Stealing Spree

Being it an exam day, the usual bright atmosphere of the school turned a little heavy. Although some hadn’t changed from their everyday countenance, a lot of the students were walking in heavy steps as though they were dreading the moment of arriving at their classroom.

As for me, with everything that happened, I was the same as ever. Suzuki already updated me about Mizuki’s condition so that lifted a heavy weight on my mind.

When I passed by the front gate where Eguchi-sensei was guarding, I sent a smile to our PE Teacher before greeting her good morning.

“Oh? You seem confident, Onoda-kun.”

“Confident not to fail, I guess. Anyway, you’re looking good today, sensei.” I answered her remark before complimenting her look today.

Well, unlike most days wherein her eyes were looking it was perpetually slanted to give her a sharper look, Eguchi-sensei of today has a relaxed expression.

And when my words of compliment reached her ears, she even blushed a bit before quickly recollecting herself as though what I witnessed was a mere illusion.

However, judging by the other students that were going in at the same time as me, they all somehow paused and stared at Eguchi-sensei as though they saw something unbelievable.

“What are you brats looking at?! Go ahead to your classrooms!” Noticing those gazes, she quickly switched back to her usual self, even raising the stick she always had on her hand that was mostly used on latecomers.

That’s super effective.

Their mesmerized state quickly wore off as they picked up their pace. They even looked like they were racing each other on who could leave the scary PE Teacher’s eyesight.

“And you, Onoda-kun. What are you still standing there for?”

“Nothing, sensei. Just admiring something, I guess?” I answered while letting the smile rest on my face.

Eguchi-sensei’s face twitched a little upon hearing that. “Oh. So, just because I’m good to you, you now think you can joke like that to me?”

Raising her stick up, Eguchi-sensei then bent it as though she was about to break it…

And seeing that, I couldn’t help but gulp down. How strong was she, really? That stick… it’s thick enough that not everyone could bend it like that.

“Of course not, sensei. I’ll be going ahead.” I acted scared and dashed off towards the school building.

From behind, I heard her stifled laughter before saying, “Come and visit my office later, Onoda-kun.”

Huh? Visit her office? What would that be about?

I looked back to check if she was going to add a detail to it but the PE Teacher already returned to observing and scolding the arriving students.

When I arrived at our classroom, the atmosphere was the same as outside. Some of them were already cramming for the exam which made it easy for me to check on my girls without gathering any attention.

In any case, being seen with them was close to being a regular sight thanks to the three days of review sessions as well as regularly taking our lunch inside the classroom.

Once I sat down and after greeting my adorable girl, Wakaba and Kashiwagi dropped what they were doing and crowded around Aya, engaging her in a lively conversation. The two then started shooting furtive glances at me as though they were trying to gauge my reaction.

Since they specifically came after I settled down, it’s probably another one of their ploys to push Aya closer to me, still fully ignorant of our real relationship. They didn’t know that I was using them instead to get Aya to interact with other people. If they eventually became friends out of this then all the better.

Although they tried to be discreet about it, I gradually got pulled into their conversation or rather, Aya eventually pulled on my sleeve to join in.

Seeing that, our two classmates playing cupids for us both looked satisfied as they watched the two of us interact intimately.

“Heh. Onoda-kun. You’re a bold guy, aren’t you? Holding Aya-chan’s hand in the open.” Wakaba pointed out.

It’s a deliberate move from me, of course. It resulted from me trying to open Aya’s closed palm. Once I was successful on that, I acted focused on the conversation as our hands gradually overlapped.

And well, with their attention focused on our hands, it’s quite easy to read their faces, rejoicing at every progress we made. In any case, as long as Aya was happy with it, I’ll continue playing along with them.

“Am I? Well, is it bad to hold her hand? If yes, then I apologize.” I acted like I was about to pull it away but Aya’s fingers clasped tightly preventing me from doing that.

When they saw that, their eyes brightened as though they just witnessed an amazing scene.

“Oh! I guess our job here is done.” Wakaba stood up straight and posed like an anime character who’s trying to act cool after a job well done.

Kashiwagi then eyed me and silently mouthed, “Remember my reminder, Onoda-kun.”

Once they returned to their seats, Aya’s lovely giggles filled my ears, her eyes focused on our clasped hands. Even though our relationship already progressed a lot further than this, having this kind of moment would still undoubtedly bring joy to the girl. And I love every moment of that.

A while later, the trio of Nami, Hina and Saki arrived. With their eyes quickly focused on me, my feet naturally brought me to their vicinity. Although I only planned to greet them good morning, the three girls thought of a way to keep me close. And that eventually led to a lengthy conversation with all three trying to employ various ways to stick close to me.

No matter how one looked at it, they’re flirting with me. However, my closeness with them wasn't a new topic anymore. And that resulted in most of us classmates who didn’t have anything to do with us ignoring it and doing whatever they were doing.

Obviously, I could feel stabbing gazes from the boys. It’s like they’re hoping to trade places with me. None approached us though.

Without club activities for today and tomorrow, those who were from the sports clubs arrived at our classroom a little early. And that included Satsuki. But as always, she’s still like a thorny flower that none dared to approach.

Except me, of course. Although it’s slow, I was aiming to change our classmates’ perception of her as the unapproachable scary girl by holding conversations with her even if what’s usually coming out of her mouth were curses or insults.

And while we were at that, at one point, she noticed Sakuma watching us conversing like normal. The girl’s eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

“What are you looking at, idiot? Do you have something to say to me?”

She still hadn’t changed on that point, huh? I remembered advising her about being nice to the guy so that her guilt would lessen but I guess that needs time.

“N-nothing. Jeez, why are you in a bad mood, again? Has Onoda not sent you a goodnight email?” Taken aback at the sudden attention dropped on him, Sakuma almost stuttered. Well, in most of our classmates’ eyes, this was like a usual occurrence for the two so no one really paid attention to it anymore.

“What ‘again’? I’m always like this. Have you gone senile? And what are you talking about? Ruki, can you hit him for me?”

“This girl… Am I your proxy now?”

“Yes, you are. Have you forgotten your advice?”

So, this is how she’s going to use that advice… I shook my head inwardly and turned to Sakuma, pitying the guy a bit.

“Sorry man. Brace yourself. But whatever, this won’t hurt. Also, for your information, I never missed on that” I winked at Satsuki which made the girl glare at me before putting on a sinister smile, making the guy gulp his saliva down.

A while later, Sakuma was down on his seat. Grumbling nonstop. I didn’t hit him, of course. It’s just playful banter.

Besides, Satsuki was never serious about hitting him. It’s just a result of her inherent bad temper when it comes to Sakuma. Sucks to be him, I guess?

Anyway, when Chii arrived, I also didn’t miss greeting her. This time, I was the one who went to her seat, ignoring Fukuda and his followers that tried to provoke me into something.

As for Kanzaki, well, the girl couldn’t look at me straight. But that’s normal. After what happened yesterday, she’d need time to sort out her head.

Just like this, our morning free time soon reached its end. The bell rang and Shio arrived, instructing us to move to the Gymnasium for the assembly where the acting Principal would probably give some motivational speech before the exam.

“Oh. Right. Onoda-kun. You’re to go to the Student Council. You’re now part of it, aren’t you? Go and look for President Asakura.” Shio added, resulting in gasps from those unaware. With that, my admittance to the Student Council became official to the students’ knowledge.