Stealing Spree
chapter-1243

After tormenting her brother so much that his mind almost broke, Kazuha-nee said goodbye to me and brought him away.

Well, in hindsight, even if she poked fun or tormented Ogawa, he’s still her brother and there’s no doubt that she cared for him as one. I refused to believe that’s all there was to her act. She probed me enough to get a read of my character. Perhaps, the next time we would meet, she’d be full of surprises once more.

In any case, once they disappeared from my sight, I quickly wrote a message to Hina, Nami, Shizu and Saki, informing them of this encounter.

As they’re all acquainted or close to Kazuha-nee, I thought they’d be interested.

And sure enough, it didn’t take long for them to send each of their thoughts.

“Ruki, Kazuha-nee often doted on me. But when it comes to Kazuo, sometimes she’s very caring but oftentimes, that was how she treated him.” That’s Hina.

The girl even called me to say her thoughts. She’s probably too eager to see me but she couldn’t come up with an excuse. With my message, she finally got her reason to check on me.

Honestly, I never told them to get a proper reason if they wanted to check on me. But the girls all insisted on doing so… Of course, out of consideration once again. Even if I scold them and tell them that it’s fine, they’re all united with that decision. To top it all off, Shizu also agreed to it.

Most likely, all of them imagined that I’d be flooded with calls from them, leaving me with no time to do what I planned to do for the day.

There’s really no way around it when I only have this one body. So to compromise, I told them that apart from me initiating the calls to them at times, there would also be an allotted time for all of us to get on a mass group call. Of course, it’s fine not to join it.

Anyway, after the call from Hina which ended with me promising her that if I found another free time in the following days, I would either escort her home or visit her.

I tried to settle it on an exact date but the girl refused it, telling me that it’s fine whenever. Obviously, that’s another show of consideration from her. She didn’t want to pressure me into fulfilling the promise right away.

That girl… I would definitely spoil her when that time comes. Not just the usual spoiling but something more special. Enough for her to fall in love with me all over again.

Following that, I read Saki’s response, telling me that she also experienced being teased by Kazuha-nee before. Something along the lines of… exposing her hidden admiration towards Ogawa.

As for Nami, she told me a story of their school trip during middle school. There, Kazuha-nee joined them at the hotel they stayed at. She then messed with every girl in their room until deep in the night.

Apparently, she might look really that fine on the outside but she’s too mischievous on those she was familiar with. And the only guy she’s really fixated on teasing was… obviously, her little brother.

That’s why she was quite intrigued when she heard what Kazuha-nee tried to do with me.

But at the end of it, Nami’s message started oozing out with jealousy, demanding that I show my face to her.

And so I did what she asked. Almost instantly, her jealousy melted away as the girl acted really affectionate even if we were separated by the screen.

Knowing where I was, she even started dressing up and told me that she wanted to come and meet me here even though she was aware of my plans for today.

At first, I thought of stopping Nami. However, recalling Ayu’s latest update to me, saying she still couldn’t escape from that camp, I let go of the thought.

Anyway, Ayu’s previous coach – another Olympic-level boxer and someone who’s still active as a professional that currently holds a world title – wanted to keep her there until she leaves as well.

It's kind of frustrating for both of us. Still, I decided not to voice that out.

I mean, Ayu had already apologized to me multiple times for running late to our first date. What good would it do if I got angry? It’s not like she purposely got herself held back there.

Even Sena sent me a message, agonizing at Ayu’s situation. She’s only a trainee so she also couldn’t do anything there but watch.

There’s the option to come there and pick her up. But it might also make the woman feel even more depressed.

Due to that, I could only continue waiting for her. There’s still plenty of time, anyway.

And so, Nami’s plan to come and meet me here became possible. The girl even said that it was fine to leave her if my date for today arrived…

What should I do with my girls, really? Should I scold her for thinking like that? But then again, that’s just her trying to ease my mind… It’s all up to me how to deal with the situation.

It’s not like Ayu would teleport right away after she left that camp, it’s still possible to escort Nami to her station or a bus stop when I received Ayu’s message.

