Stealing Spree

Even though it earned me another warning from her escorts, they still eventually agreed to my request of having Marika accompany me on my walk toward the station.

Yeah. Instead of getting invited by her, I turned it into my own request. This might not change the reality of our situation but at least, it’s like taking some of the load off her shoulder.

Luckily, I had her stand by the side and not let her hear that or else, she’d probably try and own up to it again. Just like the last time with Ichihara Jun.

The warning that I received this time was accompanied by real intimidation. They both stood in front of me looking like a predator ready to make mincemeat out of their prey.

Of course, they’re probably strong enough to protect Marika against common thugs. Heck, they’re probably even ex-military who could take down would-be kidnappers. Nonetheless, the pressure they were projecting wasn’t enough to make me tremble on my knees. Because at the end of the day, they’re just giving me a warning, not putting me in my place.

Right. As for the content of that warning, they told me that if I didn’t stop associating with Marika, they’d be forced to report my involvement to the Ichihara and her family from Kyoto. If that happened, they believed that they would surely intervene and do something about me.

Against a normal boy who had just entered high school, it was probably enough for them to shit their pants from fear. But against me, I’d say it’s only giving me a preview of what I should expect when things go down and I successfully steal Marika from their hands.

Naturally, I wouldn’t be so foolish and let everyone related to me be implicated. Sooner or later, I must make the first move so that it will throw them off for a while.

Tomorrow, I’ll go and visit Minoru and my parents where they’re staying. To talk about Marika and... ask for their assistance. As I said, if it’s possible, the assistance I will be needing is to prevent the adults from interfering.

But thinking about it, this would probably be harder than convincing Otoha’s grandfather. Because once I kick Ichihara Jun down and bring home Marika with me, it will spell the end of the interference that my parents will be able to provide for my sake...

Let’s see... I guess I’ll also talk to my girls about this when the time comes. I can’t have them be in the dark when it can be considered dangerous territory.

Anyway, enough about that for now.

Having gotten the agreement of her escorts, Marika and I soon started our walk toward the train station.

Because of the rain earlier and the lingering clouds above, the stars and the moon were mostly hidden. That made the night breeze colder than normal. Fortunately, I still have the jacket I used earlier during the scouting trip. I took it out and draped it over Marika’s shoulder.

At first, she’s surprised but as soon as pulled the collar up for a sniff, the ringlet girl seemingly catches an addiction. She’s captivated by my scent.

Due to that, even though she said that this was her first time walking at night and in a fairly crowded location, Marika just kept a tight hold on my arm as we walked along the sidewalk, passing people and various establishments.

This continued until halfway to our destination. Because unbeknownst to me, she’d be fascinated by something else...

“Here, senpai. Hold it here.” I said as I handed her a stick of yakitori, fresh out of the grill.

While it’s considered as street food, yakitori; a grilled chicken on a stick, wasn’t rare even for a high-class lady like her. Nonetheless, this was probably the first time that she saw one being grilled in front of her. The way she keenly watched until the meat on the skewer turned from pink to brown with a smudge of black from being toasted.

Right. The one she got fascinated by was the food cart selling various fried and grilled street food on our way to the train station. It’s the type of food cart that only comes out during the night to cater to the tired working adults going home from work. It’s the one that also offers liquor to go along with the food. But well, that’s irrelevant to us. The closest to liquor that we could drink once a year was the sweet sake during the New Year’s shrine visit.

Anyway, I was initially planning to just get something from a convenience store or a vending machine since it would be quicker. However, upon noticing the ringlet girl’s attention getting drawn by it, I scrapped that plan and brought her to the food cart.

And now, after ordering one of each, we sat down at the laid-out table and chairs in front of it to eat.

“Junior-kun. It’s still hot. How can I bite at this?” Excited at first, Marika soon frowned as she found out how hard it was to bite at the saucy food on a stick while it was still scalding hot.

Watching her fumble like that drew out a laugh from me which instantly made the girl pout unhappily.

“Ah. I’m sorry. Let me help you with that.”

Using the napkin supplied by the food cart, I wiped the corner of her lips before taking the stick from her.

Then, under her watch, I started blowing air on it to cool it down. While I was at that, Marika cupped her cheeks as she rested her elbow on the table to watch me do it. Her glittering eyes showed how amusing it is for her.

“Does that work? Will it cool down like that, Junior-kun?”

“Maybe? But you see, this type of food is usually eaten while it’s this hot.”

Upon answering like that, I opened my mouth and took the topmost chunk of meat to give it a taste. Since I did that under her watchful eyes, Marika reacted right away. She pointed at me as though she was going to tell me off for taking her food from her.

But as soon as started huffing due to how hot it still is, the ringlet girl started laughing in delight. “Pfft... Junior-kun, must you act like a fool? That’s what you get for eating my food. Hand it over.”

As I struggled to chew into it, Marika grabbed the stick back. While showcasing a bit of smugness, she opened her mouth and clamped her teeth down on the next chunk.

Although she couldn’t copy what I did by taking a whole chunk, she clenched her teeth to bite at least close to half of it. Just enough for the remaining chunk to not be ripped off of the stick.

A second later, the ringlet girl’s smugness turned grim as she covered her mouth before huffing for air as well.

Yep. It’s still scalding hot. I mean, the temperature was actually contained inside. You need to wait for a few minutes if you want to eat it without suffering from how hot it is.

For her to make the decision of taking a bite as well after laughing at me, she definitely wanted to beat me in that particular category.

Too bad. It didn’t go according to her expectations.

Holding myself back from laughing as well, I grabbed a glass and filled it with water before pushing it close to her. “Senpai, can I ask you the same question?”

“No! This is... fine. I can eat it like this!”

Or so she said, but she’s clearly pushing herself for it.

A waited for a while before grabbing the stick again and placing it down on the plate, along with the other street food we bought. Following that I grabbed the glass of water and assisted her to drink the water.

Slightly aggrieved because I didn’t listen to her, Marika pouted once more. And as though she didn’t want to lose out, she picked the skewer back up to take another bite.

Little by little and bite by bite, Marika started savoring it. I kept my eye on her watching her enjoy it.

By the time she finished it all and even licked the stick clean of the leftover sauce, Marika put her hands on her hips as she puffed her chest out, looking proud of her accomplishment.

Shaking my head inwardly, I patted her head and praised her before handing her another glass of water.

“Mhm. You did well, senpai. Next up on the menu... let’s share these takoyakis.”

Well, the yakitori is just the start. Since we bought quite a lot to share between us, we’ll be sitting here until we finish it all.

It’s fine, anyway. Seeing Marika enjoy this moment was enough to compensate for the few minutes that I would be losing...

It’s a shame that I cannot take her home yet but it’s fine this way. This ringlet girl deserves this kind of moment where she can forget the troubles around her.