The collective exhale in the room was almost comical. The girl who’d been fiddling with her hair tie nearly dropped it.

Furusawa-senpai smoothed her skirt again and forced a smile. "That’s it? No citations?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Hmm? No. Should I write you one, senpai?" I teased, pulling out my pen. The Track Club president stiffened before letting out a nervous laugh.

"Of course not! Just making sure we’re cleared."

Behind her, the two senior girls exchanged glances again. This time, something darker flickered in their eyes.

I pretended not to notice, stepping back into the hallway. "Right. Well, enjoy your festival prep. I’ll look forward to your booth this weekend."

The door clicked shut behind me too quickly. The muffled whispers erupted before I’d even taken three steps but I didn’t care about it anymore. They’re probably telling the other members to keep their mouths shut.

Halfway down the corridor, my phone buzzed. Kaede’s message, “How did it go, Onoda-kun?"

"Oh. Don’t worry. I didn’t even mention you, but I probably scared them enough. Maybe in a few days, someone will come to me and confess." I replied to Kaede while walking away from the Track Clubroom.

I’ll be more surprised if it’s the Club President herself or those close to her who step forward and confess to what they did. But given how guarded they were, I doubt it would happen.

With that done, I continued on my patrol, my footsteps echoing through the now-empty hallway as most students were holed up in their clubrooms.

Upon exiting, I rounded the corner to continue on my usual route towards our Potato Clubhouse.

However, perhaps because I was occupied with how to deal with the Track Club President, I nearly collided with someone.

To my surprise, it was a familiar figure.

It was An-rin. Having bumped into me accidentally, she naturally bounced off and plopped down the ground.

Her expression immediately turned to a scowl as she looked up but upon seeing who she crashed into, the scowl cracked into something, "Geez, perv lord, watch where you’re going."

The audacity to tell me that. Isn’t she the same? In any case, I wonder what she’s doing here. Shouldn’t she be with Chii and Kushii? They should’ve returned to the clubroom by now.

"You... Were you following me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at An-rin as I extended a hand to help her up.

The gyaru reluctantly grabbed my hand, gripping it as hard as she could.

"Pfft, as if!" She rolled her eyes, acting as though she was unbothered. "Just happened to be passing by."

"Passing by, huh? You three are almost inseparable by now, so I can’t buy that explanation."

"Y-you. Like, seriously?" An-rin’s grip tightened around my fingers, her nails digging in just enough to sting without breaking skin. "Who says I gotta be glued to ’em 24/7? Maybe I wanted fresh air!"

"Fair enough." I shrugged, "But aren’t you too worked up for someone who just wanted fresh air?"

An-rin’s cheeks puffed out like an irritated hamster. "Ugh! You’re really. Fine, I met a friend, ’kay? She borrowed my hair extensions, and I came to get ’em back!"

She yanked her hand away, crossing her arms defensively.

I tilted my head. "Hair extensions? Oh. Now that you mentioned it... Your hair isn’t as long as usual."

Her fingers twitched toward her noticeably shorter bob cut, still stylish, but lacking the dramatic length she usually flaunted. "Duh. That’s why I said it, genius."

"Alright, I believe you now. So, are you going back? Why not come with me then?" I smirked, looking at the usual chaotic gremlin trying her best not to act flustered.

Gyaru or not, ever since that sleepover, she’s now acting like this around me. Well, I wouldn’t blame her. After all that happened, only a shameless guy like me wouldn’t be bothered.

An-rin’s cheeks flushed pink, but she recovered quickly with an exaggerated scoff. "Hah? Like I’d follow you around like some lovesick puppy!"

The girl rolled her eyes again and tried to turn around. Nevertheless, I caught up to her right away and matched her pace.

"I never said you are one. But are you sure? I’m going to the clubhouse. No one was there, probably. But it’s already my routine to check it. That’s a place for us to hang out, after all." I casually said before widening my strides to walk past her.

