Stealing Spree

Spooked

With Watanabe leading the way, we arrived at another unused room located on this floor. It could be opened even without a key, much like some of the rooms here. It’s probably busted like most of the opened rooms here.         

Through Shizu, I got a pretty high understanding of those rooms; which ones were open and which ones were literally abandoned because of certain reasons. But she also said that when the budget from the school comes in, they’ll renovate and fix everything so that it can be occupied again if ever the enrollees for the following years return to normal or get a boost.     

If that happens, there will be no more easily opened rooms. But I guess that’s still far off in the future and Shizu will probably give me access to them. Hopefully.     

“Come in. Here it is, Onoda-kun.”     

Still oozing out with her usual cheerfulness, Watanabe stepped inside the room first and called me in.     

I couldn’t help but shake my head from casting suspicion on this girl’s actions.     

As soon as I entered, I noticed how cramped the place was. From that, it’s clear to see that it has already turned into a storage room of sorts. Apart from boxes filled with various items, probably from the clubrooms that were vacated, the room was lined up with chairs and tables, each one was something they probably paid for rather than a standard one provided by the school.     

In a way, this could be akin to a treasury of confiscated and abandoned things left behind by alumni of the school. I could even see a pile of old issues of Weekly Shonen Jump and other such magazines. They should be considered disposable waste but to think that they stored it here… There were books as well. But those were just a small part of what was stored in this room.     

“So, there’s a place like this here…”     

Before picking one of the tables that had boxes or other things placed on top of it, I scanned the room and an idea came to my mind… For the Literature Club’s cultural festival booth.     

Maybe I could borrow some props here. That would save us some of the club’s budget.     

Perhaps seeing how amazed I was, I saw Watanabe looking at me with her hands on her waist while sporting a rather proud smile on her face as though saying ‘See this? I can be this helpful.’     

“Hehe, Ma-kun showed me this room once before. Know what? We can get not just your table here. And truthfully, we already picked up some things stored in this room and put them in the Student Council Room.”     

“No wonder. A third-year knows a lot more than this.”     

By now, I already lowered my suspicion of the girl and switched my focus to what I could get here.     

Well, if she suddenly decided to do some dubious things, I’m always ready for that.     

“And we’ll carry their torch next year. I heard you’re going to be President’s successor. Take me on your staff as well, okay?”     

Wait. Did Shizu tell her about the successor thing? How did this girl know about that?     

Just when I stopped suspecting her, this girl raised it again.     

Without changing my expression, I replied to the girl, “You know there’s still no assurance that I will win. And that’s not counting the chances of whether I will go through with it or not.”     

“Ehh… Knowing you and how you favor the President, you’ll definitely succeed her.”     

“This girl… You reading me or something?”     

“Nope. But it’s obvious. Given your personality – which I managed to observe from the few times I got to talk to you – you won’t do anything troublesome if not for someone close to you. In this case, it’s for President.” Watanabe confidently said.     

She had a pleasing smile this time and with the way she was looking at me, this girl was expecting me to react in a certain way.     

Well, although I won’t give her that satisfaction of leading me by the nose, I responded in a way that we’d go down a certain path.     

The path of interrogation…         

    

 

“Can you tell me why you are observing me?”     

The girl was slightly taken aback but she recovered in a matter of seconds. When that happened, she shrugged and maintained that pleased expression. “Why not? As if you’re not doing that to me as well. Otherwise, you won’t suspect me earlier.”     

“I see. You’re right. You got me there.”     

Upon saying this, I took a step forward and closer to the girl. Without breaking eye contact with her, I approached the girl’s location.     

Because the way I moved was probably unnerving for her, Watanabe instinctively took a step back but behind her was one of the tables in this room.     

Before she knew it, she was already backed into a corner and there was no way for her to retreat unless she ran past me.     

Counting the distance between us, there are only around five steps before I reach her. When it reached two, the girl put a hand in front of her, stopping my advance.     

And with a slightly panicky voice, she said, “Onoda-kun, you don’t need to look at me like I’m your enemy. I’m an ally. An ally, I tell you!”     

But instead of responding to her, I stretched my arm out.     

Perhaps thinking that I was about to do something to her, Watanabe closed her eyes.     

However, my arm reached for the box behind her. And she warily opened her eyes, I met her gaze and asked. “Hmm? What are you talking about? I saw something interesting here. I’m checking it out.”     

“Eh?” She answered blankly. “You’re not going to…”     

As her voice trailed, the girl’s earlier smugness deflated into nothingness. She’s now like a cornered mouse about to be drowned in a tub, “Again, what are you talking about? Enemy? Ally? Tell me, are you expecting me to do something?”     

“Yes?”     

A swift answer. But I guess she already dropped all pretense. This girl who tried fishing out something from my mouth was already nothing more than lamb in a slaughter.     

“Watanabe… If you’re curious about something, you’re free to ask me. Not that I will answer everything.” I released a small sigh and took a step back, bringing with me what I picked inside that box. A small antique-looking clock. It’s nothing special but looking at it now, it could be a decoration in my office.     

In any case, I clearly picked this out to reinforce in the girl’s mind that I approached her not because of what she said but because of this clock.     

Having been given the chance to fix her posture, the girl straightened her back but her shoulders noticeably drooped.     

“N-no I don’t have anything… T-that’s a great clock!”     

As she hurriedly shook her head, Watanabe used the clock to quickly change the topic.     

Well, she surely didn’t want to ask in fear that I would do something to her. But with how she reacted to everything, this girl definitely tried to one-up me. She acted so confidently, after all.     

“You think so? Then I’ll keep this for my office.”     

“Y-yes! Now, let’s pick a table. And while we’re at it… let’s check if there’s more we can use for your office.”     

And with that, Watanabe turned around and put a distance between us as picked out not just a table but also chairs we could pair with it. Furthermore, given that my office had at least half the interior size of the Student Council Room, the girl also took the liberty to pick out other furniture to fill it in.     

Leaving her with that, I started carrying things back to my office, starting with the table that was fortunately not that heavy. And when returning to that storage room, I also carried the boxes I cleaned up to store there, clearing the front of my office.         

For the next fifteen minutes or so, that became my routine. By the time I finished carrying things back and forth, Watanabe hurriedly excused herself without even waiting for me to thank her.     

No doubt… The girl was spooked out of her wits and she didn’t want to spend a second longer in case I did something to her.     

As for me, I kept everything I have observed from her in mind. She’s definitely suspicious but not in a way that she will be a threat to me. I mean, if that’s how she reacted when I didn’t do anything yet, imagine how she would when I did do something.     

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