Stealing Spree

Before leaving Ayu’s house, I carried her back to her bedroom and tucked her in for the night. Well, she’s insisting on driving me to my destination when she’s clearly still exhausted. As much as I wanted to extend my time with her as well, I would just worry about her return trip.

With this, my long day was about to be over. Finally, huh? But well, every moment was something worth remembering.

In any case, the last hurdle would be Yua’s mother who’s already waiting for me.

According to Yua’s most recent message, her mother, upon hearing about our plan to talk to her and ask for her permission, prepared a rather sumptuous dinner. While that could be seen as very hospitable of her, I doubt it would be a simple dinner.

Good thing Ayu and I only shared one portion. I wouldn’t embarrass myself by being too full to eat.

“Yua, I’m on my way.” I sent that message as I made my way to the station. Fortunately, I was on this side of the city, it wouldn’t take half an hour to reach their house. Looking at the time, it’s only a few minutes after eight.

I also updated Akane and the other girls about my whereabouts… Well, I went dark for three hours because I was too focused on Ayu.

Among the messages I received, I also got one from Hana. The girl was already saying how bored she was and how much she wanted to see me. And since she’s already using that application, the girl played a lot of the features in it. However, she did that using our chat box.

I wanted to scold her but it was like watching a caveman discovering fire for the first time. She’s very adorable at everything she does.

Perhaps that’s part of her strategy to get my attention. Who knows? I didn’t care anyway. I still ended up putting her after my girls.

There’s another message that caught my interest. It’s from the girl I escorted home earlier this morning; Ohori-senpai.

While there was no mention of that cuck boyfriend that I beat up, the girl expressed her gratitude to me. She also told me she intended to tell Aoi what happened.

Well, like I said before, it was all in her hands now. My role to help her had ended. That’s why I simply replied that it was a great idea to tell her. If it’s Aoi, she’d be able to advise her older friend better than me.

Whether she was expecting a different answer from me or not, I had no idea. But she also expressed how she wanted to consult me if she ever got in trouble again.

For that matter, I didn’t give her a proper answer but I also didn’t refuse her. It would be up to me whether to help her again or not. If I wasn’t that busy then I might give her the time but if not… then she wouldn’t hear a word from me.

By the time I reached the station, Yua’s reply arrived, showing off how excited she was, “Yes! I’ll wait for you in front of our house, Ruki! Mom is also looking forward to this. Ehehe. She’ll give me permission for sure!”

This girl was too positive… But then again, I was also going there filled with confidence that I would be able to bring her home with me.

The same as when I talked to Mizuki’s mother, I doubt Yua’s mother would be able to put me into a stump. I already racked up that much experience, after all.

But then again, overconfidence was a no-no. Until I really got her approval, I should treat her as another challenge to pass.

“Glad that you’re positive, Yua. Anyway, don’t let yourself catch a cold, alright?”

After sending that reminder, we also talked about other topics to pass the time.

But it’s mostly about her parents. Her father already passed away when she was six. Not from an accident but a natural cause. Even so, the memory of her father still lived within her. Although I appeared uninterested whenever she talked about him during the time that I stole her, I could remember the tales about him that she reminiscently retold to me.

He was a great man who raised her filled with love and care. From her own words, one of the reasons she fell in love with me was because I shared some of her father’s traits. As for what they were, the girl never enumerated them but considering I could only count my traits on one hand, they’re probably my unbending honesty as well as unbeatable attentiveness.

And this time, she once again brought him up, saying how he would be delighted to have me as a son-in-law.

Well, in my opinion, he would also be mad at me for dragging his daughter into this complex relationship with me.

I should light a candle for him sometime and ask for his forgiveness.

As for her mother, besides, from what I remembered of her, while it was true that she acted like a stage mother when it comes to Yua’s modeling gigs, she had also given her daughter the freedom to do what she wanted in school. Hence, she got into a relationship with that guy.

Yua reiterated that she’s only strict with her when it comes to her career. Because she raised Yua alone for a decade now, her mother wanted to give her at least stability in her future. That’s why her mother was also greatly affected when that incident happened.

Well, since I was only too focused on the girl back then, I never heard about what her mother did in its aftermath.

Apparently, she not only went after that photographer but also set out to have the agency compensate them a lot.

As for the new agency that contacted them recently, it’s not the same one and they actually guaranteed that nothing of the sort would happen again.

From that information, it showed how sought-after Yua is in the modeling industry, especially now that she has grown up to become a very fine lady.

Anyway, if my memory serves me right, her mother had no idea about her ex, whatever his name is. Instead, she believed that I was the one dating Yua back then.

I mean, I was the only one she brought to her photoshoots. Perhaps accounting for that and saving Yua on time was the reason she prepared dinner today.

Her mother never really thanked me for what I did. And with Yua dropping out of her scheduled gigs back then, her mother never got another chance to do so.

Well, here’s to hoping that’s the case.

-

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“Ruki!” True to her words earlier, Yua was right in front of their house, waiting for me to show up. Even though I was still a few blocks away from her, the girl dashed, crossing the distance between us to throw herself in my arms.

And while giggling in utter delight, Yua conveyed all of her exhilaration through an unreserved kiss, ignoring the possibility of being seen by someone.

“Alright, should I carry you back to your house?” I asked after our lips separated.

Without a wink of thought, Yua excitedly nodded as she clung to me with all her might.

I should’ve expected that swift answer when I asked that question, right? Anyway, it’s kind of interesting to see what kind of reaction her mother will make if she saw us walking in like this.

“Ruki, that’s a devious smile you got there. You’re planning something, aren’t you?”

“Maybe giving your mother a surprise?”

“This guy… I like that!” Yua shook her head at first but in the end, she elatedly expressed her agreement.

And with this, I started crossing the last few meters to her house while carrying her.

By the time we reached their front door, I looked at Yua again, confirming for the last time.

With a mischievous smile on her lips, she simply nodded before urging me to quickly turn the knob and enter.

“Welcome, Ono— huh? You two… what are you thinking?!”

Initially, a warm and pleasant greeting reached my ears. But as soon as the speaker saw our current appearance, it stopped and quickly changed to an exasperated tone.

While facepalming and shaking her head, Yua’s mother stared at us in slight disappointment.