Stealing Spree

The same as other nights, the stars and the moon up above couldn’t be properly observed yet. Clouds still covered the sky, only allowing moonlight to pass through to illuminate.

The cold breeze of the night could still make someone shiver but that’s already manageable if someone was wearing proper clothes.

Well, I’m wearing a short-sleeved shirt but with my arm being hugged by the girl next to me, her body warmth passing through her thick clothes protected me from the cold.

She asked me to escort her and here I was, walking alongside her as we traversed the quiet streets of our city.

At the moment, on the current street we were walking on, the number of people that could be seen around us had already dwindled to a handful. Some were like us, walking to some destination while some were hanging outside their houses. In any case, most of them couldn’t be bothered checking out someone carrying two large bags and another who was covered in thick clothes.

Petty thieves that come out at night aren't common in our city. Furthermore, no one would bother holding someone at gunpoint or knifepoint to threaten someone to cough out everything the victim had in possession or face being shot or stabbed. It’s more common to be blocked by baseball bat-wielding thugs or delinquents than to see one of those.

Well, it’s not like they’re non-existent. But those guys were more commonly seen in a red-light district that’s located far from where we were.

Besides, it’s rare to see guns out in the open. Only police officers and other law enforcement jobs could carry them because of the strict regulation. It’s instant jail if you were found to be holding onto one.

What’s the relevance of all this? Possibly none. But it’s not going to hurt me for being this cautious, especially when I have a celebrity next to me.

Every person and every dark street or corner we’re passing by, I was checking out if someone or something would appear there.

Due to that, our steps came at a moderate speed. And while we’re at it, I once again broke the silence as I began throwing questions at her.

Why and how did she appear in that place? This girl’s main activity is in Tokyo. Most celebrities are.

Even though she held her first concert in our city, Mabushisa Asahi quickly returned to the capital after it was done. Furthermore, that talk show she appeared in was from a station there.

That’s why I truly had no means to contact her except that number that Akane was keeping.

For this girl to show up again here and even coincidentally met me at that mall, there must be a reason why she’s here and why she showed up there.

And sure enough, after pressing her for an answer, the girl told me everything.

Because of that TV Appearance where she dropped that bomb of an answer, the Music Label she’s part of and her manager decided for her to lay low for at most a week or two until the issue loses some heat.

She accepted. However, this girl chose to go home to her hometown and stay with her family.

Naturally, even her parents were aware of the complications if she was spotted at her suspected birthplace. Instead of letting her stay in their house, the company, her parents and her manager, got her a unit in a condominium where the tenant's privacy was highlighted.

However, days after being isolated in that place, she got bored and enacted this plan for her to sneak out. She even left her phone to prevent herself from being nagged at by her manager or parents if they ever called to check on her.

“I bet your manager is already pacing around her office, wondering why you’re not picking up the phone. You’re still as impulsive as before…”

“… I told you, I left a message. I’m going out to get some fresh air. I even disguised myself properly.”

The girl answered, her voice laden with the guilt of someone who did something wrong. At the moment, she’s like a child that was caught playing outside of their house after sundown.

“Yeah, right. You disguised yourself like a suspicious person who’s about to commit a crime.”

“Huh? Eh? I’m not doing that!”

Yue almost jumped, quickly rejecting that description. Most likely, she’s not aware that she’s wearing an absurd disguise. She’s even confident about it given that I failed to recognize her easily.

“But that’s how you appeared to me. You’re sticking out like a sore thumb. I’m surprised the security of the mall didn’t prevent you from entering. No. It’s even amazing how you reach that place while wearing this absurd disguise.”

I pinched her thick coat, her knitted bonnet and her fancy facemask before nudging the sunglasses that she’s still wearing until now.

“Absurd, you say?! I properly checked on the internet how to—”

“Don’t believe everything you read on it.”

I cut her off and clicked her forehead. The girl immediately put a hand on it and cried foul, removing her sunglasses to show me her glistening eyes that reflected the faint moonlight from above us.

I ignored her adorable protest though which made her even more aggrieved. But instead of doing something violent, she grabbed tightly on my arm and pressed her cheeks on my bare skin, transferring the warmth of her face.

Watching her doing that, a smile was unknowingly drawn on my lips. When she caught that, the girl laughed in delight as though she won against me.

Alright. She’s adorable. She’s even acting differently than how she appeared on TV or her performances that were posted online.

But should she be this delighted in seeing me and being with me?

“Yue, I’m more curious why you’re not averse to me. We parted in not a good way, right? I pushed you away.”

After a few minutes of silence, I threw another question, touching on that sensitive subject that we haven’t touched ever since recognizing each other.

Upon hearing that, Yue turned her eyes on me again, she bit her lips in a bid to stop whatever emotion that was currently boiling inside her. Soon after that, the girl answered in a natural way.

“What about it? From what I see, you’re still the same attentive guy and I was cut off because I…”

Her words trailed and she failed to finish it. Nonetheless, it’s fairly easy to guess what she wanted to say.

She fell in love with me. That’s the reason why I cut her off. I couldn’t return that. And because she openly expressed her feelings even breaking up with her boyfriend, my desire that’s burning brightly for her got extinguished in an instant. Even if I kept her by my side back then, the idiotic me from back then wouldn’t even put her in my eyes. That’s why cutting her off was the only way.

“Really? The one you’re blaming is not me but yourself? Girl, there’s a limit to being an idiot for someone.”

“I’m aware. I’m still the idiot who approached the guy who rejected her. What can I do? Of all things we can be similar at, it’s honesty. I can’t lie to you and myself.”

Ah. That’s right. This girl’s honesty was almost similar to mine…