Stealing Spree

Pulled by Aya and Ria, it didn’t take more than a few seconds for us to arrive at the living room.

And the first thing that caught my attention was not the circle that seemingly formed with my girls’ bodies as they surrounded something. It was what’s happening inside the circle.

Sitting before the coffee table were four of my girls namely... Akane, Satsuki, Shizu and Shio.

In their hands were a tad too familiar set of cards...

UNO Cards.

“Blue, 8!” Akane smilingly dropped a card at the pile in front of her.

Upon seeing that, Satsuki, who was next in turn, frowned. Her eyebrows and forehead creased at the same time as she bit her lips in slight frustration upon drawing a new card that was added to her 8 cards in hand. “Pass.”

“Reverse.” Shizu calmly declared as she put down a blue Reverse card, deepening Satsuki’s frown.

The same as earlier, Satsuki’s frown deepened as she once again drew a card before declaring in slight irritation. “... Pass.”

“Un... I apologize, Satsuki but... Yellow, Reverse.” Akane slightly bowed but the curve of her lips arced further.

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And upon seeing that, Satsuki folded the cards in her hand and dropped them in front of her forcefully.

No, she wasn’t quitting, she’s just too frustrated at her cards that were probably devoid of any yellow and blue.

Witnessing this scene... It’s probably not wrong to say that the two women were bullying Satsuki...

Looking at her frustrated face, I instantly got the urge to run towards her and give her a tight hug.

But if I did, everyone would surely react.

After a few seconds, with her veins appearing on her temple, Satsuki angrily drew another card.

And contrary to everyone’s expectation that she would rage in thorough frustration, Satsuki’s face instantly brightened upon seeing the card.

“+4. Change to Red!” With a wide smile on her lips that was totally different from what she showed earlier, the girls spectating the game all had a reaction... Most likely, that’s the first time they saw Satsuki smiling like that.

Well, good for her... I was expecting her foul mouth to shoot off after those frustrations built up in her but in the end, the tsundere managed to restrain it. I couldn’t help but feel proud of her behavior.

On the other hand... Akane and Shizu were probably competing among themselves just by looking at how fiery their gaze was for each other.

At this point, my gaze scanned the faces of everyone in here, starting from those playing the game.

Behind Satsuki, Nami was whispering to her as if she was trying to calm down the bullied girl in UNO. When Satsuki drew the +4, she clapped her hands and congratulated her for leaving that predicament of having UNO cards stacked in her hands. There was also Hina and Saki next to Nami.

Behind Akane, there’s Yae who was already giggling as she happily massaged Akane's shoulder. There was also Haruko and Serizawa-senpai behind them.

As I alternated my gaze between them, I noticed that these girls Had grouped themselves by their own faction.

Well, I should not say faction but... that’s how it looked like.

Fortunately, that’s not the case on Shizu and Shio’s side.

Behind Shizu, there’s only Aoi who was meaningfully smiling and conversing normally with Shizu. Unexpectedly, the unruly girl wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Shizu’s masked persona and Shizu was acting normally around her.

As for their topic, I had no idea, their voices were getting drowned by the whispers of the other girls who already noticed my arrival.

Lastly, behind Shio, there’s only Chii who was looking even more frustrated than Shio herself.

Because in Shio’s hand, there were only two cards left and... they’re both +4 Cards.

Surprisingly, Shio was that great at that game to hold +4 Cards for a sure win... Akane and Shizu had just delayed the inevitable because of their clear rivalry while earning Satsuki’s slight animosity.

“I see. So this is what you say as interesting.” After digesting the situation, I muttered silently.

“That’s right, Dumb-senpai. Isn’t it amusing?” Ria answered while tightly clinging to my neck.

Because of her height, the girl climbed on my back to be able to see what’s happening in the middle.

On the other hand, Aya was still like a cat being comfortable hugging my arm. My side was the most comfortable place for her.

As for the spectators, they’re the girls who arrived here after I left the house for the clean-up drive.

There’s Kana who’s also looking as if she wanted to cuddle inside my embrace. Hiyori who’s shyly waving her hand. Mizuki who had her arms crossed. Ririka who’s wearing her maid costume while distributing cups of tea or coffee to everyone. And lastly, Miyako who’s glaring at me once more with her lips pouted. Perhaps if not for all the girls here, I would be hearing her nagging at me for being too late to arrive.

