Chapter 309: Passing by the Book Club

I thought Ogawa would come running from behind us but until we left the side where their clubroom was located, nothing came up. Perhaps he was stopped by the others in that room.

During the brief time I peeked inside, I controlled myself not to look at Arisa-senpai. Because of that, it was Izumi-senpai's reaction which I saw.

There was bitterness in her eyes as she watched how Ogawa reacted. I didn't check what happened between them back at that abandoned clubroom since I was entirely focused on Arisa-senpai. It looked like her time with him was once again proven fruitless.

Well, there's still tomorrow, instead of her mentoring me, I'll think of something that could help her. If that guy becomes distracted with Izumi-senpai during the upcoming confrontation, it will be easier to deal with the aftermath.

I'll think about how to deal with him after that. Whether I will support Izumi-senpai in making him look at her or not will depend on how extreme his reaction will be after gulping down the truth that Nami is already mine.

Pushing that shriek by Imada or the thought of what could be happening inside that clubroom at the moment at the back of my mind, I took Nami down with me to visit the Book Club.

With Haruko helping us earlier, I wanted to do something for her. Also, I want to see Himeko and fulfill my promise to Mina to always visit her. There's also Aya in there. That girl was probably reading something for her to have new stories to tell me.

Nami didn't mind about it. In fact, she's somewhat excited to meet Himeko who she got to know at the group. As it turns out, the two hit it off pretty well despite Himeko still somewhat reserved when interacting with Nami.

Hearing about that made me somewhat proud of that Himeko. I knew she's still the same introvert when it comes to her classmates and apart from me, Haruko and the others from her club, she seldom interacted with anyone else and even if she did, one or two words was her limit before withdrawing from the conversation.

Since the Book Club is located on the same floor, it didn't take long for us to reach their door.

Opening it without knocking first, we were immediately greeted by the somewhat dark ambiance of the club due to the tall bookshelves that almost covered the light above. Since this was her first time inside the Book Club, Nami was amazed by those rows of bookshelves entering her eyes as well as the number of books neatly stored in them.

"Ruki…"

From the side where Haruko's table was located, Himeko's calming voice entered my ears as she called out my name.

Turning in her direction, she's alone in there, sitting on a chair next to Haruko's chair. The cover for the connecting door was currently raised which means Haruko was inside, perhaps along with one of her girls.

"Hime-senpai! It's nice meeting you."

Following my eyes, Nami also found Himeko silently sipping her tea.

Surprised at Nami's sudden addressing of her, it took her a few seconds to regain her composure before an imaginary light bulb lit up, recognizing Nami and perhaps Nami's way of calling her.

"N-nanami-chan? Uhm… Nice meeting you. Ruki. Why did you bring her here?" Returning her greeting, Himeko awkwardly turned to me as if she's avoiding further interaction with Nami.

Instead of answering her, I looked at Nami. The scary girl who understood my intention nodded and smiled meaningfully. However, what she did first was somewhat unexpected. Pulling me over to Himeko, Nami kissed me in front of her as if she's trying to make Himeko jealous.

The girl was being irrational again.

Upon seeing that, Himeko pouted and surprisingly, Nami's taunt was effective. She stood up and waited until Nami let go of me before snatching me over to her. She then pulled my collar down to have me lower my head for her to easily reach my lips without tiptoeing like Nami.

"Un. I expected as much from Hime-senpai. Nice meeting you again." With a meaningful smile, Nami repeated.

And upon hearing that, Himeko let go of my lips and returned a triumphant smile to Nami.

With me stuck between the two of them, I could only shake my head seeing this kind of interaction from them.

"Well then, let me greet the others first. Himeko, look after Nami for me. And Nami, behave. Let's talk about that period of yours later."

Leaving the two of them I passed through the small passage in between two bookshelves and arrived at the reading tables where the members of the Book Club were currently busy taking in more knowledge. Reaching the table of the calmest one among them, I quietly slipped my hand from her shoulders, hugging her neck. "Sorry for disturbing you, Aya."

