Stealing Spree Chapter 2562: Buried Messages

On my trip back ho, I couldn't help but recall Aya's radiant smile, the way her eyes had sparkled under the porch light as she held the bookmark close. It was one of those monts that felt like it could tie down, keep on the ground, no matter how chaotic my days got.

Aya's quiet strength, her unassuming warmth. It was always going to be a reminder of why I kept juggling all these connections, why I couldn't let any of them slip through my fingers.

The evening air was quite cool because of the cloudy sky as I walked toward the train station. The streets were silent as the pedestrians dwindled, as well as the lack of cars passing by and the distant bark of a dog.

Upon taking my seat on the train, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out to find a string of ssages from the separate group chat that the girls added to, reading about how they ssed with each other.

There was Nami teasing Satsuki about her earlier jealousy. Chii was spamming emojis, and Hina had sent a photo of the whiteboard from the Literature Club, captioned, "Ruki, contact ASAP. Let's sche about sothing. I got an idea!"

I chuckled, typing a quick reply to keep the banter going. Of course, her sche was probably not that great, so she didn't send it through our private chat, but still, I liked that Hina was also heading the chaos in that group chat.

There were more ssages and half of them were either directly or indirectly related to . As for the other half, that's where their banter starts, or whenever a discussion from the Ruki Hub would spill over to it.

After surfacing there for a few minutes, my thoughts drifted back to Umi.

Her boldness today, the way she'd pushed past her shyness to hold my hand, to kiss back with that quiet intensity, I feel like I've unlocked sothing from her. Or rather, has my corruption seeped deeper into her?

Anyway, she was already different from the Umi I'd first t, the one who was too shy to talk to as she pulled Sumire away, who kept on preaching about Asahi.

She was growing, carving out her own space in my world, and I couldn't deny the pull I felt toward her. Not just attraction, but sothing deeper, like she was soone I could sit with in silence and still feel understood.

I guess I'm falling further for her, huh?

The train soon reached a station, its doors hissing open. I watched as more passengers ca aboard, mostly tired salaryn going ho from work.

The city lights blurred past the window, a kaleidoscope of neon and amber that sohow brought a calming feeling as the train passed by.

I leaned my head against the glass, letting the gentle rumble of the engine lull my thoughts.

My phone buzzed again, this ti a private ssage from Umi. Just a simple, "Thank you, senpai. Today was… I'll never forget it." followed by a blushing emoji.

I smiled, my fingers hovering over the keyboard before typing back, "Neither will I, Umi. You're stuck with now. Sleep well, okay?"

I hit send, then switched to another ssage thread. I never run out of unread ssages, after all. And as always, there would be those who would be buried.

I had to scroll down to see if I missed sothing, for example, Juri's update about the state of her work at her agency, or Hanabi's ssage, telling she has a surprise for when the sleepover happens.

In Juri's ssage, she sent a photo of her upcoming schedule. And then there's a red circle on a calendar marked 'Cultural Festival Visit/Date with Ruki'.

I know that's what she wants to truly highlight so I played along, comnting on her schedule and telling her not to forget to contact if she needs to play as her boyfriend again. This ti it won't just be an act anymore.

In Hanabi's ssage, I teased the girl and ntioned Matsuri. And as I expected, that clumsy and goofy girl imdiately fumbled, "How did you know?!"

My reply to that was… "How can I not when my goofy Hanabi is being so obvious. I miss you. But don't tell Matsuri I miss her too. She'll freak out, don't you think so?"

Am I being truthful with those words? Honestly, I had no idea about Matsuri. I still have to see her before I can determine whether what I feel for her is the sa as I have for the girls and now, for her twin sister.

After that, I ssaged Nao, inquiring when that sleepover would happen. Unfortunately, she still couldn't give a clear date. Maybe next week. That's all.

In any case, her pastries kept on arriving at our house. Every ti she would back one, she'd always send a portion of it. Even if I told her not to spend so much on the delivery, the girl insisted, saying, "No one will eat that here, Ruki. Besides… you always give great feedback. I'm improving because of it! Don't forget to brush your teeth, okay? You always eat a lot even though you don't have a sweet tooth."

… Well, it's her creation, why will I be picky about it? And she's always baking those with in her thoughts.

Ah… If they cannot co quickly, I might just go to them one day and bring them ho with . And that includes… Azusa. Should I still call her Saionji-senpai or surprise her with a more intimate endearnt? Sothing like, Azu-chan.

I can already imagine her face scrunching up as she pretends not to be happy about it while secretly giggling whenever I'm not looking.

Anyway, I sent her a ssage too. A reply to her ssage earlier this afternoon. It's not that I forget. Her ssage just got buried when I ended up spending so much ti with the two PE teachers.

I thought for a while about what to say before ending up with a silly reply to her question about my preference in fashion. Even if she said she's not going to dress up according to my answer, she's probably going to spend a lot of ti in front of the mirror trying those clothes out so… I answered with the most absurd combination I could think of: a neon green tracksuit paired with a frilly pink beret and mismatched socks. One striped, one polka-dotted.

I added a winking emoji and a quick, "Just kidding, Azu-chan. Wear whatever makes you smile. You'll look perfect to ."

I hit send, imagining her scrunching her nose at the nickna and the ridiculous outfit, probably muttering sothing about my terrible taste while secretly laughing.

Azusa may co off as an egotistic girl who thinks herself to be the highest of all. The queen bee. But against soone as shaless as , she's also folding. Anyway, she's still charming even with her eyebrows furrowed. And whenever her face would redden, it was a sight that would be great to put in a portrait.

I couldn't wait to see her again, to tease her in person and watch her try to hide her giggles.

Eventually, the train stopped at my station, and I pocketed my phone, ready to face my girls. Yae and Ririka should've arrived by now, but they didn't tell if soone else ca with them.

As for the possibility of Fuyu visiting… it was highly likely, she's acting like she was missing a lot this morning, after all. It didn't matter to her anymore, even if Fubuki ended up teasing us. She's more than happy to take it by now. Because it's already the truth, unlike before when she was denying her attraction to .

Alright. I should buy sothing. Not dessert. Maybe… drinks?