Stealing Spree

"This way you'll understand it better, right? I used to live with her."

Sakuma smiled shyly.

Ah. This guy, he's probably thinking about that time.

"You're a lucky guy. So how was it? Did you come to like her during your time there?

One thing is for sure, Satsuki fell in love with him during that time.

"We're pretty close during 6th Grade. I helped her with the bullies by receiving the beating instead of them."

Eh? So you willingly got beaten up by Satsuki? Are you a masochist?

Ah. He probably has that tendency. He's willingly receiving her insults now.

"Man. Are you proud to be her punching bag?"

"Yes? That's better than her getting into troubles for beating them up. She's kind of violent before. Plus her parents told me to look out for her."

She's still a bit violent today but she transferred most of those in her mouth.

This must be one of the reasons she fell in love with him. She must've known what he was doing for her.

"I'm sure there were other ways but you chose that."

I acted as if I'm backing away from him. This masochist. I wonder what happened to that picture we took? I told her that we will stop that plan to send it to the whole class. I planned to just show it to Sakuma through my phone after she edited it. I'll make an excuse for it, something like I found it in the internet.

"Hey! Those eyes. You look like you're looking at a freak. It's the only way if I wanted to not get in trouble as well."

He hurriedly explained himself.

"Alright. Continue your story. Looks like we're still at the intro."

Maybe what he did contributed to her feelings for him. She got an early growth spurt back then which made her even taller than most boys in their grade, resulting in her being teased in their school.

"This guy. Alright before I continue, tell me Onoda. Do you not feel attracted to Maemura?"

Err... I'm more than attracted to her. I already love her.

This guy still couldn't rest about his suspicion. He's not wrong anyway.

"I'll be lying if I told you I don't. Her height isn't an issue, she's even more attractive that way."

I've also tasted her. If not for you, she'll probably be completely mine already.

"Hmm. I see you're really honest, Onoda. Can I ask you not to make a move on her?"

This guy. Couldn't he just say it straight to me? To stop helping Satsuki with their affairs.

"Haa. I'm trying to help you two but Sakuma, are you that pessimistic about your chances with her?"

I asked him with a serious face. I won't say yes and accede to his request or even lie just to satisfy him.

"No. I'm just jealous of how close you are to her."

He also answered seriously.

Satsuki is already mine so him asking like this won't make any difference.

"You know, if you keep doing this, even if it's not me, someone might get to her before you. Stop stalling for time, dude."

I'm giving this idiot a push at the back again. Well, I'm also getting impatient now, he keeps on stalling for time and that's making Satsuki confused as well.

I don't care even if he noticed that I'm purposely not answering his questions and requests which concerns my relationship with Satsuki. I won't tell him any lie. At least that much, I can do for him.

"… Your words make sense, Onoda. But the thing is, I still don't know if I can resolve what happened. I asked for a week and kept acting like this but it's still not clear whether I can resolve that."

Sakuma looked down, the worry on his face was apparent.

What's that thing he needed to resolve anyway? This is what I really wanted to know and we've already taken a lot of detours to reach here.

"Tell me about it. I don't know if I can help but let me hear it first."

I egged him.

I won't let him take another detour. This is why I am wasting my time here.

"Alright. It's not actually about Maemura. It's about her sister."

Eh? We're talking about the two of you, why will her sister be involved? And from what I heard from his mother last Sunday, it sounded like it's something that also involved Satsuki. Or maybe his mother just didn't know the real story.

"Huh? That's confusing Sakuma. If it's about her sister, why can't you talk to Satsuki or even go to their house again?"

I've just finished acting with Nami, now I'm acting again to make this guy talk.

"There was an incident before. Everything stemmed from that incident."

Incident? I see. That's why they both don't want to talk about it.

"So this incident, it involved the three of you?"

I asked curiously, hoping to hear about the whole incident.

"Yes. But Onoda, I won't tell you what the incident is about."

His next words disappointed me but I didn't let it show on my face. I already expected this so it's fine. I already heard an important piece, I'll ask Satsuki about it.

"It's fine. If Maemura also won't tell me then I won't push it."

That incident held the key to everything, I guess? Well, just hearing that involved the three of them, I started having theories about it but without confirmation from them, it will just stay as my speculation.

"Thanks. Anyway, what happened made a crack on my relationship with both of the Maemura sisters. I'm not really sure if there's a crack but I can't get the courage to set foot near their house again"

He looked up at the sky while drinking the canned soda I gave him. This guy was probably thinking about that incident.

