Stealing Spree

As guilt and shame gradually covered Mina’s face, the girl eventually retreated and shrunk behind me in an attempt to hide from the two girls’ condemning eyes.

As it turned out, Mina was a little fearful of the two girls lowering their opinion of her.

Glancing at her to check if there’s something I missed, I noticed that it’s probably close to the reason why she turned into an outcast and closed herself off.

She could care less about other people but these two in front of us, they’re her friends and close to being her sisters.

As I buttoned up the uniform that became disheveled because of Mina, I clasped the girl’s hand reassuring her in my own way. And once that was done, I faced the two girls, meeting Minori-senpai’s hostile gaze head-on with an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry for this display, senpai… This is my fault.”

Obviously, that failed to make an effect. Minori-senpai still had a look of extreme distrust towards me, it was as though she was looking at her natural enemy. Words were insufficient to change her mind about me.

As for Yuika-senpai, the girl somehow retreated behind Minori-senpai, her pink cheeks partly covered by Minori-senpai’s body, were about to take a redder hue. I had no idea if this rather adorable reaction from her was brought about by my improved appearance or by seeing part of my naked upper body. Either way, it’s fortunate that she’s like this… I only had to deal with the green-haired girl.

“Y-you. Stop taking the blame for once, will you?” Behind me, Mina tugged at my uniform, clearly troubled at what I said.

“That’s not what I’m doing, Mina. I’m here to visit you. It’s natural that I also hope for us to be that intimate… Right?” I winked at the end of my sentence which made the girl blush a bit.

Moments later, the girl seemingly realized why I said it. She pressed her steaming face on my back and whispered in a muffled voice, “I’m an idiot. T-thank you for noticing, Ruki…”

Well, that just meant she’s still affected by the past. But on the bright side, Mina really treasured them. Despite losing almost everyone in their life before, she found a new set of friends here…

Wounds, oftentimes, slowly heal. It’s fine to leave it as is. Sooner or later, this girl will be able to break past that point of her life.

“As I should… I watch over the girls I love.”

“Alright, stop being too cheesy… I’ll leave the talking to you.”

Settling down on just hugging my back, the girl’s emotions already calmed down.

And with this, my attention returned to the front.

I must say, I’m impressed. Minori-senpai waited patiently.

As soon as I repeated the apologetic smile, the girl sighed helplessly.

“Aren’t you lucky? That girl is always stubborn. And looking from where I’m standing, you successfully tamed her. Enough to even do things she normally wouldn’t… Haru had taken a long time to open up to her. Compared to you…”

As her voice trailed, the green-haired girl’s voice grew weak as though she couldn’t continue comparing Haruko and me.

Without pointing that out, I pulled Mina in front of me and endearingly showed them my affection for the girl.

“Is that a compliment, senpai? But I won’t take credit for it. Let’s just say… I fell in love with Mina and because of that, I did my best to understand her; her whole personality and her troubles. From there, I worked on solving or easing up her situation.”

“Ruki…” Mina’s lingering frown disappeared as she lovingly muttered my name.

As for Minori-senpai, she was stumped as to what kind of response she would make. Her expression turned from incredulity to amazement before sighing once again.

Before long, she grabbed Yuika-senpai and moved away. Perhaps, she didn’t want to deal with us anymore or she’s just escaping. Either way, that marked the end of that conversation.

In the first place, we’re the ones in the wrong anyway. I apologized and that should be it.

Nonetheless, instead of continuing to that room, Mina, who realized the blunder she made, pulled me to the table and had me sit there with the two.

Following that, she brewed tea for the four of us to share.

Although the time was spent in uncomfortable silence, Mina tried to accommodate the two girls and hear what was in their minds.

When I was about to leave the room, Minori-senpai addressed me again, this time, without the hostility she bore earlier. “I’m aware, Onoda. Haru held you in the highest regard. Even higher than us… And because of your return to her life, Yuika and I will possibly be released by her… after everything we’ve been through together…” With her voice cracking in the middle, I noticed how her expression mellowed to the point that she was about to break down in tears.

Yuika-senpai sadly frowned as she supported her by rubbing her back. Furthermore, the girl also looked at me with pleading eyes.

Compared to their extremely evasive disposition towards me during our earlier interactions, I finally saw them with a different face.

But still, I never expected them to exude this kind of sadness that even Mina started to worry.

“If you’re planning in… like you said, understand us. Can you start with me?” After mustering her dwindling fortitude, Minori-senpai pleaded.

Well, I never said I’m going to do the same thing for them. However, considering I had already gone through the first three girls, she probably assumed that it was only a matter of time before I approached them with the same intention.

Upon hearing that, Mina looked at me encouragingly and nodded.

Right. That’s also what she’s thinking…

I mean, I only told Haruko about my concern about these last two girls. I wanted our interaction to be natural rather than planned or arranged. The other girls, especially Himeko, Mina, and Edel, didn’t know about it.

Ah. Edel was probably aware. She’s there at that time albeit outside the room.

In any case, facing this situation, I neither thought of escaping nor turning her down right away.

Back then, I said that even if this didn’t end with the girls falling for me, I still wanted to help them.

And the opportunity for it finally appeared before me.

After gulping down the last cup that Mina served me, I presented myself to Minori-senpai with my usual expression, a little indifferent but with a piercing gaze.

Perhaps noticing that I was ready to respond to her, the girl bravely faced my gaze head-on and waited.

“Senpai, I do want to understand both of you. However, isn’t it in bad taste to just present yourself like this? It’s as though you put yourself on a silver platter as a delicacy for me to indulge in. Let’s see… For starters, why don’t we introduce ourselves to each other?” I said while shrugging my shoulders.

The two girls were stumped but so was Mina.

I ignored their reactions and added, “Oh, right. I’m aware of your hate towards men. Whether there’s a reason for that or not, I guess I will also have to face that if ever…”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Not really. At first, I thought you just hate me because I stole Haruko from you… But as time went by, I noticed the subtleties in the way you stared at me. It’s kind of venomous. Given the chance, you’ll probably smack me in the head, right?”

“W-we’re not that brutal!” Instead of Minori-senpai, it’s the meek-looking Yuika-senpai who responded. But before long, she once again lowered her head and mumbled, “I admit, the thought passed by my mind.”

Is that honesty or does she just have no idea that I can hear her?

Anyway, extending my stay there for ten more minutes – while preparing myself for Ishida-senpai’s wrath – I conversed with the two, establishing an initial connection with them.