Stealing Spree

Itou's Flawed Game

On my way to the Book Club, I ran into Itou who seemed rather displeased again. Not with me, of course.         

She’s coming from the direction of the Game Club     

When the girl saw me from afar, her expression instantly brightened as she quickly ran up to me, leaving behind some of the boys from the same club who probably ran after her in the hopes of comforting the popular ojou-sama.     

I even spied Hashimoto among those who followed after her, competing to gain her favor in this way.     

Too bad for them, now that I saw her like this, there’s no way I would let them take that chance.     

Besides, Itou wouldn’t like it either. Otherwise, she would wait for them and not run like this.     

Apparently, she got into an argument with the second-year girl there.     

As to what kind of argument, it’s obviously because of a game they were playing.     

Anyway, those chasing after her failed to see me and before they could even catch up to her, I grabbed the girl’s hand and brought her with me inside the Book Club.     

Because of what happened yesterday, the girl immediately froze upon seeing Haruko, Edel, and Himeko sitting around the first girl’s table.     

Well, I already told them that Itou confessed to me. And according to Himeko, her sister also told her about it at home.     

And so, the reason why she froze was definitely the other girls in this clubroom.     

I squeezed her hand tightly which successfully unfroze her. She was about to frown but upon seeing me smiling at her, she quickly averted her gaze before hiding behind me.     

“They won’t bite, don’t worry.” I jokingly said which earned me a light jab at my back.     

She then gulped down and took a deep breath to calm herself down. “I know. Nee-sama is there. She won’t ever bite me. You, however…”     

The girl shook her head before pulling her hand out of my grasp. I thought she was going to walk away or run to Himeko but the girl remained behind me and clutched a part of my uniform like a lost little child.     

Because of this, I couldn’t see her expression.     

“What? Am I still a hateful guy to you?” I teasingly asked to get another reaction from her.     

This time, instead of another jab, her arms slid to my chest, embracing me from the back. Her soft mound firmly pressed on my back.     

“Don’t ask me.” She dismissively answered.     

Well, with the way she clung to me, she’s once again finding it hard to be honest.     

I thought of teasing her more but there’s no time for that.     

I brought her to Haruko’s table where Himeko instantly stood up to prepare seats for us. The girl was too excited to see her little sister and me getting along so well.     

She even whispered to me that she was dreaming for this day to come true. For Itou to stop hating me at every encounter.     

Anyway, once Itou settled down, Edel who was eagerly waiting immediately jumped up and occupied her most secure place. She then pulled me to her seat next to Haruko and took my lap for herself.     

The silver koala would never change.         

Upon seeing that, Itou looked on bitterly but she didn’t say anything. She’s aware of everything, after all…     

In any case, with our relationship transforming into a better one than before, I naturally wouldn’t neglect her.     

A few minutes later, I let Haruko and Himeko take the helm of the conversation. They asked Itou about what happened and the rest of us listened to it.     

Not that I wanted her to be comforted by the girls, it’s just a lot better to release whatever she’s feeling.     

“Are you sure your game isn’t flawed? I can also point out a lot here.” Haruko asked Itou as she carefully inspected the board game as well as the rule note that Itou seemingly pulled out of nowhere. It’s a copy of the game they were playing that led to that argument.     

I also got to check it and honestly, Haruko was right.     

It’s quite similar to the absurd game we played when I visited their club a month ago.     

Just that, instead of collecting kittens, the players now had to collect some kind of ore from designated planets from branched-off paths that were filled with negative squares. Those ores then can be sold every time they reach a full circle to the starting point for the game currency. Players could also buy properties, or planets in the game’s case, and knock each other backward or out of the board space which would make them lose a turn and return to the starting point.     

In a way, it’s like Monopoly but with added complexity.     

And yep, Itou is the creator of that game. For the girl to get into an argument and walk out because of it, it’s definitely regarding those rules.     

“…Uh. I don’t know. I got really mad that she kept pointing out almost every rule I laid out. It’s not that problematic, right?” She looked at us one by one, perhaps hoping to see someone agreeing with her.     

However, we probably all had the same conclusion. Even Aya, who put down what she was reading to check on it, was silent.     

To think that the seemingly perfect ojou-sama had this side with her. Well, no one’s perfect. Everyone has their own flaws. It’s kinda adorable to see her try to defend her masterpiece.     

But it is what it is. We can’t tell her there’s no problem when it’s really full of flaws.     

A while later, beating me on dispelling the awkward silence, Himeko raised her hand and leaned closer to her sister, “Uhm. Ya-chan, why don’t we play it? And while doing so, we’ll help out in polishing this.”     

“Nee-sama…” Looking as though she was about to cry, Itou jumped in her embrace. Although she didn’t really cry, she snuggled to her sister like a spoiled child.     

Haruko and the others also nodded their heads in agreement.     

As for me, I can’t really stay to play with them so I remained silent.     

When they were about to start, I took that as my chance to excuse myself.     

Naturally, I didn’t forget to pamper my girls, starting from Edel.     

I also asked Haruko about what Nami told me. However, the same as that girl, she vaguely answered.     

When I was about to leave the room, Itou chased after me. She looked like she wanted to say something. However, she soon decided against it and shut her mouth awkwardly.     

If I had to guess, she probably wanted me to stay and play with them.     

That’s why to cheer her up, I endearingly placed my hand on her head, patted and caressed it, “Mhm, it’s good that I brought you here. Let’s play your game next time. What do you think?”     

“When will that be?” She bit her lips, feeling really reluctant to let me go.         

“Soon, of course. Let’s get Misaki too. Or if you prefer, it can be just the two of us.”     

“That… Who wants to be alone with you?!”     

Look at this girl, she was about to nod but then she probably remembered that she was a tsundere.     

“There you go again. If you don’t like it then it’s fine. I won’t bring it up again.”     

Even before I could finish saying that, Itou had already grabbed my arm. And with a bashful expression, she whispered. “N-no. I like it. Let’s play it with only the two of us…”     

“Alright. That’s a promise. See, you’re so cute when you’re being honest.” I slid my hand down to her cheek and caressed it. The girl closed her eyes, enjoying my touch.     

Soon after she got satisfied, she quickly turned around to rejoin the other girls