Stealing Spree

Fuyu would surely act awkwardly the next time we meet. That’s why to not stretch out that issue, acting like it never happened was the best path forward.

Anyway, I’m going to leave it to Akane. She’s the one who knows her friend best. And through her stories every night, I will be updated about it.

A few minutes later, after I arranged a few things for that plan to deal with the guys buzzing around the girls, I met up with Ririka.

I decided to ask her in person rather than message her about my concern over wigs that I will be using in the future.

And sure enough, the girl gladly accepted my invitation sometime this week to shop and help create disguises. Maybe I can also look up and time it along with a scheduled cosplay event.

After I spent some time with her, we were picked up by Hitomi’s car.

Otoha couldn’t wait to see me in person after hearing about my haircut so I set that up.

As for Hitomi, well, she’s slightly unconcerned about my physical appearance. At least, I caught her staring at me with a dreamy expression. She didn’t notice that. That’s why after dropping Otoha and Ririka off and while she’s driving me to my school, I got to tease the stoic woman.

Ah. She stopped the car somewhere again where she slipped out of her role as Otoha’s chauffeur and bodyguard. Although she acted the same as before, Hitomi was becoming more active in conversing with me.

For example, I got to hear what happened to her during the few days that we didn’t see each other, especially the ones when she was alone in the mornings and nights.

Anyway, at the moment, Hitomi was straddling me while focusing on my exposed ears, nibbling and biting them. Her suit coat was put to the side to avoid creases.

As for me, I threw my bag in the backseat while my hands busily massaged her modest chest and backside as I listened to her short stories in between her bites.

In a way, we’re in a state where half of our focus was on feeling each other up while the other half was on deepening our connection through communication.

It’s kinda weird but that’s just how it is. Like I said, similar to Coach Ayu, my relationship with Hitomi was also a bit shallow. Due to that Hitomi and I came up with this agreement where we’re going to gradually close the sense of distance by filling it up with moments like this.

And this is the first instance of that agreement.

“A clumsy Hitomi? How I wish I saw that.” I teasingly said after hearing about the blunder she made earlier this morning.

She ran out of sugar cubes for her coffee and mistakenly thought that the iodized salt she kept in her cupboard was refined sugar. When she took a sip, her tongue tasted the extreme salty taste that she almost threw her cup away.

Or so that’s how she narrated it. Seeing her face twisted to the kind of expression she used when tasting the salty coffee was such an adorable gap.

When I asked her to repeat it, she ignored my plea and bit my ear to express her rejection.

“I told you that was carelessness, not clumsiness, Onoda-sama – err, Ruki!”

“Is that so? Alright then, it’s carelessness. But that’s because you called me by my name.”

I never asked her to call me by name so… calling me with it on her own accord was enough to disperse my desire to tease her.

Nonetheless, Hitomi still took it as though I was teasing her. She narrowed her eyes and pouted, leaving my ears alone. “Do you want to be teased three times as much, Ruki?”

What a great attempt to intimidate me. As if I’ll back down on that.

Leaving her delicate parts, my hands crawled up to cup her face in my palm as I cheerfully answered. “Mhm… That sounds like a wonderful offer. Yes, please!”

Hearing that, Hitomi closed her eyes and defeatedly sighed, “I now get why Ojou-sama sometimes appears displeased yet happy at the same time whenever she’s with you.”

Well, not just Otoha, despite being used to my teasing habit, they still fell for it while enjoying the moment.

In this way, the slightly heated mood switched to a more playful one.

Hitomi tried getting back at how I teased her. However, with the gap in our experience, I always turned the tables on her.

When she lost a few more times, Hitomi gave up, returned to her seat, and continued our drive to school.

In any case, before getting out of the car, Hitomi held my hand and presented me with her genuine smile. And a few seconds after that, the kiss we shared conveyed her gratitude for the time and attention I dedicated to her.

She couldn’t put it into words so she chose that method to do so.

Yep. Beneath her stoic behavior as well as her dedication to being Otoha’s attendant, she’s also this lovely as a woman.

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After stepping out of the street where Hitomi dropped me, my expected dilemma started.

Walking alone to our school, I took careful steps and used my skills to try to blend in with the crowd of students.

Alas, the skills I acquired before were proven ineffective. As soon as someone got a glimpse of me, more and more students started to notice me. It’s like a chain effect where they got curious about why that one student stopped in her steps and followed her eyes.

“Who is that?”

“Is there a first-year who looks like that?”

“Wait… I think I’ve seen him before!”

“Try talking to him, hurry!”

In less than two minutes, those and other similar dialogues were picked up by my ears. I was bracing myself to ignore those who would try to approach me. And sure enough, the first girl, a second-year based on her uniform, started walking beside me.

However, before she could open her mouth to ask a question, I quickened my steps and left her behind.

I scanned the students in front of me and tried to look for a classmate or acquaintance.

Thankfully, I found one.

“Hashimoto. How’s it going?” I tapped the guy on his shoulder.

However, when he looked at me, Hashimoto creased his brows. He failed to recognize me.

“Uh. Do I know you?”

I’m not a narcissist yet I easily discerned the meaning of his annoyed look, ‘Who is this good-looking guy acting too familiar with me?’

That or something similar.

Anyway, calling out to him was effective. Those few girls, who were brave enough to chase after me, stopped in their steps.

I know, I might just be exaggerating some of their reactions but I indeed lack the energy to deal with them.

Do popular guys experience this kind of problem? Or am I suffering just because I am not used to this?

No… I think I became too conscious because of the praises I received starting from Mina and her mother. It got to my head and I still failed to shake it off…

“Man, I’m going to be hurt from that reaction. I only got a haircut. How come you can’t recognize me?” I replied to Hashimoto regardless of his annoyance.

Hashimoto narrowed his eyes, trying to recognize my face. “Eh? Wait… You… That voice. Onoda?”

This guy… After all that, he recognized me by my voice and not by my face.

Is the difference that vast? I don’t know. I guess it’s best to give up trying to ascertain it. It will expire sooner or later anyway.