Stealing Spree
chapter-252

Yua, Ririka, and Miho. It's already three out of eight and none of the three even rejected me. Instead, they all showed how much they wanted to be with me again.

Now there's another five. I turned my head to one of them after calming down Miho.

"Elizabeth… Won't you give your Dark Prince a hug?"

Upon hearing that, Elizabeth, still with her blonde hair adorned with a little crown on her head, excitedly pranced towards me.

Everyone knew her nature as a chuunibyou so seeing that crown is already a daily occurrence to everyone even in her class. Unlike others who carefully hid that side of theirs, Elizabeth was never shy to her nature.

I just don't know why she calls herself a Princess when her title is Queen. That's a mystery that I'm afraid to ask her before. Acting a chuunibyou along with her was already giving me a cringe. If I delved too much into her lore, I might also truly become one.

"My. Since my Dark Prince asked for it, this Princess will generously give it to you."

There's a wide grin on her lips and with her sparkling blue eyes, she jumped into my arms and circled her arm around me.

"Risa will never change. Now that she's in front of Ruki, her chuunibyou power is at max."

One of the last four girls muttered and shook her head upon watching Elizabeth's act. She's a classmate of Elizabeth and even if she wanted to deny it, she's one of her friends.

Even if she's a chuunibyou, Elizabeth isn't isolated by others. In fact, she's even more popular that way. If one day she stopped being a chuuni, they'll probably think that it's strange.

"Yukari, you too. Won't you give me a hug?"

I turned to the speaker and held out my hand.

Taniguchi Yukari. I've met her through Elizabeth. Though she has a mature appearance, mainly her big breasts and her dark blue hair running down her shoulders, she's more outspoken and easy to bend. And despite her continuous complaint about Elizabeth's behavior, she kept staying on her side. They're best friends of each other even if they don't put it in words.

"Ugh. You're still as shameless as ever, Ruki. Haa. And here I am, falling under you again. I missed you."

Yukari sighed and said in a resigned tone. Nonetheless, her words were reflecting her nature as she also walked forward and took my hand.

"And you're still like this. I told you to become more confident. Your charm will increase exponentially if you did."

"Charm, huh? I don't need that. I got a boyfriend even if I'm like this, hmm? And then you stole me from him. I'm bound to you now."

Like that, eh? She's someone who hardly recognized her worth. The guy she was going out with somehow tricked her into that relationship and so I did the same and successfully stole her. And from there, I probably tried to change her current nature to match her mature appearance. I guess I failed. Even so, I still enjoyed stealing her and savoring my time with her.

"Yukari is acting, my Dark Prince. She's only upset that it took you this long to claim her hand again."

Elizabeth tiptoed and whispered in a loud voice next to my ear. She intentionally let the girl hear it.

"Hey, Risa! Don't expose me like that. This chuuni."

Yukari shouted back and grumbled before turning her head sideways, acting embarrassed. She crossed her arms, holding up that huge rack of hers as she sneakily glanced at me.

"I see. You really listened to me and now you've turned this mischievous."

I pulled her by her waist and had her look straight at me.

With pouty lips and bloated cheeks, Yukari blew air through her nose before speaking.

"It's your fault. I was waiting ever since Aoi and Ria told us that you took them back. You deserve some punishment, right?"

"I guess I do. What will you do then?"

"No kiss."

Yukari's answer came out almost instantly.

This girl, she's trying to become mischievous again. But the way she is now is way better than before. Although I will surely miss the meek and slightly weak-willed Yukari, seeing her change somehow puts me at ease.

"Alright, I will give it all to Elizabeth instead."

"Thank you for your declination for your opportunity, Yukari. I will treat you to my royal dessert tomorrow. Shower me with your love now, my Dark Prince, and unseal this curse you cast upon me."

Elizabeth's wide grin grew even wider upon hearing my words and that made her chuuni trait thrive.

I wonder what kind of curse I put on her under her new setting? She always comes up with ridiculous plots and yeah… to indulge her, I always acted accordingly. That's how I started to steal her away from that Cursed Prince of hers. Her time with me became more enjoyable.

And since I thought of teasing Yukari, I once again indulged Elizabeth with what she wanted. While still keeping Yukari close to us, I kissed Elizabeth passionately.

And as if we thought of the same thing, our gazes went from each other to the speechless Yukari.

"Eh? Huh? Wait… I take that back. I've missed you a lot, Ruki. Don't leave me out like this."

