Stealing Spree

What is this girl talking about?

That’s the first thing that went into my head as I tried to analyze the words she used.

Convinced.

It’s not even a week since Akane showed me the forum post that Fuyu herself created and replied to. Fishing out information about me while defending Akane’s reputation.

The morning after that night, we intentionally ran into her and that became a pleasant morning where I joined their conversation and laughed with them.

That eased up that suspicion…

Or so I thought.

Did I make a blunder somewhere?

“Not loyal? Yuuki-san, please explain.” Instead of acting suspiciously by deflecting it, I met her serious gaze with the same intensity.

With that, even though we’re still technically in a public place, the air around us intensified. Although she’s shorter than me and had to raise her chin to meet my gaze, she never showed any signs of backing down.

Somehow, I could identify that what she was showing was her game face. Something she only does whenever she’s playing a serious match of tennis.

She looked tenacious and coupled that with her chilling gaze, there’s a high chance for someone to be nervous around her.

Unfortunately, that’s not going to work on me.

“You’re seeing other women behind her back, aren’t you?” She took a few seconds before she could respond to me.

But this girl… that’s a huge blunder right at the start. Why does she use an inquisitive sentence?

That easily gave away that she’s uncertain about whatever convinced her. Or rather, she probably just convinced herself and took this chance to interrogate me directly instead of relying on rumors.

“Yuuki-san, I get it. You care about Akane, the same as I do. And I will forever be grateful for that. When you said you’re convinced, I thought you had some kind of evidence to show me of my guilt.” I started by showing her my gratitude before shaking my head in slight disappointment. “But if you’re only going to throw me accusations like these. I’m afraid I’m not going to entertain you.”

Fuyu’s eyes quivered slightly and her tense facial muscles twitched. That’s not the answer she’s expecting.

“It’s not an accusation. You’re just trying to slip away from answering my question.” She maintained her cool voice. However, against someone who had years of experience in this kind of situation, it’s easy to break down every nuance in her body language that she was unconsciously doing.

For example, even without counting the observation I just listed from her face, I noticed her light grip on her bag tightened; a sign of anger or just simple annoyance. There’s also the height of her shoulders that dipped a little; a sign of damaged confidence.

What else? Oh, her chest – as bountiful as ever – heaved up and down in uneven fashion; a sign of her slight desperation and perhaps haste.

She’s a little afraid that Akane could return at any moment. She didn’t want the girl to see her confronting me.

“Is that so? But Yuuki-san, if I answered no, you probably wouldn't believe me. Based on your expression and body language, you’ll never take the ‘no’ as my answer. You only want to hear me say yes.”

Interrogation is most often like this. The interrogator isn’t expecting any other answer aside from yes from the one they’re interrogating.

They already have a preconceived answer that they wanted the suspect to say.

Unless there’s clear evidence of the suspect’s innocence, they’ll push on, even torturing them to a forced confession.

And the same could probably be said in this situation. If Fuyu truly convinced herself that I’m not loyal to Akane, there’s no point in answering her question.

Now, if she showed me her evidence, that’s the point that I have no choice but to confess.

But with her line of questioning, she didn’t have it.

Although she’s right on the money with her suspicion that I have other girls, I’m loyal to all of them.

“That’s absurd! Stop trying to interpret my words however you like! I’m asking seriously here, Onoda-kun.” As expected, she denied it. But with those signs on both her face and body heightening, she already lost this.

She’s probably not used to dealing with people like me. People who never feel any pressure by her little bravery and intimidation.

“Alright. Scratch what I said. I’ll give you an honest answer. Surely, you’ve heard from Akane that I hated lying. It’s up to you whether you believe it or not…”

I trailed my voice to check on her and sure enough, the dim light in her eyes regained a little glimmer. She’s hoping to hear what she wants to hear.

“… No, I’m not seeing any other girls behind her back. I’m loyal and will always be loyal to her.” I finished my answer and true to my words, they’re correct.

At the end of the day, Akane will always hear what transpired during the day from me. Not just her, all of my girls will, even Shio.

Upon hearing that, Fuyu was, as I expected, frozen in disbelief. Her mouth trembled as though she was trying to form words but couldn’t. Her chilling gaze broke as uncertainty flooded her mind.

She came to me to interrogate me and get an answer directly, but it turned fruitless.

Anyway, no matter her suspicion, she’s still Akane’s best friend. I released a sigh and softened my stance.

To dispel the tense air around us, I called out to her, “Yuuki-san. I’ll pretend this never happened. Even if you continue suspecting me after this, I will continue trusting your kind concern over Akane.”

“H-huh?” Perhaps she’s expecting me to be disappointed in her because of her accusation, Fuyu lifted her head, confusion written all over her face.

“It’s just as I said. Please continue being Akane’s friend. I don’t know what birthed this suspicion you’re carrying towards me and I won’t ask how. But I’m willing to hear it and clear it up to you if you allow me to.”

“Onoda-kun, are you an idiot?”

“Maybe. You’re wondering why I’m not angry with you, right? What good will it do if I get angry? I don’t want Akane to lose a friend over this.”

“No, you’re definitely an idiot. I will continue suspecting you and if I find damning evidence, I will not hesitate to out you. Even so, you’re still going to trust me?”

“That’s what I just said. Or are you actually planning to cut ties with Akane if you’re proven wrong with your assumption?”

“O-of course not! I will not…” Fuyu stopped and failed to finish her sentence.

And that’s because I was right. This girl was going to punish herself for doing this.

“You don’t have to. Continue suspecting me if you will. But please, continue being friends with Akane, Yuuki-san.”

Repeating what I just said, I then bowed in front of her.

Upon seeing that, Fuyu was once again startled.

A few seconds later, she took a step backward, turned around and eventually ran away without saying anything.

I followed her with my eyes before walking right to the entrance of the train station.

Not far away from it, the running figure of Fuyu ran into someone.

Fuyu raised her head to look at who it was. Upon recognizing the person, she surrendered herself in that person’s arms. Whether she was crying or not, I had no idea.

Obviously, that person is none other than Akane.

A few seconds later, I received a message from the girl as she couldn’t say it because of the distance.

“Let me take it from here, husband.”

As an answer to that, I nodded at her before sending them off with my eyes as they disappeared into the flood of students.

Most likely, this will become the end of Fuyu’s suspicion. However, if I become careless and get spotted by her again, there’s no doubt that she will come at me strongly and perhaps, with more hatred because she will be interpreting that I deceived her.

In any case, before that happens, I guess I’ll continue being friends with her.

Before leaving the station to meet with another girl somewhere, I received another message.

This time, it’s from Fuyu.

“I’m sorry for suspecting you and thank you… I will never forget this.”

Although it’s unadorned by the trending stickers as of late, the girl probably typed it hastily yet wholeheartedly.

I replied to it with a simple response, reflecting on what I said to her earlier. “Yuuki-san, what are you talking about?”