Stealing Spree

Without any other issues encountered along the way, I successfully escorted Yae, Akane, and her group of friends near their school gate.

Eri and Futaba’s boyfriends also joined us halfway but well, that detail was pretty much irrelevant.

Even if they acted friendly with me like I was some sort of comrade for dating Akane, I have no intention of becoming friends with them. Or at least, I could only act amiable at the surface. In fact, I already forgot their names. Eri and Futaba often mentioned them but I guess it's a ‘me’ problem why their names wouldn't stick.

At the very least, I know they won't have any designs for Akane or Fuyu. They're the type of guys who are loyal to their girl.

Anyway, to avoid attention and getting spotted by the guy from the newspaper club, I quickly left the area to go somewhere I could wait for one of my girls.

I was confident to mislead that guy if he ever got his interview. It’s just… there wasn’t any benefit to be gained from that. Not to mention, it would be a troublesome affair and a complete waste of time to answer his questions. My time would be better spent studying if I couldn’t use it to spend time with my girls.

Nevertheless, even if I was actively avoiding that newspaper club, I had other things to accomplish here.

One such thing was my intention to swat away those persistent flies buzzing around some of my girls. Those who couldn’t accept the fact that they’re already taken.

No matter how insignificant they are, they annoyed my girls. That’s enough reason for me to deal with them, no?

I have yet to finish collecting vital information about all of them. Planting a seed of their ruin was already possible though. All I needed was the opportunity to put them into action.

Unfortunately, because of the insufficient time and my location – I’m not attending the same school as them – it became quite difficult to find that window. Especially when my first priority remained to be spending time with my girls at every opportunity.

That’s why I had to improvise. Or rather, take even the slightest opening.

For example, at this very moment.

Upon leaving the vicinity of their school gates after going against the wave of students rushing in, I selected my targets by staking out from the narrow street that we've been using recently.

Those targets weren't necessarily the ‘flies’ I singled out but classmates or other students close to them.

Approaching them was proven to be easy thanks to my improved presence. Girls just couldn’t ignore me while boys were mostly envious or wary of me.

Nevertheless, planting those seeds that could harm those flies would be tricky.

Back when I was still the desire-driven idiot, whenever I encountered a situation where I had to remove someone or take the focus out from the girl I was planning, I would often rely on manipulating the public sentiment by sowing discord.

They’re not always successful because of two reasons. One, I lack the drive to thoroughly prepare for it by researching. And two, my presence is so low that it won't take flight even if I start gossiping.

This time, however, no one could actively ignore me if I approached them. They would at least spare me a glance and more often, they’d also be interested in me.

And thanks to that, it looked like I would be able to pull this off.

I only have at most fifteen minutes. Ten minutes later, I’d already planted three seeds that would germinate soon.

I’m confident it will be successful because that’s just how absurd the power of gossip is. It can paint a person in either black or white exaggeratedly after being spread and passed around.

Anyway, I still have time to plant another one.

I kept an eye out and immediately moved out after identifying my target;

A second-year student who’s supposed to be the older sister of the ‘fly’ buzzing around Hiyori. From a quick glance, I could pretty much understand why that guy chose Hiyori among other girls…

His type of girl is shaped around his own older sister.

Right. This girl looked to be the shy type. But whether she also had things that she would be excited about like the idol stuff or not, I had no idea.

In any case, I don’t think I need to know that. I’m only going to plant a seed. Something that can be pivotal if I want to fly out of Hiyori’s vicinity.

Like the previous instances, I timed my approach to match her pace to walk alongside her. It’s a lot better than blocking their way as it would make them more guarded.

Noticing me by her side, the girl curiously glanced at me.

And timing that to glance at her, I put on an amiable smile, catching her in surprise.

I could imagine question marks popping on top of her head. Nevertheless, she also exhibited the same reaction as the others. She immediately slowed down and put some distance between us.

However, upon noticing that I continued to match her pace without showing obvious signs that I was doing it intentionally from the outside perspective, the girl opened her mouth.

“... E-excuse me. Do I know you?”

“I’m afraid not. But I know you, nee-san.”

“Nee-san??? W-who are you?”

“Mhm. How should I say it? A friend of your little brother?”

With the way I delivered that with confidence, the girl only took a moment before accepting it as the truth. Sure, she could still be skeptical but she probably knows her brother more than me.

Besides, this would be the only time I would interact with her. After the seed of doubt was planted, it would only be up to luck whether we encounter each other again.

“... Tetsu-kun’s friend? W-wha…”

“Relax, nee-san. I don’t mean to scare you. I recognized you from afar so I thought I should say hi.”

I kept my amiable smile to put her at ease. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to dispel her doubt considering how shy she is.

I should already be thankful that she prompted the conversation because if not, it would be troublesome how I could get her attention.

At this point, with our pace slowed down to a crawl, the remaining time I allocated should be enough to do what I intended.

“I… I’m not scared. It’s just… You came out of nowhere. You also look like you’re not from our school… Are you really Tetsu-kun’s friend?”

“I understand the skepticism, nee-san. I’m sorry to startle you. You can contact Tetsu and confirm it with him but can I say something first?”

“... Sure.”

“Like you said, I’m not from the same school but I’m concerned for him.”

“Concerned? How?”

“I heard this from one of our mutual friends, he seems to be getting involved with a bad bunch. Although it’s only hearsay, you know it’s not impossible, right?”

“Y-yeah… If you’re hoping I should talk to him, I think you’ll be disappointed.”

“No. This isn’t actually about him. It’s about you, nee-san.”

“Eh?”

“Be careful.”

Upon saying that, I abruptly stopped walking and blended quickly into the crowd behind us.

Since she was not expecting that, it took her a few steps before she also stopped to search for my figure. Her face was filled with confusion, most likely not knowing how to interpret what I meant by telling her to be careful.

Little did she know, that’s what I was intending to happen.

In that fly’s case, that’s how I designed the seed. Dropping those hints about him to his sister and then getting her involved.

With this, she’d either ask him directly or dig about it on her own. Whichever she chose, it would lead her to a discovery.

Ah. Right. I’m telling the truth about his brother becoming involved with a bad bunch. Not delinquents but bullies.

Naturally, it’s uncertain whether it will be enough to swat that fly off of Hiyori’s surroundings. At least, I got her sister moving for me. Even if he denied knowing me to her, his reaction would give him out.

After failing to find me in the crowd, the girl eventually gave up searching for me. Likewise, I left the area after she disappeared from my sight.

I returned to the narrow street and started traversing it to reach the cafe where I could meet my girl.

Or so that’s what I was hoping for.

But halfway through it, I ran into someone.

Ohori-senpai.

“Onoda-kun… Good morning.”