Stealing Spree

Because the Miura Household was just a walking distance from our school, I extended my stay on the bus with Edel for another stop. To make sure that she wouldn't be alone in it for too long or… it’s just my excuse to be with her even just for a few minutes longer. Either way, it’s all worth it for my girl’s smile.

As I started traversing the path toward my destination, I sent a message to the girl, asking if she was ready.

Expecting a positive reply from the girl, I pocketed my phone back and hurried over.

As soon as I arrived there, I found somebody else outside the gate.

With her short hair that only reached just above her shoulder and glasses, Miura-senpai who was already in her school uniform had her hands in front of her, holding her school bag as she swayed gently.

Thinking that she was waiting for someone else, I approached her normally and greeted her with a smile, “Miura-senpai, good morning.”

The girl instantly turned her head in my direction, she lifted one of her hands to wave at me and smiled back.

“Good morning. You’re too early, Handsome-kun. Komoe is…” Pausing at that, she looked behind her, or specifically to their door that had no movements whatsoever, “… still sleeping, it seems.”

She shook her head, looking a little apologetic.

“No wonder I haven’t received a reply from her yet. She’s not going to back down, is she?”

That would be a failure on my part, right? Thinking back, I never checked on the girl yesterday. Not that I was required to do so but I guess when it comes to that girl, it might be a factor.

That sounded troublesome if that’s the case resulting in whatever interest I had for her being dissolved.

Without an answer to my question, Miura-senpai suggested instead, “Wanna come in and check on her?”

“Well, if it’s not any trouble. It’s still early so I can also wait here with you. I held up my promise to pick her up. If she still refuses to go to school then…”

I didn’t continue my words there but Miura-senpai easily understood what I meant. The troubled look in her expression deepened and now, I could spy a hint of worry on it. Perhaps, directed to her little sister.

“Personally, I’ll pick the latter but with that girl’s return to school in the equation… let’s go in. I can wake her up for you if she’s still in her room.”

“Alright. But senpai, aren’t you waiting for someone?”

“Am I?”

“Is that not the case? You’re standing here outside with no intention to start walking to school.”

“Oh. Don’t mind it. I used to do this all the time.”

Or so she said. That sounded like a lie though.

In any case, I didn’t find a reason to call her out for it. Who knows? There’s a possibility that she’s waiting specifically for me. She just didn’t want to be too upfront about it.

Or… Nishimura-senpai. However, considering she didn’t want to bring him up in our conversation, there must be some misconception on my part about her relationship with him. Is he just a close friend and not a boyfriend?

Well, I didn’t see any point in finding it out.

Before long, Miura-senpai and I entered their house.

The girl led me to their living room and asked me to wait there to check on her sister.

Only seconds after she disappeared upstairs, their mother emerged from one of the rooms further inside.

As soon as she spotted me, she almost ran to the living room to greet me with her very welcoming smile. Then, for the next five minutes, until Miura-senpai came down with the sleepy Komoe in tow, she kept me company by telling me stories about her two daughters.

Yeah. She’s still selling the idea to date either of the two to me. That’s why Miura-senpai, looking too flustered from what she heard, quickly ran down the stairs to stop her mother. As for Komoe who’s still in her yellow pajamas, her sleepy eyes widened instantly as excitement flooded in.

She ran down the stairs even faster than Miura-senpai. Before I knew it, she was already curled up on my side, her head settled comfortably on my lap.

When the mother and daughter noticed what happened, the two stopped their bickering and shook their heads in sync.

“This child… What should I do with her?” Their mother ashamedly muttered. Looks like she also didn’t expect her daughter to act like this.

“Komoe! I didn’t wake you up just to sleep again and use Onoda-kun’s lap as your pillow. Hurry up and prepare for school!” Miura-senpai, with her hands on her hips, shouted at the girl.

Much to her dismay, Komoe simply turned her back to them and buried her face close to my stomach. She then grabbed my arm and put it on her head, asking me to stroke her hair.

With a helpless looks on their faces, Miura-senpai and her mother stared at me. Even without words, I could understand what they wanted to say, ‘Do something, Onoda-kun.’ or ‘If someone’s gonna make that girl move, it’s you.’.

Really, this might be the result of always spoiling her, huh? Then it’s truly my fault that she became like this.

I nodded at the two before lowering my gaze to the girl. While stroking her rather disheveled hair due to just having woken up, I whispered, “Komoe, have you forgotten today’s date? You’re supposed to come back to school with me.”

The girl didn’t answer verbally. She just moved her head to meet my gaze and nodded, indicating her agreement.

“Alright. Five minutes. You have to start preparing after that, understand? Otherwise, I’ll be disappointed. I kept up with my promise to pick you up, it’s your turn to do your part.”

As I said that, I continued combing her hair, fixing the tangled ones. I might be doing this in a rather lenient manner but it’s the one that worked with her. So, until I bring her back to school, I’ll keep up with this way of treating her.

A few seconds later, Komoe finally spoke to me which came as a surprise to both Miura-senpai and their mother, “Uhmm, yes. Five minutes. Thank you, Ruki.”

However, that’s not the end of it.

Instead of being satisfied with using my lap as her pillow, the girl grew a little bolder in front of her mother and sister. Komoe lifted herself and climbed to my chest. As a reflex, my arms naturally wrapped around her back, enough to support her. In this way, I ended up cuddling her in my arms.

And because of this, I couldn’t help but feel her developing chest pressing against me. She’s not wearing a bra underneath that pajama so… the soft squishiness of it was thoroughly conveyed.

Well, she probably didn’t care about it since she even tightened her embrace. Before long, she stopped moving and closed her eyes again, savoring the position she got herself into.

Speechless at what they witnessed, the two in front of us could only stare at us in slight disbelief.

And with that, the five minutes passed quietly. Perhaps, not wanting me to be disappointed with her, Komoe quickly sat up and dashed back upstairs to prepare.

“Onoda-kun, how did you tame that rebellious girl?” Having finally recovered from the absurdness of what she had witnessed, their mother raised that question.

How should I answer that? That I promised to be her friend and protect her from now on? Yeah, she’d definitely misinterpret that.