Stealing Spree

Chapter 2310: Followed



Thirty minutes later, I concluded my patrol after finishing a round of the entirety of the school's ground. Nothing out of the ordinary, sports clubs were busy practicing, especially those who got qualified for the prefecture-level of the Interhigh like the Girls' Basketball Club.

There wasn't anything to say to the other clubs though. They could do anything they want as long as it's in line with the name of their clubs.

I also met up with Uchiyama and his group who's trying to crack down on the Anti-Ruki club. They were making progress even without my involvement since most of the members were first years. They were probably those who witnessed how popular I became with the girls during our camping trip.

It's actually quite surprising that in our class, only Fukuda and Miyoshi were identified. They're so persistent in hating me rather than moving on and finding someone else. If they're not going to confront me themselves, what's the point of joining that group, right? Are they just going to slander me and wait until the girls leave me? In their dreams.

Anyway, according to Uchiyama's findings, most of them were just a bunch of envious bastards who couldn't stand seeing me always surrounded by the girls. They even had some 'eyewitnesses' making a statement about how I'm flirting with those girls whenever we're alone.

Which is not entirely false.

However, those became their fuel to continue funneling their antagonistic behavior towards me. But like I said, they're still just a bunch of cowards who could only badmouth me outside of my earshot.

When I asked Uchiyama if Ichihara Jun, Inugaki or even Enomoto were among them, he said they were not. However, they're still hanging out with the rest of the delinquents that were under Enomoto.

Since they were previously part of it, they pointed me to where they usually gathered. I had them lead me to it but even before we could approach the place, they'd already disperse. It's like my presence was becoming like a repellant, scattering them like roaches when the lights turned on.

Still, to make sure that no one's going to cause trouble in school, I told Uchiyama I was either going to dismantle those groups or make them become like them. If he could gather the 'ringleaders', I'll make them submit to me. I mean, even with Enomoto posing as the head of them, they're not truly unified just like how easily Uchiyama and the other two broke away from them. Furthermore, each one of those had their own group that they led. Mostly three to four people per group.

Right. There's another detail. Most of them were already third years so... a lot were worried about their upcoming careers. As for those like him who now have a seniority, they're trying to recruit their juniors. Unfortunately, with only four first-year classes and having a ratio of boys and girls skewed to the other side, they're really not gaining new people. And with the rise of the Anti-Ruki Club, there's a chance that this school will be partially cleansed of troublemakers once those third years graduate at the end of the school year.

Anyway, that's that. After I instructed them not to cause trouble and just scare those idiots from my 'fan' club, I set aside the 'school underground' and just finished my patrol before coming to check on our potato clubhouse.

Since I didn't get busy investigating and chasing after a pranking incident just like last week, I arrived early. The sun could still be seen from the west, casting a light orange glow that bathed the school in its warm light. I entered the clubhouse expecting someone to be there.

Alas, most clubs were still in session, so it was quiet.

But that's fine. Misaki would show up later for our rehearsal. I haven't memorized the full script of our two-person play yet. Only the first part. In any case, maybe I could ad-lib some parts depending on her lines, to make it more... interesting.

After checking the whole place, I once again moved to the back of the clubhouse to start clearing out the weeds in the garden I was planning to use to plant our potatoes. Since this place was the former 'Gardening Club' clubhouse, those plots were already pretty good, it was just truly forgotten. I went to the small tool shed and found the rusty tools they didn't take away.

Since I planned to only weed them out for today, I grabbed a pair of gloves and a small hand shovel. The garden was a bit overgrown, with weeds wrapping around the metal fence that surrounded the plots.

I carefully approached the first plot, kneeling down and gently starting to dig out the weeds. The soil was surprisingly soft and rich, probably from the months or a few years of neglect. But it's not all bad. It meant that the ground was still fertile and perfect for planting.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

After working on this for at least fifteen minutes, I heard the door creak open and a pair of footsteps entering. Thinking that it should be Misaki, I stood up, dropped the shovel and took off the gloves before returning inside.

However, I was wrong, it wasn't Misaki. It was Maaya and she wasn't alone.

Behind her, there was Miura-senpai, Komoe's older sister and the gamer girl, Sagara-senpai. "Oh! Onoda-kun! This is amazing! It looked like an old dilapidated haunted house from the outside but here... It's cozy!" Miura-senpai exclaimed as she immediately ran around the room, her eyes lighting up as she took in the sight of the lavish interior of the clubhouse. Sagara-senpai was also a little curious but she's quite behaved.

And lastly, Maaya was staring at me with an apologetic look before saying, "Sorry, Ruki. I didn't notice I was followed by them."

Yeah. I figured that's the case. Knowing that girl, she wouldn't just bring anyone with her, especially to this place that was supposed to be our group's secret.

"Hehe. Don't get mad at Maaya-chan, Onoda-kun. This was all due to my suspicion. I once checked this place out because of rumors of ghost haunting, who would've thought that the rumors were probably born because you guys have been spotted coming to and from here." As she said all that, Miura-senpai posed while nudging her glasses up her nose, a playful smirk on her face.

Right. We were here when they snooped around, talking about the ghost rumor or something. But thinking about it, this was truly bound to happen. It's not like everyone was skilled in sneaking into this area. And with more girls coming here, people would start to notice.