Stealing Spree

“Get out?”

With a puzzled expression. Watanabe couldn’t easily come to terms with what I suddenly asked her.

Most likely, she found this situation bizarre. She got pulled into this by Shizu and the other girls yet here I am, offering her a way out if she so wished.

But I stand with my reasoning to try this with her. Even without doing anything too flashy, I somehow got an enemy who was trying to clip my wings. Then there’s the small incident that could easily be written off as unfortunate yet they started dragging me into their trouble.

Now, even if the girls were holding Watanabe’s neck, there’s always that unexpected variable that could come and bite us from the back.

And this situation was my way of stepping up to prevent that.

“Mhm, if you’re only forced into this situation, you must have some kind of wish to escape, right? If you accept, you don’t need to answer my or the girls’ call. However, to guarantee that you’re going to keep our secret, I will be checking on you once in a while.”

That sounds too good of an offer. But instead of delight, Watanabe became more puzzled.

Am I being soft? No. Not really. It’s a common strategy when it comes to negotiation. Intimidation might be good but it could only take you somewhere.

Although I didn’t use this strategy much during my stealing days, it’s always effective when it comes to getting someone’s trust or good sentiment.

And with the new knowledge being poured into me by Mizuki, I could now use some improvement to it.

There’s a chance that if Watanabe started seeing that I was acting like her savior here, she’d be more inclined to listen to me and my reasoning. And through that, we might truly get an ally out of her.

Stealing her from Masato-senpai should be off the table for now… It’s been two months since my change and I don’t hold any ill will towards the guy, unlike Ogawa and Goto. But that doesn’t mean it’s not an option. Gonna save that as a last resort.

“T-that’s… too good to be true.” Watanabe eventually muttered an answer.

As expected, that’s how she would see that.

“Yes, it is. Besides, you always have the option to come to Masato-senpai for help. I’m certain, as your boyfriend, he won’t let you be in this kind of a mess. This is not a threat but if he also became involved… then he’ll be put in the same situation as you.”

Yeah. That’s kind of bullshit. No matter how one looks at it, it sounds like a threat.

And perhaps, that answered why she’s not answering whenever her boyfriend is being brought up.

This time as well, Watanabe didn’t reply to it. Instead, she stared at me or specifically at my face, trying to read my expression.

Eventually, her head moved rather erratically. It’s like she’s nodding her head and shaking it at the same time.

She’s really in a dilemma.

Once more, I thought of easing up the tension that was building up.

I put on a smile and acted more relaxed.

“Alright. I’ll leave you to think about this choice. You can go to me any time when you finally find your answer. One thing though, do not think of yourself as a prisoner or a slave. Rather, we can be friends. Aren’t we heading in that direction before all this?”

And that one’s a lie. She was no more than an energetic Student Council colleague for me. Among them, I only really care about Shizu.

From puzzlement, Watanabe now looked at me with slight suspicion. However, she soon dropped it as she probably reached a consensus in her mind.

After rehearsing words in her head, she leaned slightly forward and spoke in whispers.

“Onoda-kun, I understand what you’re trying to do. And if not wrong, it’s for the President again. You don’t want me to hate her, right?”

Alright. I’ll give it to her to reach that conclusion pretty easily. But thinking about it, it’s really easy to see through that if one has a calm mind.

Without waiting for me to answer her, the girl continued, “… However, part of me also wanted to do this. Be involved with you.”

Did I hear that right?

“Come again?” I somehow blurted out. Unlike last night with Fuyu, what this girl said took me by surprise.

After everything I said, she’s now saying she wanted this. What’s wrong with her head?

Fortunately, Watanabe seemed to have realized that her words could be taken differently, “Uhm. No. Let me rephrase that, I’m interested in what I discovered. I find it exciting to see President Asakura and the other girls willing to do everything for you. For someone they love. I’m a sucker for a great romance, I tell you. Your story seems out of fiction.”

This girl… she did rephrase it but that only made her more unusual. A sucker for romance… But why is she not seeing the worst part of our situation?

“Hold up. Watanabe, don’t tell me you don’t see anything wrong with our situation?”

“Do I have to? If you know you’re wrong, you yourself should’ve stopped before it gets to this point.”

Damn it. She’s right. However, at the same time, she’s not normal herself to think like this.

“Alright. I understand now. But that choice, I’ll keep that open for you.”

“Thank you, that’s reassuring, really. And Onoda-kun, I think I’m starting to see you in a different light. You’re too considerate. Are you really the guy who scared me twice?”

I guess that’s kind of default at this point. Once I interact enough with a girl, they’ll be seeing that trait so easily. It’s a different story if it’s a guy though.

“It depends on the situation. I can still be scary if you want me to.”

Upon saying that, I stood up and pulled her up from her seat. Watanabe froze instantly as soon as my hand got enclosed around her wrist. With this distance, the girl could only avert her gaze unless she wanted to stare at me in close proximity.

“… Onoda-kun. I get it. You’re scary. But another kind of scary. Can you let me go?” Watanabe eventually spoke in a pleading tone.

“Not so used to physical contact?”

“Yes. Even Ma-kun won’t hold me this close without any reason. Yet you, you’re doing it to simply scare me.”

“I see. It just means he cares for you, right?”

I let her go at this point and we both sat back down in our seats. I couldn’t care less about Masato-senpai but at least, he’s serving his usefulness by becoming a soft spot that I can poke on for more information with this girl.

“You might be right. Anyway, let’s move on. I’ll say the catch to get me to join your club.”

“Sure, I’m listening.”

“Apart from hiring me again as your Treasurer in case you win the election… I want to ask a favor for a friend.”

“What kind of favor?”

“The kind where you’re good at.”

“A fight?”

“That’s another reassuring info but no! Give my friend some motivation to strive.”

Eh? Am I hearing that right? How am I good at motivating someone? But more importantly, I didn’t expect her to bring up a friend…

Wait. Maybe it’s another reason why she’s willing to do this. For a friend.

Ugh. Now that’s something I’m aware I’m a sucker for; wonderful friendship.