Stealing Spree

With the three newcomers, we soon decided to make our way back to their clubroom. My introduction was brief as I had not that much interest in getting to know the two. But even if I acted like that, they managed to guess that I’m the one who stole Nami from Ogawa.

Although they didn’t ditch and leave Ogawa and Tadano to dry, their attention switched to me. They asked a lot of questions which I answered pretty vaguely, leaving them a bit dissatisfied.

Right. I also got their names since they also introduced themselves to me. Amakusa Mami and Nagase Nina. The former is the bratty twin-tail girl and the latter is the pretty flashy girl.

Umi, who’s aware of my relationship with Chii, also exhibited a surprised reaction. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t question me for it and remained silent by my side.

I don’t know what’s in her mind, really. Maybe she finds being by my side or next to me to be the most comfortable. Who knows?

Anyway, as we started our walk, I found out more things about them.

Umi is not part of their circle but she already met all of them before. Not precisely because of Taku but of the two she came with today.

They seemed to be a trio of friends. Or a quad because Sumire is pretty close to them as well. However, they truly had only gotten close this year because they got put in the same class.

They approached Umi because they found out that she is the silent guy’s cousin.

Sumire, who already established her close friendship with Umi through their similarity of being an Asahi fans, first suspected that they were picking on her friend. She intervened and eventually found out that she misunderstood them. And that’s how their group of four formed.

Regardless, because the two weren't avid fans of Asahi, they remained a pair of duos who got along well despite the difference in interest.

And that probably explained why I never heard of them from that cute junior of mine. She had no reason to bring them up in our conversation.

Upon arriving at the clubroom, the girls who were waiting for us to return were all surprised to see the visitors. Apparently, they didn’t tell anyone that they were coming today. Their original plan was last week and that got pushed back without a proper date decided.

Due to that, although they’re curious about the result of my conversation with the two, they all moved to accommodate their juniors.

“Senpai! It’s lonely without all of you there. Our club will be shut down because no one wants to join.”

That’s Mami who immediately ran to Nami.

Watching her do that, I couldn’t find a hint that she’s being malicious considering Nami was supposed to be the one Ogawa likes.

And through Hina’s stealthy whispers in my ear, she told me that Mami was the junior Nami is closest to. Yet that didn’t stop them from gunning for the same guy.

It was kinda laughable in the context of a circle of friends but I guess their friendship remained true. Nami also didn’t see her in a bad light and welcomed her with a genuine smile.

“Too bad but that’s how it is. You two can join us next year. We need more hands here.”

“Really? Yay!” The girl cheerfully exclaimed and hugged Nami even tighter.

I took a glance at Ogawa and the dude was definitely looking very awkward. But you know what? He’s still trying his hardest to look normal.

After Mami. Nina also went to her favorite senior. Izumi.

“Izumi-senpai, what do you think of my look today?”

“Girl. Don’t turn into a yankee. Look at me.”

“Woah! What happened to you, senpai? You’re wearing your uniform properly now? Is that the trend for a grown-up woman?”

“Y-yeah...”

Izumi awkwardly answered like that before sneaking a glance at me. Well, I’m responsible for that. I was the one telling her to wear her uniform properly and by the rules written in the student handbook.

I winked at her and that resulted in the girl scowling at me. For sure, she’ll have me answer for that later. Maybe through kisses and hugs. Right?

Anyway, no one mentioned or brought up the incident today, of course. There’s no reason to tell them about it and it would just make this visit turn into an irrevocable situation where we had to explain again.

Ogawa also understood that so he kept up his act of being the same, kind idiot who’s the dream boy of most of the girls in their middle school.

It's really still up to him whether he’d change from today and stop antagonizing me. If he remained the same then I doubt my girls would remain patient and understanding of his shenanigans.

Tadano, on the other hand, was already pretty cool. There’s no more animosity. He already accepted everything I revealed or the state of my relationship with the girls.

There’s the ticking time bomb of Mei-chan though. If he finds out that his little sister continues approaching me, I can imagine him kneeling in front of me to beg for me to spare the girl from our situation.

He’s a caring brother. I’ll give him that. However, I already have an answer for him if that ever happens. He should talk to Mei-chan and discourage her and not me. I’m not holding a rein on her sister.

Soon enough, when the newcomers already settled down and the mood inside the clubroom retained its liveliness, the first five minutes consisted of the two girls curiously catching up on everything they missed in the club.

It’s a rather pleasant sight which somehow made the girls temporarily forget the incident with Taku.

They even greeted Saki for her birthday and brought out gifts for her. They’re that sensible. And that led the girls to decide on an impromptu plan to go out and eat somewhere to celebrate.

From that alone, my impression of them went from okay to good.

Ah. Right. Hana and Maaya remained seated on the side but they also got introduced, not as a member of the club but as simple visitors so they really didn’t pay that much attention to them apart from wondering why two beauties like them are visiting the club.

Before they could start linking them to either Ogawa or Tadano, my girls stepped in and claimed that they were new friends they made.

Hana and Maaya played along with it while stealthily pinching my back to express their slight annoyance to Mami and Nina.

As for Umi, the girl remained at my side after greeting everyone which made almost everyone to either look at the girl with pity or smile wryly.

I explained my connection to the girl. The same explanation I gave to Ogawa and Tadano.

And upon linking that to the stories I told some of them about the juniors I met and often interacted with on the train, they all went up and became extra friendlier to Umi. Or maybe the fact that we kicked out the silent guy from the club added another factor to it.

I had no idea how close she is to her cousin but given that they’re both the silent type, probably not that much.

The attention she suddenly got baffled the girl. She tried to hide behind me again but upon realizing that she was hiding behind Nami’s boyfriend, the girl embarrassedly stepped out and succumbed to her fate of being mobbed by the girls. Uh. Mobbed might not be the correct word. Spoiled is more likely. But even if that’s the case, it’s too much for the timid girl.

To somehow help her from that situation, I asked them to be gentle and not scare her. That earned me a look of gratitude from the girl.

With that, another ten minutes passed like that and I soon decided to end my visit there.

My girls could handle the situation and I had the perfect excuse of being in the Student Council. And to keep certain information hidden from the juniors, I told Hana and Maaya to stay with them.

“I’ll be returning with Shizu once we finish whatever work she has there. You two have fun here.”

Maaya pouted a little, showing that she was a bit upset. On the other hand, Hana simply nodded and smirked at me before saying, “Don’t worry. I’ll behave and not cause you trouble. I’ll expect you to be good to me later.”

No one heard that or at least, we made sure not to be too obvious. And as the idiot who’s unable to stop myself from being too considerate of my girls, I patiently waited for a chance to drop a kiss on both of them.

Maaya on her lips and Hana on her cheek.

I have to keep up with their differences in standing, right? But then again, it’s not that different considering what I did for them carried the same risk...

I admit. It’s a bit hard to equally love a lot of girls but no matter what, it’s always fulfilling to see their genuine smiles born from the same feelings they’re holding for me.