Stealing Spree

Gathering most of them in one place, I naturally expected that something might go wrong. And I was always ready to respond to it if ever.

However, until the end, apart from that game which resulted from how they tried to boast how much I love each of them, everything went well even when I left the house for a few hours.

When I walked with the girls who would ride the train, it’s noticeable that even if they’re from different schools, the girls were now past the acquaintance stage. They’re now peers who were aware of each other.

Although their personalities might not click, that wasn’t a ground for someone to be on bad terms with the other. In fact, those with totally different personalities gather together.

There’s Satsuki for example, apart from Aika who was conversing with her quite naturally, there’s also the chaotic Elizabeth asking for details how I stole her before telling her story in a cryptic way that Satsuki’s eyebrows furrowed to the point that her eyes began searching for me to ask for my assistance in translating it.

There’s also Rae being interested in Miho’s piano and composing skills as well as Yua’s singing voice.

And watching all of it from behind them truly delivered a warm feeling in my heart. Furthermore, because most of them had their own topics to discuss, only a few remained at my side.

Hiyori and Miyako.

The former was silently making herself comfortable with my arm slung over her shoulder and the latter was clasping my hand tightly without saying anything else.

After seeing them off until their trains left the platform, I hurriedly returned to the house to pick up Nami and the others.

As we walked a slightly longer distance to the bus station, Shizu and Saki took each of my sides.

And seeing how Nami and Hina were not competing for it, they surely talked about it while I was outside.

“Shizu, what do you think? You’ve seen most of them.”

If she’s still on the fence about our relationship after being exposed by Ria earlier then that just meant she’s too stubborn to accept it. The bottom line is... the consensus we created was no more than a thin line that we could cross anytime. We’re in love with each other and that’s the truth.

“What do I think? All of them are stupid... And that includes me.” Shizu sighed and gradually slowed down in her steps.

Given that I was watching her closely from the corner of my eye, I immediately noticed her action. Before she could lag behind us, I reached for her hand and pulled her to my side.

With a complicated expression on her face, Shizu tried her hardest not to show it to me. Alas, that’s impossible.

“If you’re stupid then that also applied to me, no? I was just supposed to let you accept me for Nami. But here we are now, I got drawn in by you the same way that you got drawn in by me.” Pausing my steps here, I stepped forward and stood in front of her.

Not waiting for her to react, I already lowered my head, my lips overlapping with hers. Instead of more words, communicating with her through intimate actions was better to convey my feelings for her.

There were no ifs or buts anymore, I love her enough that I even agreed to that consensus which was nothing short of cheating like Mizuki stated.

Now that it was unmasked by Ria, I already dropped that notion and decided to either make it or break it with her.

If she continued being stubborn then I would let her delude herself to it. The fact still remains that we’re already past that line.

“I love you, Shizu.” I sweetly whispered while maintaining eye contact with her after I let go of her lips.

“... Say that again when they’re not looking at us.” Shizu pointed behind me. Nami, Hina and Saki surely noticed that we stopped walking.

I was aware that this might possibly invoke feelings of jealousy in them. And I’m more than prepared to give them the same treatment once we’re done here.

However, after everything that happened today, their understanding of our situation had definitely gone up.

They would show jealousness but not in a tasteless way of demanding it as soon as possible. Most likely, they’re already thinking about how they could show it naturally without leaving a bad taste in our mouths.

At least, that’s how much I understood my girls. I could be wrong though and I am open to being corrected by them given the chance.

“Hmm... Tomorrow then. I’ll continue saying it until you give in.” I answered as I went back to her side and resumed our walk until we reached the three.

Nami had a meaningful smile on her lips while Hina had her brows slightly furrowed. That girl’s thought was leaking out and it’s not her being upset, she’s contemplating on her next move.

As for Saki, as usual, she’s silent. That’s why as soon as I returned next to her, I also clasped her hand and pulled her to my side.

“Are you not afraid that I will take a step back?” Shizu threw another hypothetical question.

“Of course, I am. But you see, it’s still your choice in the end. What I’m doing is expressing my feelings for you.”

Truthfully, I’m perpetually afraid that they, not only Shizu, will take a step back on our relationship.

But that’s just me. It’s a constant fear that I have to live with because I will always respect their choice.

What about my choice? I don’t think I still have the luxury to impose that. I am the core of our complicated relationship.

Take this as an example; if in the future two of them chose to leave and I stopped one of them because I chose to do so, that would definitely break the balance we created.

In any case, I will always show them how much I love to be with them... That will serve as a reminder that it is my choice, the never-changing choice of mine. The moment I took them in and I made them mine, that would always be my choice.

I don’t think I will fall out of love even if they betrayed me in the end. I will be hurt but I will continue loving them and respect their choice. But that’s the end of it. Sure, I will still love them but there’s no going back for us. I will rather devote myself to those who stayed than cling to those who left. I’m sure all of them understand the nature of our relationship.

A few minutes later, we soon reached the bus stop. Going by the scheduled time, we’re five minutes early for the next bus to arrive so instead of standing, we all sat down at the benches prepared for passengers.

And fortunately, no other passengers were waiting aside from us.

With Saki and Shizu still by my side, we continued our conversation to kill time.

“Saki, have you gotten over the fact that the scary Shizu-senpai is one of my girls as well?” Opening a question to the silent girl at my side, it perked the interest of the other three.

If I remember correctly, Hina stared at me in disbelief when I told her about it. It was totally unbelievable because of that incident when Nami introduced me to their circle.

“Uhm... Honestly, it’s still a shock even if I already heard it from you earlier. I thought I was seeing Shizu-senpai’s impostor back when we arrived.” Saki answered while looking at Shizu with a wry smile on her lips.

“Blame this shameless guy who can’t get his hands tied.” Shizu aggressively poked my cheeks as a show of her frustration. “But Saki, stop with your inferiority complex, alright? Ruki will not bring you here if he’s not serious about you. He’s shameless this way.”

“... Inferiority complex? I... I think I am only looking objectively in reality. I’m never as good as any of you.”

“There you go again. Among the four of us, you’re the only one who already did it with him.” Nami chimed in, reminding her of what happened last Friday. And hearing that voice, it was laden with her jealousy over that fact. It was even supported by the fact that after saying that, Nami’s eyes rested on me.

Although Hina and Shizu were already aware of that, bringing it up to the table gathered reactions from them. Hina bit her lips in slight frustration, perhaps remembering our time in the infirmary while Shizu switched from poking my cheek to pinching my side while her eyes intensely glared at me, her show of jealousy.

“I... I-I’m so—”

As soon as I got the gist of what she would say, I instantly moved and covered her mouth with my hand. “Do I need to seal your lips with mine? You’re not being convicted of a crime. Nami is reminding you that you’re never lower than them. Or at least this is how I interpreted it, am I right?”

I turned my head and met Nami’s gaze. Even if that’s probably only a part of the reason why she brought that up, the girl understood my intention.

“Un. That’s right. How long have we been friends? Aren’t we a circle? There’s no higher or lower between us.” Nami had Saki look at her before saying all that. “Ruu, you’re sitting with us on the bus, alright?”

“Understood ma’am.” To lighten the mood, I comically stood up and saluted her.

“Totally an idiot.” And upon seeing that, Nami and Shizu said in chorus as they shook their heads from seeing that display.

And on the side, Hina’s laugh rang out while Saki who was confused gradually got influenced by it.

A few moments after that, the bus stop became filled with our lighthearted laughter, dispelling whatever gloomy mood that was trying to form.