Stealing Spree
chapter-198

"Mori. It's nice seeing you today."

Using my hand that was just holding Nami's hand a few seconds ago, I waved at her and ushered her to sit beside me.

"Ugh… We're not that close, Onoda."

Though she's still kind of avoiding me, she didn't reject it as she took the seat next to me, leaving Ogawa standing alone.

"I know but we're classmates. It's rare seeing one during weekends."

Err... But it's not that rare for me. I kept seeing them during weekends, especially Satsuki.

"So, are you happy about seeing me?"

Mori whispered. Maybe afraid that Ogawa would hear it.

This is new. For her to ask that, my postponing of stealing her is working quite well. Now that I look at her again, it seemed like some weight she was carrying has been lifted. She's more blooming than before when she kept on chasing after Ogawa's shadow. Did she finally give up?

"I am. You look beautiful today, Mori."

I whispered back to her, even if she's not looking, I was staring at her closely. So when that smile that she immediately retracted, I confirmed that it's really working. She's now becoming conscious of me.

Compared to Ogawa who only sees her as his childhood friend. I told her what I was really feeling, even if she turned me down, I still showed how I cared for her back then when she was left standing to wait for Ogawa.

"Idiot. I'm not beautiful."

That's the only response she managed to come up with before making herself comfortable at her seat. Well, since it has just started working, I decided not to push it further. I smiled and also did the same.

"Kazuo, why are you here?"

Nami asked Ogawa who was silently looking at her. It's not that noticeable but her voice was trembling slightly. She's not as good as me at acting. During that time when we had to act, she was truly carried away by our situation. With me expressing my true feelings for her and her also drawing from her feelings for me.

However, the situation here was different. She needed to act carefully to not let him be too suspicious, she's having a hard time.

"I went to your house and Auntie said you came here to watch."

After saying that, his eyes turned to me.

Looks like something changed inside him. Did he reach his breaking point? Will he confront us instead of waiting like he always does?

"I invited her to watch Maemura's game."

He heard my answer but there's no reaction from him. He still silently stared at me as if he's trying to determine if there was any hidden meaning in my words.

Ah. Even if he stared at me for days, he wouldn't find anything. He should really just confront us while he still can.

I looked at Nami beside me who's still silently trembling and didn't know what to do.

Has she shown this kind of weakness before? She was a bit ruthless to cook up a plan to push Ogawa into panic just to confess to her. She even showed me her affection in the classroom with Ogawa at her back.

I guess there's still a lingering feeling inside her who still carried that soft spot towards him. Lying to him face to face was eating on her.

Since he's not answering, I stopped paying attention to him and completely turned to Nami.

"Are you cold, Nami? Do you want me to buy something? There's still 10 minutes before the 2nd half."

This is for her to escape this difficult situation. I'm a bit pissed at this situation but it's just a matter of time before I can remove Ogawa completely.

"A bit. I'll come with you, let's buy drinks for everyone."

She understood why I did that. I was saving her from this situation. That guy only answered her first question and never again. Whatever was in his mind, I'd rather not see Nami being put in this situation.

Well, I would also be able to talk to her better if we left for a while.

I stood up and held my hand out for Nami to take. Everything was happening in front of him but he still hadn't uttered anything.

Did the cat get his tongue?

In any case, Nami took my hand. Ogawa was temporarily cast off from her mind when I talked to her. Let him see the difference between us. Maybe he was really pushed to this point due to his piling suspicion but if he wouldn't say anything, what's the point?

"Wait. I'll come with her to buy it."

When we passed by him, with my hand still on hers, Ogawa stopped us by blocking our way. Though he's looking at me, his eyes were focused on Nami behind me.

"Hmm? No. I think it's much better for us to buy it, Ogawa. Nami, is that fine?"

If I let her go alone with him, Nami was still not ready. She needed to think about what to do and she had to do that without Ogawa's presence.

"Alright. I'll be here with Mori. And Sakuma-kun's with us anyway. Black coffee for me."

At least she's still thinking clearly and she could pick up my intentions. I smiled at her and nodded. She returned it by flashing a smile at me.

"What about you, Mori? Sakuma?"

"Juice."

"Anything."

Without consulting Ogawa, everything was already decided.