When she gathered her thoughts again, Yukari panicked and separated Elizabeth from me. The latter didn't really mind it as she giggled cutely which indicated her satisfaction.

"You're the one who said that, Yukari. I'm just respecting your wish."

"I give up! Take me again!"

Yukari put herself in my embrace by herself as she almost shouted to my face.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Well then stay by my side while I talk with them."

I smirked and put her to my side as I walked towards the last three whose expressions varied from how amusing they took the scene in front of them.

Since I already moved, Yukari could only silently accept it and hugged my arm instead. Elizabeth was still lost in her fantasy so we left her standing there.

Well, that girl will be fine after she finished savoring the affection I gave her.

"What do you all think? Have you changed your mind? This is how it will be. Especially now that we're in different schools, I will not always be with you like before. At most, we can continue talking in Messenger and when I have time, I can go and meet whoever is free at that time or whoever I can think of at that moment."

With their addition, it will really be a juggle maintaining physical contact with them. That's why I'm giving them this choice. I still like them of course but doing this now than later was better.

"I'm here because I still want you. That's my answer to your question. But you know, what you said is true, it will really be difficult and I'm more concerned with how your body will take this. Your daily exercise might not be enough to maintain your health. You should start running again."

One of them answered and instantly showed concern over my body above everything else.

Kaneda Aika. She has short brown hair and although she has a skinny build, she's an athletic one and a member of the track and field club as an obstacle course runner.

Running, huh? I only do that on a treadmill nowadays but back then, that's how I first met her. She's a year older so… She's the same generation as Yae and Haruko.

"Uhm. My answer is the same… Ruki, don't you like me too?"

Another one answered next. Otosaka Hiyori. She's like Kana. A cute and shy type of girl. However, unlike Kana, her shyness was somewhat incurable. Only one thing can make her enthusiastic. Ah. Make that two. Me and her hobby of being an idol fanatic.

Deep inside, she wanted to be an idol but her personality is limiting that. I remembered that I also tried letting her speak more but to no avail. Unless it's about me or her favorite idols, she'll be the cute and shy type of girl. Her boyfriend back then is a childhood friend who in one way or another managed to get her to say yes.

"Ruki, you can't just tell us to make a choice after making up our minds to go here and meet you. We're all of the same mind regarding you. Aika-san's words are right though. Can you really take it? Above all else, that's what we have to make sure first."

And lastly, the prim, proper and strict Class President of a senior class back then.

Hasegawa Mizuki.

Well, she's vastly different from Kanzaki. Most of her classmates were terrified of her and even Haruko somehow admired her despite being only a Class President. She had a boyfriend back then but that's all for show. She just wanted no one to approach her again and that guy agreed reluctantly.

Even if there's really nothing going on with them, just the fact that she has a boyfriend ignited my desire and that ended up with me taking the place of that pseudo-boyfriend. Unlike him though, I worked my way to be recognized by her. Ever since she started contacting me on Messenger, I kept wondering what made her stay. I thought that by asking her, she would tell me but she kept her mouth shut about it.

Like Nami and Shizu-senpai, she has long black hair which she rarely pulls up with a ribbon. Her family is also somewhat special. At the same level as Otoha's family. A Noble House. However, she's not from the direct line.

Though I somehow expected that they would all say yes, two of them expressing concern even before I took them back made me feel light.

"Aika and Mizuki, thank you for both of your concerns but I also wouldn't be here if not for wanting to meet you all. My body will be fine. Like you said… My health is important for this to work that's why, is it fine to rely on you to tell me when I'm already going too far?"

I alternately looked at them and before continuing, I waited for their answer.

Soon enough. Aika nodded her head and stepped forward to pinch my arm. That's her way to curb her desire to scold me. Mizuki shook her head and sighed but like Aika, she stepped forward and held my chin before inspecting my face thoroughly. Only when she became satisfied with what she saw did she nod her head.

"You know how I was back then and I did a lot of wrongs to you. This time, I wanted to respect your choice. That's why I asked that. And Hiyori, you don't need to ask that. I will not steal you if I don't like you. Come here. Let me take a good look at you."

I continued before beckoning to the shy Hiyori who couldn't decide whether she would step forward or not.

With this, I finally met and heard their answers. None of them backed down. I will make sure to make it up to them. There's no such thing as righting the wrongs I've done. Those couldn't be erased. I will make new memories with them instead and this time, I will be honest with my feelings towards them. I don't know how this will end but… I'm truly glad to meet them once again.