Stealing Spree

Although my coming in late somehow turned into a comical relief for all of us, only Ishida-senpai remained scowling at me. Obviously, she’s not amused by my act.

Perhaps if only the two of us were present here, I would be reprimanded more.

In any case, because of my oblivious act, the scowling senior eventually gave up after staring at me for a good while. Whatever she was thinking when she was doing that, I had no idea.

She did release a helpless sigh though. And seeing that, I felt slightly bad.

She’s not expecting an apology. That’s for sure. That’s why I got stumped on what I can do to brighten up her mood.

Coming to my rescue was the trio on the other side of the table. Kana, Rae and Otsuka-senpai paused on what they were doing as they all whispered among each other.

Once they were done, I felt Otsuka-senpai’s sock-covered toes touching my leg. She’s the one sitting across from me, after all. They opted to give their help stealthily.

When I looked down, there was a slip of paper tucked between her big toe and the one next to it. It’s slightly loose since she still had her white sock on. Reaching down to it, I held her foot in place, letting it rest on my thigh before I pried the paper out.

Perhaps she’s sensitive about that part of her body. I noticed Otsuka-senpai holding back her moan while Kana and Rae looked at her weirdly.

And seeing that, I quickly released her foot before Ishida-senpai noticed the irregularity.

I opened that slip of paper and what was written in it in their handwriting were suggestions on how I could improve Ishida-senpai’s move.

I sent them a look of gratitude before trying what they listed one by one.

The result?

Everything failed.

Instead of improving her mood, Ishida-senpai’s forehead creased while both of her pretty eyebrows furrowed.

“I see. Then let’s do this in another place.” She scanned the room. Probably noticing the three girls looking at us with sour expressions as though they’ve eaten spoiled milk, Ishida-senpai stood up and declared. “Is it fine to borrow this idiot? We’ll be at the library to finish the activity.”

Upon hearing that, the three, starting from Kana, nodded their heads in turn. Since it’s close to two months since the club meetups started, even Rae was already aware of how much Ishida-senpai cares for the club.

It was on the top of her priority list. So even if they’re aware that Ishida-senpai had started to show interest in me, they’re quite confident that we’d be doing club activities first before anything else.

Uh… I have a different opinion. However, looking at their encouraging smiles, wishing me to work well with Ishida-senpai, I set that difference in opinion aside and followed the girl out of our clubroom and into the quiet School Library.

“Alright, Onoda-kun, you’re going to write while I dictate,” Ishida-senpai ordered as she handed me her favorite fountain pen. She moved her chair closer to me, making her hair dangle slightly on my shoulder. I could smell the refreshing fragrance of her hair as well as the cool breath whenever she breathes or speaks.

It's been twenty minutes since we arrived at the library and found a corner to sit on.

Although there were a few students, mostly 3rd years, I failed to see one raising an eyebrow at our arrival. They’re all minding their businesses or rather, they’re too busy studying or reading what they had on their table and hands.

But within that twenty minutes, Ishida-senpai and I discussed the topic for our collaborative piece silently. With my head lacking the necessary resources to match her knowledge, we ended up agreeing to just write it according to Ishida-senpai’s taste or chosen topic.

To let me earn experience points, having me write everything was what we decided.

“Fire away, senpai,” I answered, my hand gripping the pen tightly, ready to write on the blank piece of paper.

For the first five minutes, I wrote what she dictated word for word. But once I got a grasp on the topic she was trying to discuss, I asked her if I could add my own musings.

When she heard that, Ishida-senpai readily accepted, her lips stretching into a delighted smile.

Little by little, Ishida-senpai drew ever closer to the point that she had to rest one of her arms on my chair’s backrest. I noticed it when I straightened my hunched back, resting it for a while.

Although she instinctively pulled her hand away, the girl stealthy put it back. And when I resumed writing, she moved it to my back.

Well, I could call her out on that but looking at how our piece gradually came out nicely, I let Ishida-senpai’s hand and our imminent closeness carry on.

Ten minutes later, I put down the pen and straightened my back again before turning my head to the girl.

“Did I do well, senpai?” I asked, not mentioning that her hand already moved from the upper part of my back to the lower part. She’s also gripping my side lightly, preventing her hand from sliding down.

Faced with my enthusiastic question, Ishida-senpai fumbled an answer. “Y-you did.”

She looked rather restless and nervous that I could somehow feel her racing heartbeat.

That indicated that after we’re finished doing what we had to do, she’s now fully aware of what transpired. No. Of how she took advantage of our situation.

I used the ‘oblivious card’ again and exclaimed, “Great!”

However, that was met with shushing sounds coming from the other residents of the library.

I scratched my head and stuck my tongue out before silently whispering, ‘I’m sorry’.

Obviously, none of them heard it but Ishida-senpai at my side began giggling.

And that was met by another shushing sound, making the girl embarrassed.

At this point, I organized the three pieces of paper filled with my handwriting and Ishida-senpai’s corrections on some parts before stretching my arms up.

Ishida-senpai raised her head and watched as my arm fell down on her shoulder.

While my fingers slowly tightened on her shoulder before sliding down to her back and eventually resting on her waist, I faced Ishida-senpai and smirked… “Is it fine to copy you, senpai?”

“Y-you…” Understanding the situation, the girl hurriedly pulled her arm back but when she did, I used my free arm to grab it.

“We finished the activity. And we still have a bit of free time. What does senpai want to do?”

“… Are you teasing me? Also, we’re only halfway done.”

“We’re finished for today, am I right? You said you’re going to check and edit it. And no, I’m not teasing you. I’m just returning what I received.”

Although she looked aggrieved at my answer, Ishida-senpai eventually lowered her head, her face turning red.

I thought of teasing her more but it was at this point that someone arrived near our table, interrupting us.

“Ishida-san? You’re red. Are you okay?” Because our hands were hidden by the table, the guy who I couldn’t recognize failed to see our connection.

Although we were still close to each other, with Ishida-senpai lowering her head, it looked like there was a distance between us. The guy only gave me a passing glance as though I’m irrelevant as he worriedly peered at Ishida-senpai’s state.

No. She’s not sick, she’s just embarrassed and perhaps, flustered. I was tempted to answer that but… since he was not even looking at me, I left it to the girl…

Will he be able to notice us or not?