Stealing Spree

1859 The Last Group

As the only group with the majority being my girls, it’s to be expected that we won’t be able to accomplish anything regarding their task.

Or was there even a need to?

With the remaining time before this task of setting up their tent, they should’ve finished it already.

Sure enough, as soon as Shiina presented me before them, we were met with a finished tent, the mischievous grins of the trio, and the seemingly resigned look of Kikuchi.

With their eyes focusing on me, I could already sense their eagerness to just jump out and bring me away. These girls… they’ve been waiting for too long and now their impatience has caught up to them...

“Alright. This is the last group. I can see that your tent is already finished. Are you sure you still need his assistance?” Oblivious to my observation, Shiina stepped forward and pointed at me. She’s aware that they’re also my girls but for the sake of being fair, she won't just hand me over to them now that they’ve finished their task.

When she returned, Nami faced her and nodded, her grin switched to her usual courteous smile that could make someone see her in a positive light, “Yes, Miss Shiina. Won’t it be unfair if we pass on the privilege of getting his assistance? Everyone got it”

Shiina’s eyebrows twitched a little before she crossed her arms and matched Nami’s courteous smile.

Kikuchi looked so done from behind the three and obviously, Hina and Saki were just waiting for when they could get their hands on me.

Really… They couldn’t care about the purpose of this camping trip anymore, they just wanted to spend more time with me…

Well, that’s also my objective anyway but seeing them like this was pretty hilarious. Should I tease them about it?

“Indeed. It will be unfair.” Shiina eventually answered, she then lifted her arm to check the time on her wristwatch before glancing back at me. “Onoda-kun, this is the last group. You still have to return so don’t stay too long here. Tell me when to pick you up.”

Huh?

Did I hear that right?

Doesn’t she want to supervise me?

If I’m not wrong, there are at least twenty minutes left for their task and then they also have some free time just like us. Looking up, the sun was already approaching its highest point. Looking around, the girls who had already finished transporting their things from the cabin to their tents were already resting inside or doing something else.

The camp managers were also mostly seated somewhere as they couldn’t continue standing on guard anymore. It’s pretty lax here.

”Are you leaving me here, Shiina-san?” I asked, just in case, to make sure that I didn’t hear her incorrectly.”

“What? Do you want me to join you in spending time with them? I never thought you'd be this bold, Onoda-kun.” The woman smirked before she closed in on me, hugging my arm. This time, she didn’t hesitate to press her body against me. It wouldn’t be surprising as well if she just hugged me from the side.

But from the way she’s presenting this in front of Nami and her group, she’s clearly figuring things out.

She’s aware that I’m close with a lot of girls and if she took what she saw during our breakfast as the indication, she surely wouldn’t miss that Nami, Hina, and Saki were also like Chii and Hana to me. What is she trying to accomplish here?

“Huh? Miss Shiina?”

“Wait Isn’t that unfair?”

Saki and Hina simultaneously reacted.

On the other hand, Nami let out a chuckle before stepping forward.

“Pfft. I understand, Ruu. I don’t mind Miss Shiina joining us. It seems like you caught her interest.”

“Hmm… That sounds about right,” Shiina swiftly responded, not even trying to deny it. “So, do you want me to stay and continue supervising you? Or… will you spend your time with them? I prefer the former. I want to know more about you but don’t worry, I can still wait for it when you accompany me later.”

For Shiina to openly say that, there’s no doubt that she wanted Nami and the others to hear it. Is she trying to see if they’re going to be jealous of her?

If that’s the case, she’s trying to figure out the state of my relationship with them. Earlier, she just observed me going through the other groups but now, she’s stepping up like this.

If I’m not wrong, she’s testing us out if my girls can still feel jealous when they’re already sharing me amongst them.

Looking like she also caught onto what Shiina was trying to do, Nami made her move before me.

My girl stepped forward and grabbed my hand, pulling me to her side.

When that happened, Shiina simply watched as I allowed myself to be taken by Nami. She even loosened her hold on my arm, allowing me to slide off of her hold easily.

Now, standing alone, a meaningful smile rose from Shiina’s lips.

Looks like we’re right.

“Ruu, do we have to be jealous?” Nami then said but in lower volume that would probably not be able to be picked up by anyone apart from us.

“Have I ever purposely made you jealous?”

“Purposely? No. But we can still be jealous, right?”

“Of course. I told you before. It’s a normal feeling. And you can call me out for it if ever I unknowingly made you jealous because of my actions.”

“Uhm. No. This situation doesn’t warrant it.”

With that small conversation between us, Shiina who was watching closely had her smile deepened.

Then, a few seconds later, as though she had already seen enough, the woman clapped her hands.

“Okay, Nanami-chan, take care of him. Hide him if you hear a commotion. He cannot be caught here. I will return later to pick him up and send him off.”

Yeah… She’s retreating. Or rather, she already got her answer. She’s pretty clever but at the same time… she’s becoming more mysterious to me.

True, my arrival here was something she hadn’t anticipated. And bringing me in was for the purpose of making this camp interesting.

Still, I can’t put my hands on one thing. I get that she’s interested in me but it can’t be all that, right? She won’t simply act like this to someone only meeting for a second time.

If she’s like Juri who just kept on doting and praising me with every little thing that I do, then there probably won’t be a need to look for an explanation. Juri is just that, someone who appreciates me a lot regardless of my propriety. She also cannot fully explain why she’s so interested in me, after all. For her, I fit everything she wanted for a guy.

Unfortunately, I get the feeling that Shiina is different from Juri. If there’s a reason, I guess I can find that out later.

Nami took a moment to have a staring contest with her as though they were mentally communicating before slightly bowing her head, “Yes, we understand, Miss Shiina. Thank you for this opportunity.

Following that, Shiina maintained her meaningful smile and gave us all a look. That’s including Hina, Saki, and Kikuchi behind us before turning around to leave.

“Wait Shiina-san, what about me? You won’t say anything to me?” Before she could start walking away, I called out to her. Let’s just say I still wanted to try and figure her out at this moment even if it’s probably futile

Almost instantly, she stopped and turned around to face us again.

With her eyes locking on me, she took a step forward and reached for my cheek, tapping it a few times, “Onoda-kun. Don’t miss me too much, okay? Have fun.”

… Yep. With that. She now said something to me.

Haa… I thought I was already an expert but girls are still hard to figure out.

“Yes…” That’s all I could reply to before Shiina turned around and left. For real this time.

As we watched her back gradually grow smaller, Nami’s amused laughter erupted. “Ruu, you’re an adorable idiot. I guess this is also part of your charm. I love it.”

Without explaining herself as well, Nami hugged my arm before dragging me into their tent along with Saki and Hina. As for Kikuchi, she’s sighing to herself before resignedly following us.