Stealing Spree

Hitomi dropped me off a few blocks away from the main street to school. This way, we managed to claim a little bit of an extension for our bonding moments. Even if it was just a few minutes, I'd certainly treasure it a lot.

I have changed from being the coldest and most clueless idiot. Being this affectionate to all of my girls is one of my ways to continue reminding myself not to revert back to it.

That's why I can understand if people will see that part of me as weird. Well, my girls love it and that's the most important.

Who cares about other people's opinions, right?

Anyway, I'm hoping that Hitomi will also open up to Otoha. Just like how she is with me.

They're always together. Yet, even if they have never been on bad terms with each other, there's still a clear line that separates them no matter how much Otoha tries to erase it. Hitomi will always be bound to her because of their family ties, after all.

And so, using this opportunity, I asked Hitomi to tell Otoha about what happened today.

That way, the woman will have a reason to talk to Otoha outside of her usual servant-minded disposition when they're alone.

Although a little reluctant since it could be considered disrespectful when their positions were considered, I got her agreement. And that's enough for me to feel proud of her.

As for me, I waited until Hitomi's car turned around and disappeared from my view before bringing up my phone to remind Otoha not to do anything with what she was going to hear from Hitomi.

I mean, I can see it. Knowing that lovable high-class noble lady, she'll definitely storm her grandfather's office to complain about the old butler's treatment of his granddaughter, Hitomi.

For Otoha, Hitomi is not just her companion but also her older sister. In short, she's a family to her. Even before I get put in the equation. Otoha always finds a closer relationship with her rather than being just a master Hitomi has to serve.

If everything goes well, I won't mind thanking that pair of old men for trying to meddle with us.

With everything done, I put my phone back in my pocket and continued on my way to school.

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When I reached the main street straight to our school, someone from the same class called out to me and matched my steps.

It's not any of the boys from our class but a girl that's someone I should avoid because of what I did yesterday – Wakaba.

Being one of the girls who I somehow set up to become Aya's friend, I was expecting her to nag at me. Surprisingly, she didn't do that.

Instead, the girl acted normally with her rather boyish disposition and greeted me 'good morning'.

I greeted her back without adding anything else. I could've started a small talk but I found no point in doing so. If she wanted to walk alongside me, no problem. We have the same destination anyway.

Naturally, I tried to anticipate if the girl would change her mind and start rapidly firing her complaints at me. But even after reaching our school gates, she did nothing of the sort. She then went ahead of me, sprinting towards the School Building.

Weird, no? But I guess it's either she held back on me or she really had nothing else to say.

I mean, the girls already cleaned up the mess I made. Those who had something to say yesterday were silenced by them. Or perhaps, they just pulled back since the subject of their ire – me – wasn't around.

That's something we'll see later.

As for Wakaba… all's well that ends well, right? There's no better situation than that.<novelnext></novelnext>

Soon after that, I entered the school gates among the other waves of students coming into school.

Eguchi-sensei was obviously back at her post. Everything that happened to us yesterday was all in a contained situation, after all. Furthermore, she managed to prove that she could separate or suppress 'Ryouko-san' during our next visits.

Anyway, even from afar, every student that passed by or had gotten a glimpse of her could easily sense how good of a mood she was having.

In fact, her rare smile normally not shown to other people was even brighter than the morning sun itself.

Perhaps if someone drew near her, they'd be blinded by her light.

Alright, that's an exaggeration. But then again, even if the students were curious about that, no one dared to ask her what happened.

For them, they're already thankful enough to not be Eguchi-sensei's scrutinizing eyes that could spot even the slightest violation on their uniforms. They're more than happy to go on their way and not be troubled or scared of her.

As for me, when I finally entered the range of her vision, Eguchi-sensei quickly changed gears as though she was trying her hardest to put up a straight face.

If I wasn't wrong, that's her impressive attempt to make sure that 'Ryouko-san' would remain contained. At least, in public.

Luckily enough, she was successful in doing that which resulted in our morning greeting to each other remaining the same as the previous days. And as it was already a daily occurrence, no one found fault with it.

In any case, as she was in her work mode, Eguchi-sensei reminded me to come to her office before the 1st Period commences. We're going to report to Hayashi-sensei.

But since she wanted to see me in her office instead of just going straight to the Director's Office, I should start expecting 'Ryouko-san' to come out or if not that, she's going to also confirm to me that I won't suddenly try to be intimate with her.

That's important. Because if Hayashi-sensei notices something amiss about our student-teacher relationship, it will be bad for her. That's the last thing I want in regard to Eguchi-sensei.

I entered the School Building soon and went straight to the shoe locker. After checking that nothing was amiss and no one was peeking at me somewhere, I switched to the indoor shoes and continued on my way.

However, as soon as I stepped inside the rather spacious front area which forked to the left and right, I found that students that were already walking around inside suddenly stopped and stared at me. It's like I got their full attention as though their eyes were attracted to me like a magnet.

Furthermore, even if I was already used to the attention, that suddenness and the way they stopped in their steps, be it a boy or a girl, felt different.

It felt more hostile rather than the normal curiosity and admiration.

And since those who stopped were students already inside the school before me, there was a swift contrast to it than the other students that were coming in from behind me.

Okay… Is it because of what I did or…?

As I was thinking about that while continuing on my steps to go to our classroom, someone appeared from the left corridor which led to the bathroom and the staircase.

Upon seeing that newcomer whose presence somehow parted those who got stuck staring at me, everything clicked in my head. What a riot.

It's not because of what happened in the classroom but the other issue which concerns a certain lovely senior.

Before the newcomer could say something idiotic, I already turned in his direction and shamelessly greeted him, "Good morning, senpai. Are you here to thank me for Kujou-senpai's gift?"

Do I still have to name him? It's Ichihara Jun along with his entourage of followers.