Stealing Spree

“Won’t this be bad for you, pulling me by my hand and all?” As we ascended the stairs, Ishida-senpai’s concerned question reached my ears.

Stopping for a bit to glance at her, I became witness to how she quickly averted her gaze before saying in a hurried tone, “Forget I asked that.”

“Is that so?” I smirked and thought of teasing her further but with footsteps approaching us, I held back and continued in our steps.

Ishida-senpai’s hand was cold and sweaty. Possibly because she’s nervous or this was literally the first time someone dragged her by hand.

I doubt that Goto even got to this point. He’s too horny for his own good. And from what I heard from the girl herself, she was not in the right mental state when she followed that guy to that love hotel. Even if I didn’t see her there, she claimed that she was still going to back away in the end.

Well, that’s already in the past. I never even brought it up again when she confessed about it the day after it happened.

In a way, that event was what truly put her in my eyes.

“Remember, I’m your senior!” Perhaps in a bid to save face, Ishida-senpai uttered that when she somewhat recovered.

Nonetheless, I simply sent her an approving nod as I continued pulling her up with me.

Naturally, running into other students was unavoidable. We’re not the only ones in this school, after all. Every time that would happen, Ishida-senpai would reflexively cover her face as though she didn’t want those students to recognize her.

Surprisingly, she’s shy or embarrassed. But those students recognized me instead. And upon seeing me leading a girl by the hand, they all stopped and wondered. Only after passing by them did they manage a response. At that point, we already disappeared from their sight.

Less than five minutes later, we reached the fourth floor. The Student Council was to the left so… I turned and took the right. Passing by a number of empty clubrooms, Ishida-senpai more or less calmed down already.

When I checked on her, her eyes were also exploring the area. From the curiosity written on her face, this was probably her first time coming here even if this was her third year in this school.

“What do you think, senpai? You can now take your pick.” Upon reaching the end of this hallway, I turned around and faced Ishida-senpai again.

Keeping my hold on her hand, I tugged at it lightly, pulling her close to me.

Perhaps she hadn’t noticed or she just didn’t want to think about it, the girl let herself be pulled and stopped at a fair distance.

Focusing her gaze on me, Ishida-senpai answered, “Why should I? Aren’t you the one in charge of it? I’m only advising you.”

“Oh. Right. I forgot.” I scratched my head and acted a little comically, earning a soft laugh from the girl.

But when she noticed what she did, Ishida-senpai faked a cough and put on a serious expression.

“Be serious, shameless junior!”

“I’m serious, senpai. Do you think I’m playing this time? Well then, let me change my words, do you want to check these rooms with me?” Putting on a smirk at the end, Ishida-senpai reacted with another soft laugh that she instantly covered by another fake cough.

As her brows curved upward, Ishida-senpai eyed me suspiciously, “Tell me, you’re not thinking about something perverted, are you?”

This…

No matter how perverted I am… I never thought of that. Not yet, at least. I mean, she’s still not my girl and… holding her hand was something I just thought of doing as an answer to her silent question of whether I would court her or not. Not that, I would start right away.

Anyway, as it was a great chance to tease her, I stepped forward and held her hand up before answering, “Not at the moment, senpai. But now that you mention it— hup!”

Before I could finish my words, her hand found its way to cover my mouth. While donning a flustered expression, Ishida-senpai crisply whispered, “Say another word and I’m going to pluck your tongue out.”

Alright, that's a little tempting to see. How will she attempt to pluck it out? Is she going to use her own tongue? Uh. Not that I think about it, I haven’t kissed her yet… Not that I’m planning to do so soon…

At the moment, Ishida-senpai’s eyes slanted upwards as she fully focused on me. Her glare was approaching the level of Satsuki’s. But as someone who had already gotten used to that, I didn’t find her intimidating. In fact, with her neck upwards as red as an apple, she looked more charming like this.

Looking down at her lips that she’s currently biting to give herself a rather intimidating expression, I found myself becoming tempted to bite into those lips rather than be intimidated.

Really, I doubt I’d be scared of her. Unless she really got mad at me, mad enough to curse at me, I would always find her tame.

