Stealing Spree

The picking up of trash soon ended for the girls. It didn’t take long because:

Firstly, their side was the cleanest as it was already being regularly cleaned by the City Hall department assigned to take care of it.

Secondly, the ratio of boys to girls leaned towards the latter. In our class, there are only around 12 boys and 18 girls. They have more manpower.

And lastly, they’re organized. Kanzaki had a leadership quality and when Nami was added, it became smoother.

Apart from them, there’s also Chii who was something like the head of a wave or a trendsetter, if that’s the right analogy. Most girls followed her example and due to her extraordinary cheerfulness as a very active fake gyaru, the others were infected by her. Satsuki was kind of bad with that kind of mood but upon seeing the publicly known grumpy girl doing the task without any complaints, they would be the odd one out if they slacked off. As for Aya, Hina and Saki, they’re like everyone else, following the wave.

Due to that, they immediately finished their task while we, the boys, were still less than halfway.

We’re not organized. No one set up and relegated a duty. It’s like everyone’s at their own pace. Ogawa refused to step up when someone asked him. He’s like a sulky guy who was short on fuse today. He would snarl at them if they ever tried to talk to him. As for Tadano and the silent guy who was following him, they’re also not talking and just doing things on their own.

Naturally, I also had no motivation to step up. I’m not a leader or I don’t want to be one if someone will argue with me that I have the qualities.

I very much preferred to be sidelined. That way, troublesome work wouldn’t pile up in front of me and I could focus on my priorities.

Nonetheless, after the girls spent the next ten minutes just sitting on the side, watching us struggle to bend our backs to pick up trash, Kanzaki somehow grew a conscience or… someone urged her to do so as I had seen Nami and Chii at both of her sides, whispering in her ears.

Did she just get coerced? I don’t know but seeing those two smiling when our gazes intersected, it might be the case.

“Girls, have you rested enough?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s show the boys what we can do… Those who want to show off to them, pick up your clamps and let’s outdone their progress!”

With that loud of a shout, all the other boys who were going about this activity lazily looked in their direction. And upon seeing how the girls all stood up while clicking those clamps in their hands, a fighting spirit was miraculously ignited in their eyes.

And in this way, the swift divide from earlier was breached.

Before I knew it, Nami, Satsuki, Aya, Hina, Saki and Chii were now going in my direction, although covertly. They’re trying to make it look like they would stumble towards my location coincidentally.

However, Fukuda, who was lamenting earlier, had become thoroughly excited upon seeing Chii… But upon the realization that she’s not looking at him, he suddenly turned quiet.

Among those who were observing us, Eguchi-sensei had a slight smile on her face as she appreciated Kanzaki’s action and how the girls responded to it.

As for Shio, she’s shaking her head slightly while holding back a laugh. She’s near them and she probably heard how Nami and Chii convinced Kanzaki.

As for Shizu, she’s smirking while looking at Nami’s back. Most likely, she’s proud of her little cousin but at the same time, she’s envious that Nami could find a way to approach me.

With just this… I can confidently say that my girls are brighter than me. And since there’s a lot of them, they might even be able to plan well for our future if they pool their ideas together.

Thanks to the additional help from the girls, the activity of cleaning the riverside ended earlier than what was expected.

And during all that, my girls covertly surrounded me. Or that’s how it should look since they were taking turns on who would stand next to me on one spot. Starting from Aya who was timidly waiting for me to praise her and ending with Saki who didn’t know what she would say to me.

The trio of Ogawa, Tadano and Taku appeared as if they’re also trying to move closer to Nami and the other girls from their circle.

However, until the end of the activity, they failed to do so.

As for Sakuma and Fukuda, they both became silent at what they observed. Given that I told Sakuma about how I wouldn’t hesitate to take all of them if I truly ended up falling for the girls, he’s probably starting to realize that what I said back then and back at the Gymnasium was true. Even if he only linked Aya and Satsuki with me, that’s already confirming what I told him before. Fukuda, who already saw me with Chii, would also begin to seriously think about my answer to his question.

Nonetheless, given that they’re all on the normal side even if the other one was a delinquent, it would be hard to gulp down the truth and they would, in one way or another, deny that possibility.

Ogawa was also already aware since I told him about the truth of my relationship with Nami. Moreover, he witnessed firsthand how I held Hina closely. He even shamelessly asked her to take away my attention so that he could take Nami back.

The foolish guy was now about to lose every girl who was interested in him because of his foolish decision.

As for Tadano and the silent guy… Tadano will still have a chance if he already moved on from Nami… but for the silent guy… I guess I can only apologize to him once I straighten up my relationship with Saki.

Well, I could be blamed for that, for all their suffering but there’s no way for me to regret everything. I am greedy and I end up loving all of them.

It will be next to impossible for them to take any one of my girls. Unless they leave me by their own accord, I will not hand them over to anyone else.

They’re mine.

And even if it is impossible, I will aim to create a future with all of us.

Once we finished, all of us sat down to rest where Shio, Eguchi-sensei and Shizu were silently observing.

The bags of trash we collected were all gathered in one spot. Before ending the activity, we would be waiting for the garbage truck that the school called to pick the trash we collected,

While waiting for the garbage trucks, most of us were now talking to each other or some were on their phones, like me.

I was chatting with my girls since we couldn’t openly talk here. Moreover, I was also chatting with the girls that were already at my house or Rae that was on the other side of the river.

All of those who would come to the house already planned their transportation. There's a group that would go by train, another group that would go by bus and another one that would hitchhike with Shio’s car.

As for me… it would be a hard decision which group I would return to… Should I just return alone? To be fair with all of them?

Ah no… That’s impossible. All of us will reject that idea.