Stealing Spree

Inside the classroom was the same as usual. As it was still the morning before the start of classes, our classmates were either grouped up, talking about a show or something else within their interest, or by their lonesome, doing nothing else, reading a book or notes from the past lessons. It's rowdy but that's something every student would get used to eventually.

With my popularity already set in stone, the attention I was gathering inside the classroom should've already subsided by now. However, because of Hana's appearance and the events that transpired for the past two days, it got renewed as if every time I appeared in front of them, their eyes would curiously follow me. And it's because they're hoping for something new to happen.

It goes without saying that they find the happenings around me to be more interesting than anything. And with most of the girls caught up with varying degrees of interest in me, there will probably be no end to this invisible spotlight hanging above my head.

Am I enjoying that? Certainly not. But there's no escape from it. That's why the only thing left to do was to become unbothered by it and continue acting as I have before.

Anyway, after returning the greetings of those who greeted me as I made my way to my seat, my attention naturally focused on my girls.

There's Aya and Satsuki at my side and the trio of Hina, Saki, and Nami just a few seats away.

And since she's just next to Nami thanks to the swapping, Hana also entered my vision even if I didn't mean to.

The girl provocatively smiled as if she was once again trying on another attempt to steal me. But almost instantly, she stopped and switched back to her angelic smile that was more like a lethal weapon to those who were only seeing that part of her.

Most likely, she remembered her request and how she could take advantage of that. Or if not that, the kiss we shared before we left last night still lingered in her mind and it was enough to make her like this.

Somehow, I couldn't help but find that funny and adorable of her.

After exchanging greetings with the girls along with undeniable affection from their actions, my eyes searched for Chii at the back of the classroom.

I didn't need to look so hard. As soon as my head turned, she instantly appeared within the center of my vision. Unlike before when she still tried to keep up appearances as a certified gyaru, Chii disregarded all that as her whole person bloomed beautifully like a sunflower basked in the warm sunlight. Despite initially being locked in a conversation with her gyaru friends, she quickly excused herself and ran to me, throwing her arms from behind and locking my head in her embrace.

That, along with her affectionate expression as well as the pleasant smile on her lips wouldn't be able to fool anyone about how lovestruck she is.

For our other classmates, Chii doing that might not be seen as something new. She's a lively girl on top of being a gyaru, after all. However, to those in the know, she's a lot different from how she normally behaved.

I even heard An-rin and Kushii whistling from the back followed by Fukuda's disgruntled voice followed by his loud exit by kicking his desk as if announcing that he was not happy at the sight.

Who cares about him anyway?

When my girls noticed how different she was acting today, they all stared at me suspiciously instead of asking the girl.

Well, while they're aware that we went to Hana's house last night, they're unaware of what exactly transpired after dinner.

Among the five, Satsuki's sharp gaze along with her normally disinterested expression as well as Nami's amused smirk were the ones that stood out the most.

I mean, Aya easily slipped out of that state and she happily cheered for Chii. As for Hina and Saki, the former meaningfully smiled followed by a wink while the latter knowingly shrugged as if she already guessed the reason for Chii's change.

And as someone who witnessed what happened, I found Hana breaking her angelic smile again as she faked a cough before commenting, drawing the attention of almost everyone.

"My, is that the result of deepening your bond with him last night, Chizuru? I expected no less."

As soon as that dropped, Chii's face immediately turned crimson. Her arms tightened and she instantly used my neck to bury her face within.

Yep. She didn't even attempt to deny it. And with that kind of reaction, it's like a placard that says 'guilty' popped up in her head, gathering different responses from everyone, not just my girls but also those who had nothing better to do but look at us.

Well, I also didn't want to deny it. And double down on that, I reached for the back of her head, caressing her hair which gradually comforted her. When she lifted her head to look at me, I took that chance to kiss her.

"First, there's the transfer student. Then Andou-san. And now, Harada-san… What the hell, Onoda-kun? That's illegal! How can you?! Don't get me started on how you're also close to your seatmates!"

Somewhere around the classroom, I heard someone reacting like that.

Whoever that was, he's irrelevant. But then, I couldn't blame him for that reaction. Most likely, that's also what everyone felt at the moment as silence instantly reigned in our classroom.

By the time our lips separated and Chii happily trotted back to her seat where An-rin and Kushii started teasing her, I found Wakaba and Kashiwagi, the Aya advocators, frowning at me. Perhaps they're feeling bad for Aya.

Kanzaki, Shimura, and Misumi also reacted from where they were seated. Their expressions differed from one another but there's one thing similar about them, they're all touching their lips as if wondering how a kiss would feel.

Well, our dear class president already experienced it, albeit so swiftly that it probably couldn't be considered a kiss but an accidental touch of our lips. Hence, the reason why she's also doing that.

When I met their gaze, there was no change in my expression. For Aya's helpers, I simply went and showed them that even after showing that, Aya remained special to me by pulling the girl close. For the other three, I put on a meaningful smile. It's up to them how they would interpret that.

And what about the others? Well, I couldn't be bothered with them that much, especially the boys who had no idea if they were going to be jealous or mad at me.

I mean, if the girls weren't even condemning me, what right do they have?

I very much welcome them to try though. To see who will have the balls.

Well, one particular guy spoke up after a while. As someone seated behind me and considered himself a friend of mine, Sakuma couldn't keep it to himself.

He grabbed my shoulder and said, "Dude… Seriously?"

His voice was low as if he didn't want to make it a big deal. But considering his eyes were on Satsuki as if he was weighing in her reaction to what just happened, there was only one reason he spoke up.

"What? I told you already. Don't always act so surprised. Alright, you can criticize me but that won't change the fact that my relationship with Satsuki remained the same."

That's all I replied to him. And the same as what I showed to Wakaba and Kashiwagi, I reached for Satsuki, pulling her close to me.

Although a little grumpy, Satsuki never offered resistance. However, when she was close enough to whisper to my ear, her apathetic voice carried a hint of jealousy, "Good for you, huh? Kissing in public isn't fazing you anymore. Why don't you go kiss Aya and the other two as well while you're at it? No one's going to stop you."

Well, now that she mentioned it… Since I already did it with Nami, Chii, and even Hana, what's stopping me from also doing it for them and turning this into another memorable event that would surely be the talk of the school for days to come?