Stealing Spree

Thanks to Hana’s persuasive abilities, her aunt lent us her ear for the next few minutes without interrupting us. Although I wouldn’t claim that we told her every detail about ourselves, we provided her with a version of our story that highlighted the positive aspects of our relationship. It’s like we pruned the tree that I grew and only left behind one branch which was my time with her.

For example, instead of claiming that I was driven by my desire to steal her when I first approached her, I omitted it and only told her aunt how I first approached Hana by slipping letters in her bag. Hana then made it sound romantic as if I’d written a love letter professing my admiration for her. She might be great at expressing herself properly in front of her relatives – considering she also often wore a mask in front of them – but at this juncture, she profusely blushed while leaning closer to me like a girl deeply in love.

From that opening alone, I noticed her aunt reacting quite positively. Her hard stance earlier softened up and her gaze turned a little gentler than before. The pressure was abated and despite still being wary of me for her niece’s well-being, she kept her silence until we finished.

However, as we continued with narrating our story, Hana’s aunt would stare at her niece occasionally, her eyes filled with wonder. Befuddled even.

Like I previously pointed out, Hana used to or was still putting on her angelic mask in front of her relatives. Hence, listening to this fairy-tale-like love story that briefly ended because of our separation, a different version of Hana unraveled before her eyes.

Who would’ve thought, right? Being mature for her age, Hana is forced to cover up her real feelings by being this mature girl who pleases everyone with her bedazzling smile. She’s kind of perfect in their eyes and has never been swayed to do anything wrong.

But today, her aunt found out that her niece was just like any other girl… Her eyes trembled and became watery in an instant as she pulled Hana into her embrace…

“Hana… I apologize on behalf of everyone…No one noticed and everyone expected you to be the obedient girl who will never do wrong. It must’ve been hard holding it in, right? Being separated from him for years, you’ve done your best to endure it.”

In between those words, Hana’s aunt started sobbing as she hugged the girl tightly. Hana glanced at me with an awkward smile as she also didn’t expect her aunt to act like this…

Well, it’s also outside my expectations that it would be this effective. As it turns out, she’s this softhearted. And she cared a lot for her niece.

Hana had no choice but to return that embrace and tried to calm her aunt down.

“Aunt, you don’t have to apologize to me. I have also committed a mistake for keeping this from you and my parents. And for you to find out about Ruki in this way… our story won’t discount what we did wrong here.”

“Uh-uh… It’s fine. I understand now why you did not introduce him to me right away. You’re afraid that I will be against you two, am I right? Well, let me tell you right now. I’m not… You also deserve someone who can wait for you like this…” She continued sniffling as she delivered all those with emotion.

And when they separated, Hana’s aunt looked at me with renewed light. She was about to grab me by my shoulders but then suddenly stopped as if she remembered something.

Her brows slanted and clashed once again as she put her hands on her hips, scolding me.

“... Ah. But kisses are still too early! And the way you put Hana on your lap, that’s too… obscene! You two should practice not to be overly intimate or you’ll get tired of each other right away!”

“I… I’ll take that advice. Thank you, Ma’am.”

At this point, it’s pretty much over. What I thought to be a hurdle had been taken care of like this.

On the side, I saw Hana amusedly watching this at the side as a triumphant smile once again peeked from her lips.

I guess in her eyes, this can also be considered a win, huh? I mean, we’ve just introduced ourselves to her close relative as a couple… Even though she would still attempt to get another win from me, she wouldn’t mind taking this one as a trophy.

“Drop the ma’am, you can call me Aunt too. I…admire your dedication to each other. Do not ever let it fade out…”

“We will not. I assure you, Aunt…” I confidently smiled which finally earned me an encouraging tap on my shoulders from the woman.

Following this, Hana’s aunt stood up fixing herself and wiping the tears that stained her eyes. She still looked like a stressed office lady but relief had washed her expression anew.

Of course, we couldn’t continue what we were doing anymore with her Aunt’s presence here. And so, for the next few minutes, while we finally got her approval and she promised not to tell Hana’s parents yet, she laid out some rules for us.

And the most notable of all was… she wanted to be informed about my visits. It would probably be a way for her to monitor us. Because she’s a busy person, she couldn’t always check on Hana.

It just so happened that when she went out to throw away her full garbage bag outside, she spotted us coming out of that convenience store.

Her house was only a few blocks away from it.

It made me realize that we were lucky back during our first visit. Her timing didn’t coincide when Chii and Hifumi were with us.

After another round of assuring her that we’d follow her guidelines, the conversation shifted to how our day went. Eventually, they shared the snack I bought for Hana and it became pretty comfortable that we ended up watching a variety show on the TV – ironically, it was the show Yue often appeared as a guest.

Hana hadn’t met her yet, however, she probably already heard about her from Akane and the others. She pinched me on my side when she caught me too focused on the girl as Yue performed her song again, wowing the live audience there and Hana’s aunt.

Yep. She’s a fan.

“Well then, see you tomorrow. Have a good night, Hana. And Aunt Tomori, thank you for your understanding once more. Next time, I’ll make sure to bring a gift.”

“Uh. Don’t bother. You’ll be visiting Hana. Not me. I don’t live here but if your visit coincides with one of my off days, I’ll have Hana bring you to my house and treat you two for lunch.”

“Aunt… I have a request,” Hana came to her side and raised her hand. Understanding what she wanted to say, I found myself feeling pleased with her initiative.

Finally, huh?

“Hmm?”

“Teach me how to cook… And… how to do my chores.”

“Oh? Sure, no problem! You want to impress him, huh?”

“Yeah. He was worried when he found out that I was terrible at household chores and cooking. That’s also the reason for his visit. To check on my living situation. Maybe if we hadn’t eaten dinner with the others outside, he’d be cooking for me.”

‘“I see. I see! How wonderful. Onoda-kun, you don’t have to worry anymore. I’ll whip her up to shape. Soon, you’ll be eating her handmade lunchboxes.”

Also pleased with her niece’s motivation to make a change, Hana’s aunt enthusiastically declared.

“Mhm. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

After saying my farewells again and sneaking another kiss to Hana when her aunt wasn’t looking, I went on my way to go home.

We successfully averted the crisis. Not only that, we seemed to get a powerful supporter. But how long will it last, I wonder? Well, it’s too early to think about that. For now… I’m satisfied with my progress with Hana.