Stealing Spree

Several minutes passed after that not-so-honest denial of Kazuha-nee. She even glared at me to prevent me from bringing it up again.

I'd let her have that and simply shrug to wait for her to gather her wits and set us straight to what she's really envisioning by inviting me to her room.

"Okay, shameless guy. Let's go over this again."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I mean, forget the last few minutes. I'm not being myself there."

"I see. Looks like I'm finally getting to see that devious older sister again."

"Who are you calling devious?!"

"Now, you tell me."

"Ugh. Enough. I shouldn't be taken in by your pace."

"Will you believe me if I say I'm just being myself? It's Kazuha-nee who's acting differently. And here I thought I'd get bullied by you. Can I demand back the time I spent worrying about how to get out of it?"

"You shameless boy. I'm still going to bully you. I have to get back at you for that humiliation."

"Wait. Humiliation? Kazuha-nee, did I humiliate you? I'm pretty sure I asked for your permission at every instance that something happened between us."

"... The last one! You forced it on me."

Oh... So she meant that one. The moment I pinned her down on the bed and kissed her.

Yeah. I did force her on that because I was cheeky. Halfway through, she still accepted it, savoring the last few moments before she ran away.

In any case, that truly didn't erase what I did. Now I feel like my apology from earlier is half- assed.

With a bitter smile, I guiltily lowered my head in silent apology. With both of my arms pressing on the kotatsu table, I probably looked like I was offering my neck to her.

"Kazuha-nee is right. You don't have to wait to bully me for it. Just punish me right at this moment, I'll take it without resisting."

I didn't look at her expression but from what I could capture from my vision, my words made her shake violently. Either she found it unbelievable or she was just angry that I was acting like this.

Starting with a sharp tone as though she was stabbing me with it, a soft sigh then escaped her mouth.

"You... Don't decide that for me, Ruki-kun."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but raise my gaze. Kazuha-nee had a troubled look on her face.

Before I knew it, my arm already automatically moved, reaching out to cup her cheek.

She dodged it though and I awkwardly pulled my arm back before sitting back properly. After rearranging my thoughts, I took another gulp of the juice and emptied the glass this time.

Treating that as a shot to boost my courage, I faced the woman opposite me again.

"Yes. You're totally right, Kazuha-nee. Forget I said anything. It's your decision to be made, not mine."

"Great. As long as you understand." She replied but a few seconds later, Kazuha-nee started giggling.

Confused, I tilted my head at her which just made her giggles louder. Maybe she found it funny to see me clueless like this.

But well, what can I do? I really did not understand what made her giggle like that.

We just really caught her in the net that night and pushed her over the edge so that she bit into

the temptation.

If not for that, nothing would've happened between us.

"I did hate Ogawa."

"Did? Why is it in the past tense?"

"Because I don't think it's worth hating him anymore. You must've heard how I stole everyone away from him. But Kazuha-nee, I did that because the girls deserved happiness. He

couldn't give that to them so I did."

"You hated him because of that?"

"Yes. He's too indecisive and delusional. Like you said, if he took a page from my book then

he might be a little better. But that's not what he did. He buried himself in his delusion. The day you met me at the mall, you tried mediating between us. However, he didn't tell you that at that time, Nami was already mine."

Kazuha-nee listened intently and from her bodily reaction, her emotions ranged from being angry, annoyed, helpless, and then pity.

Well, that's normal. What I said must be insulting to her. That's her precious little brother. She might be the type to torment him but Kazuha-nee still cared for him a lot.

"... So, did you specifically target Kazu-kun?"

"I don't. I may have some lingering thoughts about tormenting him by my actions but I never

targeted him. Ah. Right. I punched him in the gut once."

"Why?"

"For Nami. Ah. No. It's to wake him up to reality."

"Elaborate."

"That's it. There's no deeper reason. Like I said. He deluded himself in his fantasy where

Nami is still in love with him."

"... Ruki-kun. Do you still hate him?"

After everything, my hate for him was just really out of pettiness. Without it, I didn't really care about him. All this time, I only cared about the girls around him.

"Not anymore. However, I don't think I can get along with him. What about him? He hates

me, right?"

"Yes... And he's trying to protect me from you."

"Then, Kazuha-nee can simply follow him. We had an agreement, after all. Besides, I also did

you wrong."

As I said that, I broke out of eye contact and turned my head sideways. In my head, I was

already thinking of leaving.

However, I probably shouldn't do that. For Kazuha-nee's sake, I should wait for her to collect and arrange her thoughts about everything I said.

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