Stealing Spree

Kujou Marika.

Ichihara Jun.

Inugaki… Uh, I never tried knowing his given name.

And lastly, the mysterious delinquent leader.

Currently, they’re the third-year students with the most influence.

Inugaki was overshadowed by Shizu’s influence in the scheme of the whole school but for the 3rd years, he’s the one with the most political power.

I mean, even if Shizu often vetoed his ideas and suggestions, the girl wouldn’t always shut him out. As long as it's reasonable, his position as the Vice President was still held.

As for the couple. Ichihara Jun is a known playboy. And Kujou Marika is like a princess who brought her own entourage to this school.

They both have their own set of followers. I still have no idea what Ichihara Jun’s followers look like. He’s not bringing them when he’s flirting.

On the other hand, from what I saw in my encounter with Kujou Marika, her followers were always around her. Protecting her from other elements. If she didn’t approach me by herself, there’s no way I could talk to her.

Furthermore, even though they’re always around, she only saw them as her servants.

Perhaps, the girl doesn’t even have someone she can call a friend.

And from what I learned from this ‘follower’ of Kujou Marika, they’re apparently always screening those who could approach her.

In a sense, she’s a VVIP who has students as bodyguards. No. Not just students, but some of the teachers are also bought or influenced to look after her.

That makes me wonder just how powerful her family is… or her importance in it was just that high.

And as for the mysterious delinquent leader, I still lack information about him but it’s a fact that he’s connected to both Inugaki and Ichihara Jun.

Well, it’s only a matter of time before I see him.

There’s also that Enomoto. Although I could put him as a suspect for being the leader, I lack the evidence to prove that claim.

Shizu, even if she’s the Student Council President, also had no idea about them. But she’s aware of Enomoto as a student.

He’s the one who’s consistently at the top of their year. A very competent student.

Despite that, he’s a quiet one who could seldom be seen talking or hanging out with anyone.

And with that information, the way he blocked my path and talked to me was strange, to say the least. It’s one of the reasons why I raised him as a suspect.

Even if he’s not the delinquent leader, there’s probably something he’s hiding if he went out of his way to talk to the first year who was catapulted to this post.

Anyway, that’s the summary of all of them.

And at the moment, I was still listening to the follower of Marika about the supposed ‘unfair treatment’ she’s getting from Ichihara Jun.

Her story was already broken halfway and I was certain that she was sent to me by someone. To get me further involved with Ichihara Jun and Kujou Marika

And that’s what I’m trying to find out by continuing to listen to her drivel and acting like I’m going to help out on the scenario they prepared.

“… Onoda-san… Please help Kujou-sama.”

It was close to 15 minutes before she finished. Looking at her pleading eyes, her lips that were about to dry up and her ragged breathing because of how she talked nonstop, I could at least commend her dedication to doing this.

I acted like I sympathized with her story using my facial expressions and gestures.

I even heated the tea for her to drink and patted her shoulder.

“Alright, senpai. I’ll look into it starting tomorrow. Can I ask for your help then? I needed your cooperation.”

“R-really?!” Although it was only for a moment, I noticed the jubilant expression she showed. And from my experience, it’s not because she’s happy I accepted but because her acting worked.

Instead of me buying into her story, she got bought by my superb acting skills.

Uh. Calling it superb was an exaggeration. Let’s just say ‘experienced’.

“Yes. I got a great impression of Kujou-senpai last week. Although I can’t promise I will be able to do what you ask, I’ll do everything in my ability to pull her away… If possible, I want to talk to Kujou-senpai first.”

Laying down a well-hidden trap from that concerned speech I gave her, the girl froze for a moment. But as though her lousy acting earlier had just been compensated, she swiftly regained control of her thoughts.

She blinked once and acted like she was having a hard time deciding whether to give me a positive answer.

Most likely, she’s doing this to hint at me that even as a follower, she had no power to let me meet Kujou Marika.

A few seconds later, she lowered her head and hung her shoulders low, “I apologize, Onoda-san. I don’t think it will be easy for me to…”

“Please, don’t lower your head, senpai. I understand. I’ll think of a way to meet her myself.”

“That…” The girl was about to say something. However, she stopped halfway.

“Hmm?” I curiously gazed at her. And acted like I was waiting for her to finish her words.

However, she waved her hands in front of her and said, “Uhm. Never mind. It’s nothing… I just…” The girl once again acted like she was troubled before putting on a determined expression as if she had just convinced herself to brave it, “Uh… I may not be of help in bringing you to Kujou-sama. But I can tell you where you can find her.”

“Mhm… I think that’s a great help already. Thank you.” I smiled at her.

And she smiled back before thanking me as well.

A while later, I sent her out of the room.

Following her was plausible but… I changed my mind.

Instead of that, I went to Shizu. She was still doing her work so I silently made my way to her side and started organizing it, helping her even if she didn’t ask me.

And while doing so, I told her about what happened. My suspicions and my guesses.

After listening to me, Shizu put down her pen and rested her back on her chair.

Seeing that, I quickly moved behind her and reached for her shoulders. To give her a comfortable massage.

She was extremely satisfied with that.

Then, after a minute or two of thinking, Shizu raised her head and smiled. “I see. She’s not my classmate so I don’t know a lot about her. We had PE Class together but you know me, I’m a loner who doesn’t really get along well with others.”

This girl… Why are you looking proud of declaring that? She’s a loner. Perhaps, during her first year. But this year, she’s never like that anymore.

Anyway, I pinched her cheeks as my silent complaint about how she acted before hugging her from behind. I quickly went to work, pampering the girl until she was satisfied.

“On second thought, I’ve seen that girl you’ve just met hanging out with Ichihara.” Pulling me down to her chair before taking her place on my lap, Shizu added detail about that girl. “But that’s before she became a follower of Kujou-senpai.”

As soon as I heard that detail, a smile naturally crept upon my face. “As I thought, my Shizu won’t let me down.”

It might not be totally correct but through that little detail, the identity of the one who sent her to my side has gotten a little clearer.

Really, I wonder why that person became this fixated on me… It’s a little incomprehensible if it’s only because of that one incident…