Stealing Spree

Of course, saying the excuse that she’s changing had little to no effect on Ichihara Jun. The guy was fed with information regarding a guy being inside the same room as her, after all. His mind was fixated on that rather than the fact that she truly appeared to be in the middle of fitting in that dress.

Although I didn’t see her strip inside that cubicle, the sight when she came out was definitely eye candy.

But I guess he couldn’t see it clearly because of the door. That’s understandable. Besides, his mind was occupied with the fact that Marika was with somebody that’s not him.

Ah. Right. I didn’t tell Marika about the certainty that someone worked behind our backs to produce this situation. I decided not to since she might become more conscious about it, enough to affect her act.

At the moment, she’s still doing great. Every shot that Ichihara Jun tried to throw to force himself in was all deflected by her flawless act.

In fact, it was too believable that I could truly feel her anger. Perhaps, it truly became real after his repeated attempts, who knows? Either way, I continued holding the girl’s hand which provided her with a calming effect and perhaps, more courage.

However, because he probably convinced himself that there was someone else inside the room, Ichihara Jun proved himself to be unreasonable. He started pushing on the door while Marika tried her hardest to block it.

“Stop covering for that guy, Marika. Are you trying to fool me, huh?! Don’t fucking make an excuse. Give way and let me deal with that bug!”

Ichihara gave another push and this time, Marika who was only using her body to block it was pushed back a step.

From where I was standing, I could now see the guy’s hand gripping the side of the door, pushing it further.

At this point, I moved closer to Marika and used my body to help her keep the door in place. Although the chances for us to be caught like this became higher, that didn’t matter.

If he forced himself in, he’d find us with our hands clasped tightly. Surely, he’d instantly arrive at the conclusion that something happened between us because of Marika’s current attire.

That would be a slap to the guy’s face but at the same time, it would put the girl in a precarious position.

While it would be satisfying to see him despairing over a misunderstanding, I’d rather keep the girl safe. At least, to take responsibility for coming here despite knowing that they’re going to set up this trap.

Upon noticing what I did, the girl glanced at me and smiled. She then acted accordingly to make it look like she was the one that put on more weight on the door, preventing the guy from gaining more ground.

She’s now too different from the panicky girl earlier. Although it feels refreshing to see her gaining this kind of confidence to stand up for herself, it also meant that I started influencing her. Whether that would be good for her or not, I had no idea.

I’ll probably see it in the following days or weeks.

“For the last time, Jun-kun. If you still won’t go away, I’ll close this door and won’t talk to you. For a week!” Shouting back at the guy, Marika started pushing the door back to its place. And with my assistance, he got easily overpowered.

Perhaps understanding that he was losing ground, the guy anxiously shouted, “Let go, Marika! Stop pushing! You’re my fiancé. I won’t allow you to get close to another guy. You’re mine, do you understand?!”

“Yes. I’m your fiancé. But you don't own me, Jun-kun! I suppose that if you won’t stop chasing after other girls then I will also look for a friend. Someone who will listen to me and treat me like a person, not an object. I’m tired of tolerating you. Do remove your hand before it gets jammed by the door. I surmise it will hurt a lot.”

Although the girl shouted at first, her tone gradually mellowed down before it ended on a cold note. And without waiting for the guy to respond, the two of us pushed it closed and locked it.

Naturally, the guy madly hit the door again, hurling accusations at Marika which now started falling on deaf ears.

As for Marika, as though all her strength suddenly got drained, she lost her footing and weakly fell in my arms.

Surely, it’s not just because of how she held the door against him but also, of the mental drain of acting and confronting the guy.

I had no trouble catching her and supporting her up but before I could tend to her, I listened outside, filtering Ichihara Jun’s mad rambling to check if someone would come and offer him help or egg him to force his way in, ignoring the consequences.

If someone did, that could be the perpetrator or perhaps, Tanaka-senpai herself. But if there’s none, whoever planned this probably didn’t want to instigate further. All they cared about was setting this situation up.

I mean, even though Marika was successful, Ichihara Jun would still believe that someone was here with her. The only thing that we prevented was a direct confrontation.

A few minutes later, seemingly fed up, the knocking stopped and Ichihara Jun shouted for the last time.

“Marika! We’re going to talk about this at home! I won’t let this day end without getting to the bottom of this! And you! Whoever you are… you messed with someone else’s woman. If I find out who you are, prepare yourself for my retribution!”

And with that, I heard his footsteps as he moved away from the door, leaving the Theater House.

Perhaps because of the soundproofing and the distance, the steps quickly became faint, preventing me from hearing if he brought someone or if there was another person around.

Well, there’s no point in finding out about it at the moment. I turned my focus back on Marika and led her back to the long couch in the middle of the room.

There, I tended to her until she recovered her strength. And while she’s listless, I fixed her clothes and covered her shoulders with the coat she removed earlier.

By the time her eyes focused on me again, I gently smiled as I patted her head, “You did a great job, senpai.”

“Eh? Did I?” She blinked her eyes a few times, her expression close to someone who believed they messed up.

“Mhm. However, I probably put you in more trouble. I apologize.” Ignoring that, I slid my hand to her cheek as I nodded to reassure her but at the same time, I lowered my head.

Marika quickly stopped me from doing that as she sat up and leveled her head on mine, “No… Junior-kun has no fault. I followed your plan because that’s for the best.”

“That’s true. We avoided confronting him but like he said before leaving, he won’t rest until he hears everything from you. What do you plan on doing from here on out, senpai?”

“I… I won’t give away your name, Junior-kun. I promised to protect you.”

This girl… What should I really do with her?

Well, the reality of the situation is… I can’t really do anything at this point. Unless I decide to come with her and come clean about everything that happened, she’ll have to face Ichihara Jun alone.

Temporarily, at least.

“Alright, I admire that you’re still willing to do that for me when I basically took advantage of you. Anyway, let me put my number in your phone, senpai. If something happens, please do not hesitate to call me. I will help you.”

For now, this was the extent of what I could do… I didn’t mind confronting Ichihara Jun but everything will blow up from there on out.

From this day onwards, I could choose whether to continue approaching her like this until I found out who was moving behind the scene or stop getting involved with her.

Well, given my track record… I doubt I would be doing the second option.

I already started this. It would be cowardly of me if I stop now. Besides… this girl was slowly growing on me. I wanted to see her bloom into her own person. Not just someone who would be a victim of the fate someone else decided for her.

“… Okay. I will.” After thinking for a while, Marika nodded and handed me her phone. After keying my number as well as adding her on social media, I returned it to her.

For the next ten minutes, the two of us just continued our conversation. Although extremely lacking, I used words to ease her mind.

When it was time for me to leave, Marika’s eyes were filled with reluctance. She even looked like she was about to ask me to stay with her. But knowing that it was impossible, she simply waved her hand with the same complicated expression as yesterday.

That’s why I changed my mind about something…

Before I walked back to the girl and pulled her into another embrace. I lifted her head, enough for her lips to be within my reach. And while our eyes locked onto each other, I asked, “Senpai, your first kiss. Will you allow me to steal it?”

Well, it’s a question that I will only take a yes for an answer. However, it didn’t mean I will kiss her now, it’s kind of a declaration that… I’m going to steal her from Ichihara Jun and her family that bound her to that agreement.

“Junior-kun… you mustn’t.”

Although that’s not a clear answer, that became our last exchange for today. Because right after that, my lips pressed on the spot a little closer to her lips than yesterday, silencing the girl completely.