Stealing Spree

For the first few seconds, our vision was obscured by the darkness of the cabin. Although the sun has yet to fully set, with the curtain used on the windows having a darker hue, light struggled to get inside the room.

It’s not a major problem though. As every cabin shares the same layout as the others, Setsuna-nee walked towards the nearby light switch to turn it on.

However, as soon as the lightbulb illuminates the room, Setsuna-nee suddenly freaked out.

“What the hell?!” Perhaps in reflex because of fear, she ran in my direction and bumped into me. She didn’t think much of that and perhaps out of fear, she immediately clung to me like I was her only lifeline.

My body reflexively moved to catch her trembling body while ignoring the softness that was being squished in front of her.

Yeah. There’s no window to act like a pervert here as Setsuna was genuinely freaking out. But at what?

As I wondered about that, my head immediately tried to process this situation. What did she see that made her like this?

After securing her in my embrace, I focused my gaze on the direction she came from or specifically, on the object that somehow spooked her.

At first, I couldn’t find anything unusual. Everything was in place. However, upon squinting my eyes and zooming in at one certain spot, a sudden burst of laughter escaped my mouth.

“Setsuna-nee... Correct me if I’m wrong. Did that shadow spook you? Did you think it’s some ghostly apparition?”

Addressing her like that in between my laughter, the trembling woman, who was about to bury herself further into me just to escape whatever spooked her, raised her head in bewilderment.

She’s probably thinking why I was laughing when I was supposed to be scared as well. Moreover, the reality of the situation that she jumped into my embrace had yet to sink into her head.

She could only process one thing at a time. And currently, her head was occupied by what made her like this.

Anyway, what kind of shadow did she see?

A horned one.

Yep. It looked like a devil’s silhouette from how it appeared but one proper look from where I was standing, I immediately located the source of it. To top it off, it actually looked like it had its eyes and mouth opened, making it look sinister.

There close to the middle of the room in front of the single seats and long couch that formed an L-shape, the pile of their bedsheet, pillows, and two different bags was casting that. And hilariously enough it was because the fluorescent light above the ceiling wasn’t located right in the middle but instead close to that balcony,

The angle of the light created a long shadow that ran on the ground and extended up to that wall which made it look like a horned figure that’s directly below the light switch.

Thinking about it, it’s quite reasonable for Setsuna-nee to freak out like that if that’s the first thing she saw as soon as the light turned on. Because it felt like it was about to pounce on her.

Mhm. It’s actually amazing that it formed that kind of image.

Setsuna-nee soon looked down again but she somehow put on a courageous look as she tried to look behind her to check.

“Don’t you see tha—” She tried pointing her trembling arm to the shadow but her words got caught in her throat. Because at that specific moment, she finally noticed its source.

Like a robot that had cranky joints, her head slowly turned in its direction...

From there, upon understanding what exactly made that shadow, her whole body tensed and started heating up.

Before long, the top of her head seemingly started boiling from the heat it was exuding.

And that’s not the end of it, it was also at this point that she realized that she was fully enclosed within my embrace.

Compared to Satsuki’s reaction from the first time I held her, this woman’s reaction was more on the extreme side. Her eyes rolled back as though her head was short-circuiting from all the information flooding inside.

Her hold loosened and her knees weakened, transferring all of her weight to me.

I thought of carrying her to the couch but it didn’t take long before her mind rebooted.

With her eyes snapping open, her searing gaze landed on my face. She bit her lips so hard that I wouldn’t be surprised if it suddenly bleeds. Following that, her knees recovered as she recovered her balance.

“Onoda-kun... Do me a favor. Can you forget what happened in the last few minutes?” Her voice sounded like she was about to break down from embarrassment.

I guess she’s trying to maintain her grace in front of me despite what she has already shown.

“Forget... Sure, I can do that. But Setsuna-nee... will you be able to forget it?”

As I said that, I slowly loosened my hold on her. I took a step back, recreating our previous distance.

The woman failed to answer right away. She released her lips from its suffering as she gulped down. Whatever was in her head right now, I could only form a guess even if I used my exceptional observation skills.

