Stealing Spree

As the culprit on why Sakuma suddenly pursued the older sister, I somehow get why he had no qualms in confiding in me. Well, even if I didn’t approach him to tell me about his troubles, I was sure that he’d somehow go and ask for advice again. I just sped up that process now that I had a little spare time.

It's like he never truly resented me for taking Satsuki from him. Perhaps, in his mind, I fought him fair and square, when in fact, I betrayed him right from the start.

If ever he became aware of the truth, that would be the time for him to resent my existence.

Well, I had no plans to tell him about it. Satsuki also had no reason to tell him. Besides, it’s better this way, he wouldn’t need to become like Ogawa. Broken and in despair.

Anyway, according to him, he invited Setsuna this weekend or in other words, tomorrow for a date. However, given that the schedule of the college students was different than high schoolers like us, Setsuna explained that she was not available.

In a normal sense, that should be fine and perfectly understandable. However, even when he moved the date to next week, he was once again turned down.

He tried to move it a few more times until Setsuna told him that he should stop.

And that’s the reason why he became depressed today. He tried that during lunch break and that’s what happened.

Now, I could only hear his side so I couldn’t draw a conclusion whether Setsuna didn’t want to entertain his invitation or she was just really unavailable for those days he invited her.

That’s why while he’s still lamenting over his fate while sipping on the soda can, I used my phone to message someone. Someone close to Setsuna.

“I apologize for making my first message to you to be like this but can I ask you about something?”

I tapped sent as soon as I finished typing that. The recipient? It’s obviously her fashionista friend, Koizumi Juri. We only had one interaction. It's too short to even make a connection so how did I get her number?

It’s Setsuna’s fault. One time, instead of using her own phone to ask me about Satsuki, she used Juri’s. It’s a short exchange of messages and she never used that again so in a way, this should be the first time I would be using the number to contact Juri or Koizumi-san herself.

At first, I thought of first giving Sakuma a piece of simple advice to wait and not rush it. I never expected that Juri would reply quickly.

It’s a simple reply, but there’s an added emoji of a smiling chick. Or was that sticker? I don’t know.

“Onoda-kun, this is a surprise. Sure, don’t mind it. What is it?”

“This concerns Setsuna-nee-san. Is it fine?”

Well, that’s how she wanted me to call her, using her first name rather than ‘Maemura’. I simply added ‘nee-san’ as a show of respect.

“Wait. She’s here with me. Don’t you want to ask her yourself?”

“No. I think not. This is why I contacted you specifically.”

Right. I wouldn’t go in a roundabout way of contacting her if I wanted to ask Setsuna herself. For now, I’ll just try to confirm a few things.

“Hmm… Sure, I’m all ears. But I’ll warn you though… If it’s about some nonsense gossip or anything else, my view of you will take a hit.”

That warning… I guess it’s understandable given that I named Setsuna and refused to talk to her directly. It probably felt like she was going to talk behind her friend’s back.

As I began typing my question, Sakuma somehow recovered from his lamentations.

“What do you think I should do, Onoda?”

“Hmm? Have you planned that date out? Do you know where to go? What to do? If the thought of inviting her just suddenly sprang in your mind, then that’s probably the reason why she turned you down.” As I doled out that answer to him, I also finished typing my question to Koizumi-san.

“I don’t know if this will be counted as gossiping but, I’m curious. Is Setsuna-nee-san dating someone?”

Yep. That’s the thing I wanted to confirm… If it’s a yes then this guy, who’s still racking his brain for an answer to my questions, would have zero chance for the girl. And if it’s a no, then lucky him.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, my phone vibrated at the same time as Sakuma finished contemplating.

“I… I haven’t planned anything. I thought… I should make use of the weekend. At least.”

“You know, Onoda-kun. I am amused at how you came at this in a straightforward manner. However, you lacked the propriety that I’m sure you’re aware that I want from people… So, no. I won’t give you an answer even if it’s a simple ‘yes or no’ question…”

And as soon as I finished reading that, my phone rang.

The caller? Setsuna.

Koizumi-san definitely passed the question and in a fit of amusement or just because it concerned her, Setsuna probably stitched out the pieces of information.

-

-

Ten minutes later, I separated from Sakuma. He’s now brightly glowing as though the previous gloom he had earlier was nonexistent.

On the other hand, I was reading the new message that I received from Koizumi-san complete with the same cute emojis from earlier… “We’ll be watching Satsuki-chan’s basketball game tomorrow. See you there~”

What exactly happened? Many would surely wonder but let’s just say, everything suddenly fitted like pieces of a puzzle, leading to its completion.

Setsuna isn’t dating anyone. She rejected Sakuma on that date because she was going to come and cheer for her adorable little sister’s game. The reason why she kept rejecting Sakuma despite his attempt to move the date was simply to mess with him.

She’s even laughing heartily upon knowing that Sakuma confided in me. In a way, she loves tormenting the poor guy.

As for Koizumi-san… she’s tagging along again. However, from what I surmised from the conversation we had, she originally didn’t want to go…

I was the reason why she suddenly got interested. As for what kind of interest she suddenly cultivated. I have no idea.

Is she going to instill propriety in me? The thing she’s kind of obsessed about? Ugh…

Now, here’s the real problem… Most if not all of our classmates will be going to cheer for the Girl’s Basketball Club tomorrow. If the two college girls found me and joined us then it’s not wrong to expect them to blurt out my relationship with Satsuki…

The basketball team wasn’t a problem since they agreed to keep their mouths shut.

What do I do about that? Should I just not… come?

No… I promised the girl to watch her match. I even egged the whole class for them to give their support…

But still, it’s also great that I got the information this time. Otherwise, I would definitely be surprised if I suddenly spotted her or worse, she found me before I could prepare…

I better talk to my girls about this. And prepare for a countermeasure.

In any case, I had no choice but to push it to the back of my mind at the moment.

“Sensei, I’m here.” After knocking twice, I opened the door to Eguchi-sensei’s office and declared my arrival.