Stealing Spree

Can a head pat from another girl induce jealousy? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Eimi instantly closed the few steps of distance from the door and their gate to pull me away from her older cousin.

“Eimi, do you think I’m going to steal your man from you?” Anzu asked, clearly puzzled by how her little cousin reacted.

The girl instantly shook her head in denial.

“No. You can never steal him. But… He can… uhh.” Eimi stopped there and looked at me helplessly. She wanted to turn the situation around by saying I can steal Anzu if I wanted to but she’s conflicted about saying it openly.

Seeing her act like this, I was pleasantly amused. With a hint of red quickly lining her face, I put my hand on her cheek before putting her in my embrace.

“There, there. Everything’s fine. I won’t ever be stolen by anyone. It will only be the other way around.” I whispered in her ears, tickling her in the process.

Eimi squirmed from the sensation. A while later, she exhaled before stifling a laugh, “I know.” She replied, relief carried by her voice.

With this, I noticed another trait of Eimi. She is open to the idea of sharing me with the other girls but she’s quick to be jealous if she saw me in close proximity with another girl, even if it was her older cousin.

Or maybe, I was interpreting her reaction differently.

It’s also possible that seeing me lower my head to another worked her up. Her interest in me originally stemmed from how I was aloof and mysterious. She probably found it strange. This girl was not used to seeing me acting amiably to others.

In any case, two weeks ago, Eimi butted heads with her older cousin, bickering nonstop while I got stuck between them. She even somehow hinted that she probably wouldn’t mind if I also take Anzu.

Eimi’s reaction today was kinda far from it.

Well, I could ask her about it when we got our time alone. For now, I pampered the girl until she became satisfied.

Anzu, who was watching on our side, shrugged helplessly.

She was about to leave but as though an idea struck her head, she turned around and faced us again.

She stood straight. Her chin raised high and her hands on her hips.

“You know, Eimi. If you keep acting like that, someone will really snatch your guy. There are bitches everywhere who will think it’s a challenge to steal someone else’s lover. Those bitches are ought to be erased in this world.”

It sounded like a lecture but she’s clearly channeling her rage towards those ‘bitches’ she’s referring to.

What she said wasn’t entirely wrong in the normal sense but…

“Onee-san. That also applies to men.” I answered.

The short girl looked at me and narrowed her eyes as though she was looking at an eyesore.

She then shrugged and acted haughtily.

“Heh. Of course, Onoda-kun. I don’t need to remind you of that, do I? There are also bastards who steal women. But we’re talking about Eimi here. From how lovestruck she is, she won’t be stolen from you. But you, if you somehow got tired of how she’s acting, you can easily be swayed by those bitches.”

“That’s not gonna happen!” Eimi refuted. Before she went on to tell her older cousin how it’s impossible for me to be stolen from her. Of course, without mentioning our complex relationship.

“I think onee-san doesn’t know me well yet, that’s saddening…” I started.

Forget about how I was that bastard, that’s irrelevant now.

“… I’m just the same as Eimi. If I saw someone else close to her, I would be a little worked up and antagonize that someone even if he’s innocent.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Hmm… That’s good then. You two have a great time.”

Dropping the topic like that, Anzu waved her hand and left us alone.

As for where she’s going, I heard from Eimi that she’s meeting up with her college buddies. Most certainly, not a date. Who will go on a date with that kind of outfit?

-

-

Because we skipped shopping together last week, those employees who recognized us at the supermarket were all smiles. As it was already a habit for us to shop together, missing a week somehow worried some of the women there.

Men couldn’t care less. If I had to guess what’s on their mind, they’re more prone to gloat if it turns out that Eimi and I broke up.

Anyway, as we were on our way to check out what we bought, Eimi suddenly stopped me from walking.

“What’s wrong? Did you forget something? We can still go back there.”

Well, anyone who didn’t bring a shopping list in the supermarket or department stores was often bound to forget one or two items. That would be another trip around the isles to search for whatever they forgot to put in their cart.

But Eimi didn’t answer me. Instead, she pointed somewhere.

I glanced at where she was pointing and found out a group of boys and girls that had just entered the supermarket.

My forehead creased as I tried to recall if they were someone I know but considering I always filtered those irrelevant to my conquest, I couldn’t remember.

Thankfully, Eimi filled me in.

“They’re our classmates from last year. No, some of them are still my classmates this school year. They’re the loud ones that always hog the front seats, acting like hotshots.”

Hotshots, huh? Right. I could vaguely recall some of them. Mostly the girls though.

“I see. We can’t be seen by them.”

I had no idea why they were together here at the supermarket but it would be a certainty for them to talk about us if they ever found out. And because my relationship with Akane was already public knowledge at that school, it would give birth to another troublesome issue.

Actually, the solution for this was simple. I could just let Eimi wait outside or vice versa.

Even if they hit the one who would remain here in a conversation, they wouldn’t find anything weird aside from pushing two carts.

“Uhm… I’ll be waiting for you outside, Ruki. It’s better to be careful.”

Eimi also thought about that solution. At this point, that group had already entered the supermarket and they scattered with baskets in their hands.

Eimi gave me the money for what she bought and although reluctant, she walked away from me. “I’ll be waiting at the café.”

“Alright. I’ll pick you up there.” I nodded and saw her off. Once she successfully left the supermarket, I pushed our carts and lined up at one of the checkout counters.

Since I was pushing two carts, I received weird stares from other customers lined up. The employees who recognized us were a little puzzled. Nonetheless, they comment on it.

Because the line was a little slow to move. It became inevitable for me to be seen by those former classmates.

A few seconds later, I saw from the corner of my eyes one of the three girls in that group of five. She’s walking straight toward me while wearing an expression of extreme interest.

“Onoda-kun? What a coincidence!” The girl exclaimed as she tapped my shoulder to gain my attention.

When her clear yet loud voice rang out, another voice followed suit coming from behind me, “Did you say Onoda? Man, we found a celebrity!”

It’s from one of the two guys. The voice was unfamiliar but when he walked up to my side, the vague memory of seeing them acting like hotshots, like Eimi described, arose.

These guys are a troublesome bunch. Good thing Eimi’s not the one who remained here.