Stealing Spree

As we left the vicinity of their streets, Eimi still hadn’t recovered from how flustered she was. Her hand that was clasped on mine was already sweating, perhaps from her nervousness.

Either way, to make her comfortable, I had us stop in a small waiting shed where a vending machine for cold and hot drinks was located.

As we sat next to each other, only then did Eimi exhaled as she blew off the uneasy feeling she was bottling up inside her.

“Have you calmed down?” I asked. I didn’t forget to add a hint of worry in my voice.

And as a response to my question, Eimi turned her head towards me and gave me a reassuring smile before pulling me down next to her. “Uhm, I’m sorry for my embarrassing display, Ruki.”

This time, the way she uttered my name wasn’t stiff like earlier. I guess it finally sunk in with her that I had already accepted her or the fact I had already given her a succinct answer to her confession.

“How is that embarrassing? I found it lovely.”

With the neighborhood this quiet and without any unnecessary eyes to see us inside this waiting shed, I inched closer to her and put my hand over her shoulder.

As soon as I did that, Eimi got a little flustered once more as her shoulder seemingly jolted a bit from being surprised at what I did. “Eh? Lovely, you say… I got tongue-tied.”

“And that’s why I found it lovely.”

Eimi got flustered once more as she used her hand to cover her crimson face.

Thinking about our few encounters with each other, she went from the confused desk neighbor to a confused girl trying to give herself away to someone she had a crush on and to a brave girl who wanted to court someone with multiple girlfriends.

If any of her friends or even that cousin of hers found out about this, she would probably be reprimanded and would be asked to stop what she’s doing.

She could have a normal relationship with someone had she steer away from me after finding out what kind of a man I am and what kind of relationship I was having with Akane and the girls she met. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she became even more interested in me that at one point, she tried to give herself away just for that chance to become one of my girls.

I stopped her back then, however, it evolved to something else instead – she decided to court me and make me develop affection for her, the same kind of affection I have towards my girls.

And now we’re at this point wherein she succeeded in her endeavor. I had already grown fond of her, fond enough to make her my woman.

Some might think that what we experienced together was too short compared to the other girls. However, even if it was just through talking in Messenger, I got to know more about her and at the same note, she learned more things about me that reinforced what she’s feeling for me.

Some might also call her out to be an easy girl. However, this girl, her interest in me, was fostered ever since we got put in the same class and placed next to each other.

I found out from her how she actually tried to communicate with me more times than I could count. But every time, the me from back then would just ignore each and every sign she was throwing. And those signs were just her trying to befriend me.

She also told me of some other instances that I could only vaguely remember. Just like that one time wherein she forgot her textbook and I gave her mine.

Right, I gave it to her, not shared. I could only vaguely recall that this girl was frantically looking around her desk. And because the subject back then was something I found boring, I placed that book on her desk to stop her from moving about.

According to her, what happened next was that I got hit by a flying eraser because the teacher found me not listening to him.

Well, I couldn’t remember that but when she was retelling that story through a video call with me, the girl couldn’t stop giggling.

And when she noticed my slightly confused face, she apologized for laughing at it.

It’s not something worth apologizing for but seeing how she went from giggling cutely to being that embarrassed for laughing at me, I found her too adorable that time.

Unfortunately, I still couldn’t remember that time. With my desire the one driving me forward back then, such events were filtered inside my mind.

Either way, at this point, I wouldn’t push her away anymore or tell her to look for another guy for her to experience a more normal relationship with.

I ended up endearing her this much that I was already planning to add more chances for us to be together. She’s mine and I would strive to let her feel my affection for her.

“Ah. Right. I called you by your name without telling you about it beforehand or asking for your permission. I guess I have to apologize for that”

“You don’t have to… I was just surprised to hear it coming from your mouth. I actually liked it. Too much that I… somehow lost myself from the happiness.”

Even with only her eyes visible because of her hands, the extremely positive and flowery vibes coming from her could be seen from those two bright eyes of hers.

After resting for a while wherein Eimi somehow calmed down her overflowing elation from the level up in our relationship, we resumed our walk towards the station.

Just like last time, we went inside the supermarket together and walked alongside isles like a couple picking out grocery items for our home.

The employees of the supermarket who were sorting out the shelves were already used to us and most of those older than us would always have a smile on their lips upon seeing us pass by them.

As for the other customers, some would frown from envy and some would smile wishing they were also accompanied by their loved one. Either way, even though it’s Saturday, the supermarket still wasn’t that crowded so we only encountered a few of those.

After around 20 minutes, we left the supermarket together with a grocery bag in both of my hands.

Acting like a boyfriend of the girl, I naturally offered to carry what she bought. Besides, it’s not like we bought too much, both of our houses were still at most half-full of food and other necessities stocked.

One could say that this going to the supermarket was just an excuse for us to meet each other. Last week, the girl didn’t even think of going to the supermarket. I only contacted her that I would be going. That's why she also went out.

Since we still have a lot of time, we went to the nearby café to rest and had a little coffee date.

And while we’re talking about idle things that happened during the week that we haven’t met each other personally, I told her that we’re going to make this meeting between us as our official time together. Even if we’re not going to restock, we’re going to meet every weekend - here or at her house. I told her that we could also spend time at our house but with Akane and Miwa-nee there, the girl was still not ready to meet Akane again or meet the Aunt I told her about.