Stealing Spree

Sharing the same sentiment as Otoha, I caught her in my arms, carried her effortlessly and kissed her without a second thought. It has been close to two weeks so… it’s easy to imagine how much we missed each other. Even though we managed to talk to each other recently, nothing beats feeling each other’s warmth. Also, this was me acting on my words of wanting to carry and hold her again.

“Hmm? You’re not in your uniform, Otoha. Are you not going to school?”

“Not today. I don’t want to miss today. Don’t worry, I asked Aika to inform the school.” Otoha shook her head. After that, she pulled me back to the car where Hitomi was waiting.

After settling down on our seats and closing the car door, my eyes met with Hitomi’s through the rearview mirror. Noticing that, the woman holding the steering wheel thinly smiled. If someone else was looking at her, they probably fail to distinguish it from her normal straight expression but as someone used to her personality, it’s a great improvement.

“I missed you too, Hitomi. Have you been well?”

Hitomi nodded curtly as a response.

Well, with Otoha here with us, she’s restraining herself not to act out of her work mode. On the other hand, the girl next to me who saw that simple exchange flashed a meaningful yet unsatisfied smile.

A moment later, she beamed mischievously.

“Hitomi-nee, you can ask Ruki for a kiss too. You missed him too, don’t deny it.”

“… But Otoha-sama. I c-can’t lose myself to personal whims when I’m with you. I will fail as your chauffeur and bodyguard.”

She really didn’t deny it. Furthermore, she seemed a little panicky as her eyes alternated between me and Otoha.

And obviously, Otoha caught that. The girl glanced at me and stuck her tongue out before continuing. She even leaned over the front seat to effectively encourage Hitomi.

Otoha whispered in her ears. Given that she already started the car, I failed to catch what Otoha said. However, I could put out a guess after seeing how her exposed ears visibly reddened. She cajoled her chauffeur to act out what was in her mind.

Otoha returned to her seat, clasped my hand and raised her thumb.

“What are you waiting for, Hitomi-nee?”

“… If you will excuse me, Ruki-sama.” Following Otoha’s words, Hitomi twisted her body a bit to turn towards us. With her eyes fixating on my figure, I moved and met her in the middle.

“Drop the -sama, will you? Between us, there’s no such status divide. Besides, Otoha looked up to you as her older sister.” I said before my hand cupped her cheek and pressed our lips together.

Right. That’s also what Otoha hoped for. Although it should be unthinkable for someone of her status to favor a supposed servant of their family and look up to her as a close sister, it’s not impossible to happen.

Otoha was just a sweet girl. Well, I wouldn’t take credit for it but it’s probably also because of my influence. I didn’t treat Otoha according to her status before. For me, she’s just like any other girl I stole. Whether that resulted in a good or a bad thing, that’s now reflected in her relationship with Hitomi.

Moreover, as someone who accompanied her since young, Otoha naturally started seeing her as more than just a chauffeur and bodyguard.

“I… I can’t be that informal quickly. Please forgive me.” After our lips separated, Hitomi lowered her head in apology before putting her focus back in front.

“Mhm. You don’t need to ask for forgiveness. It’s fine for me. You can take it slow.” I tapped her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze before returning to Otoha’s side.

A while later, the car started moving with a clear destination in mind. During it, I talked to Otoha about the happenings in her house and what I should expect today.

Although it should be a family affair, Otoha didn’t hold back on telling me what she knew about the current situation. Because of her grandfather’s sudden collapse and hospitalization, there were those who quietly moved to try and lift up her father ‘Hiroyuki’ up to the position of the Patriarch. According to their plan, if they were successful, her grandfather would be stepping down even if he recovered and returned to full health.

And that failed, obviously.

Her father, despite his ambition to become the next head of the house, didn't want it to be handed easily by others and by taking advantage of the current situation.

In a sense, her father had the same mindset as that brother of hers, he wanted to be successful through his own efforts and prove his mettle to his own father. That way, he wouldn’t be a weak leader and lead their family to downfall.

He acted like he was open to those leeches’ suggestions but he was just testing them. Every movement they made was being sent to the hospital, informing Otoha’s grandfather.

Obviously, even Otoha was unaware of the full details of what happened next but the personnel, the people from their branch families as well as other tie-ins through marriage were reshuffled. Some were fired from their positions and some disappeared to who knows where.

Furthermore, her mother was chided for keeping Otoha locked up in their estate. If not for her father loving her mother deeply and defending her saying that she’s acting while thinking of Otoha’s future – which is false, obviously – she would probably get a harsher punishment.

Anyway, that’s all Otoha could tell me. The girl hugged my arm tightly for the most part of that ride. But that’s not entirely because of our reunion after more than a week of not feeling each other’s warmth.

She’s actually nervously holding onto me, silently praying even. And that’s so I could survive this upcoming meeting with her grandfather.

Right. It's happening today and there’s no running away from it.

I already prepared myself to meet him but I guess, I was also influenced by Otoha’s nervousness. That’s why just like her, I held onto her and we comforted each other, to ease the nerves getting to us.

Apparently, this meeting would only be a few minutes. He just wanted to see and get to know me. Or in other words, he’d probably try to judge me using a few probing questions or words.

Supposedly, he’s still finishing what he needed to finish about the internal affairs of their house. However, he especially set aside this time to meet the reason why his favorite granddaughter pleaded to him to break off the engagement set by her mother.

Ah. Right. Otoha already mentioned my existence to him. Not just once but twice.

The first instance was when he regained consciousness after the collapse and before she got grounded by her mother. And for the second instance, it’s today. Before sending the message to me, she already met him and informed him that she was going to meet me again, now that she regained her freedom to go out.

From Otoha’s words, her grandfather might be scary when serious but he’s amiable enough. Especially towards her.

Well, she’s his favorite grandchild. I should expect that he’d be more unforgiving in case I failed to meet his expectations for his granddaughter…

A few minutes later, the car slowed down to a halt before Hitomi’s voice woke us up from our nervous stupor, “We’ve arrived, Otoha-sama, Ruki-sama”