Stealing Spree

Blocking my way and questioning me where I went or what I was up to... Should I call her unreasonable for this?

Sure, I could. But thinking about it, it’s quite reasonable for her to do this. I wasn’t supposed to be here, after all.

Behind her was the bridge connecting to the other hill. If only I didn’t run into her, things wouldn’t be this troublesome.

How should I answer her? Make up a lie or give her some excuses while only grazing upon the truth?

Unfortunately, Setsuna-nee wasn’t going to give me time to think.

As soon as she noticed me slowing down in my steps, she walked forward and approached me instead.

In less than a few seconds, we’re now standing face to face, her inquisitive gaze seemingly trying to drill a hole in my cheek. There was no one nearby, or at least, the closest to us was at a considerable distance and was walking away from the area. No one would be able to hear our conversation.

“Can I not sightsee here, Nee-san?”

Answering her question with another question, I drew an immediate frown which obviously indicated that she was not pleased to hear that.

With a sarcastic grin, Setsuna-nee drew closer and irately grunted, “Oh! Of course, you obviously can, shameless bastard. I know it’s impossible to get an honest answer from you.”

If you knew then why block me? I muttered that question in my head. There’s no way to voice that out since it would just trigger her further.

Nonetheless, being this close, I could observe her more clearly. This girl... she’s possibly more concerned that I came here to this hill without looking for her.

“I’m being honest here, Setsuna-nee-san. I went to the peak to see if it was any different from the one there on our hill. I also managed to run into Juri. Too bad, she said she’s going to stay longer there. I even offered to escort her back here.”

As always, I put in a sprinkle of truth there. I even mentioned Juri since she might’ve suspected that her best friend ditched her to meet up with me.

Sure. She already got the idea that something was different with me because of the dance last night. However, those were still her suspicions without any confirmation from me. Whether she could accept it as the truth or not was still up in the air. That’s why at this moment, I’m still only the annoying guy she cannot pull out of her mind and her little sister’s boyfriend.

“You offered to escort her? Young man, you’re being too promiscuous. Juri isn’t some easy woman. She favors you a lot but doesn't think you can lay a hand on her.”

This girl... Now she’s trying to warn me about touching Juri. Too late.

I nodded in pretense, acting like I was agreeing with her.

“Mhm. I’m aware of that. But Nee-san, can I not return the favor of her being so good to me? That’s how I see it. She’s taking care of me a lot so I should at least reciprocate that.”

Of course, those were still the truth. If one would ignore the fact that she favors me too much and she might’ve been already in love with me, it wouldn’t be wrong for them to fall on that idea. That I’m nothing more than a little brother she dotes on.

Sure enough, it successfully stumped the woman in front of me.

She released a sigh and her arms fell on her side, giving her bountiful pair their freedom.

However, I doubt she’d stop with this. She would drop that topic and believe me on the surface but she wouldn’t let me pass.

Seconds trickled by and the silence started to become like a feature around us.

I could hear footsteps coming from behind me. They’re probably students coming from their gathering area. And judging by the heaviness of those steps, they’re mostly men. Either Camp Managers or Professors.

Of course, they’re probably just going out to sightsee but who knows what will happen the moment they see this woman frowning in front of me?

Furthermore, I could hear their voices. They’re engaged in a conversation. And it didn’t take long for me to hear them clearly given how loud they are.

“Hey, hear this. Those guys from the other hill told me that the man-hating ice queen danced with two high schoolers.”

“I don’t believe you. That woman won’t even let us talk to her, let alone approach her. How could snot-nosed brats invite her to a dance?”

“Man, there were a lot of eyewitnesses. They did some bonfire dance last night. And hear this... Her model friend, the one she’s protecting, also danced with someone! I heard it’s one of those two brats too. He bagged both of them.”

“What the fuck? There should be a limit to fabricating a story dude. Haven’t we all tried to ask her out once? It’s impossible for that to happen.”

“It’s cool if you don’t believe me but you can ask those assigned there. Whoever those two brats are, they’re lucky bastards.”

It’s funny. Of all the things they could talk about... it should be that topic, huh?

And since she’s just in front of me, there’s no way she didn’t hear them.

Looking down, the short-stacked woman looked like she was about to erupt. She stopped contemplating her response to me and her mind most likely diverted to the conversation she just heard.

Although she’s someone who possibly won’t care about whatever people think of her, the fact that I’m with her at the moment triggered something in her.

As for what that was, only Setsuna-nee could give light to it.

“T-those good-for-nothings! Let’s get out of here.”

She gritted her teeth and grabbed my wrist, pulling me away with her.

“Huh? Why?”

I managed to raise a question but she’s not having it. She’s keen on bringing me somewhere with her.

“Just shut up. If they see you with me, I won’t be able to hear the end of it.”

This... Is she jumping to conclusions here? It’s not like they’ll know that I’m one of those brats they’re talking about. We can just step away from each other and act like we’re strangers since they haven’t emerged from the path yet. Or at least, they are just about to.

Now, if they happen to turn in our direction, they’ll definitely catch sight of us.

No. They already did.

“Oi, is that who I think it is?”

“Yo! You’re right! Is she holding that guy’s hand? What the… Is he that brat?”

Those were the last coherent words that reached my ears as we crossed the bridge.

Setsuna-nee didn’t try to glance behind us and just continued running in a certain direction.

However, not long after arriving at the other side, I heard loud, running footsteps echoing on the bridge.

Yep. There’s no doubt. They started chasing after us.

If I have to guess, their objective is to confirm our identities.

Setsuna-nee... Instead of easily dodging them, she made the situation more difficult for herself.

Unfortunately, it’s now too late for me to help her get away from this situation.

Ah. Not really too late. It's just... I don’t think it’s wise to separate from her when she’s this determined to drag me with her and get away from them.

Furthermore, I’m not losing out here and despite my original intention to get past her and go back, a thought rose in my head.

I’d like to see what she’s planning to do next or where she’s going to take me.

“Setsuna-nee, they’re chasing after us.”

“I know! You don’t have to remind me! Just follow along. I’m going to hide us somewhere.”