I don't know. He's too indecisive to change and speak up. If I recall correctly, he's always like this just that his silence right now contained some sort of coldness. He's clearly aware of what's happening between Nami and me but he's probably too scared to ask. Such an indecisive bastard, eh?

In any case. He's already too late.

"Say. Are you jealous of us?"

I asked when we're on our way to the vending machine.

"I am."

This guy. He finally answered.

"Then why aren't you saying anything? Do you think it will be resolved if you keep silent like that?"

Ogawa didn't answer immediately. He stopped walking and turned towards me. Instead of answering my question, he threw his own question at me.

"Is that still an act Onoda? What you're doing with Nanami... why does it feel real? Are you fooling me now?"

I see. He couldn't ask Nami about this. Or maybe, he didn't want anyone to hear it apart from her or me.

"It depends on your perspective."

This guy is like Sakuma all over again. Gotta confuse him for now. However, unlike Sakuma, this guy's more indecisive that it's giving me a headache. I don't want him to evolve into something that would push him to touch those girls around him. I want him to stay as indecisive as always.

"Huh?"

That's a good reaction, alright.

"If you believe it's not then it's not. If I say, 'We're not acting anymore. Nami is mine now and you don't have any right to call yourself her boyfriend anymore.' What are you going to do?"

Telling him the bare truth while disguised as a scenario. It would surely confuse him. But yeah, it's to plant in his mind that even if we act like lovers even in front of him, it was all an act.

"I… I'm her boyfriend. She accepted my confession."

She accepted your confession but she accepted my love for her. That confession was now null and void. Our roles has already been reversed.

"Then why aren't you acting like one?"

Instead of answering again, he was just throwing what he thought was fact. Yes. He's her boyfriend which only the four of us know but I'm her boyfriend in front of her friends and all of them knows.

"That…"

Now, you're being speechless?

"Look. Have you properly checked on her today? She seemed so uncomfortable when you're not saying anything."

Of course, he's not. He's too absorbed in whether he should say anything about his jealousy or not. It's quite easy to guess what someone was thinking when you read him completely. He's still at a point where he is rejecting the possibility that our act wasn't an act anymore.

"Am I making her comfortable?"

Should I call him out for being blind?

Ah. That's unnecessary.

"Would I be able to tell you this if I didn't notice that? If you're jealous then say it outright. I invited her to leave and buy something to save her from that awkward situation but there you are, you blocked our way."

Now I'm pushing him to feel guilty. But yeah, it's the truth anyway.

Nami could be said to be the one in the wrong here by cheating on him with me. But it's just a matter of time. Nami already confessed her feelings to me.

Soon enough, when she's ready, we'll tell it to him and turn our act into reality in front of his eyes.

"I didn't know. I'll go back and apologize to her."

After realizing that what I'm saying is true, he tried going back but I stopped him.

"What will your apology do? Let's just go and get those drinks. Stop making her uncomfortable, will you?"

You're not needed today.

"… I understand."

Do you really understand? Haa. This guy. He didn't even notice that I stopped him from erupting. In any case, I don't want to see Nami being that uncomfortable. Even with Ogawa here, I'm going to keep her beside me.

Looking at this guy now, his eyes seemed to be clearer than earlier. It's unintended but I guess that's fine. He admitted that he's jealous but he couldn't even say it to her. This indecisive bastard. Ugh.

Soon enough we reached the vending machine and bought the drinks for everyone. While doing that, I started another conversation with him.

"You know, I was rejected by Mori because she's still devoted to you."

Now that he's confused, I threw the Mori card so he wouldn't realize my intention of confusing him.

"Hina didn't tell me about that, I'm sorry. But you seem close today."

Ah. Of course. I made sure to take my chances to appeal to her even if she already rejected me. Now it's showing its fruits. But yeah, I wouldn't even encounter her here if not for this guy.

"Do we look close? She won't be here if not for you. You have girls like Mori around you but don't let that be a reason to neglect your girlfriend. If you don't want them, do you want me to help you with that?"

I'll take good care of them. Ah. For now, I only needed Mori. Maybe Izumi-senpai as well? I don't know yet.

"Am I really doing that? Am I neglecting Nanami because of them?"

No. It's just your imagination. It's the other way around, I'm letting Nami neglect you.

Well, She's already mine, that's enough reason to stop paying attention to an indecisive bastard like Ogawa. He's just a one day boyfriend. When that act of us started, Nami had already fallen into my arms.