Miwa-nee was sitting on one of the sofas around while Minoru was on her lap, asleep. She already finished her laundry and was probably in the living room to rest and relax. But with the girls arriving, she probably found it amusing to watch the events transpiring today.

Sena and the other girls with us yesterday would all go straight to the Boxing Gym and wait for me there.

Now I wonder what happened that the situation ended up being in this kind of situation.

Considering the players were Akane and the three who arrived before us... it probably started before we arrived home.

Without disturbing their game, I went around to greet the girls starting from Hiyori and ending with Miyako who I asked for a bit of her time.

“Hateful guy, what are your plans calling everyone here?” She opened up with a question as soon as I brought her into one of the unused rooms.

Although the other girls saw me being pulled by her, they didn’t do anything. Most likely, it’s either they’re giving me a chance to ease up her glaring eyes or they’re also thinking of doing the same later.

“I already told you. I will be teaching all of you later.”

“I don’t believe you. You have other plans.” With her tone that was filled with certainty, Miyako crossed her arms while her glare still hadn’t eased up.

“I guess, you’re right. I was also thinking that it was time for all of you to get acquainted with each other? What do you think? Is it bad?”

Although the reason for calling them here was to teach them some self-defense, there’s no denying that I also thought of using this chance to let them be acquainted or better yet, become closer together. Just like how they were now in that group chat of theirs.

“Totally bad... Look at what happened. That game happened because of how they declared that you love them the most and they all disagreed. Ah... sister Shiori was trying to break the stalemate but she ended up getting dragged to it.”

I was wondering about the reason. So that’s it, huh? And Shio trying to diffuse the situation was truly like her. She probably acted like a teacher and then because of that, she was dragged by either Akane, Yae or Satsuki.

Shizu wouldn’t say anything since in her mind, Akane was her strongest rival, especially with what she wanted to achieve.

“I see. Thank you for explaining the situation to me, Miyako.”

After saying that, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around the girl in front of me... Seeing her here and hearing her voice again, it brought me back to that time where she decided to move on... I was convinced that she meant it literally and I felt the pain from seeing her back leaving that small room.

Thankfully, her plan about moving on was different than what I expected.

And now that she’s in my arm’s reach again, I just couldn’t help myself. Smelling her scent and feeling her warmth, I wanted to just pick her up and let her stay at my side for the whole day.

Alas, that would be somewhat impossible for today.

I was certain that I would be feeling the same for everyone who showed up here... I was that greedy.

“You... Why are you hugging me?” Miyako was surprised but her resistance was just through her words.

“I missed you... Is it bad?” I asked as I slowly tightened my embrace while looking straight into her eyes.

A few seconds later, Miyako’s lips curved into a smirk. “You’re just being a pervert again, aren’t you?”

“I’m not. Truthfully, I want to hug all of you but if I do that, you know that there might be no end to it... That’s why... Can I at least hug my Miyako?”

“You shameless guy. I still hate you.” Perhaps I was acting like Aya this time and that made Miyako heartily giggle while saying contradictory words from her action of returning my embrace.

And to satisfy her, I said what she wanted to hear from me. “I know, I’ll accept all the hate, the nagging and more as long as you let me hug you like this.”

Although she mentioned about forgetting our past, that’s easier said than done. She would still think about it from time to time... That’s why as I vowed back when I took her back, we would be creating more good memories to replace those bad memories between us.

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“At least do something to resolve the situation outside. You’ll leave again, right?”

“Un. Leave it to me. But first... Can I kiss you?”

Back then, although I was also asking her to do something, sometimes, I wouldn’t take a no for an answer... That’s why... this time I would rewrite that.

While releasing a small sigh, Miyako shook her head. “There you go with your acting too considerate.” With her arms traveling from my back to my shoulders, Miyako gradually pushed her face closer to mine. “I missed you too, hateful Ruki.”

After saying that, Miyako closed her eyes as her soft red lips slowly pressed on mine. Although there was still a situation to resolve outside this room, the two of us somehow created our own world.