Uh. Who’s the guy who said she’s ordinary at best? There’s no mirror around. Too bad.

Anyway, I guess this was the case of a girl’s beauty becoming enhanced in the eyes of those who like them. In this brief interaction with her, I was already fully drawn to her.

Wait. This isn’t the time to be like this.

Since I’m just trying to tease her, I played along by shaking my head in defeat.

And with that, she removed her hand from my mouth and stepped away. She then turned around and distanced herself from me, pulling her hand out of my grasp.

Approaching her from behind, I held myself back from hugging her. I stood next to her and said, “You know, senpai. You’re the one who brought it up. I’m serious when I asked you to take a walk with me and scout out a place for our club’s Cultural Festival booth.”

“Ugh. So, I’m the pervert here?”

“Not really, I guess you’re just cautious? I’m a known and shamelessly proud pervert, after all. That reaction was just normal.

“Idiot. Stop bragging about that. Hurry and pick a room already. Someone might see us here.”

“Sure. What about we start here?” Turning to the side, I reached for the door and slid it open. It’s a little dusty but the room was empty.

Stepping inside it, apart from noticing that the room was empty, my eyes were drawn to the window where I could see a part of the school grounds. Although it’s faced to the side, I could fully capture the library and the theater house where Misaki’s club was located.

A few seconds later, Ishida-senpai stepped in and joined me by staring down at the school grounds and the few students walking about.

“What are you looking at?” She asked, intrigued.

“Nothing in particular, I just thought having a corner room like this could give us more leeway for that plan. We can open this window and let the air in.”

“What for? You have props for that effect.”

“True but we’re short on budget, senpai. Am I right? We can’t be extravagant.”

“So, you read up about our actual budget, huh?”

“Of course, I still have your notebook. I’m learning a lot from it. Anyway, senpai. Looks like we don’t need to look any further… There’s an adjacent room.” Switching the topic, we turned around and faced the door at the other end of the room.

It doesn’t matter if it’s locked or not. Although a little shameless and an abuse of power, I could ask Shizu for the key if ever it is. What’s the connection for if I won’t use it at times like this? Besides, she’d probably be interested in what we’re planning to do.

“You’re right. This place will do… Instead of building something on the ground, this is more ideal…” Ishida-senpai agreed as she slipped back to her Club President mode and began listing the good points of this room in reference to the plan.

Watching her become that enthusiastic, I simply listened and agreed with her.

Once she was done, Ishida-senpai proudly tapped my shoulder while radiating a very satisfied vibe.

“Alright. Then we’re done here, senpai. I’m gonna ask Shizu err… the President if we could use this.”

I somehow slipped on that. I had no idea if she already linked me to Shizu but at least, she’s still mostly unaware of my relationships.

However, my worry was unfounded. Ishida-senpai surprisingly focused on another point.

The girl slowly turned to me and muttered in a low, doubtful voice “… We’re done?”

Understanding what she meant, I simply nodded. “Yes, senpai. We found our objective on going out. It’s time to return, right?”

“Or do you want to stay for a bit? There’s no chair though…” Before she could answer me, I added.

Upon hearing that, Ishida-senpai understood that I perfectly read what she was keeping in her mind. Shock filled her face as she took a step backward. She’s about to turn around and run away. But before she could even take her first step out of the room, I reached for her hand again.

Following that, I stepped forward and closed the door that she already opened before hugging her from behind without a second thought.

Unlike the last time when she was the one who ran after me, our position was now reversed.

Really. This girl was too honest at times but more often, she’s like this. Refusing to say what’s on her mind directly.

This is why I found her a little easy to tease. She’s always leaving herself vulnerable.

“Idiot. Don’t put words in my mouth.” After a long while, that’s all she could say. Nonetheless, feeling my arms wrapped around her, the girl leaned back to my chest, putting half of her weight on me.

Even if she’s not being vocal about it, Ishida-senpai likes it.

“I’m not doing that, you know. I’m asking you if you want to. You should’ve answered with yes or no. Instead, you tried to run away.” I shook my head slightly and gently turned her head to face me. “Does senpai not want to stay here with me?”