An-rin hesitated for a second before quickening her pace to catch up with me. "Wait! Who said I’m not coming?"

I pretended to be surprised before grinning, "Heh. And here I thought you now hate being alone with me."

"Psh. What I hate is how shameless you are... Just d-don’t be too much of a perv lord, Onoda-han."

"Mhm. I still have to return, after all. Unless you want to stay there for a while with me?" I grinned, watching An-rin’s face flush deeper as she punched my arm too lightly to hurt.

"Idiot! Don’t say weird stuff like that! I’m not Chizuru or Kushii!” The girl grumbled before shoving her hands into her skirt pockets, acting tough.

Really, I don’t know what she’s thinking. Having known my shameless side, she’s still willing to accompany me alone. Granted, the distance between us had closed since that night. However, given how she’s acting, I thought she’d try her best to evade me as much as possible.

But this? Maybe that’s not truly the case.

As we walked towards the abandoned area of the school and past the dilapidated clubhouses, the girl became unnaturally quiet but whenever I would try to tease her, An-rin would act like the gremlin she was.

In the end, she moved behind me and started pushing on my back, telling me to hurry up instead of playing around with her.

Of course, she was just hiding how her face had already turned crimson.

Anyway, it didn’t take long before we arrived at our destination. This time, I went to the backyard first to check on the plots. It didn’t look abandoned now, but it still lacked the seeds of the crop I wanted to plant.

An-rin, who followed after me, narrowed her eyes as she glanced at the empty plots before snickering, “Come on, Onoda-han, when will we get to harvest your potatoes there?”

“Heh. Are you also interested in gardening?”

“No way!” An-rin scoffed, kicking a pebble into the dirt. “But if it’s, like, weirdly shaped potatoes, I wanna see ‘em. Bet you’d carve ‘em into something pervy.”

"Weirdly shaped, huh? I’ll look into that and surprise you."

"Wah! I didn’t mean–" An-rin’s protest died in her throat as I grabbed her hand and walked us into the back door of the clubhouse.

Her fingers twitched in mine but the girl didn’t try to pull away.

As expected, the place was empty.

The two of us walked in and I let go of her hand. Although she looked a little disappointed, the girl still pretended to be tough.

I grabbed the small watering can that Mutsumi-senpai left behind, filled it at the faucet, and went upstairs to water the plants by the window.

When I returned downstairs, An-rin was already sitting down on the couch, looking a little listless.

She glanced up at me and let out a sigh.

"So... What now?"

"Nothing much. We can go now, but... let me rest my legs first."

Upon saying that, I walked over to where she was sitting. The girl chewed her lower lip as she watched me plop down not far away from her. The springs creaked under my weight and turned my head towards her.

With that, the girl shot me a suspicious glare, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. Just thinking how you still act like I’m gonna pounce on you." I said before poking her cheek. The girl instinctively jumped before grabbing my finger.

“Ugh. Really, perv lord?”

I shrugged, "Relax, alright? You know how I am. I may be shameless and I kinda like teasing you. But I will never want to make you uncomfortable."

"Y-yeah, right. Like I’d believe that," An-rin muttered, but the tension in her shoulders eased slightly as she let go of my finger.

A while later, her fingers tapped an erratic rhythm against her thigh. It sounded like a nervous habit but at the same time, a hint of anticipation for whatever was gonna happen between us.

"You’re always... doing stuff when no one’s looking." She continued.

I tilted my head, acting a little oblivious. "Am I? I only do stuff with my girls though. But let’s see, maybe I’ll also do stuff if you let me or if you hint at me that you secretly want me to."

"Ugh, shut up! Like, seriously!"

She lobbed a throw pillow at my face, but her aim was off. The cushion didn’t even hit my face. It just landed on my lap.

An-rin scowled, but her lips twitched like she was fighting a smile. "You’re such a shameless tease!"

Mhm. I’m enjoying teasing this girl.