With that, I quickly calmed myself down and went on to the next message.

Shizu’s response was short, consisting of a rather playful response as well as a reminder, “Blockhead, are you bragging? I’ll have you know, Kazuha-nee is not that simple. Be careful of her.”

“This girl… how did you take that as bragging? Anyway, do you know something that the other three don't?” I quickly replied to Shizu as I started moving outside of the mall.

Since Nami would come, I thought of picking her up from the bus stop. That way, we’d get extra few minutes to be together.

A minute later, Shizu replied, “Yeah, I do. Every guy that got close to Kazuha-nee all cried rivers of blood. She’s too difficult to handle. If you ever get involved with her, you better prepare yourself or you'll be overwhelmed.”

For Shizu, the scary Student Council President, to say this, Kazuha-nee must have been truly extraordinary. In any case, it’s not like I have a plan to get involved with her further than what happened today.

The chance of encountering her was low. There’s no strong urge for me to steal her and I also arrived at the conclusion that she’s someone hard to figure out.

“That’s interesting, to say the least. She also mentioned how her boyfriends cannot last more than a month with her.”

“Un. That’s how it is. If Kazuo is a dense idiot while selling himself as the Mr. Nice Guy, Kazuha-nee is the opposite. In terms of shamelessness, she’s probably close to your level.”

Really? Shamelessness is now the gauge? But thinking about it, that’s also what she said earlier. I’m as shameless as her so we don’t fit each other.

Well, it could just be lip service for Ogawa’s mental health but there’s no guarantee that everything coming out of her mouth was the truth…

As I exited the mall, I resorted to calling her instead of typing my response. The sky was so bright that it was hard to see the text on the screen. Besides, I also wanted to see the girl the same as the other three.

When the girl picked it up, my lips formed a huge grin as I said, “I understand. Thank you, Shizu… So, when will our date be?”

Shizu’s bright yellow eyes narrowed as she facepalmed. But a moment later, her lips arced into a pleasant smile, “That switch in topic is flawless, you blockhead.”

“Of course. Kazuha-nee is one thing but she’s not as important as you.”

“Oh, really? Why don’t you come here and let me cut that tongue of yours?”

“Anything but that. My tongue has a lot of uses, you know? How can I talk to you or even taste you down there if you cut it off?”

Switching to a shameless smirk, I peered over at the girl whose face had started to turn red from embarrassment.

However, the same as the other instances, she simply faked a cough, calming herself down before responding, “Next time, I’ll bite that off.”

“Hmm? Too bad, next time won’t be in your mouth.” My response was swift, resulting in another streak of red decorating Shizu’s face.

“Jeez, when it comes to shamelessness, there’s no winning against you. Alright, let’s get back on track, blockhead. Let me finish the upcoming paperwork from the events that will happen first. Take me out to relax after that.”

“What about helping you with your work?”

“You now have your own work… I can do this, blockhead. On the other hand, establish yourself firmly in every student’s mind. I’ll have you know. You’re still going to succeed me regardless of the result of that bet.”

Ah. Right. Too bad. The convenient role of being her personal assistant was no more. In any case, this was fine too. She’s now very efficient in her work. And these days, she’s more distracted whenever I was next to her. Yesterday was an example.

“I understand, commander.” Easing up my cheeks, I comically saluted her in response.

Upon seeing that, the girl failed to contain it anymore as she started laughing, enough for her to hold her stomach.

I followed up with another comical act before laughing together with the girl.

Well, it’s unplanned but seeing her enjoying herself also brightened up my mood further.

A while later, while wiping the bit of tears from incessant laughter, Shizu tried to compose herself again. But capitalizing on that, I continued teasing the girl.

Spending the next few minutes doing nothing but teasing the girl, Shizu was left with no choice but to end the call to escape from me. Right after that, she sent her last message for the day.

“Blockhead. Stop walking under the sun. Get to a shade soon. I won’t say I love you… Take care there. See you soon.”

Yeah. She didn’t say it, she typed those words. Anyway, look at how lovely she is… I admit I don’t mind being defeated by that.