Setsuna-nee then released a sigh as her arms which were just clutching my clothes slowly fell to her side. While putting on another brave front, she answered, “... As long as you don’t bring it up. I will.”

“Hmm? That doesn’t sound like you’re going to forget it. You’re just pushing it back. But hey, if that’s going to work for you then so be it. Nothing happened these last few minutes. You didn’t get spooked by the shadow. You didn’t run to me and I didn’t secure you in my arms.”

Although that’s the short version of it, Setsuna-nee’s reaction as she listened to it was nothing short of amusing. In the end, she closed her eyes, perhaps attempting to erase that thought in her head.

That’s not how the human mind works, right? Unless it’s a deep trauma that one wants to forget since it’s emotionally distressing, a small incident like what happened just now was too small to compare.

It would continue haunting her. Moreover, the more she tries to forget, the more the scene will replay in her head.

And sure enough, it didn’t take long before her eyes opened again, her expression looking exhausted.

She took a step forward and grabbed onto the hem of my shirt before nudging me with her forehead. The woman didn’t say anything else and simply let the time pass like this.

Are we going to stay in this spot until Juri and Satsuki arrive? I don’t know. It’s up to this woman.

Should I take the initiative to move us? That’s probably not a good idea.

I may be wrong but there’s a possibility that the reason she closed in on me like this was to seek solace. My girls, especially Edel, always turn to my embrace for security and comfort. No matter what happens, it makes them calm down.

If that’s the case here then... I should just do what I always do. Providing her that security and comfort.

Upon deciding that, I wrapped my arms around Setsuna-nee again. Then, as I pulled her closer to give her the maximum comfort, I whispered to her...

“I’m sorry for laughing, Setsuna-nee. I understand that you’re genuinely spooked and it’s extremely embarrassing for you so... I promise I won’t bring it up, not even to Satsuki. Since it’s impossible to forget it completely, shall we consider it a secret between us?”

With how close we currently are, it’s impossible for her not to hear my voice. Also, I’ve already drawn a reaction from her right as soon as my arms crossed on her back.

Her head slightly moved from left to right. It’s not an answer but simply her attempt to shake off whatever unnecessary thoughts running in her head.

And when she was successful, she glanced back up to meet my gaze.

However, instead of replying to what I said, she addressed something else.

“This is why I said don’t misunderstand, Onoda-kun... Earlier, you helped me pinpoint what was wrong with me and why I wasn’t being myself around you... I wanted to work on it myself but it’s difficult if you’re going to act like this... I don’t know what I’m going to do anymore.”

She released another heavy sigh before dropping her head back on my chest. Then, her voice continued, albeit muffled as the warmth of her breath and body transferred to me.

“I blundered there. I put myself in an embarrassing situation myself and I had the gall to demand you to forget it. Ugh.”

“I take it back, Onoda-kun. You can tell anyone about how I freaked out from the shadow of our bags. I won’t demand you to stay silent anymore. You can laugh at me too if that’s going to satisfy you.”

How should I say this? This woman is like a ping pong ball, bouncing back and forth on the table. She can’t make up her mind whether to hit it harder in order to score or do a feint to force me into making an error...

And now, having her in my arms like this, I couldn’t help but also be affected by her baffling sway.

“Setsuna-nee, congrats. You put me on a stump. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything you said. Instead... I’ll just hold you like this until you get sick of it again.”

“Eh? What are you...?”

Not knowing how to react to that at all, the woman could only blurt that out before she became fully engulfed in my arms.

For the next few minutes, we didn’t move at all from that location and like I mentioned, I did nothing but hold her. On the other hand, it took Setsuna-nee a minute of confusion before she accepted this situation and even though she didn’t completely copy me, her arms slipped from under my arms as she held onto my shoulders.

I know. This won’t resolve anything at all but I’m already out of ideas. So, why not counter her baffling sway like this? Sooner or later, Juri and Satsuki will arrive. They can save us both from this awkward situation, right? Or maybe not.