Stealing Spree

Chapter 2631: Being Sandwiched is Normal

Although read as a text, Yumeiʼs words had that bubbly tone that told me she was grinning when she typed it. Tadanoʼs little sister always had this mischievous streak, making Tadano having to look out for her. But knowing her, this ʼrequestʼ could be anything from harmless to outright troublesome.

I typed back a reply, ”Request, huh? What kind of trouble are you dragging me into, Mei-chan? And as long as itʼs not going to bring us both trouble, my lips are sealed.”

Half a minute later, my phone vibrated from notification of her new message, ”Hehehe, I knew I could count on you, Handsome-senpai. My request isnʼt troublesome but... I think only you can help me with it.”

”Only me? Now thatʼs quite specific. Youʼre closer to Nami and the other girls, right? Why me?”

My phone buzzed again, Yumeiʼs reply popping up almost instantly.

”ʼCause youʼre, like, the guy for this, Handsome-senpai! Itʼs about your cosplay thing, but itʼs super secret. Can we meet up after school? Pretty please? I swear itʼs not gonna get us in trouble with my dumb Onii-chan!”

I couldnʼt help but shake my head. If Tadano caught wind of this, that guy would surely confront me again. But could I reject this girl?

Well, I probably can. I mean, Iʼm quite busy these days. Meeting up with her after school may be impossible.

”Do you know he hates my guts and heʼs overprotective of you? Anyway, I probably canʼt meet you after school. Iʼm quite busy, you see. However, if you like, youʼre welcome to visit our school. Iʼll ask someone to bring you.”

Sumire and the others would be coming again even if theyʼre supposed to have their final exams today.

Right, this girl should also be taking their final exams, right?

I hurriedly sent another message asking her about it.

”Hey, Mei-chan, arenʼt you supposed to be neck-deep in final exams today? Shouldnʼt you be worrying about that instead of this super-secret cosplay request?”

My fingers hovered over the phone screen, waiting for her reply while keeping one eye on the girls around me.

Chii was still leaning on my shoulder while Kushii switched to hugging my arm as well after I started using both of my hands on the phone. Meanwhile, An-rin was pretending to scroll through her phone, but her side-eye glances my way were as obvious as her uneven ribbon earlier.

Eventually, Yumeiʼs reply buzzed in. Even without opening, I already expected her enthusiasm to fly off of it, waving off my concern about her exams.

”Exams? Pfft, I will ace it easily, Handsome-senpai! And since Iʼll swing by your school. Iʼll pretend Iʼve come to visit him, no probs! Just tell me whoʼs picking me up.”

Yep. She wonʼt back out at all. I guess my mistake is to reply to her message right away.

If that guy saw her approaching me, I could already picture Tadano storming up to confront me for approaching her sister again.

Still, her request being tied to cosplay piqued my curiosity. Was she also planning to do some cosplay? Sheʼs not the type to do so, if I recall correctly. Sheʼs simply someone whoʼs quite active on social media. She wonʼt spend a day without updating them.

Letʼs see… if I rule that out, then… the only plausible reason is to see me…

I typed back, ”Alright, Mei-chan, you win. Iʼll have a few seniors of yours pick you up. Theyʼre also coming here later, after all. Youʼll recognize them easily. But you better tell me what this request is when you get here. No beating around the bush, alright? And if Tadano shows up, tell him Iʼm not the one who approached you.”

Chii shifted against me, her head tilting to peek at my phone. ”Whoʼs that, Kii? You look like youʼre quite troubled with dealing with her.”𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

I smiled and showed her our chat logs, ”Itʼs Tadanoʼs little sister, Yumei. She wants to request something from me. I donʼt know what itʼll be but knowing Tadano, heʼll think Iʼm preying on his little sister because of this.”

”Pfft. Itʼs understandable why heʼll think that way, Kii. Youʼre quite the charmer.”

”Mhm. I have an irresistible charm, right? Anyway, Iʼll deal with it when the time comes. Weʼre busy enough as it is. If her request is something that will take me away from my duties, then Iʼll turn her down.”

