Stealing Spree

The bell for the end of the third period rang and after finalizing everything we discussed in that room, the three of us left. I escorted Nao back to her classroom, ignoring the curiosity from the other students as well as dodging the group of Eguchi-sensei and the Principal somewhere on the same floor.

Right. They still hadn't finished with their inspection. And from what I saw from afar, Kanno-sensei had already given up looking for me and rejoined their group.

I had no idea what kind of excuse Eguchi-sensei used to stop them from questioning my whereabouts. I sure am very grateful for her though. I accomplished my task and even got that time with Nao. Later, I'll make sure to repay that to her. Whether it be doting on her or it's the opposite, I'll let her do it along with my own conceived way to thank her in our private moment.

That aside, I could say that the only thing left for me to do was to find Kazehito and Saionji's homeroom teacher. To confirm their states. No matter how believable Saionji or Kanno-sensei's words and attitude are, there's nothing wrong with still going and confirming certain things.

Although I won't say that I am a firm believer of 'there are always two sides to the same story' considering I have stolen girls without hearing about the situation on their partner's side, this is a job that needs confirmed facts rather than a one-sided story.

As for the information about the girl peeking at us earlier from behind that tree, neither Nao nor Saionji could put a name to her description that I pulled from the memory of that brief encounter.

If she doesn't appear for a second time before Eguchi-sensei and I leave the school premises, I'll give up and put the slight interest I have concerning her to the back of my mind.

Walking back to the stairway area after making sure that Nao wouldn't be in trouble for skipping, I caught up with Saionji who, no matter how I looked at it, slowed down her pace.

Even after several minutes, she had just reached the staircase area or she clearly waited until I showed up from the corner before moving. Who knows what's going on in her head?

I picked the right moment to sidle up next to her right before she took the first step down. And sure enough, the girl's only reaction upon seeing me was an almost inaudible tongue-clicking followed by a forced sigh.

"You know, senpai. It doesn't matter if you keep on being yourself around me. But please remember what we talked about inside that room. Learn to be a little flexible next time. You know, to prevent the same thing from happening. It's just sad if someone will trick you again after finding out that flaw in your current mindset."

Without mincing on my words or overthinking what I want to say, I fired it up as we started descending.

Upon hearing that, Saionji sneered and for the nth time within this past hour, she once again decided not to simply concede and take my kind reminder.

Uh. I don't know if that's considered kind… but like I said, we also tackled the girl's behavior before leaving the room.

"Trick me? Flaw? Excuse me, junior! I'm not inflexible. What happened there was…" She paused for a moment there and turned her head to me, perhaps to nail it in my head better, "… I couldn't stand conceding when I saw your conceited smirk."

Well, that's also what we picked up after dissecting the events that led to it. Because I intentionally tried to match up to her egocentrism by acting that conceited, she just doubled down and everything snowballed to the point that even when given the choice to step back, Saionji pushed forward.

As for why she allowed her first kiss to be stolen by me, Nao raised a valid point apart from the girl not having drawn her limits. It's either Saionji was affected by what she was watching or her thoughts just froze at that point.

The girl herself refused to discuss that though. That's why only Saionji knows the real reason.

"Oh. So, you're saying I'm special?"

"When did I say that?! Again, stop bringing it up… And I'll remember. Of course, I will."

Taking this moment to tease her again, the girl expectedly delivered a wonderful response. That last bit was almost inaudible though. Furthermore, she unconsciously touched her lips.

For sure, she's remembering the experience.

After that, I stopped pushing it and conceded. As long as she followed our words, that would be one less thing to worry about.

"Azusa, where did you go?" Upon reaching their classroom, her group of friends; two girls and two boys, ran to the door to receive her.

Obviously, they also found me. The girl who raised that question even stared at me as if she already found the answer. As for the other three, well, one guy reacted the same as that girl while the other two both looked at me with slight suspicion and hostility.

When I thought about the assumption I raised about her friends, I was probably wrong.

They really appeared worried about her skipping or they're just that great at acting.

Not that I care about their reaction.

In any case, since I still have something to do, I decided to step away without leaving a word.

Saionji noticed me, of course. But even before she could say something, my feet already brought me away from their classroom.

I still heard her friends' voices questioning Saionji about my identity though. And the girl's response to that was a simple one, "Him? Don't bother. He's just a cheeky underclassman I ran into."

In a way, that sums up our encounter.

With a clear destination, I quickly made my way to observe Saionji's homeroom teacher.

There's nothing much to pick up, of course. But at least, he didn't appear to be problematic. In fact, he even carried himself like a pushover. Hunched back, drooped shoulders, and thick-rimmed glasses.

If anything, he just appeared a little handsome in the photo attached to the file that Hayashi-sensei handed to me.

Unfortunately, because the 4th period began, talking to him was impossible.

I just put a note about my observation of him as well as a bit of what I heard from Saionji. Hayashi-sensei could deal with him, I guess?

My time was limited and there was no other avenue to take regarding that man.

After deciding that, I soon made my way out of the School Building to check on Kazehito at the infirmary.

Yeah. He was apparently sent to that place during the third period because he looked pale again. Nao tried asking for him in his class before I dropped her off at their classroom.

Now that Kanno-sensei was still occupied with following Eguchi-sensei and the Principal, it was my chance to talk to him even for a brief moment. To find out if there's really something going on between them.

If my guess is right, Kanno-sensei will probably run to the infirmary to check on him as soon as they finish with that inspection. Rather than get caught lying if Kanno-sensei informs the guy about meeting 'his junior', I'll just continue that act to approach him.

As I walked outside the school building and passed by the tree where I saw the girl earlier, I paused in my steps to wait if the girl would show up again.

Unfortunately, even after a minute, no one popped out from behind that tree.

A little anticlimactic but I guess that's it for that girl, whoever she is…

Or so I thought.

"Excuse me… I know this is a little rude to ask but… Have we met?"

Damn it! Instead of showing up from that tree, she popped out from behind me and immediately start with that question.

But that's also what I want to ask, have we met? Because even after seeing her up close, I couldn't remember her.

Strange.