Stealing Spree

On my return to the School Building, I found a new pink envelope inside my shoe locker. Judging from the content as well as the handwriting, it came from the same person who also left behind a key. Recalling the content of the previous letter, the sender admitted that it was a letter to express their admiration for me. However, instead of elaborating on it, they asked to meet me in a room where the key would open. There was even a map pointing to its location on the third floor of this School Building.

Rae heard that it was probably a stolen key that could open a storage room upstairs and a second-year teacher was trying to look for the culprit. Although I said I would return it, I had yet to do that because… I always forget to do so or I just have no time to make a detour to the faculty to drop it off.

That aside. Instead of stuffing it in my pocket, I took the time to read it properly this time. Just in case it's important.

The letter said, "Hello, Onoda-san. It appears to me that I failed to pique your interest in my previous letter. I must say I expected it. A cowardly girl like me must've been not worth your time and attention. I am sending this letter to tell you that I won't fault you if you surrendered the key. I don't know if you heard it already but I stole it. I thought I could draw my courage to face you if you showed up in that room, unfortunately…"

Alright. That's just half of the letter but whoever penned this sounded more desperate than anything else. Not only she revealed her intention, but she also admitted to stealing the key. And even if she said she expected it, that whole paragraph was just her lamenting on my lack of action to meet up with her.

Contrary to her expectation, this successfully piqued a bit of my interest.

What's admirable about me, anyway? My appearance? My behavior? She didn't specify.

As I was about to continue reading the latter half of the letter, I heard footsteps approaching me.

I glanced at my side and found the source of it stopping right where she had just become visible.

"Onoda-kun? How come you're still here?"

With her hair still yet to dry up, Sachi stood there as her eyes wandered from my face to the letter in my hand. Considering she also came from outside, the girl had just returned from the Gymnasium.

Did her club train until this late? No… The other volleyball club members would also be running late to their classes. Either she took her time in the shower or extended her practice. Whichever the case, there's no doubt that she had just taken a shower.

In one corner of my mind, Sachi's face somehow overlapped with the mysterious sender of the letter. Considering the first one was signed with an initial 'K'. It's inevitable for me to suspect and relate this girl's surname to it; Katayama.

However, upon closer inspection, I dropped that thought right away. Sachi wouldn't go out of her way to write a letter to me when she was already on speaking terms with me. Moreover, she even got my promise to hang out with her sometimes after I neglected her message before.

If anything, she's the type to act mysterious while also being obvious. Penning a love letter wouldn't be a thing for her. At least, based on how I read her character.

And that's why after deciding to finish reading the letter later, I opted not to act secretive like most boys with this kind of thing and waved the letter in front of her.

"As you can see, this stopped me."

Sachi's eyebrows raised a bit as she focused on it. With the color of the envelope, it would be difficult to identify it other than a love letter.

"Oh? Is a love letter enough to make you miss out on the 1st period? I doubt it."

"Alright. You got me. I ran late because of something else. You just caught me here reading this."

"That's more like it. By the way, I'm surprised your shoe locker isn't filled with more letters. Looks like you're not popular enough yet."

"Or I'm just not someone they can admire openly. I know how many rumors have been circulating that are about me."

Right. If I was the staple popular guy present at every campus who has no known attachment, five letters a day might be the norm.

Of course, there's also the possibility that our generation already moved past this kind of fad.

"Pfft. You're overthinking it. Let me see." Sachi giggled as she closed our distance. Although she reached for the letter, she was not actually going after its content but only to the envelope. She rubbed it between her fingers as though she was inspecting its quality. Not long after, like a detective who found a clue of a crime, she put a hand below her chin, "Hmm… Whoever wrote that must've taken great care to make it as presentable as possible. They're truly trying to appeal to you through that letter."

"Spoken like a true expert. Katayama-san, should I assume that you're also the type to write a love letter?"

Upon hearing that, Sachi scratched her head and embarrassedly laughed, "I was. Two years ago. Wanna hear that story?"

"If that's not going to take a minute then yes. We're already late for the 1st period." Although that intrigued me considering it went beyond how I read her character earlier, I couldn't miss my Shio's class.

Sachi smacked her forehead as though she had just remembered it, "Yeah, no. It will take at most half an hour. I'll tell you the story next time. You promised to hang out with me, Onoda-kun. I'll tell you my embarrassing tales by then."

"That sounds like a long story. Alright. I haven't forgotten about that promise. But will there be a catch?"

"Nothing? Hanging out with you is already a win for me."

This girl… Like I thought. She's not making an attempt to mask her interest in me. It's on full display. Even without teasing her or using my glib tongue to cultivate her initial interest, she's diving headfirst toward me.

"A win, huh? You're selling yourself short there. Anyway, when that time comes, I'll make sure that it will also be worth of your time.

Adding that last sentence, it's born from my appreciation of her character. Somehow, although our connection started off with the girl partly blackmailing me to be her friend, her image in my mind was being built slowly but surely.

Sachi beamed a wide smile, her joy couldn't be contained by her anymore. Nonetheless, despite her excitement, she held herself back by throwing herself at me.

"Un. Sounds great, Onoda-kun. I'm looking forward to it. By the way, can I walk with you along the way?"

"Sure. Let me just change into my indoor shoes. I also want to hear why you're late for class. Let me guess, You fell asleep in the shower room."

Upon hearing that, Sachi laughed harder again which made her voice echo in the empty hall. Good for her, no one else was running around anymore and everyone – including the teachers – was already inside the classrooms.

Obviously, my guess was off. Before we separated, the girl told me in high spirits how she was going to be among the Volleyball Club's starting players for the Interhigh tournament this coming Monday. She successfully earned her place in it just like Satsuki in the Basketball Club. That energized her enough to stay a little longer for practice.

Good for her, I guess?