"That crack was the thing you still couldn't resolve, right?"

He remained silent from my question so I followed it up.

"I don't know and you won't tell me about the incident but Sakuma, you told me it's really about her sister. Did something happen between the two of you?"

Of course, something happened between them. He wouldn't be like this if that's not the case. Now my curiosity towards Satsuki's older sister heightened.

He nodded as his answer to my question.

"Do you like both of them?"

What does her sister look like anyway? I didn't try finding out about her last Sunday because I was too focused on making Satsuki mine.

Ah. She will surely bring it up this Sunday. I just need to get more information about her from Sakuma right now.

"W-what? No."

Sakuma hurriedly denied it but that look on his face says otherwise.

"You stuttered there, Sakuma. I didn't see her sister last Sunday, Maemura said she left home to live near her college."

If she's already in college, then 4 years ago she's already a high schooler. What could possibly happen that involved two 6th Graders and a High Schooler?

Is her sister like her? Is she also someone taller than most guys or it's just Satsuki's unique trait?

"That's right. After my stay there ended, I never saw her sister again and I couldn't get myself to go to their house again even when she's not there anymore."

"This guy. I don't know about what the incident was about but you're clearly emphasizing about Maemura's sister, was that why you couldn't confess to her?"

He nodded again.

"Are you sure it's Maemura who you like? Or is it just her sister? Are you chasing after Maemura because she's her sister?

There's that possibility but yeah, it will only be a possibility unless I learned what the incident was about.

"That. I don't know. This is why I told you it's complicated."

He answered with a complicated expression on his face.

He's really thinking over my words. If he's really just chasing after Satsuki because of her sister then this guy, I can just push him to her. That way, it can help Satsuki forget about him.

"Dude. You better clear that up first. From what I can gather, you really like Maemura but that might be you seeing her as a replacement since she's the one closer and someone you can reach. What will you do if her sister appeared in front of you again?"

Even if I'm just assuming things here, I'll confuse him by pushing that idea in his mind.

"I…"

It's taking him way longer to respond now. Is it working?

Well, I'll ask Satsuki about her sister this Sunday and learn everything about that incident this guy mentioned.

"You know, Maemura's feelings for you are too deep. Looks like you did something that got imprinted in her heart but if you're just confusing her to her sister, then you better clear that up before you confess."

"Am I really just confusing her? All this time I was watching Maemura's back."

"Her back? Does it resemble her sister?"

He was taken aback by that question.

"…Onoda, I don't know."

In the end that's all he could answer.

"Haa. I won't ask about that incident anymore but Sakuma. Don't make a mistake. In the off chance that you like them both, who will you choose?"

He's not like me so he will have to choose one. I feel a bit bad for stealing Satsuki from him so I guess I'll try pushing him towards her sister. It will be up to him though if he can make a college girl fall for him.

I might possibly steal her in the future as well but yeah let's give him a chance. I haven't even met her sister so let's cross that thought out for now.

Because of the lack of information, I can only assume but this is enough to confuse this guy and push his attention away from his suspicions about us.

"Maemura is the one I'm looking at since then."

This guy, he answered differently on purpose. He didn't choose one.

"Are you sure you're properly looking at her? You know, if you are really after Maemura, you won't have to wait until now. It turns out there's that incident which also involved her sister and that was the thing holding you back."

Let's confuse this guy more. Make him think that it's her sister that he really likes and not Maemura herself.

"… I need to meet her sister again. But she's away from their home."

This reaction. It's working.

"Why don't we ask Maemura?"

I suggested. I'll still ask her even if it's not for this guy. I'm already curious about her older sister.

"Huh?"

"I'll ask her for you. Where she is or when will she come back."

I patted his shoulder to assure him that I will do it for him.

"Aren't you helping Maemura?"

"You're also a friend, you know? And if you confess to her and it turns out it's not really her who you like, that's just sad. I'll help you clarify what's confusing you right now."

And here's the final hammer to completely nail it.

"Thanks, Onoda."

He nodded and thanked me. Now his suspicions about us were probably sent to the back of his head. His mind will now be full of her sister.

"Alright. I have to go now. See you tomorrow. Check on Maemura for me, okay?"

I stood up and bid farewell to him. I got what I wanted and it's now time to meet Kana.

"Okay. I'll tell her you also came to check on her."