Stealing Spree

The sounds of squeaking shoes, dribbling balls, and whistles from the referee had begun to fill the whole gymnasium.

The practice game between our 4th High School’s Girls’ Basketball Club and the Seven Stars Girls’ Academy’s Basketball Club had already started.

Opening it up with the opposing team scoring right after the tip-off, the students of our school that went specifically to cheer for them all burned in fervor to cheer for our school.

On the other hand, not wanting to lose even in an away game, the girls on the other side matched their voices.

“What a competitive bunch… It looks like they've been doing that since forever.” Nami muttered as she watched those girls from the other school not backing down with their cheers and competing with the larger crowd of our students on who could shout the loudest.

I was still surrounded by them and even at the moment, my arms were perfectly wrapped around her navel. Our situation flipped from earlier when I was the one being hugged by them. With some kind of obstruction covering the large part of the railing where we’re leaning on, it would only look like I was standing behind her if seen from the other side or from below – or I couldn’t even be seen from below.

The only risk would be the eyes from our sides but with my other girls becoming our cover and most of the audience’s attention already going to the basketball game, the probability of being caught red-handed went down.

At least for the first few minutes. Sooner or later, I had to separate from them so… I was doing my best to dote on them one by one.

“Well, they’re the number 1 school in the prefecture. That’s just natural.”

“I guess you’re right. I’ve never been that invested in sports like this but I think I can get behind them. By the way, I’m always an Asahi fan.”

She hadn’t been invested, huh? That’s right. Some of my girls still haven’t decided what they want to do in the future. At least, I got a glimpse of some of her interests when I visited her room. She has a guitar. Although I haven’t heard her play it, it’s probably just a hobby.

But wait, why did she suddenly bring up Asahi…?

“Always. Didn’t she only debut last year?”

“Even so, I’m already her follower when she’s still just posting her songs online. Have you heard from her yet, Ruu?”

As expected, this was where this conversation was going. Although I told Akane about it… since I still couldn’t be sure of what would happen to our relationship, I was holding back on mentioning it to my girls about that meeting I had with Yue. I’m not hiding it, there’s just no reason to tell them yet.

But now that Nami brought that up, I could only tell her honestly that I met Yue.

“Eh, Asahi, Yue? Ruki, even a famous singer like that is…” Saki blurted out once I finished my confession.

At the moment, I already moved behind her from Hina. Since we didn’t have enough time, I had the four hear about it together and at the same time, continue with what I was initially doing.

“I’m also surprised that she’s someone from my past… But as you can see…”

“She still loves you.” Hina finished my sentence. The look on her face told me that she was a bit gloomy from the information. Most likely, she found Yue as another strong contender for my attention.

And that’s the same for Saki. The girl quickly grabbed my hand and squeezed it as though she was conveying her helplessness. Her inferiority complex acting up.

Nami’s reaction was normal. It’s like she’s unbothered by it as if it’s what she’s expecting to happen when I told her about my connection to Yue.

Aya, on the other hand, was enlivened. She’s also a fan, of course. And she’s kind of excited to meet her in person. But moments later, she shook her head and also acted a little jealous… That kind of move was unusual for her but… I could guess where she picked this up… It’s possibly advice from Wakaba and Kashiwagi.

‘A girl who doesn’t show a little bit of jealousy will most likely have their man stolen by another girl.’ That’s probably the phrase they used. Or I was just overthinking it.

Either way, now that I told them about it, I stopped holding back. I told them that I would be meeting her again one of these days, before her short break ends, to straighten up what’s between us.

If the other girls also heard about this, I could imagine that there would be mixed reactions. What I have to do is to let them understand that… my words still held true. No matter what, I love them all equally… Whether it’s a famous singer like Yue or a rich ojou-sama like Mizuki, Otoha and Himeko.

Ugh… Our focus was derailed but… the game continued. Before we knew it, five minutes had already passed. And the score… It's a depressing 10-point lead for the Seven Stars team.

Nonetheless, I could see that despite that lead, the seniors of the Basketball Club were fighting with their all. And obviously, the cheers coming from those at the bench and their audiences were never-ending.

In fact, they were more passionate about every goal scored by either team.

I’d love to watch more of it and stay with these girls. However, my time ran out.

Sakuma’s message already arrived. “Onoda. We’re now at the school gate. They said they want you to join us in guiding them…”

That guy… Can’t he just stand his ground and insist on leading them alone? I was planning on disappearing from the crowd… But now, that’s impossible.

I replied that I couldn’t go there but the next thing I knew, my phone rang showing Setsuna’s name on the screen.

That unreasonable older sister…

Turning to my girls, I explained the situation to them. As much as I wanted to continue pampering them while we watch the game below, there’s also the piled-up attention that we’re getting even with Kikuchi’s help in preventing the others from approaching us.

If I didn’t disappear and our classmates checked on us, there’s no doubt that they would realize that we’re all getting touchy-feely with one another. And not just with one girl, but with all four of them.

Ah, right. Somehow, Kanzaki was also herding our class, getting into her role as our diligent Class President. When I noticed her looking at me once, the girl quickly averted her gaze. Whatever that meant, I had no idea.

In any case, I had long noticed Chii pouting from where she was… They arrived a little late and because she went with her friends, the girl couldn’t just leave the two alone. Add to that, they’re found by Fukuda’s group as they created the same group composition whenever they’re in our classroom.

Ah. Fukuda couldn’t get close to her. She was literally squeezed between her friends. But the guy looked like he was already satisfied just distancing Chii from me.

When he met my gaze, Fukuda had a triumphant grin. That’s a punchable expression, really.

As for the idiot trio of the Student Support Club, they’re huddled up together in the middle of our class. Good for them, I guess?

Anyway, once I started moving to go out as stealthily as possible, I typed in a message to Chii, telling her to meet me outside.

Before meeting that unreasonable older sister, I wanted to dote on her even if it was just a minute or two…