Arriving at our classroom in the middle of the lesson spared me from my classmates' barrage of questions about what had happened earlier. They could only watch me take my seat after apologizing to Shio for coming in late.
Seeing how nonchalant I was, I found some of my girls giggling at their seats. And so, I stuck to what I planned earlier, greeting and thanking them for the help they rendered to diffuse the situation.
But because we were in the middle of our class, Shio had to fake a cough and call me out to interrupt me from openly flirting with them.
Then, there was Satsuki who sarcastically grumbled at my side, "Heh. What a model student. Coming to the classroom at his own leisure. What's next?"
Well, knowing the girl, I instantly knew that she just wanted to get my attention. I mean, because of her club, she was absent during that earlier commotion. Naturally, I was as happy to see her here more than anything.
True to my guess, as soon as I focused on the girl, she immediately became affectionate, reaching for the hem of my uniform and tugging at it as a look of concern covered her face.
To not gather more attention to us and be reprimanded by Shio again, I quickly leaned close to her, whispering words of gratitude and telling her not to worry too much.
It's not a competition whether she was there or not, after all. In fact, I even tried to deal with everything by myself. I was once again reminded that I have many capable girls who wouldn't hesitate to jump in to help me.
As always, it made me feel like the luckiest guy in the world.
Anyway, with the class only serving as a buffer, I got instantly crowded by my curious classmates, asking for the details or the aftermath of that confrontation as soon as I returned from escorting Shio to her next class.
Hashimoto from the Game Club and the otaku, Matsuda, were among them. Well, apart from Sakuma or Tadano, those two were the only ones I didn't have any beef with.
As for the few boys like Ogawa, Fukuda, and Fukuda's lackeys who could be said to be wishing for my downfall, they all disappointedly returned to their seats or stopped paying me any attention
Then there was the loudmouth Yamada who laughingly asked if I got sent to the Guidance Counselor, stating that it might be the reason I arrived late.
Well, he's right and wrong on that, right? I was with the Guidance Counselor but not because of the commotion.
I answered that with a vague smile which sparked the others to also present their theories, turning it into a competition to who can guess right.
My girls even joined in for giggles.
Apart from that, since it already spread to our whole class, some of them also did their research to find out Ichihara Jun's identity.
Those girls who I was on speaking terms expressed concern, telling me to be cautious around that guy. But well, even if it's already too late, I appreciated that. I also assured themIchihara Jun couldn't really go against me because of my position. If worst comes to worst, we'd be dragging each other down.
Considering I couldn't really care too much about my reputation as long as I am with my girls, he'd be losing out on that.
Anyway, there's another plus to that fiasco. It became a convenient issue that pushed down what I did yesterday on everyone's minds. It allowed me to just continue like normal, flirting with my girls openly.
Ah. Well, not openly where I kissed them in front of the class again. The few restrictions like being touchy or being too close with me had been lifted. Soon enough, having Chii latching on my back would be a normal sight in our classroom.
Furthermore, those who would have issues with it would be silenced by either my girls' glares or just my intimidating pressure.
In essence, we already conquered our classroom if we didn't count the frustrated boys and the remaining girls that I had never interacted before. If I'm not wrong, they already became cautious of approaching me. That's understandable anyway.
And so, the problem that remains were the ripples created outside our classroom.
For example, I started expecting another visit from Momoiro-senpai, Nazuna and Kawakami-senpai; Kana and Rae's friends and the captain of Satsuki's Basketball Club.
Among those three, the least likely to return was Kawakami-senpai. I mean, knowing how Satsuki behaves, those from her club will notice how unbothered she is regarding the rumors around me. But well, who knows?
More importantly, I will always appreciate their concern toward their friend or junior. I won't be a snob in case they really visited me for a lecture.
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Time passed and soon, the first three periods of morning classes quickly passed by where the only thing to note was how I managed to get some quality time with my girls at the Science Lab. We grouped up and finished an activity together.
The visits that I was expecting had yet to happen which was fortunate. Maybe they were waiting for an opportune time or the rumors around me were already too much that they were still processing it in their heads.
Most likely, it's the latter. With the most recent incident having the most impact and was witnessed by a lot of people from all year levels, I could already imagine Momoiro-senpai, the bubbly, extroverted senior who had a beef with Ichihara Jun showing up first.
"Man, you're really trying to make yourself an enemy of every guy in our class. Flirting even during class? I hope I can do that too."
On our way back to our classroom, Sakuma somehow appeared at my side and pulled me from my girls, acting all buddy-buddy. Thinking about it, I haven't thanked him yet for carrying my bag to our classroom. My head was always filled with my girls, after all.
But then again, this guy probably didn't mind that, and based on those words, he's just making conversation. In his mind, I'm still his friend… Sheesh.
In any case, we're only a step behind my girls so I guess this was fine. I also saw them approving of this. Most likely, they're thinking that it's not bad for me to have a friend. Unfortunately, I was the one rejecting that.
But if it's to pretend as one… I guess I could do that.
"You wish? Dude, have you already forgotten how you and Satsuki flirted before I came in between you two?"
"That wasn't flirting. Both of us were just at each other's throats. Besides, that still continued today."
Although I intentionally dug that up to gauge his reaction, Sakuma responded to it quite well, or maybe not that well? He just denied it even if what I said was partly true, after all. But then again, I couldn't blame him for that. He already convinced himself to move on and invest in his feelings for Setsuna-nee-san.
As for his progress with her, I had no idea. He's probably still trying to take her out on a date.
In any case, he's also right on that last part. Even if Satsuki started limiting herself from attacking the guy with words, she just couldn't help it whenever she would witness him doing something idiotic.
Back then, their bickering gave away the hint that they were into each other which ignited my desire to steal the girl.
At this present, it's nothing more than a reactionary reflex by the foul-mouthed girl. Her target already switched to me. Just that, she seldom won and, more often than not, the tables would be turned on her resulting in her succumbing to my glib tongue.
"Is that so? Alright then." I shrugged, trying to end the conversation with that.
He's persistent though. He swept that aside and continued.
"You've dodged the topic, Onoda. Are you fine with your current reputation among the boys in our school?"
"What reputation? If they're going to be jealous of me then so be it. Why will I care about them?"
"Man, you're really different. And it's a miracle they're not fighting over you… How did you do that?"
"Hmm. Simple. Be honest."
Upon hearing that, Sakuma went speechless as he stared at me in disbelief. With how simple that answer was, no one would easily believe it.
But someone else had something to say about that. Appearing from the side, Fukuda who was clearly listening to our conversation left a snide remark before speeding away, escaping quickly in case I made a comeback.
"'Be honest', my ass. You're fooling around and playing with fire. I can't wait to see you burn yourself and lose everything."
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