Stealing Spree

"By the way, Ruki. This gift… Why did you have me pick it up?"

As the bus started moving and the two of us once again found a comfortable silence, Hina, with a hint of uncertainty in her voice, brought up that question. On her hand, the gift that Ogawa intentionally left behind. It was still unopened but Hina already guessed what was inside—a cosmetic item from her favorite brand.

Like we both thought, it was a birthday gift with the secondary purpose of being reconciliatory. What was written on the card was the guy wishing the girl Happy Birthday along with another written apology and his own wish to mend their cracked friendship.

I had no idea if Hina understood it, but when I read that message, why he returned at such a time became a little clear.

If I wasn't wrong, there were only two possible reasons. One; the girls' plan had started working and he was already moving on. Mending his friendship with the closest girl to him before everything went down was the first step he took.

Or if not that, the idiot was still deluding himself that if he sincerely asked Hina for forgiveness, the girl wouldn't be able to resist him considering their years of friendship. In turn, he could also shake the relationship that bloomed between Hina and me.

If it's the first one then good… He's on the right path. But if it's the second… Let's see… Making contact with Kazuha-nee again would be my next move. I'm a petty man, after all. If multiple lessons weren't enough for him, I could always give him more and bury him deeper in his grave.

At the moment, it was still inconclusive. I had no time to observe him and my girls were the same. All he had left was their small concern for their years of friendship.

Nami even mentioned that in their club, the guy wasn't that proactive anymore. While Izumi stepped up to be the Club President, Arisa became the core member with her inherent genial personality. Their clients who were asking for help on their trivial problems always returned positive feedback because of her.

Returning to Hina's question, I took a moment to arrange my thoughts before answering.

"Why, huh? Isn't it sad to just leave it there? He took the effort to pick that up for you. Even if my possessiveness was nagging me to tell you to ignore it, I just couldn't. He's still your friend regardless of our current beef with him. Of course, if he makes an attempt to win you back from me, I'll kick him right away."

"Pfft. Ruki, didn't you see how I'm tormenting him? My feelings for him have dried up already and it's his fault. Even if he waters it with his attempts, it won't be revived anymore. But you're right, it's sad if I leave it there. It's a birthday gift, after all."

After dangling it in her hand for a while, she soon put it back in her bag, removing it from our gazes.

"Mhm. I know. That's why I'm not threatened with that gift. Besides, if he's sincere in trying to mend your friendship, that's a first step. It's not good to nurture hatred in our hearts, right? Moreover, you always see each other in your club. It will be great for the tension to disappear so you can all enjoy your club activity."

"This guy. If I don't know that you're the one who wants to torment him the most, I'll say you're being too considerate of him. The truth is… you're looking out for me or us again. Am I right?"

She's right. If it's only humanly possible, I'll torment him every minute until he breaks down and changes his ways. But in our present situation, he's already too irrelevant to care about. Besides, I'm always ready to retaliate in case he tries something.

I put on a meaningful smile. "I'll leave the interpretation to you."

"Geez. Now you're acting mysterious." Unconvinced at my answer, she pouted and poked my cheek before lifting my arm to squeeze in my embrace once again. A second later, she sweetly giggled as she continued, "Un. I also love this side of you that is always looking out for me."

Sure enough, like most of my girls, she also managed to understand what was going on in my mind. As much as I like seeing her torment her 'childhood friend', letting her hatred get the best of her isn't the way to go. Disdaining him was enough, I guess? One thing is for sure… Their circle will never be the same again even if Ogawa made a turnaround from his recent behavior.

Spending our remaining time on the bus like this while talking about different topics, we soon reached our destination.

Upon getting off, we took an alternate route to their neighborhood.

I mean, it's natural, right? If we use the same path as before, we'll pass by Nami, Tadano, and Shizu's house first.

Even if it was already nightfall, the risk of being seen by Auntie Kasumi or Mei-chan was still high. Even if I could explain our way out, it would be too much trouble so… avoiding the risk was the best way.

Apart from that, we also made a stop at a pastry shop. Even if I got invited for dinner, it's only common courtesy to not show up empty-handed, right?

And instead of buying randomly, I let the birthday girl pick what she likes. She refused at first but she soon caved in with my insistence. I still have money earned from my part-time job so I told her to not worry about the price.

In the end, the girl ordered a triple chocolate mousse. Apparently, her family loves it. Although there's a chance that there's already a cake on their dinner table, there's no hurt in adding more.

Following that, we continued on our way with the birthday girl humming excitedly on my side. However, as soon as we stepped into their street, her chest started pounding loudly not just from excitement but also nervousness as well.

Unlike the first time that we walked in here in the middle of the night, the people in their neighborhood were still active.

And so, as soon as they spotted us, most of them started showering the girl with birthday greetings before making a comment about me. Some of them also called out to me, asking for my name before confirming if I'm dating her.

Really, how meddlesome can they be?

"Hina-chan. You two look great together! I was skeptical when I heard it earlier but what a handsome boy." One of the middle-aged women peeking from over their fence shouted. There's a welcoming smile on her lips. Next to her was possibly her husband was donning the same smile. However, I could sense the couple was intently scrutinizing my appearance. Perhaps, trying to commit my figure to their memory. If ever I made the girl cry, I should expect them to come for my head.

Yeah. What a weird neighborhood. They could be characters in a horror movie or game.

In any case, having been informed by Hina about how they might react, I simply smiled and politely greeted them. And I repeated that a few times before finally arriving in front of their house.

Actually, some of them even commented and chastised Ogawa for being an idiot for letting her go or being too slow that someone else claimed her first.

In any case, they said those jokingly so there wasn't really a need to react in a serious manner. The bottom line is they're all happy for the birthday girl.

"Here we go, Ruki…" As she reached for their gate, Hina took a deep breath. She attempted to calm her nerves.

"Mhm. I'm in your care then."

"Is it just me or you're not nervous at all?"

"I am nervous but… remember how shameless I am? I'm channeling that shamelessness to not let my nervousness show in my face."

Upon hearing that, Hina couldn't help but laugh at my answer which effectively calmed her nerves.

"I knew it. I'm worrying over nothing… Okay! One more time, here we go!" With a louder voice than earlier, Hina finally mustered up her courage and pushed their gate open, guiding me inside.

At the same time as we reached their front door, it swung open revealing someone that I hadn't expected to be there.

It's Kazuha-nee who's supposed to be living next door. Is she part of the family dinner? I don't know. Even Hina was surprised to see her, after all.

With her lips curving up in a playful smile, the woman first approached Hina, pinched her cheek, and greeted her endearingly before shifting her gaze to me.

"Ruki-kun, it's been a while."

Is it? But it hasn't been a week since I last saw her.