Stealing Spree

With the time allowance that remained before I leave again with Yua, I made use of it to catch up with anything that I missed or they held back on telling me through our messages.

I mean, some things just couldn’t be conveyed through texts. And with different unique experiences day after day, things just kept on piling up.

“Sweetie…” Minutes later, Yae fell over as she switched places with Akane on my lap. She’s a little drained of energy after dumping everything that’s troubling her mind.

As her diligent boyfriend, I caught her and started comforting her.

She updated me on her brother’s situation. With her parents giving up on him, he was being sent away. But at least, they’re not just going to throw him out of their house. Apparently, he’s going to another prefecture to wait for another year and enroll in one of the universities there. In the meantime, he was supposed to provide for himself by taking part-time jobs.

That should be fine but with him leaving, there’s no chance for him to redeem himself anymore. It would be like accepting the accusations that got him expelled.

Though I planned to meet and talk to him, that’s probably not going to happen as well.

As to how that would affect Yae… she mentioned how her parents gave her a stricter curfew. At least, until the situation calmed down. Apparently, because of that incident, they’re under scrutiny both by their neighbors and those from the same college. Not that they’d been branded as a menace but they couldn’t help but see fingers pointed at them anywhere they went.

It was causing her parents a great deal of stress and Yae was catching it from them.

“Alright. Is it possible to have you stay here instead? Will they even accept it?”

“Uh… I don’t know.”

Well, I was thinking of introducing myself to them and asking them to let her live with me for a while. But that would surely be rejected. I mean, it would just create more problems for them. And I doubt they would allow her to live with a guy, especially her boyfriend.

We could also use the trump card of fronting Akane as an excuse again. However, I had no idea if it would be accepted.

In the following minutes, Yae and I along with Akane and Haruko started brainstorming what to do about it.

And using that as a chance, I also probed Haruko about her situation at their house. As expected, it was still the same. Either she didn’t want to worry about her or there was really nothing that could be done about it.

In the end, Akane gathered everyone in the house and we talked about it over lunch.

Solutions were presented but we failed to reach a conclusive solution. Due to that, I told them that we’ll continue this later after we return.

–

–

At exactly 11 o’clock, only a few minutes after we finished eating, Yua and I left the house with a huge sendoff by my girls.

Except for Chii and Hifumi, all of them mentioned about holding the fort if ever Hana showed up. But in consideration of the two, they’d let them answer the door for her.

Anyway, on our way to the station, I sent a message to that girl earlier, asking her why she didn’t tell me that she was visiting yesterday.

She replied right away with an expected answer. “Oh. I wanted to surprise you. Unfortunately, you’re not there. Akane is very lucky. She can live with you in the same house and sleep in the same bed. How will she react if I take her place?’

That’s very cheeky of her, right?

When I asked her if she was going to visit again today, the girl kept the same attitude.

“It won’t be a surprise if I tell you, Ruki. Though, it’s a different story if you’ll admit defeat. I’ll run to you right away with all my luggage. You’re the only reason I return to this city. Remember that.”

Yep. She seemed to have gotten some confidence since I kept on messaging her. In any case, that’s fine. Like she said, it won’t be fun if one of us folded right away. I’d let her get away with that for now…

And yep, if that’s her end game, I’ll be bringing her home with me once she admits her defeat in this little challenge she raised.

“Look at your smile, Ruki. There’s no denying now that you still love her. Should I be jealous?”

As I put my phone away after arriving at the station, Yua commented. The way she said it sounded like she was teasing me but at the same time, probing about what I truly felt for Hana.

“Yeah. I probably can’t deny that by now. But there’s no reason for you to be jealous. If she remained adamant about what she wanted to happen, what I feel for her will just be a burden to all of you so… I will definitely draw the line there. Anyway, since she wanted to play like this, I’m eager to give her a taste of defeat.”

“… Now that’s a sinister smile you got there. I’m glad I dropped the similar idea of having you all to myself.”

“Is it? In any case, I’m all yours today, you know? Have you prepared yourself for the photoshoot?” Changing the subject here, I asked the girl.

She might’ve covered it up by joking like that but I already noticed her being a little giddy. Possibly, there’s still fear lingering in her mind regarding what happened in the past.

As we made our way to the platform, I held her hand, an attempt to calm her down and also just my way to reassure her that I would never leave her side today.

“… Uhm, actually, I’m having second thoughts. Will I still be able to do it?”

“Of course, you can. But there’s no need to push yourself. I’m sure your mother will understand if you ever decide to back out.” If it comes down to it, we can just head back.

However, seeing the conviction in her eyes, I already expected her to reject that idea. The same as Yue, she loves that industry just as much as she loves me. And as her boyfriend, I’ll keep on supporting her career and not become a hindrance to it.

Fifteen minutes later, our train arrived at our destination and as soon as we stepped outside, her mother was already waiting for us in her car.