Stealing Spree

With only a few minutes left before the start of their match, we didn’t prolong our stay in the waiting room. No matter how much of a calming agent I am to them, they still need time to prepare their mentality.

Moreover, Kawakami-senpai and the others from their club were also considerate enough to give me time to spend with Satsuki.

And so, during our brief stay there, I spent the time with Satsuki who, as always, only needed my presence to sweep away whatever tension or pressure she had for their upcoming watch. Hitomi simply remained by my side while occasionally moving behind me whenever there was a chance presented.

As for Eguchi-sensei, she didn’t openly approach me in the room since, as their coach, she made her rounds to check on each of her students.

But when she drew close to me, I didn’t miss the chance to check on her as well. Last night was still fresh in my head and most likely, it’s the same for her. And I was correct on that. The woman couldn’t keep herself from being flustered whenever our eyes would meet.

In the end, she stood next to Hitomi and in one way or another, the two of them got acquainted with each other.

I had no idea what they talked about but Hitomi picked up the crumbs of clues regarding my relationship with the basketball club coach. Likewise, even though Eguchi-sensei opted not to hear everything from me yet, the fact that Hitomi accompanied me here was enough for her to understand who the woman was to me.

Here’s to hoping that it won’t discourage her…

Ah. Of course, the other members of the club also got curious about Hitomi. It didn’t even matter to them if her answers were short and icy, what they focused on was her appearance.

I mean, it’s not an everyday sight to see someone like her.

Anyway, that’s the entirety of our visit there and we soon made our way back to the audience seats before the match officially started.

With the stakes of the match higher than yesterday, everyone waited in bated breaths as the two teams made their way to the middle of the court.

Cheers and applause then immediately filled the indoor court as the students from both schools began their match on who could cheer the loudest for their team.

Of course, with our class prepared for this occasion, we became an integral part of our cheering squad. The boys like Yamada the loudmouth further enlivened the scene. And with his lead, the cheers became more concise and orderly.

And naturally, I was also in the middle of all that.

I couldn’t miss the chance to show my support for Satsuki, right? But then again, seeing me act like that generated more buzz than when I was acting normally.

When I turned around, I saw everyone from our class funnily staring at me – and my girls couldn’t even hold their laugh.

Due to that, when it was time for me to return to my seat, I got a lot of pats on the back from everyone. The gyaru trio of Chii, Kushii, and An-rin even messed with my hair as they amusedly parroted my cheers.

I got back at them by ruffling their hair – An-rin and Kushii immediately backed away but Chii got caught in my grasp. There’s no way I could let her leave that easily, right?

And with that, I dragged the girl back to my seat in the midst of my other girls, putting her on my lap. Chii immediately became flustered. However, that didn’t stop her from clinging to me. As much as she felt embarrassed, she was also ecstatic to be held by me.

Mhm… I should thank those two later, they opened up a convenient chance for me to flirt with my girl openly. Ignoring the eyebrows that were raised from those uninitiated by our closeness, I held the girl in my arms for as long as I could before letting her go.

If it’s only possible, I could’ve held her for the entirety of the match but… we’re already getting too much attention. Moreover, the girl wasn’t as thick-faced as me. If we continued to be in that position for too long, she’d be like a ticking time bomb about to explode in embarrassment.

“Shameless Ruu, you just made us all want to sit on your lap by doing that. What do you think will happen if we do that?”

As we watched Chii make her way back to An-rin and Kushii, Nami, who was seated at my right, teasingly whispered as her hand gradually slipped into mine, interlocking our fingers together.

“My head will be put on a pike. Probably.”

“Nice self-awareness hubby.” Haruko also joined in a whisper from behind me. Turning my head to look at them, I saw the two girls on her sides already preparing themselves to jump at the opportunity to take my lap.

There’s my silver-haired koala, Edel, whose eyes were already pleading to me, and the introverted princess, Himeko, who was alternately looking at me and her sister not far away from her. She’s probably consulting her on what to do next or she’s trying to see whether Maaya also wants to do the same.

“With us here, it’ll be a challenge for them to do that. Rather, we'll put him in a box and haul him away from here.”

Once more, someone else joined in our silly conversation. On my left, Shizu made her statement with her usual icy countenance. Her voice was even louder than those in front of us heard her.

When they tried to check, they got met by her sharp glare that made them turn their heads back to the front.

In any case, like her cousin, Shizu didn’t pass up the chance of holding my hand. In no time at all, she already locked our fingers together.

With this, the two girls took my ability to clap. But meh, it’s fine, I guess? Satsuki wasn’t going to play in the first half anyway. Might as well use this moment to bond with all of my girls.

“That’s a lot better. Just don’t roll the box like it’s a barrel. I’ll barf.”

“Who are you joking? Knowing you, Ruu, you’d rather create holes in that box and walk by yourself while dragging us with you.”

“Ah. I’m glad my Nami knows me well.” I pinched her hand before leaning to her side to drop a kiss on her cheek – sneakily, of course.

“It’s not just her numbskull. With how unbridled you are, you’ll definitely show everyone the true nature of our relationship and defend it. Alas, you’re too considerate for our situation to do that.”

Shizu then steered my head to her and this time, she didn’t miss the opportunity to catch my lips. I had no idea if someone caught that but looking at her satisfying expression was enough to sweep that thought away from my head.

It didn’t stop at that. Haruko soon followed, grabbing both of my cheeks as she added, “Oh. Shizu. Do you know? Hubby kind of did that before during my term as the SC President in our middle school. But I doubt he remembered that instance – it was when he’s just a desire-driven idiot, after all.”

Alright. I really can’t remember that instance.

As soon as the other girls heard that, they all had this twinkle in their eyes as their curiosity over what Haruko said shone brightly.

And so, in their collective voice, they pleaded, “Tell us more about that, Haruko!”

At the same time as that, the whistle for the start of the match commenced…