Stealing Spree

Looking at the time, it’s already close to 8 o’clock in the evening. An hour later, this shopping mall and most shops outside it would close down.

For someone like that to come out at this hour and put on a very obvious disguise, I could only call her as stupid.

Anyway, that’s not my problem. I got curious because of that absurd disguise but I wasn’t here to ogle at someone like her.

A few seconds was the limit of my attention span before my eyes lingered off the girl. Continuing my original plan, I approached the empty benches and sat down to take a rest while I started organizing everything I bought.

I had my list but I failed to check out the shops so that I could make an optimal route that would save me a lot of time.

In any case, since I was already here, there’s no point mulling over that oversight. I should just look for a storage locker after I rest and continue buying more gifts that I hadn’t found yet.

A few minutes later, I finished with what I was doing. The bags slung on my arm had been reduced to two large bags. I carefully organized everything in it. The heavy ones beneath and the lighter ones on top.

Well, most of the gifts were handful-sized so both of the bags were only half-filled.

After making sure that I didn’t leave anything out, I stood up and prepared to look for the storage locker in this mall.

Or so, I planned to.

“Uhm… Excuse me?”

As if waiting at the exact moment that I finished with what I’m doing, a soft and almost whispering voice reached my ears from the side. If not for the sudden silence of the place, I would probably not hear it or even think that it’s intended for me.

I followed the source of the voice and found out that there was now another person sitting on the neighboring bench.

Well, it’s not that I failed to notice my surroundings, the distance between the two benches was quite significant. That’s why it’s kind of surprising for someone to call out to me considering the distance and the voice was even hushed as if the person was afraid to be recognized through it.

Honestly, I thought of ignoring it and continuing on my way but upon seeing who it was that called out to me, I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

It’s that badly disguised girl. Just looking at her outfit, even though the night and the place should still be cold, I felt like my sweat might leak out of my skin from any moment from how hot it appeared.

Why was she sitting there and why was she calling out to me? That’s a mystery that I wasn’t really inclined to find out.

However, my gut feeling was kicking me into action.

Succumbing to that urge, I shrugged my shoulders and slightly turned to her. Following that, I pointed a finger to my face, wordlessly inquiring if she was really calling out to me. There’s still that huge-ass sunglasses covering her eyes so I had no idea if she was looking at me or somebody else near us.

“Yes…”

Again, her voice was too soft. I had to strain my ears to hear that short reply. Fortunately, she already removed her face mask, allowing me to see how her mouth moved slightly.

Nonetheless, after saying that, her lips puckered as though she’s used her whole courage to say or do that.

Well, since I already responded to her, I decided to spare a few minutes of my time and walked towards her. This way, I could hear her properly, whatever she’s going to say.

“Do you need something from me?” I acted rather amiably compared to how I originally was towards strangers or people I didn’t want to associate with.

The girl slowly raised her head before lightly tapping the seat next to her. A clear gesture for me to sit down.

With her pair of sunglasses preventing me from seeing her eyes and her bonnet covering most of her hair, I still couldn’t figure out what was the deal with her.

In any case, I gave up and sat down like she wanted. Before she could open her mouth again, I beat her to it and said something that made the girl flinch from her seat.

“This may sound rude but… whatever it is you need from me please be quick. I lack the time to waste here.”

“S-sorry for taking your time.” Her response to it came quickly along with bowing her head in my direction. “I just…”

With her voice becoming clear by each word that she uttered, my head somehow tingled from how familiar it sounded.

It can’t be, right? Wait, this absurd disguise and her almost inaudible voice prevent someone from recognizing it… If she’s not a celebrity then she could only be a criminal who didn’t want to show anyone her face before committing a crime.

Obviously, the latter was unlikely as for the former, I would really be an idiot if I failed to relate a face to that voice…

My eyes lightly shook as I quickly focused my whole attention on her face or more specifically, on the exposed lower half of her face. Following that, my eyes traveled down to her hands. Seeing how she’s about to grab onto the lower hem of the thick coat that almost covered her from top to bottom, the puzzle was more or less solved. The last thing I had to do was to confirm it.

But should I really go on and confirm it? Or should I escape right away? It’s just recently that I decided not to approach her…

Haa… What’s wrong with this day? The first half was filled with moments I would surely carve into my memories but the latter half… there’s the thing with Coach Ayu and now this…

This girl… Why did she show up here and why did she approach me? Shouldn’t she be one of those girls who decided to move on?

No… If that answer made her become the headline of many news and articles as well as the primary topic of conversation on the internet for a few days now, then she’s different from those who chose to walk away from me…

“Wait.” I put a hand in front of her, cutting off what she’s going to say. I first put down the bags carefully on my side before inching closer to her. “You. What are you thinking about showing up here in a poor disguise? Didn’t your manager not tell you to lay low?”

“W-what… What are you saying? I don’t understand.”

“Yue… If you think I forgot about you then that’s where you’re wrong.”

Right after I uttered that name, the girl’s mouth closed shut. And as if frozen in fear, her whole body began shaking.

And that’s the confirmation I needed. This girl is the currently popular singer, Mabushisa Asahi. Or in other words, the girl I once stole, Sakurai Yue.

“You’re a celebrity now. I’m sure I’m not the reason why you’re in this place. But you called out to me… Why?” I continued in an interrogating tone which made the girl flinch once more.

She deliberately called out to me instead of just letting this chance encounter pass us by.

I probably already know the right answer but I still want to hear it directly from her…