Stealing Spree

(Author's Note: This chapter is a christmas-special short story that takes place on Christmas Day, a few months before the start of the main story timeline, meaning this is the old Ruki before his change. The main storyline will also continue alongside this, so don't worry. I don't know how many parts will this short story take to finish, but for now, here is its first chapter.)

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"Damn it. So, it's this time of the year again, huh?" I breathlessly muttered to myself as the alarm on my phone woke me up from a great sleep.

Opening my eyes to see the sky through my window blotted in white as the seasonal snow gently fluttered down from above, I instantly shivered from the imaginative cold.

Picking up my phone and checking on the date, my drowsiness slipped out of my mind.

It's the 25th of December. A festivity that was being celebrated in almost every corner of the world. Although the celebrations here weren't really tied to the religion it came from and mostly involved a not-so-extravagant celebration or just a simple get-together by friends, families, or even couples, it's still fairly popular.

Hell, just yesterday, I passed by an establishment, and women wearing Santa costumes stopped me to offer a Christmas cake that they're trying to sell.

Wise as I claimed myself to be, I regrettably ended up buying one when the woman literally dragged me there.

Of course, refusing to buy one was possible… However, I changed my mind when I saw an acquaintance among the women in Santa costumes selling those cakes.

No. I guess it's wrong to call her that. She's a girl I previously stole and had been cut off by me after she graduated from our middle school.

Yesterday, when I came face to face with her, the girl instantly froze. The smile along with her cheerful hollering to attract more customers also stopped, prompting the other women to notice the irregularity.

One of them asked us if we knew each other. I didn't answer right away but the girl flatly denied it.

Processing that reaction, I came up with the conclusion that she already moved on and didn't want to be associated with me anymore. And with overthinking mind, I also arrived at the plausible reason why she's doing that part-time job.

She probably wanted to buy her boyfriend a gift.

I had no regret about what I did to her and I wasn't looking for her forgiveness at all. Yet, I remembered how obedient she was to me as well as her reluctance when I set her free.

Due to that, I bought one and walked away without ever exchanging a word with her.

It's just one cake so I doubt it would help her at all. Besides, I considered that my way to stop the other women from prying further. It's enough that she got spooked by my appearance, there's no point tormenting her further when in the first place, I let her go myself.

Anyway, that's how I got compelled to bring home a Christmas cake that I would probably never finish eating.

Should I give it to my neighbor? As a repayment for the leftover dinners that they sometimes send me.

Alright. If that girl shows up at my door, I'll use that to send her away.

With my drowsiness gone, I prepared to stand up and do my daily exercise.

Special or not, Christmas was still just another normal day for me during this winter vacation. Like the previous years, I would simply spend it in this house. This house which remained empty due to the absence of my parents.

I'm not complaining. In fact, I prefer it this way. I can bring one of those girls that's still obedient to me anytime I want.

Arriving at that thought, I shook my head a few times, "Yeah. It's Christmas day. I won't be bringing any of them here. They can enjoy this day to their heart's content with their clueless boyfriends. They're still mine at the end of the day, anyway."

Those girls obediently followed my orders all this time. To satisfy them and expunge any thoughts of rebellion, I found it reasonable to let them have the chance to celebrate this day with their partners.

Well, not that they had any chance to turn against me. They could hate me for all I care but as long as I hold their weaknesses, the best they could do was to transfer far away. They're mine and those boyfriends they originally love are only an accessory that we used to stay undetected.

Behind their backs, I was already ravaging their women almost everyday while those idiots could only fantasize about the eventual progress of their relationship. Something that would probably not happen at all.

I exist, after all. While they delude themselves with the concept of love or whatever that emotion was, my desire had continuously been filled up by those very women they hold dear.

Even today, they had no idea that their fantasies wouldn't ever come true unless one of the girls broke my order of not letting anyone else touch and be intimate with them.

If that happened, even if I failed to find out right away, I could sniff it out in our future interactions. Once that happened, it would spell the end of the girl's captivity. I'd cut her off right away and never interact with her again.

pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 Yeah. I did threaten them with their weaknesses but those weren't something I would easily release to destroy their reputation. At most, I was only using them as a threat and to keep them in line. To obey me completely.

Nonetheless, if push comes to shove, it's not impossible for me to use those.

Anyway, while I had yet to locate a new target, those girls were more than enough to fill my desire whenever I needed it.

Dropping that topic in my mind, I quickly left my room and went down.

After finishing my morning routine of breakfast and exercise, I holed up in our living room. And to pass the time, I turned the television on, watching senseless programs that ooze out of the scent of the holiday.

Spending at least three hours doing nothing but that, my eyelids soon grew heavy. It's boring. And with the cold weather, the first thought that came into my mind apart from urgings from my desire was to get more sleep.

Yeah. Like a bear who would hibernate in the cold of winter. To conserve energy.

Come tomorrow, everything will return to normal again. My desire will continuously be filled up by the girls I've stolen and I will be tiding this winter vacation warmed up by their bodies.

"There's no point checking on them when I know that if I really ordered them to come, they will."

Upon saying that out loud despite being alone in this house, I turned the TV off and stood up from the sofa to drag my body upstairs.

I wasn't expecting anything or anyone, right?

However, it's laughable. Right as soon as I stepped out of the living room, someone came to my door indicated by the ringing of our doorbell.

Thinking about it, my parents sometimes send me packages from wherever they are currently.

That's why thinking that it might be a postman or courier, I changed direction and went to the door.

Convinced that it was one of the two, I didn't check on the door monitor and went straight to the knob, opening it.

And sure enough, it became my blunder. I should've checked first.

Wearing a white winter coat that looked very warm, winter gloves and a thick scarf wrapped around her neck, the girl from yesterday greeted me with a rather nostalgic smile.

It appeared pained and forced. Something that I had seen many times before cutting her off after she graduated and stepped up to become a high school student. Did something happen to her?

Finding me staring at her without any change in my expression, she raised one of her hands, greeting me.

"Hi. Am I still welcome here?"

Is she? Of course not. It's been what? More than half a year since I cut her off. She shouldn't be here anymore.

Tomorrow was a coincidence and she surely dodged being associated with me. So, what's her deal today?

"No." I flatly answered, took a step back, and motioned to close the door.

Perhaps knowing fully well that I would answer like that, the girl stepped forward and tried to slip in from my side.

Unfortunately for her, my reflexes and resolve to send her away were quicker. My palm landed squarely on her ice-cold face that was beaten by the cold weather today, halting her advance.

After trying a few times to push on and go from a different angle, the girl eventually gave up on overpowering me. She took a step back and pouted. Her eyes which reflected her current emotion focused on me.

"You never change, Ruki. Can't you let me in? It's too cold out here, I think I'll die from it soon." The girl said as she started shivering on the spot, rubbing her shoulders that were hidden beneath her winter coat.

Obviously, it's all an act on her part. She wanted to get in and she's doing all she could to do just that.

Heh. Somehow, I could sense my boredom going away. Should I let her in?

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