Stealing Spree

Soon after thanking Hayashi-sensei for the key, Hayashi-sensei stood up and returned to her original seat across from me. Slipping back to her role as the Director, we began talking about the report that I made as though nothing happened in this room.

Well, that's better than continuing to tease her, right? Besides, she already looked a lot better. There's no need to push it or this might become the same case as Eguchi-sensei.

Not that I was afraid for her to fall for me. Instead, I should practice holding back in being too considerate to other women.

I mean, that part of me was always a part of the reason why my girls got drawn to me. Excessive consideration that puts them above myself. And those happened unconsciously or just the result of the way I interacted with them.

In any case, it's also a good thing that Hayashi-sensei only saw me as someone immature. It's best not to change that… Right?

Moving on, Hayashi-sensei only brought up parts of my report that were a little detailed, especially the one concerning Kanno-sensei and the sickly dude. She was a little skeptical when I noted that nothing was wrong with a teacher being that supportive toward her sick student who pursues his studies despite his condition.

As for Saionji, she also raised a point by asking why I easily believed the girl's story.

Well, if I told her what else transpired between that girl and me, she'd probably knock me off or just stare at me blankly while trying to determine whether it was true or not. And so, I explained that it was because of the girl's egoistic nature. Despite the others not agreeing with her, she still believed in her own greatness. And that led other students to be envious or irritated with her. Hence, they gave meaning to her attempt to butter up to their homeroom teacher to be given preferential treatment.

Hayashi-sensei remained skeptical but, in the end, no matter how she nitpicked at it, there was nothing more to gain considering she even instructed me not to just do what I can on the time I would get in roaming those schools' halls.

At the very least, my report also contained some of the suspicious points that I told her to investigate further.

Following that, she concluded our meeting and sent me back without mentioning my father again.

Ah. Right. Before I could step out of the room, she asked me when I would be visiting to get some advice that could be helpful for me regarding running for the Student Council President position.

Since I had no idea when I would be free, I just told her that I would be visiting her in the infirmary for that.

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Although the following classes weren't that uneventful considering I really received some visitors in the form of Momoiro-senpai and Nazuna along with the other two friends of Rae in the small breaks in between, I survived their questioning and successfully tided through it.

I called their visits 'questioning' but the truth was it was nothing more than their show of concern towards their friends and, believe it or not, me.

Yep. I expected Momoiro-senpai to be concerned since in a way, we treated each other as friends. What came as a surprise was Rae's three close friends. They even asked me if they could do something to help.

Apparently, Rae told them not to bother since nothing happened to me. Perhaps, wanting to show the girl that they're not against our relationship despite the rumors circulating about me, that's the method they came up with.

Naturally, I told all of them that I got it handled. Momoiro-senpai insisted to contact her next time in case I get involved with Ichihara Jun again while Rae's friends reluctantly accepted it and returned to their classroom.

After that, it became relatively peaceful. And at the moment, I had just returned from sending my girls to their clubrooms.

My name was listed among those on Cleaning Duty so… I had no choice but to quickly return and avoid troubling the others.

Unfortunately, none of my girls were on the same schedule as me this week. And no, Kanzaki didn't rig it to her convenience. She's actually drawing lots every morning and she's pasting the names drawn on one side of the board.

Of the six names that were drawn for today's Cleaning Duty, four of them were girls; Hana, Kushii, Amano, and Esumi; the girl sitting at the front in between Yamada and Kanzaki. As for the other guy aside from me, it's Matsuda, the otaku.

Yeah… Since there's Hana, claiming that none of my girls were on the same schedule was a little wrong. However, given that the girl continued to remain stubborn, it would be wrong to include her, right?

So, there's that.

Considering this was Hana's first week in our school, she should've been spared from this. However, that girl, in her attempt to further cement her existence in our class, asked Kanzaki to also put her name in the drawing lots, earning her praises from those already hooked by her fake angelic smile.

As for whether she pulled out some trick to be drawn today, I had no idea. But I was leaning more on her luck to be drawn.

I mean, knowing Kanzaki who was still vying for my attention or just my 'lessons', rather than rig the draw for Hana, she'd rig it for herself to earn her another chance to approach me without my girls surrounding me.

Besides, there was no indication that Hana asked for it since she was also surprised when she saw her name on the board earlier. Whether that was an act or not, there's no point in finding that out now.

Anyway, I got put on the duty of moving the desks and taking out the trash once we were done. Matsuda got the blackboard duty which was the easiest one.

As for Hana, she's one of the two girls on sweeping duty along with Kushii.

Although I could feel the gaze of the other girls in the room occasionally landing on me, especially Kushii who was giggling next to Hana, I paid it no heed and started focusing on my task. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being stared at anyway.

But then, given that we were still in the same room and they were nearby, I couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

Their topic was mundane at first and nonsensical at first. But as their distance from me gradually closed, my name was brought up… Intentionally.

"Ne, ne, Shinohara, are you, like, gonna make a move on Onoda-kun today?"

Upon saying that, Kushii's gaze landed on me, her eyes playfully smiling.

The girl was as mischievous as the other gyaru, An-rin, with her questions. But isn't she supposed to be Chii's friend? Furthermore, the two already interacted a lot whenever they would gather around us. Uh… I guess this was her way to have fun, huh?

Understanding what the gyaru was trying to pull, Hana lightly shook her head. Then, putting me under her gaze, her angelic smile gradually turned to an enchanting grin.

"No. I will wait for him to make a move on me." Although that's an answer to Kushii's question, her words were clearly directed at me.

Hearing that, Kushii giggled again, looking very satisfied. Then, with slight difficulty, she looked up at me and gestured as though she was presenting Hana to me, "Onoda-kun, what are you waiting for? Take the princess's hand."

I stepped forward to close our distance. However, instead of doing what she just said, I quickly decided to do things differently.

I winked at Hana. Even without any words exchanged between us, she understood what I was going to do. A second later, she stepped aside, leaving the playful gyaru at the same spot.

Before Kushii could fully recognize what happened, I was already before her, extending my hand out like a gentleman asking for a lady's hand.

"Sure. Here. May I ask for your hand, Kushii?"

"Eh?" The gyaru blinked twice before slowly raising her head, a dumbfounded expression lining her face.

"Your hand. Have you forgotten? I also confessed to you. Hana is not the only princess here." I reiterated. And this time, I took another step closer, erasing the remaining distance between us.

Obviously, this was simply a case of counter-teasing. But seeing the girl's blank and confused look, Hana and our other classmates who noticed what was happening started laughing.

A moment later, the playful gyaru's face quickly turned red from embarrassment as she almost tumbled over.

Luckily for her, I caught her arm and saved her from falling on the floor.

As soon as Kushii found her footing, she grabbed the broom that she dropped and started sweeping away from us, acting like nothing happened.

Yeah. Instead of answering me and getting embarrassed further, the gyaru opted to escape from reality.

As the laughter receded, Hana, who then took my side, pinched my arm as she silently scolded me followed by displaying her stubborn confidence, "Ruki. Stop using your charming smile to tease people. What will you do if everyone falls for you? They will feel lost when you eventually become mine eventually."