After that little event that involved me and Izumi-senpai, the girl then declared to finish sorting the papers as soon as possible. Because of her glare and her strict supervision which prohibited the others from reading what's written in the papers, they successfully finished it in less than 10 minutes.

Because the two seniors would pass those papers to their client for the job completion, they didn't join us in heading out.

And just like yesterday, I was surrounded by Nami, Hina and Saki while the boys of that club maintained a distance from us.

Kikuchi also joined in but she's next to Hina, whispering something to her.

I naturally noticed the covert glances she's throwing at me. If my guess was correct, this girl already had some guesses about my relationship with Hina. And most likely, she's trying to probe into it as well as trying to help her.

Well, apart from that, she's probably cooking up some scenario in her head to pair me up with one of the guys in the club.

She's someone who's not embarrassed talking about her hobby after all and according to Nami and Hina, Kikuchi had already tried to entice them with her doujins filled with explicit man-to-man action.

Fortunately, she failed.

She even wrote some fiction work involving the boys in the club and it was being circulated with her other group filled with girls who had the same hobby as hers.

"It's rare to see Izumi that embarrassed. Great job, Noriko." Nami raised a thumb towards Kikuchi after we exited the Club Building.

Accepting that praise, the girl copied Nami's gesture with a wide grin on her lips.

"The biggest contributor is still Onoda-kun." Kikuchi leered at me. "You made her panic like that. It's making me really curious about what she meant about you being shameless and hateful."

"Let's just forget about that. Who knows? Izumi-senpai suddenly showed up behind me and broke my neck this time."

"I don't take you for a coward, Onoda-kun."

"Do I look like a coward to you? Let's just say, I changed my mind about blabbing about it. Making her embarrassed earlier was enough."

Upon hearing my answer, Kikuchi smiled before moving closer to me, taking over Hina's place. And in a voice that could only be heard by me, she whispered.

"If you say so… But you're truly interesting, Onoda-kun. I wonder about what you feed Hina. She's never been interested in another guy apart from Kazuo."

After saying that, she returned to her place, not waiting for my answer.

It's easy to guess what she's doing, the girl was implicitly warning me. Perhaps, if something happened to Hina, I would become her first suspect.

Well, but with what she said, I guess Hina hadn't told her the extent of our relationship.

In her mind, it's probably the same thing with Ogawa. That Hina was competing against Nami for my affection.

When Hina asked her what Kikuchi said to me, the girl only laughed and waved it off before pulling the girl ahead of us as they ran towards the bus stop.

On my side, Nami whispered 'Interesting' before hooking her arms on mine. Naturally, she observed that interaction between Kikuchi and me.

Saki who's somewhat clueless about what happened excitedly took the now freed side of me.

Even if I didn't look back, I could feel stabbing glares from behind me. Perhaps it was from Tadano or that silent guy.

Either way, those two could only do that. That silent guy was probably influenced by Ogawa and Tadano's attitude.

If he keeps being silent and does not even try to confess like the other two, Saki will eventually end up with me.

Although I hadn't decided yet about what to do with her, in only two days, I was already closer to her than his years of being friends with her.

-

-

Before boarding the bus, Nami held onto my arm tightly as if she didn't want to separate from me. Behind her, Hina and Saki were also looking as if they wanted to run up to me but they're restraining themselves.

No matter what, we're in public so being my girlfriend, only Nami had the right to be this close to me.

Knowing what's on the girl's mind, I pulled her out of their sight or rather, just behind the bus stop. That bus would stop for at least two minutes there so we have so little time.

Nami understood that so as soon as we're out of their sight, Nami threw herself onto me, locking our lips together.

As if hungry for my affection, Nami, who's already experienced enough, took the lead from me. Invading my mouth with her tongue, the thought of what her friends would think already left her mind.

In any case, I was the same. To satisfy her, I deepened our kiss followed by my hand's exploration.

When we separated from each other, there's a dreamy look in her eyes as she appeared red from the heat that was generated from that brief exchange of affection.

Afterwards, we went back to the front to see them off.

As the bus left, I saw Hina slightly pouting and Saki having a slightly envious look as they stared at Nami next to them who's happily waving her hands to me.

That's why when the bus left my sight, I sent a message to both Hina and Saki, saying 'See you tomorrow' to somehow abate what they're feeling.

-

-

Continuing on, after that send-off at the bus stop.

Before I checked on Satsuki in the Gymnasium, I went somewhere deserted to contact Nao to check on her status.

It's been two days since she reported that Nobuo to their school.

Although I was receiving an update from her whenever there's time. I still couldn't help but continue to worry for her safety.

He was summoned to the school yesterday but Nao wasn't there to watch the proceedings.

According to her, she was only informed about the result

Obviously, that Nobuo denied the allegations thrown at him by Nao. However, with the evidence as clear as that, the School Administration immediately suspended him.

If not for that clear evidence, I could guess that the school would protect its image and would let that guy get away for just a few months of pay and suspension for a few days before transferring him somewhere else.

Well, if that's what they're doing, I was ready to implicate them.

After only less than five seconds of ringing, Nao's pleasant face appeared on the screen.

"Ruki! I was about to go home. You?"

"Me too. Nothing happened, right?"

Observing her facial expression, she's still the same as any other day. So… I guess nothing happened yet.

Not that I was waiting for something to happen but desperation could let someone do something extreme.

That's why I kept on checking on her.

Nonetheless, even without that, I would continue checking on this girl.

She's the one farthest from me so as much as possible, I didn't want her to feel that I was forgetting about her.

"Nope! All clear. I'm always ready. If that guy showed up, it would just be another evidence against him. Hehe." Nao was grinning while showing a peace sign.

Looking at how bright the smile she was showing, this girl was trying not to make me worry. Nonetheless, it's not fake at all.

If it was, I would've noticed the little nuance she would make.