Stealing Spree

For this girl to continue voicing out her thoughts like this, I couldn’t help but compare her to the first time I saw her.

Silent and indifferent. She’s not shy like Aya or Kana. More like, she’s someone who wouldn’t just make friends or open up to anyone easily. Hell, she wouldn’t even talk to me despite us being in the same year during the first time we met each other.

The Rae of that time would rather read a book to obtain more knowledge than socializing with someone else.

I remembered I raised that point concerning her friends when I confronted her in the infirmary about her misguided anger at me after that piece I wrote about panties. Something along the lines of ‘she was only being used by them’. However, she defended her friendship with them even though she’s aware of how she was usually with her knowledge-reliant life.

If I took that into consideration, the girls she considered friends were people Rae accepted despite her shortcomings. And most likely, they also accepted her as she were.

If I had to guess, they’re probably like how Fuyu, Eri, and Futaba are towards Akane.

Rae confirmed that along with her story of how she met and became friends with them.

I listened to all of it without interrupting her. Only when she finished did I raise a few questions which Rae elaborated clearly.

Obviously, that was her way of telling me that I could trust her friends as well as reinstating that I didn’t have to worry about her being taken advantage of by them.

Honestly, seeing her being that earnest, even if I ended up judging her friends untrustworthy, I’d still present myself to them.

It’s for Rae, after all. In place of my desire, my driving force changed to ensuring their happiness and well-being.

Due to that, without wasting any time. I accompanied her to meet those she considered best friends.

Earlier, I saw two of them sandwiching her but once we arrived at the location, I saw two more girls. Well, it’s in someplace desolate. Rae or her friends already took it into account that it’s better to do this away from the prying eyes of others.

Anyway, if my memory serves me right, the additional two are from a different class; more specifically, from Class 2.

As soon as they saw me arriving with Rae, the four girls put me under their scrutinizing gazes. It’s as if I was being stripped by their eyes, exposing everything about me.

That failed to shake me, however.

I faced their scanning eyes and tightened my hold on Rae’s hand before greeting them, “First of all, thank you for taking care of Rae.”

I slightly bowed my head which drew amazed gasps from the four. Mostly, their reactions were towards the nickname I was using to call her. Perhaps, from their eyes, that kind of endearment was something admirable.

Rae who was at my side also blushed and covered her face which drew livelier reactions from them.

With that, they dropped they relaxed their gazes. Rae’s reaction was enough for them to confirm our relationship.

More than facing questions from them, the four thanked me instead. They truly appreciate the change exhibited by Rae.

According to them, it’s hard to hold a conversation with her and although she meant well, more often than not, they would be utterly overwhelmed by her vast knowledge.

Finding Rae starting to think first before fully relying on her knowledge, like a normal person would, changed the dynamics between them. Rae started to grow even closer to them.

Not that they’re not close before but I could imagine the pain of conversing with the girl considering I experienced it.

Anyway, like she told me before meeting them, Rae started bragging about me to the four girls.

She told them how we met, how I managed to tear through her adamant mindset to only rely on her knowledge and also how I made her fall in love with me.

The four sported different kinds of expression as they listened to Rae. At first, they’re curious, then they’re amazed. In the end, they looked at me incredulously as if they’re looking at a secret superhero because of how grand Rae bragged about me.

If not for my shamelessness, I would probably already run away from embarrassment.

But still, my being unmoved while showing a wry smile earned me praise for being a tolerant guy.

Rae was clueless though. She’s more focused on making me some sort of a superhero that rescued her from the hands of a villain.

“Onoda-kun, good luck and take care of our cute Mirae. To think that she will get a boyfriend faster than us…” Nazuki, one of the four girls and the leader of their group of friends, delivered her encouragement to me before grumbling quietly.

Looking at the other three, they shared the same sentiments.

Well, in my eyes, as someone who had a lot of experience with girls, the four might not be called beautiful like Nami, Shizu or Akane but they all have their individual charms. Perhaps further in our time in high school, they will also get someone.

After Rae finished, the girl happily clung to me, seemingly unaware that her friends were already wearing wry smiles while looking at us acting too affectionate to each other. But knowing Rae, she’s clearly aware of it and she’s intentionally showing it to them.

That’s why I followed her lead.

With this, the introduction to her friends could be said as complete.

We asked them to keep it a secret and they all promised that they would do so. However, they raised a question.

Why do we have to keep our relationship a secret when most people will not really pry into other people’s business?

And honestly, that’s a valid one.

Normally, if a couple was revealed to be dating, most people would stop caring about it in a day or two. They’re not the ones involved, after all.

Perhaps, Kana and Satsuki were already asked about those who knew about our relationship. And they gave a reasonable excuse about why we couldn’t go public.

“You all know about it. This guy… He’s well-known in every class… Can you girls imagine how much attention I will get if we announced it? Based on my knowledge, it’s already enough that those close to us know to avoid troublesome situations where I will be hounded by everyone curious.”

Rae answered the question confidently and surprisingly, the four accepted and agreed with her answer…

Uh… It’s great that they accepted that reason but that just proved my popularity… What did I do? Am I really that famous?

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After that introduction to her friends, Rae and I spent a few more minutes together back at the empty clubroom. In there, the glasses girl kept on laughing and giggling as she recalled her friends’ reaction to her over-the-top bragging about her ‘amazing boyfriend’.

Once she calmed down, I sealed her lips and lightly punished her from the slight embarrassment I felt from what she did.

Well, punish was probably a wrong word there. Rae readily accepted my kiss as if she’s waiting for it. Eventually, it evolved into a more intimate moment for us.

The time for the Mentor Program was fast approaching so we cut it short. Yet, the two of us left the room, satisfaction apparent on both our faces.

As for the specifics, we got a step further than what we did inside the Literature Clubroom. This time, without the obstruction of our underclothing. In fact, we got too lost with each other that we almost did it. The head poked in…