The train soon arrived at our destination. As we exited the station, Kushii let go of my arm. She and An-rin went a step ahead of us, acting normally as if everything that happened between us had been thrown to the back of their heads. Either theyʼre embarrassed to be seen clinging to me, or they just didnʼt want to get the attention of the other students. Regardless, theyʼre still stealing glances back at me.

From their expressions, I could pick up a mix of lingering embarrassment and something softer, like they were still processing everything that happened between us.

Chii, on the other hand, stayed glued to my side, happily enjoying the attention we were getting as we walked towards the school gates.

Sheʼs not afraid of being talked about. And given how my relationship with everyone remained to be seen as vague to the eyes of many, thereʼs not going to be any drawback for her about this.

Besides, sheʼd probably boast about this to the other girls later. So, Iʼd better prepare to appease them.

”Oi, Kii, youʼre gonna have to tell me more about this Yumei thing later. Iʼm not letting another junior steal your attention from us. Sumimin and Umi-chan are the exception.” Her lips curled into a teasing smirk, but her eyes had a hint of genuine curiosity.

”Donʼt worry, Chii. Yumeiʼs just a kid with a wild idea, probably. If itʼs anything too crazy, I can just shut it down faster than An-rin can threaten to dye my hair pink.”

I doubt itʼll be as crazy as how I got entangled with An-rin and Kushii though. Most likely, sheʼs going to act like my admirer. Someone she could boast about on her social media, like the first time we met.

Anyway, speaking of An-rin, she spun around and walked backward with her hands on her hips. Her ribbon remained slightly askew despite my earlier fix.

”Tch, I heard that, perv lord! Donʼt think youʼre off the hook just ʼcause weʼre outta my house. Iʼm keeping an eye on you! But… how funny will it be to see you get flustered by a junior? Pfft.”

Her voice was loud enough to draw a few curious glances from other students passing by. Upon realizing that, she immediately turned around, acting like she didnʼt say anything at all.

Kushii, walking beside her, rolled her eyes. ”An-rin, youʼre gonna make everyone think youʼre the perv with how much you keep yelling about it.”

”Shut up, Kushii. A-at least Iʼm not like you. Secretly hugging him on the train.”

”Are you jealous?”

”Nope! You and Chizuru can take Onoda-han for yourselves. Like, Iʼm totally not into him!”

Realizing she said that in a louder voice again, the girl hurriedly covered her mouth before glaring at me.

On my side, Chii couldnʼt help but giggle before teasing her friend, ”An-rin, your words and actions donʼt match, yʼknow?”

The banter continued as we approached the school gates. Soon, the familiar figure of Ryouko-san holding her stick as she watched every student pass by.

Her expression was strict enough that most of them nervously walked past her.

In any case, a rare smile showed up on her face as soon as her eyes caught me.

We slowed down our steps and greeted her. Knowing Ryouko-sanʼs relationship with me, Chiiʼs possessiveness acted up as she tightened her hold on my arm as though she were declaring to our lovely PE Teacher that Iʼm hers this morning.

Ryouko-san couldnʼt help but shake her head before waving her arm, unbothered at Chiiʼs display.

After all, she knew Iʼd still come for her regardless of my other girlsʼ attempt at trying to monopolize me. Yep. Thatʼs how much of a bastard I was.

As we stepped inside the School Building, I briefly separated from Chii and the other two at the shoelocker.

And just like the previous days, Sachi popped up from somewhere, taking her chance to talk to me this morning. She brought up more gossip circulating around different group chats. I found some of them interesting but the rest? Theyʼre just fun little pieces of information that I have no idea if there will come a time to use them.

When I regrouped with the three gyarus, they all eyed Sachi, who walked by my side as though finding another rival.

Luckily, it didnʼt evolve into a catfight. They all acted normally, sandwiching me between them.

Wait, that wasnʼt normal, wasnʼt it?