

The purple-haired woman looked at my hand and next to my face before blinking a few times as though trying to ascertain whether she was back in the real world or not.

Because she wasn’t taking it, I flapped my hands to get her attention. Fortunately, that seems to do the trick.

Her shoulders jumped as she averted her gaze in slight embarrassment before taking my hand.

As I pulled her up to stand before me again, the woman scolded me in a weakened tone, “… That’s not a great joke, Onoda-kun.”

“I never said it’s a joke, sensei. My apology is because I brazenly brought it up. But if sensei wants me to treat what I saw as nothing then… I have no choice but to abide by it”

Since she’s already stabilized on her feet, I let go of her hand and took a step back.

Her eyes followed me. She had her mouth half-open as though she was about to say something. I waited for that for a while without breaking eye contact.

I only intended to check on her state by joking earlier but somehow, the situation started leaning towards getting to the bottom of this. Nonetheless, it’s still within Hayashi-sensei’s discretion whether to tell me about it or not.

Her next words should either be telling me about it or… sending me out.

A minute passed and she remained silent, deeply contemplating what to do.

If she continued doing that, I could now foresee that this situation would just turn awkward.

And so… deciding not to wait anymore, I tucked the folder on my underarm, straightened my back, bent forward slightly and finally bowed to Hayashi-sensei.

“I’ll excuse myself out, sensei.” Upon saying that, I turned around and walked towards the door.

Even when I started opening the door, Hayashi-sensei remained silent. Convinced that she wouldn’t talk anymore, I opened it and stepped outside.

However, in the split second where the door gradually closed behind me, her voice, filled with helplessness, reached my ears. “Like father, like son…”

There was no need to guess. She intentionally waited for me to give up and leave before muttering that. And if I’m not wrong, she thought I wouldn’t be able to hear that. There’s probably a second or third line there but I already lost the means to hear it.

Am I really like my father? I don’t know. He’s very devoted to my mom, after all.

Perhaps, it’s about another trait. That aside, considering she didn’t even confirm what I asked, she had no intention of opening up to me. At least, not now.

And because I left the room, the additional reward was already off the table.

-

-

Upon returning to the classroom, it was as I expected. There was no teacher and everyone was just spending their free time, waiting for the bell to chime.

Nonetheless, upon my appearance, the classroom instantly went to silence. I could feel everyone’s attention focusing on me but as always, I acted unperturbed and returned to my seat.

My two lovely neighbors instantly focused on the folder that I brought with me. Picking up the curiosity building up in their minds, I told them how I got called by Hayashi-sensei and was given a task for the next week.

While Satsuki instantly lost her interest when I explained the task, Aya, on the other hand, had sparkly diamonds in her eyes, very interested in what she heard. And it’s not because of the possible teacher and student relationships but because of how I would become something like a detective, picking out clues on the suspicions. As a bookworm, her imagination quickly ran wild.

Watching the girl happily dive into her fantasy, I couldn’t help but dote on her before whispering to her ear how I will be retelling what I will experience to her the day after that.

Sure enough, it made Aya’s excitement rise to the max.

After that, I stopped giving any care about what the others would think, I approached Nami, Saki and Hina, borrowed a chair from someone else, and sat down in front of them.

Ogawa frowned. Tadano acted as though he didn't care anymore. And Taku, eternally silent.

“So, what kind of story did you bring us, Ruu?” Nami started our conversation as she stealthily reached for my hand. I naturally welcomed it, squeezing her hand in the process.

“A fascinating one?” I answered while sounding like I brought fairy tales to recite.

“Pfft. We saw their contradicting reaction though. Probably not that fascinating, Ruki.” Hina giggled, shutting down my attempt.

“Well, Satsuki is Satsuki. She doesn’t care about anything else except Basketball and me.” I shrugged and took a glance at the girl I mentioned.

But because I said that confidently and in a louder voice that everyone could hear, the grumpy girl also heard it.

“Oi, idiot. I can hear you from over here!”

As expected, her response quickly arrived which made everyone who turned their attention to us laugh alongside some comments.

“Onoda, keep it up. You’ll definitely make her fall in love with you that way.” That’s Yamada, the loudmouth.

“Or more like, she’ll beat you up first before you can get her yes.” And that’s Wakaba, holding her stomach from laughing too much.

Well, seeing that they’re reacting like that, I didn’t stop there. Deciding to turn this into another setup and cover it up as a comedic routine, I acted like I did nothing wrong and waved at Satsuki, my lips curved up into a grin, “Oh. Is that so? Then, are my words true?”

Obviously, from that question, Satsuki was instantly put on the spot as everyone’s eyes focused on her.

Stumped at first, her ears visibly changed color from pink to crimson red. However, instead of admitting to it, she snarled at me, “Shut up, you idiot, or I’ll throw your bag at you!”

I winked at the girl and intentionally ignored her response before switching my gaze back to the three girls in front of me. With a shrug, I said, “Mhm. See that. She said yes.”

“Ruki. You’re asking for a death sentence.” While holding back her laughter, Saki shook her head and pointed at Satsuki who was in the midst of standing up from her seat.

The girl then acted on her words, picking up my bag and starting to aim it at me as though she was seeing me as a basketball hoop.

However, because of the continuous laughter from everyone, the girl opted not to throw it and instead, she stomped her way toward me. With her slightly bulky arms due to continuous training, she enclosed it around my neck and tightened it to put me into a chokehold while chanting ‘Idiot’ three times.

In front of me, Nami, who was probably waiting for my story, wryly smiled and facepalmed. With a devilish smile on her lips, she reached for my cheeks and pinched them as hard as she could. “And here I am, getting excited to hear what you’re going to say, Ruu. I’m sorry but you also earned my ire today. Now suffer.”

With the two girls teaming up to punish me, the laughter continued and I intentionally succumbed to my fate.

Although I acted like a class clown there, my goal was reached. Now, even if I flirt with Satsuki, no one would find it weird. However, Satsuki might need to hold back at first.

Anyway, after that episode and while being strangled and pinched by the two, I gauged everyone’s reaction. It’s mostly positive. Those not amused were few compared to those who were. Moreover, I noticed some who wanted to jump in and join the fun.

“Ruu, next time inform us of what you’re going to do! That’s no good if you’re doing everything by yourself. We picked up on it this time but who knows what will happen next? And have you already apologized to Satsuki?”

Minutes later, while we were on our way to the Club Building to escort them, Nami scolded me. The other two nodded in agreement.

Right. I have no rebuttal on that.