Stealing Spree

Upon returning home, Aoi and Ria, who were busily studying together, stood up and welcomed us back.

Following that, Aoi put on a frown that’s obviously an act went to my side and complained, “Darling, I can’t understand Ria’s explanation, help me~”

And that’s complete with her round eyes blinking, imitating those cutesy characters. Whatever she was trying to do, it didn’t fit her character.

I mean, look at her body, her posture, her face and the way she dressed herself. More than a cutesy act, she’d be more believable if she came off strong like a delinquent, with both of her hands pocketed in her coat or soft jacket. Well, at the moment, she’s wearing a sleeveless blouse, the type that should be worn during summer. I could faintly see the trace of her brassiere wrapped around her perky chest. Her lush hail freely flowed behind her with her fringes were stylized which accentuated her natural beauty.

I guess I could give her a pass for being cute.

But that’s not the point at the moment, right?

“Don’t believe her, Dumb-senpai she’s the one teaching me instead!” Ria quickly refuted Aoi’s claim. She stomped her cute little feet to reach me as she pulled me away from Aoi.

Now here’s the real cutie that didn’t need any acting. Ria puffed her cheeks as she pointed accusingly at Aoi. But because of the short distance, her finger poked Aoi’s nose. That broke her act and quickly chomped on Ria’s cute finger.

“Alright, you two… How do I determine who’s telling the truth?” Obviously, I already know who but I still played along with them. Seeing all these, Shio walked to the kitchen to drink water while Eimi silently watched it with a forced smile on her lips.

As for Akane, she went to the table to pick up the notebooks the two girls were using. “Uh. Husband, here.”

Handing those to me, Akane wryly smiled while her eyes focused on Aoi in an obvious surprise.

“So, Aoi. Do you still have the next part for your act?” I said as I pushed her notebook that contained written explanations on how to answer the problem that Ria had been stuck on.

Hearing that, Ria’s cute tongue peeked out, annoying Aoi.

The unruly girl clicked her tongue before dropping the whole act. She grabbed my face and kissed me once before approaching Ria. She grabbed onto the girl’s twintails that quietly rested on her shoulders before putting on a sinister smile. Well, not entirely sinister as Ria didn’t even flinch at that, she stuck her tongue out even further, childishly mocking the Aoi using a subject that should normally not be used for it, “You can’t fool Dumb-senpai with your cutesy act, Aoi. Just live on being the rough girl who secretly wanted to be pampered by him every day. Wait. That's not a secret, is it? You know, you can gain more points if you help him study instead.”

“B-but I’m lazy!” Aoi looked at me with puppy eyes as she declared that.

So, her underlying problem was being lazy, not studying or understanding itself. Because she’s always unruly, she’s like the girl who’s living at her own pace. Well, at least until she fell in love with me. Now, she just wanted more of my attention while ignoring everything else.

“Is that so? Then I’ll take that role from you. Let’s go, Dumb-senpai.”

“W-wait! Don’t forget me, darling.”

Ria started pulling me with her to the table where they were studying but Aoi quickly caught my other arm and stopped our advance.

“Honestly, I’m speechless at this…” I broke my silence and turned my head to the girl that remained behind me, “Let’s go. Eimi too. Forget you see and hear anything from them. They’re just having fun.”

“Eh? What does that mean?”

“Darling, are you embarrassed by us?”

And because of my words, Ria and Aoi both looked at me, seemingly about to cry.

“No… I just told you, I’m speechless on how to interpret the little catfight you just did. And you really surprised me, Aoi… I’ll be asking for your help on topics I didn’t completely understand.”

Well, I could write an essay about my observation on that but… it didn’t need any interpretation at all. It’s just another way for the two to appeal to me. After days of not seeing each other, their longing for me was surely overflowing right now. Hence, this slight overreaction from the two.

All I had to do now was to take it all in and respond to them in a way that they would feel that I wasn’t neglecting them at all.

A while later, after calming down and preparing everything we needed, we started our review for tonight.

With Shio supervising us and bringing forth her commanding side, none of us tried anything funny and just focused on what we were doing.

Of course, the photo evidence that there’s really a review session was already taken well before I joined them.

And since our numbers swelled to six, instead of our bedroom, we just continued on the coffee table that I placed earlier before picking up Eimi. Using the futons that were normally used to decorate the sofa, our butts were saved from being sore.

To not disturb us, Miwa-nee and Minoru already went upstairs. There’s a small TV in their room so she’s going to use that to put the boy to sleep.

While Akane, Ria, Eimi and I didn’t have any complaints about reviewing for tomorrow’s exams, Aoi who was naturally lazy and just forced to agree to it started sulking again.

Her lips were pouted as she only kept drawing circles on her notebook even when Shio already scolded her twice… “Darling, you’re not a man of your word. You said we’re doing it in the bedroom.”

“Aoi. Aren’t you going to help Ruru? Why don’t you stop sulking and just get to that? Or if you want, you can wait in the bedroom instead. They’re serious about wanting to review.” Shio scolded her once more and even gave her an option on what to do.

“I… Shiori-nee, look. How can I do that when he’s surrounded by them.” Aoi pointed at my sides.

Well, that’s true.

Because around five minutes into this session, Ria raised her head to peek at what I was doing. And upon seeing how I was having trouble with math, she raised herself for the situation. She called out to me and said, “Dumb-senpai, do you need help in math? I’ve read in advance and studied some high school stuff in my free time.”

And that was proven true. Surely, reading in her free time came about from her trait of being an observant. She probably picked up a book and read it from cover to cover. Although that trait of hers could lead her to always be somewhat lost at times, it also allowed her to easily focus on something. Even understanding the hidden meanings was something she could easily pick up. That’s why it’s no wonder that she could also read my character.

If Hifumi or Rae met and spent time with her, they would surely get along well when it comes to studying. Well, it’s possible for Rae and they already met before but for Hifumi… I could only meet that girl in chance encounters at their school.

Anyway, Aoi was different. Based on the laziness that she showed, she’s clearly inherently intelligent herself. She just wanted more motivation to work for something. But because she was slow on the uptake when we started our review, Ria beat her to the punch.

Furthermore, Eimi, who was initially just comparing answers with me, joined in trying to absorb Ria’s solutions and explanations. And that now leads to our current situation.

As I was still not finished with math, Aoi couldn’t do anything but wait. Akane also occasionally joins but she’s mostly only asking for clarifications. Obviously, she’s also sneakily trying to score points from me by putting herself behind me and leaning forward whenever she’s seeking answers. That allowed me to feel her still developing bump of softness… That’s still a heavenly experience for me even though I was already experiencing every part of hers every day.

“Well then, Aoi can you help me in Social Studies?” I coughed once and the three girls surrounding me instantly understood what I wanted to do. They all smiled before slowly inching away.

I then stood up and brought my cushion next to the sulking girl, joining her on this side of the table.

With her eyes widening in surprise, a beautiful smile then bloomed on her lips as enthusiasm filled her whole person. “Leave it to me, darling!”

The three girls smilingly then commented on what they were witnessing.

“So simple~”

“To think that she has this side…”

“Aoi-san is surprisingly… adorable.”