Stealing Spree

With Hana clearing the air, the second period also passed without any issues. Nonetheless, in a short time, her reputation had already been lifted by herself.

Even though she was at the very back of the row, it felt like she was at the very front because of how she proactively participated in the lesson. The teacher who was at first skeptical of the transfer student suddenly got a new favorite. Every time she would explain something, she would glance at Hana, hoping that the girl would once again prove her intelligence to everyone.

And sure enough, she wasn’t disappointed. While almost everyone struggled with mathematics, the girl seemingly could understand the formulas with just a glance. It was as if she already learned that before.

Well, that’s probably the truth. She attended a specialized school, after all. Or more specifically, a boarding school where the only time she would be able to leave its premises was during a school trip or a vacation. Their curriculum had advanced lessons.

That’s why as soon as the teacher left the room, our classmates once again surrounded her, praising her a lot for what she showed in class. Yet, as always, she donned her angelic mask to accommodate them all.

In a way, the girl could be said to have slowly acclimated to the class. Perhaps before this day ends, someone would claim that he or she was the girl’s new friend.

Obviously, there was still the hanging question. Who am I to her?

“Ruki, can you come with me?”

Pulling me out of my thoughts, someone approached my desk. Even without looking up, I could easily recognize the girl’s figure and bust size.

She’s my girl, after all.

Uh. Of course, her voice was also recognizable. But let’s not dwell on that, hmm?

Meeting the girl’s gaze, I instantly captured Hina’s complicated expression. Through observation, it’s a mix of jealousy as well as self-deprecation.

Having noticed that, I instantly sprang up to my feet. It’s the instinct of a boyfriend to check what’s wrong with his girl.

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Despite that, I still prevented my concern from showing up on my face. She might think twice about telling me what’s troubling her, after all.

Asking me to come with her, there’s no doubt that she wanted to talk. But unlike Hana, she couldn’t openly address what was on her mind. There’s still the mindful consideration of not exposing the true nature of our relationship in most of them.

Well, Nami broke that earlier but if everyone suddenly stood up and announced their relationship with me then… it would be too chaotic. It would be hard for us to find peace.

Rather than that, doing it one at a time should be plausible – if ever they managed to arrive at that idea. To follow through with it, we just have to let the first one sink into everyone’s mind first before revealing another one.

Indeed, the hints were already all over the place and some already started picking those up. Nonetheless, without tacit confirmation, it would just end up as speculation or theory no matter how obvious it was.

“Mhm. Lead the way, I’ll follow.” I answered while showing a gentle smile on my face. It’s an attempt to remove the pressure on the girl and at the same time, a mask to whoever’s paying attention to us.

Hina returned the smile and nodded.

Before following her, my eyes made a sweep to check on my other girls. Even though they didn’t make the same move as the girl, they also have almost the same expression as her.

Obviously, I had long figured out the reason for that. It’s Hana and how that girl diffused the situation so easily earlier while they failed to do anything with it.

In my opinion, it’s totally understandable. It’s not in their hands to do something about it. However, they had differing opinions. Hence, this situation.

As I started following behind Hina. Someone grabbed my shoulder.

“Excuse me, where might you two be going? The third period is upon us.”

Who else would it be? It’s Hana, of course. Somehow, she extricated herself from the crowd and ran up to me. While her words sounded like she was concerned about us, there’s no doubt that she was just trying to obstruct us from leaving together.

And upon hearing her words, Hina, who was only a step ahead of me, turned back around. A dark gloom hung on her expression.

Her hands on her sides curled up into a fist as she indignantly put herself between me and Hana, removing the latter’s hand from my shoulder.

Even though she’s shorter by an inch, Hina faced the black-haired beauty without showing any signs of backing down.

As the one closest to her, I could sense how much she was holding back from raging. But like Nami earlier, she resolved herself to face the girl in front of us. Not to antagonize her but to match Hana in her act.

And so, after gathering her thoughts, she took a deep breath before speaking, “Thank you for your concern, Shinohara-san. Don’t worry, we won’t be long.”

Although I couldn’t see her expression given that I ended up behind her, I could imagine Hina putting on the same smile as Hana.

“Is that so? Then, can I join you?” With a twitch of her eyebrows, Hana proposed it without sounding too intrusive. However, even the spectators would know that Hana’s motive was to prevent us from being alone together.

Knowing that, Hina glanced back at me for a moment before answering. She also glanced at the other girls, perhaps conveying that she was taking up Hana’s challenge by herself.

“Sure, why not? Let’s go, Shinohara-san, Ruki.” Upon saying that Hina turned around and resumed heading to the door. Naturally, I followed after her.

I could say something here but given the situation, I doubt it would even make an impact.

Besides, with this new situation rising, it became another topic for the class.

From behind us, I heard someone saying, “Shinohara-san really won’t stop trying to appeal to Onoda-kun… I wonder what happened to them before.”

Then another one replied, “Yeah. That’s very unusual. I get it that Onoda-kun is now that handsome but can’t she wait until after class? Also, what’s with the girls normally around him? Earlier, Rindou and Andou stepped up for him. Now, it’s Mori… You see what I’m getting at?”

“Only the blind ones will fail to see it. But it’s kinda interesting. They’re all spurred on by the appearance of a new rival… Onoda-kun suddenly became a rom-com protagonist.”

“I know, right? The other boys are totally eclipsed by him… He’s like a different breed from them.”

“Maybe that’s what they meant to be an Alpha Male. He rarely gets flustered and he’s so friendly to everyone. Heck, he confessed to almost everyone in our class… What’s with that?”

“Yeah. Is he actually a playboy? Is he playing with us?”

“I doubt it. He’s not getting scorned by everyone, right?”

“Right…”

Those girls… Even with how fast they’re shooting their mouths off, I captured most of their conversation. But I guess that’s the current general sentiment.

Before stepping out of our classroom, I caught those two. They’re Misumi and another girl whose name remained on the tip of my tongue. When they noticed my eyes on them, they both shyly smiled before shutting their mouths closed.

“Heh, so that’s how you’re keeping this up, Ruki. Impressive. As expected of you.” Hana playfully commented from behind me.

Yeah. She also heard all of that and noticed that small interaction.

Hina, on the other hand, simply glanced at us without saying anything. However, as soon as we stepped out of the room, she reached for my hand, locking it right away before pulling me to her side.

Hana, who was a step behind, failed to react to that. Before she could even try to catch up with us, Hina had already started leading us somewhere rather deserted.

Well, I say that it’s deserted but really, it could also be crowded at any moment.

“Wait… are you really going to…?” Doubtful, Hana raised that incomplete question as soon as she understood Hina’s intention.

“Hmm? What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to accompany us?” Hina returned a question as her lips curved up into a confident smirk.

“Wait a minute! Ruki cannot enter that place.”

“Why? Will you tell on him?”

“N-no… But it’s risky!”

“Isn’t that why you’re here? You can be our lookout, Shinohara-san.” This time, Hina’s smirk transformed into a rather vulgar smile. Something I never thought she was capable of doing.

Really, my girl was still full of surprises.

“E-eh? No!”

And with that. For the first time today, Hana’s composure was broken. With an extremely flustered expression, she lowered her head, looking defeated.

Well, how can she not be? Because the place Hina picked was none other than the women’s bathroom.

I had no idea if this was her original destination when she asked me to come with her but at the moment, her intention was clear, it was to deal a decisive blow to their acknowledged rival.

Should I do something about this situation? Maybe later. First, I want to see what else Hina has up her sleeves or how Hana will recover from this.