Stealing Spree

I might not know where Hana is currently but certainly, there’s a certain silly girl who probably had an idea.

Well, there’s also a possibility that she had no idea. Perhaps my parents do but I better not give this girl false hope. Besides, although I’m a bit thrilled to wonder how Hana is nowadays, I don’t think it’s right for me to seek her out myself. If she’s already living normally and away from the abnormal me, then that’s great for her.

As for Chii, I saw no point in lying to Hifumi about the fake gyaru. We’re in the same city, they’d meet eventually. Besides, I really wanted to do something for this girl. Although I could say that it’s not for atonement for making her cry back then, favoring and helping her still boils down to it.

They both have social media but because Chii changed her surname, they couldn’t find each other or they both didn’t look further enough. Either way, I showed Hifumi Chii’s account. In the process, I also got added by her too.

The girl even sent me a message first, a sticker depicting a glasses girl fuming from anger. Once she did, the girl covered her mouth but the sound of her giggles still escaped and reached my ears.

“It’s fine if I message you from time to time, right?”

“Sure. I’ll also remind you to stop carrying these heavy loads. Bring home those you’ve already finished reading.”

“… Mind your own business. I’m referencing all of them.”

“It’s just a piece of advice. You can ignore it.”

Even though she’s like Rae and Aya with their fondness for books, this girl’s reason for always bringing them was slightly different from them. For Aya, she loved the feeling of delving into different worlds contained in the book.

For Rae, books are treasure chests of her knowledge.

For Hifumi, books are her trusty companions that’s allowing her to stay at the top of the class or the whole year level. Even though she looked smart because of her glasses, she’s not that great at memorizing them.

“It must be nice to have you carry it for me.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not from your school.”

“And you’re already publicly recognized as Shimizu’s boyfriend. You’ll be crucified if they see you following some other girl. Also, you’re not settling on just Shimizu, right? You’ve changed yet you still retain your old habits.” Hifumi shook her head in lamentation. “By the way, why do you know Chizuru’s account?”

“We’re in the same class.”

“And?”

“Need I say more?”

“I see. You got her back.”

Hifumi flashed a look of understanding as well as a bitter smile that vanished instantly as she began checking Chii’s account and adding her.

This girl… Those words she said earlier. Carry her books again, huh? It must be nice, indeed.

She moved on yet in this short conversation with her, I felt like we were even closer than before. Should I take what she said at face value? Does she not want to cling to me anymore or it’s the opposite?

Honestly, I have no idea. At least, I find this time with her comfortable and a little enjoyable.

A while later, Hifumi got her books from me and began walking towards her school. She already messaged Chii but the girl hadn’t replied to her yet. As for Hana, I told her that I would try to look for information about her whereabouts.

Well, knowing that I haven’t encountered Hana yet, Hifumi guessed that she’s probably not in our city.

Before we separated, Hifumi asked me whether I would also get Hana back if ever I found her again.

As always, my answer depends on what the other party felt. If Hana is like her who already moved on from our past then I will rather not disrupt their normal lives again.

But then she countered using my current situation with Chii. Why am I trying to get her back instead of letting her live her life anew?

I didn’t tell her about our whole situation so it probably appeared strange to her. In her eyes, she and Chii were standing on different sides.

That’s true anyway.

Chii expressly reintroduced herself to me and admitted how she wanted to be in my eyes again while Hifumi chose the other option, she drew a line during our first meeting after three years and stepped away from possibly making a new connection to me.

Ah. That’s only true until today… We somehow established a new connection. Nonetheless, even I had no idea where this would lead us.

I learned about their connection to each other and Hana’s role in gathering them.

Anyway, like with Ririka, I watched until she disappeared from my sight before going back to the train station.

This time, no one blocked my way.

While sitting and waiting for the train to reach my destination, I messaged my girls like a routine and checked on them one by one.

There’s Ria who’s not acting like her usual mature self. The girl was sulking about me not passing by our previous middle school to see her.

It’s a station away from that high school and I could actually reach it by walking and the travel time would be the same.

With that, I made a note to do that next week. I’m also missing the girl, after all. Also, her wisdom which always shattered my overthinking habits.

Well, she’s one of those who could clearly read my intentions clearly. Although not every time, I also get her opinions on various things.

After Ria, Chii, who I messaged earlier when I was still with Hifumi, finally replied. The girl sure was surprised that her reply became filled with typographical errors. She panicked or perhaps got excited? Excited to hear about her friend.

She already accepted the girl’s friend request so they probably started chatting with each other. However, Chii was still curious about how I met Hifumi again and also a little apologetic about the fact that she didn’t tell me about her association with them.

I was aware that she knew about the girls but not that they became friends after I cut them all off, after all.

I satisfied her curiosity, telling her about how I met Hifumi again weeks ago. And like Hifumi, Chii also threw a question concerning Hana.

Well, I was going to ask her if she knew where Hana is currently but with that question, I got my answer. She also had no idea.

Arriving at school a few minutes before the gate closed, I naturally got a rather heated stare from Eguchi-sensei. Nonetheless, she didn’t move like the other day. My uniform was properly worn, after all.

Like yesterday, the first half of the day quickly passed. Shio once again cashed in with my position as her Student Assistant, following her to every class. Also, there’s an instance where we got a few minutes for ourselves… We had to be very careful about our relationship so… unless we’re entirely sure that we wouldn’t get caught, we maintained the façade of a Teacher and Student Assistant relationship.

Halfway through lunch break, once everyone already finished eating, all of the boys were kicked out of our classroom by the combined forces of the girls.

Yep, including me.

It’s too obvious. It's time for them to do that popularity poll. Like they planned, most of the boys – not including me, of course – made efforts on how they look today. Some used different hairstyles, some used styling wax and even facial creams. All to appeal their attractiveness to the girls.

Good luck to them, I guess?