Stealing Spree

I'm an expert at everything, huh? What is this girl even seeing? Praising me for fooling someone like this sickly dude, she's definitely a little loose in her head.

Nonetheless, hearing that bit about Matsuri still thinking about me somehow hit me. I stole her and she taught me a lot of things, pretty much everything that Nao was also ignorant about.

And since I was a dumbass who's a slave to his desire, the day we ended things between us didn't really affect me. That very same day, I simply went to scout for a new target.

I mean, when she expressed that she didn't want to be in a sneaky type of relationship with me – which I never really acknowledged since I only consider her as a girl I've stolen – my ignited desire for her got expunged instantly.

Instead of keeping up appearances that she's still his while in secret, I was indulging myself with her, she told me that she couldn't stomach betraying the guy and suggested breaking up with him to date me.

Although she never confessed like Miho or Yue. That's pretty much the same scenario. The idiotic guy of years past never wanted an ordinary relationship—only the desire to steal.

I've only seen her twice after that day. One was during the Cultural Festival where I ran into her along with her friends when they visited our class's booth and the last time was at their graduation ceremony.

Now that I think about it, that girl did her best to avoid me and not let our paths cross again. As for whether she really returned to that guy, I had no idea.

I also stopped acting like a lackey to him and his group, after all.

Ah. Right. There's that one instance where I got blocked by those idiots as if I offended them. I tried slipping past them since I was busy with my new target but they really blocked me off and so… fists were thrown and bodies dropped on the ground.

As I already lost interest in them, I never really asked for the reason…

Yeah. Now that my head is cleared. It's probably about Matsuri, right? There's no other reason for it but that.

Anyway, that's enough reminiscing. I guess I should, at least, ask about Matsuri from this twin sister of hers later.

For now, I got to hear this sickly dude's confession first.

After what would seem an eternity, Kazehito raised his head and answered with a bright smile on his lips, "Yeah. Something motivates me to continue struggling."

Is he a masochist? How can he smile like that then admit that he's struggling?

That aside… "I see. That's wonderful. But is the 'something' you mentioned a tangible object or… an intangible one?"

It's not 'someone'. Either his reason isn't Kanno-sensei or it's something related to her.

Before the sickly dude could answer, the girl behind me opened her mouth again. This time, she used the normal volume of her voice, joining in our conversation.

"How silly of you, Ruki. Of course, what motivates him is not an object. What? Do you think he can still be motivated by an object when he's already struggling to move?"

"Ugh. I have a lot to nitpick about that but she's right. I'm not talking about an object."

Did she just take a jab at both of us? The sickly dude even looked like he got stung by a bee with his frown and awkward smile.

I glanced behind me and saw the girl gesturing with a peace sign and the same silly smile that most anime girls do. She understood that I intentionally worded my question like that yet she still took up that chance to join our conversation.

Hanabi is not an idiot, for sure. But she's a smartass.

Anyway, much to her dismay, I let it pass and stuck to my act, replying directly to Kazehito's acknowledgment that the source of his motivation isn't some kind of tangible object.

With this, I could finally inquire about Kanno-sensei.<novelnext></novelnext>

"Oh. If it's not any trouble, let me take a guess about what motivates you, senpai."

"Huh? Oh. Sure. Be my guest. What about you, junior?" The sickly dude appeared confused at first but soon found it interesting. His frown disappeared and he also turned to ask the girl behind me.

"Nah. I'm good, senpai. I better leave it to the expert. I'll call him out if he says something silly again." Hanabi cackled like a little kid having fun playing with his or her clay. She also poked my back and wrote something with her fingers.

'Good luck'

Intentional or not, I could only take this as the girl trying to make an impression on me or she's really just this playful.

Seeing that little interaction between us, Kazehito commented, "You two get along well. That's nice."

Although I could say that I only met this girl today, I decided not to. It's fairly obvious anyway. Besides, it would just make the girl ride on it as well. That's why, after acknowledging it with a laugh, I continued with my guess.

"So, senpai. This is a wild guess. Your motivation, is it about meeting someone's expectation?"

"No, not really. There's no expectation involved but… you're right. I'm getting my motivation to finish this because someone still believes in me. I want to show her that even if I struggle, I won't give up on my education."

See that? Even without mentioning Kanno-sensei, his answer already filled in the blanks in the pieces of information surrounding him.

Nonetheless, using that as the starting point, I started narrowing the scope of my questions until we reached this certain point.

"Is senpai in love with this woman? Or have you already confessed to her? You know, you shouldn't waste your chance. You're graduating."

As soon as I brought that up, Kazehito instantly became flustered. His pale skin became covered with an unusual red color as he fumbled with an answer.

"N-no. What are you saying? It's impossible to confess to her. And it's not like she's feeling the same."

Although Kanno-sensei hasn't been named yet, I already understood that he's talking about her.

From the course of three or four questions, I narrowed it down perfectly, he probably didn't notice that he was already describing the only teacher that constantly visits him to check on his condition.

So, by his answer. Even if the rumors or suspicions about them aren't true, this guy is clearly in love with her. She's like a ray of light in his dark future.

"Also, I'm satisfied with the way things are… I shouldn't step out of my bounds. When I graduate, I'll thank her for everything she did for me." The sickly dude added. This time, his flustered expression relaxed. His head was probably full of thoughts about her.

Really, this guy was already lovestruck. But then again, I shouldn't push him to go for it. I mean, if he somehow succeeded in getting a yes from Kanno-sensei, they'll really be in trouble.

But then again, I'm already in a deep relationship with Shio. It's laughable to act like a saint of love advice here.

"I see. Too bad. But I understand where you're coming from, senpai. But you know, there's nothing wrong with confessing your feelings to someone. Who knows? Someone might swoop in and take her away. It happens."

In the end, I still offered him advice but that's something too close to home. I mean, I did swoop in and take Satsuki, Nami, Hina, and Saki from those cucks because they're all taking their time to do something.

While Kazehito was contemplating how to take that, I decided to end our conversation there and excused ourselves.

Surprisingly, Hanabi behaved herself right there. Not that I was expecting her to butt in but after what she did, I thought she'd be more eager to meddle in it.