Stealing Spree

"Onoda-kun, you're cheating."

Upon entering the train with Ririka, that's the first thing I heard being uttered by one of Akane's best friends.

Which of the two? It's Eri. The tomboyish one among them. And also the one with the flattest chest among them.

Alright. Scratch that last part. I shouldn't easily whip back like that.

In any case, for a moment there, I thought she already found out about our complex relationship and was calling me out.

My smile froze and I almost started bringing up my prepared script from the deep recesses of my head to make it sound sensible to those who could hear it.

However, as it turns out, the meaning of those words was something else entirely...

I immediately caught her playful smile along with a smirk as if she was digging into my reaction.

Yep. That's not how someone would act if they ever stood against our situation.

Thankfully, she didn't leave me hanging there.

Shortly after, Eri chortled as she continued, "You know what? I find it amazing to discover how popular you are with girls. Also, this silly girl isn't even flinching when they claim to be your close friends as well. If I am in her shoes, I apologize but I'll be a jealous wreck."

She looked at Akane then at Yae and the others who were traveling with them.

When I checked on them, Akane's mischievous smile failed to escape my notice. Then, next to her, Futaba was also smiling, albeit awkwardly.

In fact, she appeared a little apologetic for how Eri was acting.

As for the others, I found them sporting a meaningful smile as if they just did a job well done in steering suspicion away from our complex relationship. And that included the girl next to me who unconsciously grabbed my arm and gripped it tightly.

Right. That's how it feels.

Somehow, in this short time that they were together, the girls not only introduced themselves to Akane's best friends. They also magnificently covered up the possible suspicion that might arise because of it.

I had no idea how they did it or whatever explanation they fed the two but that's the vibe I was getting here.

Additionally, it explained why even if Ririka came to pick me up at the platform, both Eri and Futaba weren't staring at me as though I was a cheating boyfriend who got caught in the act.

They found nothing wrong with it.

Arranging my thoughts and pushing the multiple pages of the script back to the deep recesses, I shook off the slightly unpleasant sense of discomfort before returning a pleasant smile to the girl.

Then, the same as always, I replied to her without changing my usual expression.

"Ah. Kitayama-san, how should I answer it? Will it be acceptable to say it like this? – I'll find it disrespectful for them if I brag about our closeness. Not to mention, it'll be insensitive of me when Akane and I pretty much live like a married couple already."

After delivering that answer, I took the chance to check on our surroundings.

At the moment, the girls were occupying half of the train car. There were no passengers around them except a few who got on from the same platform as me.

Most likely, they warded the other passengers off with a stacking air that they didn't want to be bothered by anyone. Or maybe, they intentionally prepared this space to not trouble me in taking the role of the ward in case some frivolous idiots take their chances on hitting on them.

Whichever the case, I couldn't help but commend all of them in my head.

Back to the present, Eri finished digesting my answer. At first, she was taken aback at how I eloquently delivered that. Her body even shivered or perhaps, cringed at it.

Then, a moment later, her chortle turned into an awkward and silly laughter.

She placed a hand on her forehead and shook her head.

"Geez. And here you are still playing the gentleman, Onoda-kun. You can simply say yes, you know? It's not like I'm going to hang you for being close to other girls."

"Heh. Surely, you jest, Kitayama-san. Akane will beat you to it if ever it reaches that point."

"Oh. Good point. I'll pick the tree to hang you on then."

"Oh. That one. I think Yuuki-san will take that task."

"Ugh. You're right. Among the three of us, she's the one most invested in your relationship with Akane. What's left for me?"

"Let's see. I'll leave the choice of flower to you. Pick the best one, alright?"

Playing along with Eri like this successfully chipped away at the awkwardness. Even Futaba who thought trouble was brewing couldn't help but be infected by the laughter around her.

However, seeing how it slowly devolved into a harmless banter, no matter how quirky that conversation was, Futaba acted as the voice of reason as she interjected with us.

"Eri. Aren't you being too much to Onoda-kun? Akane is also a mutual friend for them. And look, she's not reacting like you."

She's a sensible one, I tell you. That's probably her role in their group of friends.

If she's the voice of reason, Akane is the silly goofball. Then Eri is the courageous yet rowdy tomboy who will not back down from voicing her thoughts. And lastly, Fuyu is their de facto leader, tying all four of them together.

Would I take offense to Eri's shenanigans? Absolutely not after seeing how my girls were reacting.

In any case, that was so nice to see. My fondness for genuine friendships was once again being tickled.

If Akane would also join in, it would be perfect.

"Husband. Stop standing there. Hurry up and join us here. The train is about to move… Oh, Eri, can you assist Ririka to pull him here?"

And there we go. The silly girl chuckled as she asked her friend to come and pick me up.

Even if that's unnecessary since we were only a few steps away from them, that's a nice addition to completely diffuse the building awkwardness.

Eri pouted and bit her lips, as though deliberating whether to follow Akane's words or not.

But it didn't take long for her to stand up and approach us.

Ririka puffed her cheeks but not because of dissatisfaction. The girl was holding back from snickering at Eri.

And with that, taking my other side and nonchalantly hooking her arm on mine, the two girls dragged me with them, placing me in the middle of their group.

"Which one will we be watching first? Isn't Fuyu's match going to be late?"

"Un. It was pushed back a bit. It's scheduled to start halfway into the allotted time for the Boxing Competition, now, it has become perfectly possible to catch both."

Around twenty minutes later, our conversation finally reached this point. We got quite engaged in banter and storytelling. Time quickly passed and everyone got pretty comfortable even with Futaba and Eri around.

The questioner was Eri and Yae answered it. She got a contact telling her quick updates at the venue.

Yua and Eimi also joined the conversation earlier while Miyako and Hiyori only remained as listeners.

Nonetheless, even if they're not sitting next to me, each one of them found their chances to act a little intimate with me.

And those managed to fly by what Eri and Futaba could deem suspicious. Naturally, I also matched their proactiveness.

But in the same sense, I also kind of bonded with the two best friends of Akane. Eri was more than happy to banter with me while Futaba acted as the stoppage to prevent us from going overboard.

"Oh. Nice. What about you, Onoda-kun? I heard your whole class is going to cheer for the Basketball Club."

"Yeah. I believe there's enough time to catch it before it starts after Yuuki-san's match. I'll be able to accompany you throughout that."

"Heh. That's nice. Akane won't be acting like a lost kid searching for you and we'll have quite an effective security." Eri enjoyably tapped my shoulder and the other girls joined in.

Maybe if I didn't build my body through constant exercise, I'd already be battered by how excited they become.

"Effective security, huh? Why does it feel like I'm the one getting protected here?" I jokingly replied and that once again elicited laughter from everyone.