Chapter 2872: Enough teasing
"Are you so curious that you’d follow me into an empty clubhouse? There’s only the two of us here, An-rin. No one will know." I pressed on with a playful smile, which only made her even more annoyed.
An-rin raised her hand. However, when I thought I was going to be slapped by her, the girl surprisingly stopped. And what she did was clip my mouth shut between her fingers.
"S-shut up. You’re making me regret coming here."
I inwardly smiled and didn’t attempt to force my mouth open or pull away. Instead, I twisted my body slightly, facing her fully and pulling her in a tight embrace.
The sudden shift made her lose balance, falling onto my chest, and she released my mouth to hold onto me.
Scrambling to prop herself up, An-rin pressed her palms against my chest as she raised her head. "W-what the... Onoda-han?"
"I’m hugging you," I winked as I stated plainly. And at the same time, my arms looped firmly around her waist, locking her in. "You said you regretted coming here, right? Then I should make it worth your while. Will this be enough?"
An-rin’s mouth opened and closed, looking both bewildered and annoyed. Yet, she didn’t even try to squirm out of my hold. Her hands stayed planted against my chest, perhaps not knowing how to react in this situation.
"I guess it is." My lips curved up slightly as I watched her frozen expression.
It took her almost half a minute before her eyes regained their clarity. She then started hitting my chest with her fists like a temperamental kitten, weakly, with no intention of hurting me. "Y-you...! You’re totally doing this on purpose! Like, seriously! What if someone walks in?!"
"I told you, no one will be here. Even Misaki regrettably told me she had to stay in her club today. So, chances are... we’re all alone until we decide to leave."
Right. With the Theater and Drama Club collaborating for the play, they’re having a meeting today to divide up the roles.
One of these days, they’d probably call me to practice with them for my short ’cameo’ in their play that Marika and Misaki were looking forward to. That scene involved the three of us, after all.
Anyways, An-rin once again looked dumbstruck. However, she probably hadn’t noticed how she’s gradually relaxing in my embrace. Little by little, she’s surrendering to the warmth and comfort.
"... T-then ain’t we leaving?" An-rin’s voice cracked as she tried to sound casual, but before long, she lowered her gaze again, most likely afraid to show me how her tough act wasn’t working and she couldn’t prevent the blush occupying her face.
"We are. After we’re done with this conversation. I ended up answering my question, after all."
"What question?!"
I leaned down, parted the hair covering her ear and whispered closely, "I asked if this was enough to make our time here worthwhile."
The girl quivered from the sensation of my warm breath blowing against her ear. Her fingers curled against my uniform, gripping it tighter as she instinctively tilted her head away, only for her movement to expose more of her slender neck to me.
"T-that’s...!" An-rin stuttered, voice pitching higher as my lips pressed lightly against her earlobe. "You...you perv lord! Like, stop messing around!"
At this point, her ear had also turned as red as her face. A little more and she’d probably break.
I guess that’s enough teasing, huh?
I pulled back slightly and lifted her chin, preventing her from evading my gaze any longer. "Alright, I’ll stop. I told you, right? I will respect your wishes. Sorry for teasing you."
Upon saying that, I loosened my hold and pulled back from her, leaving her slightly dazed with her chest rising and falling rapidly like she’d forgotten to breathe.
An-rin blinked a few times with her lips parted in stunned silence before snapping them shut. Then, a hint of disappointment flashed on her face. Probably something she hadn’t noticed.
Without waiting for her to recover, I patted my lap before standing up. "Come on. Let’s return. Everything is already in order here."
I began walking to the door, but An-rin’s sudden grip on my sleeve stopped me. Her fingers trembled slightly as she refused to meet my eyes.
"Wait," She muttered, her voice uncharacteristically small.
Turning back, I arched my brow. "Changed your mind about leaving?"
She scoffed and sneered before saying, "Shut up. Just... gimme a sec."
