Stealing Spree

Confronting him wouldn’t do any good. Besides, he’s beyond their school gate. His hair was a bit disheveled and his eyes appeared sunken. He probably woke up early just to be on the lookout there.

Perhaps, he already ran out of articles to write so his interest returned to the popular 1st years.

Just how industrious is their Newspaper Club? I haven’t even heard if our school has one, much less a weekly newspaper. Here, their members were risking it all to get something to write about…

If I think about it, their school was more laidback than our school which is affiliated to other ‘numbered’ high schools across the country. Even though ours was supposed to be the same private-owned school, it’s closer to the model of public high schools. Moreover, there were also other inclusions. For example, the added 7th period on the curriculum as well as the compulsory club admission. Whereas, Akane’s school gave more freedom to their students.

Ignoring the grinning idiot, I quickly turned around and walked away from there. I took to the side to avoid running into those students rushing about. I’m against the current here, after all.

In the future, I better be more careful if I sneak into their school. I just got reminded that Fuyu wasn’t the only one I had to watch out for.

That guy was even more dangerous if someone else was seen with me. They could easily endanger my girls with one write-up and a well-taken photo.

I had to start being vigilant of the other students as well. Sooner or later, they would be able to notice the irregularities. There’s only so much a simple disguise could do. No other choice but to limit the times I would enter or even send the other girls up to the school gates.

Because of what happened, I met up with Ririka a distance away from their school and somewhere the students would seldom pass. I told her the reason and apologized.

Naturally, I got scolded for apologizing.

“You made the right call. It’s not something you should apologize about. While this is different than when you started avoiding me back then… I feel like this is so like you to come up with your own conclusion.” Ririka was clearly upset yet she remained next to me, her head pressed on my chest while she drew circles on it with her index finger.

There’s no other place to go where we could have privacy this early in the morning so we settled on an old park or rather on one of the benches located on it. Behind us wouldn’t be called a forest but shrubbery. In front, is the actual playground but it’s currently empty.

We’d be hard to see from the street but if we did something excessive then… the risk was too high so we once again had no choice but to settle with this.

I thought of bringing Ririka to the condominium unit but the girl settled here. It’s a bit far away after all. According to her, spending time like this was already enough for her.

Too bad though, I made her upset for expressly apologizing.

“… But I had to cancel visiting your clubroom. You want to show me something there, right?”

“Even so, I already said not to apologize. But you’re too stubborn.” Ririka raised her gaze and narrowed her eyes. Although she’s supposed to look intimidating, I found her more adorable than that. By narrowing her eyes, she appeared more like someone with poor eyesight who forgot to bring her glasses but was still trying her best to see my face clearly.

And due to that, my undeniable desire for her kicked in. My head lowered in a heartbeat, taking her lips and her tongue in a passionate kiss.

The girl was surely surprised but eventually succumbed to it. Her arms locked behind me as she grasped my hair. With the days that we hadn’t seen each other, no matter how upset she was, her longing for me also prevailed.

“I was excited about what you’re going to show me, honestly. That’s why… I couldn’t help but apologize for canceling it.”

“Forget it, Ruki. We all know the consequences if everything gets exposed. Like I said, this is so you…Uhm… even though there’s no instance of you apologizing, the way you expressed yourself back then was close to this. Trying to make up with plans that you scrapped at the last minute.”

“For example, remember that one time you told me you’re going to come and see me at a small convention? But you canceled at the last minute. A day after that, you kept me by your side all day… Pampering me in your own way. Usually, you’ll only call me to satisfy your desire… but that day was a little unforgettable. You accommodated me even if I acted a little selfish by putting you up for cosplay.” Ririka narrated a part of our past. She went from being upset to someone really happy from recalling a moment we shared.

As she kept narrating what else happened that day, the memory that was probably shelved at some corner of my mind was pulled out.

That day, she’s going to attend a small cosplay convention… Being who I was back then, I thought of satisfying my desire with her boyfriend closed around.

Unfortunately, even though I kept myself fit and healthy, I got hit by a rare cold which left me bedridden for most part of the day… Uh. That time, it was Akane who nursed me back to health. That silly girl found me collapsed at the front door. Before I left to meet Ririka.

… Now that I remember, I also owe Akane for that. The girl also didn’t leave my side back then… However, when I opened my eyes again, there was only a note left behind saying that she returned to their house next door.

I took that for granted and didn’t even express my gratitude to him. No… I never thought of thanking her at all. I remembered that I was even annoyed by her meddling…

Haa… I was too horrible back then.

And the morning after that day, I went to look for Ririka and kept her by my side all day long. And what happened was just as she said…

“Ah… I remember. I still have our photos from that day, wanna see it?” Ririka excitedly opened her bag to look for it. She always kept those valuable to her close by. Even though they’re not something she needed.

However, halfway through rummaging her things, Ririka’s face fell, “Uhm… I also have to apologize, Ruki. I gave a copy of that to Akane. That day, after we separated. I ran into her and asked me if she could have your photo.”

“This girl… After telling me not to apologize, you’re going to do this?” I sighed and caressed her cheeks before pulling her closer than before. “If it’s just a photo, then it’s fine… I still owe her for that day. And you too.”

There were a lot of wrongs that I did in the past and no matter how much I changed today, those things couldn’t be just written off as the ‘past’. Correcting those would also be in bad taste. After all, it already happened.

We just have to write a new chapter for our story… Something that would make those memories another part we could look at and refer to.

A while later, after showing me the photos again – of me cosplaying an anime character – Ririka, whose passion for it was close to how Hiyori loved her idols, went on happily as she recalled the times when I was with her, partly satisfying my desire and partly helping her in my own way.

The rest of our time today was spent like that. Naturally, she prevented me from walking her to their school gates.

Well, even though she said that, I made sure to look after her from a distance.

Only when she disappeared from my sight did my feet bring me back to the train station.

While I didn’t expect to meet somebody else, I guess the saying ‘expect the unexpected’ should be applied here.

Someone blocked my way to the ticket gate. No, she saw me right from the entrance and waited right there.

Shigeno Hifumi. Still in her usual low twin braids and black-rimmed glasses had her arms crossed in front of her, hugging her thick books.

“Fancy meeting you here, Ruki. Or should I say, what a coincidence?”