Stealing Spree

It’s obvious. They’re the supposed younger members of their circle who are going to visit Ogawa.

Looking at them, they didn’t really look that young apart from their uniform. I mean, there’s probably not a year of an age gap between them. If they wore our school uniform, no one would mistake them for being a student here.

In any case, the way they fawned at Tadano and Ogawa oozed out a lot of their childishness.

They seemed to be the type who was just crushing on a senior. But I guess I was probably just putting them into the standard of Ria and Sumire – no matter how fanatical that girl is.

Observing the two who rushed over, one of them was probably at the same height as Saki. For reference, I’ll take the height of my girls from their club. If Izumi is the tallest, Nami, Arisa, and Hina are not that far apart. Saki was the one who was arguably the shortest among them but only an inch or maybe half an inch. She even appeared taller because of her bundled hair.

Anyway, the one I just described could be likened to your typical little sister stereotype. She had this cute face and a little bratty disposition on top of her twin-tail hairstyle.

As for the other girl, she looked like she had just started dabbling into a certain fashion trend of having light make-up and sparkly highlights on her hair. Maybe in the middle ground of being a fashionista and a gyaru.

She also had her winter uniform coat tied on her waist, much like how Saki used to do so. Furthermore, her skirt was pulled up higher. Maybe a few inches above her knees, giving everyone a view of her plump thighs.

With their attention only focused on the two idiots, I couldn’t help but appreciate feeling unremarkable once again. I mean, because of my transformation, I tend to get the attention of almost anyone recently. But at this moment, they only had eyes for the two.

In particular, they probably had their own pick already. The first girl for Ogawa and the other for Tadano. It’s different from what I heard from the girls. The two weren’t vying for Ogawa’s attention alone.

Ah. Right. There’s the third girl. She might be the one who’s also chasing after the idiot.

Because she was left behind and the view of her got blocked by the two girls, it took a while to see her properly.

Much to my surprise, the girl’s attention wasn’t on either of the two idiots. Her hand was covering her mouth as she stared at me in astonishment.

Why?

Because she’s someone I know. Or rather, I’ve already met before.

Sumire’s friend. The timid Umi.

The world is really small, huh? Whether she’s part of the same circle or not, I had no idea.

I guess I’ll be able to find that out in a minute.

Walking past them, I quickly arrived in front of the girl. Giving her a quick scan, Umi appeared fidgety and looked like she was about to shrivel up and hide in her shell. Really, she’s always like this. She’s competing with my Kana in terms of shyness.

“What a coincidence, hmm? I never thought I'd see you here, Umi-chan.”

“Y-yes...”

Despite trying my best to appear as nice as possible, the girl still couldn’t really calm herself down in front of me. Her voice was as shaky as her body and eventually, she lowered her head, looking a bit flustered.

Nonetheless, she didn’t step away from me and joined them.

Considering those few times that I interacted with her, this behavior was kind of normal for her.

“Sumire-chan isn’t around? I thought you two were inseparable.”

“Um. She said she’s going to watch the high school softball matches.”

Ah. Right... That girl wasn’t just an avid Asahi fanatic, she was also rather diligent in her chosen club. She’s even practicing until dark which somehow became the reason for us to run into each other frequently.

Anyway, while Interhigh was mainly for high schools, middle schools were also included but in their own division. Hence, the reason why they also had an early dismissal.

“I see. Well, good for her. Did their club not play?”

“Um. They didn’t qualify for it. The softball club in our school has insufficient members to compete.”

That’s kinda sad to hear, to be honest. That girl was so diligent in her practice... Is she just preparing for when she enters high school? Possible.

Anyway, I realized I was getting sidetracked by that enthusiastic Asahi fan. I should focus on who’s in front of me, right?

“Alright. I think I shouldn’t ask this considering you arrived with them but... are you part of their circle?”

That’s the first that I should’ve asked. Coming here with the two with the clear intention to visit the club, she’s either part of their circle or she was just dragged by them.

Perhaps relieved that I stopped asking her about Sumire, the girl exhaled before her fidgeting visibly lessened.

Following that, the girl timidly shook her head.

So, it’s the latter, huh?

“Oh, shoot! We forgot. Sugiyama—” Behind me, the second girl who should be fawning over Tadano suddenly exclaimed and abruptly stopped almost instantly.

Even with my back turned to them, it’s easy to guess what happened...

They finally remembered that they came here with Umi. But when she saw me talking to the girl, it became their turn to be surprised.

But wait. Sugiyama?

With that thought in mind, the gaze that was directed at the girl in front of me deepened a bit as I started to observe her closely...

Her timid personality should already be a giveaway but... how should I link the two of them when their standing in my eyes was too far apart.

Umi is the timid junior who’s also an Asahi fan. She’s in my good book.

But that silent guy who also shared the same surname? He’s lower than the seven pits of hell.

“Onoda, you know her?” Tadano soon walked over to us, followed by the girl who just spoke. Then. Not long after that, Ogawa and the other girl also did the same.

Umi became more flustered but as I turned around to face them, she took a step forward to stand next to me.

“Mhm. I do. She’s a junior I often meet on the train.”

“Then... Did you know?”

“Know what?” I tilted my head a bit as an act. But honestly, it’s easily understandable what he’s trying to imply.

However, it was not Tadano who answered me but the idiot who looked like he had just gotten another ego boost.

“She’s Taku’s cousin. You. Don’t tell me...?”

With his voice trailing there, his eyes landed on Umi. But because of how fierce his glare was, the girl could only hide behind me.

“Relax. It’s not what you think. Besides, will you stop glaring? You’re scaring her.” I answered without any change in my expression. Furthermore, I moved a little bit to the side, letting the girl be hidden by my body completely.

She even gripped onto my uniform which goes to show that she’s pretty intimidated by the idiot.

In any case, looks like I was a little off the mark on my preconceived guess.

She’s not his sister but his cousin. Either way, the situation wasn’t going to change if she found out about what I did to him.

“Ah! That’s new. I never thought you could make that expression Ogawa-senpai. Do it again, please?!” Before Ogawa could rebut again, the twin-tail girl on his side burst into a peal of laughter as she pointed at Ogawa’s face.

The other girl joined her and their laughter filled the halls.

Tadano stared at his friend in concern while the guy immediately came to a decision.

While awkwardly laughing with them, he did his best to relax his glaring eyes, donning the same idiotic face that most people know him for.

Yep. Looks like he’s finally taking my lesson seriously or this is just his way not to lose the source of his newfound confidence to stand straight without looking so pathetic.

In any case, with the situation calming down by the second, the two girls soon turned their attention to me.

As someone they’re seeing for the first time, they’re definitely curious about my identity.