Her grip tightened, then loosened, as if she couldn’t decide whether to tell me she wanted to stay a little bit more or follow me out quietly.
"Alright. Take your time." I made no further movements, just watching her struggle inside her head.
I can tell. It’s not that she can’t be honest with me. This girl probably has no idea how to react to my treatment of her. After all, she’s not used to this kind of closeness—not in a platonic way, and certainly not in a romantic sense.
An-rin inhaled sharply through her nose, her fingers twitching against my sleeve. Then, she gave the fabric a small, hesitant tug like she was testing the waters.
"You know," I started as I took a step back toward her, "if you keep holding me like this, I might get the wrong idea that you’re not uncomfortable."
An-rin’s grip slackened immediately, her hand dropping as though she had finally reached a decisive choice. And that was to let go.
"Duh! Obviously I’m not... Ugh!" She threw her hands up, exasperation warring with embarrassment. "Forget it! Let’s just go!"
She stomped past me toward the door, but her retreat was undercut by how she hesitated at the threshold, shoulders tense.
Perhaps not hearing my footsteps, the girl glanced behind her, "Oi! You comin’ or what?"
I smiled and nodded, "Mhm. I’m coming."
With that, I followed behind her and stepped out of the clubhouse.
The afternoon sun painted the school grounds in warm hues as An-rin marched ahead, her usual confident stride slightly off-beat. She kept glancing over her shoulder, as if making sure I hadn’t vanished, or perhaps hoping I’d say something to break the lingering tension between us.
"You’re walking too slow, perv lord," She huffed, stopping abruptly when we reached the Gymnasium area.
I caught up easily, "Nope, you’re just walking too fast. It makes me wonder if you just want to run away from me. But then again, it’s probably my fault. Making you uncomfortable."
An-rin spun on her heel so fast her skirt flared. "Uncomfortable? Pfft. Like, as if. I’m a-ok!"
Her voice cracked on the last word, betraying her attempt to hide her true thoughts. She crossed her arms, tapping one foot impatiently against the pavement.
Well, there’s no point teasing her again until she admits it, so... I just nodded, "Then that’s good."
After that, I caught up to her and matched her pace.
Silence reigned on our way back to the Club Building. I kept my mouth shut while the girl also found it difficult to initiate another conversation. Maybe she didn’t want to make things awkward again between us, or she was still processing what happened.
Either way, we were just walking beside each other in comfortable silence and soon, we arrived at the vending machine.
"Wait for a bit, An-rin. I said I’m gonna buy drinks for everyone. What do you want?"
An-rin blinked, her fingers freezing mid-air where she’d been fiddling with a loose thread on her skirt. "Hah? Since when did I agree to wait around while you play the vending machine hero?"
I shrugged, already slotting a 1000-yen bill into the machine. "Hmm? Right. You can go ahead then. No need to wait for me."
The girl was taken aback, and then, another hint of disappointment and perhaps hesitation flashed on her face. An-rin hesitated before shifting her weight from one foot to the other, clearly conflicted.
"You’re... seriously just gonna let me go?" She muttered, disbelief coloring her voice.
"Mhm. Unless you wanna stay?" I didn’t look up from the vending machine buttons, deliberately giving her space to choose. The machine hummed as I picked the drinks for the girls in the Student Council.
An-rin’s shoe scuffed against the pavement. Until finally, she huffed and walked over to stand by my side.
Sensing her presence, I turned towards her and smiled, "You can’t leave me behind, huh?"
"Shut up! Like, I just wanted a free grape Fanta," An-rin grumbled, jabbing at the vending machine button with unnecessary force.
The can clunked down loudly. When she bent to retrieve it, she glared at me as though warning me not to stare at her behind, which of course made me stare harder. Not like I could see through her skirt. Besides, I’d already copped a feel of her ass that night.
Her cheeks flushed pink as she straightened abruptly, clutching the cold can between both hands like a shield. “Hurry up, Onoda-han.”