"Ruki!" Although she flinched at first, hearing my voice next to her ear, Aya instantly turned around and pulled down her reading glasses.

"I will walk with Nami to the station, do you want to come with us?"

"Now?"

"A bit later, I still have the others to greet."

"I see. Then I'll wait for you here."

"Un. We can pass by that Book Shop again if you want."

"Yes! I love you, Ruki." Overjoyed with what I told her, Aya kissed me, ignoring the eyes of those members who got disturbed at her little exclamation.

Of course, I returned it and ignored them as well, satisfying both of us.

Since we'll take the train, sending off Aya was also plausible. Besides, walking alongside the two can reduce suspicion. It's not like everyone will instantly link it as me flaunting my two-timing in public. In most eyes, it will be like I'm a popular guy escorting two gorgeous girls.

Ah. I guess it's also a certainty that someone will be jealous and mark me as an enemy among them, especially those virgin boys who can't get a girl for themselves.

Well, I'll still exercise caution making sure that no new rumors will be born from it.

Leaving Aya's side and letting her focus on her book again, I went back to Haruko's table and saw Himeko and Nami engaged in a conversation wherein the two will occasionally giggle.

Passing by them, I went to the connecting door and slowly turned the knob before pushing it open.

As soon as the girls inside saw me, three pairs of eyes turned into a slit as they glared at me.

On the other hand, Haruko who was sitting on the bed with Mina and the other three exclaimed with an alluring smile on her lips. "Hubby, you're here!"

Judging from their current disheveled erotic but erotic attire as well as their glossy lips and necks, It was easy to guess that they're having a heated session here.

This girl and her introvert harem...

Well, it's not like I will get jealous even if clung to her. I've known that they're lovers ever since meeting Haruko again. Since she's the one at the helm of their relationships, it didn't look like someone else stole Haruko from me. Besides, as soon as I entered her view, she's like a wife greeting her husband who came home from work.

"Haru, we'll go out for a while. We'll come back after he's gone." While keeping their glares at me, one of the 3rd years who has stunning silver hair said.

They hated me to the core, huh?

They then covered each other to not let me see the deep ravine of their half-opened uniforms. I already saw it so that's pretty useless. Besides, I'm more focused on admiring Haruko and Mina's lust-invoking figures.

"Elena. Stay in that room, I'll come for you."

"Alright. We'll wait for you, Haru."

Although I'd already grown accustomed to how they react every time I would run into them, I was finally certain of something. More than an introvert or not wanting to be stolen by me, it feels like the three have a phobia of men. Or perhaps they had a deep-seated hatred among all men and being one, I wasn't spared from it.

Did they have a previous boyfriend who seriously hurt them or any other men? Haruko wasn't giving me information about them, she wanted me to get to know them by myself.

With this information, I think I get what's actually in Haruko's mind. She truly cared for her girls. Apart from stealing them to make sure that she didn't need to let go of them, she also wanted me to become someone who could heal whatever wound those three currently have.

Well, for now, my hands were still full from the various issues. Let's just give them a proper impression in the meantime.

"Wait, you don't need to leave. I just wanted to greet Haruko and Mina, now that I saw them, I'm going out. I'm sorry if I barged in without knocking first. I'll keep that in my mind next time."

Upon hearing my words, the three girls stopped in their tracks. Instead of responding to me, the three turned their gazes to Haruko.

They really don't want to even exchange one word with me, huh?

"I understand. Mina, take Ruki to your clubroom instead. You're waiting for him, right?"

"Eh? No… Not really. Why will I wait for that shameless guy?"

"Mina, did this mean you lied to me?" Haruko put on a sad expression while disbelief apparent in her tone.

When Mina saw that, the girl instantly panicked and immediately corrected herself.

"No. I won't dare lie to you… Ugh. I admit I'm waiting for you, shameless guy." Defeated by Haruko's somewhat cutesy act, Mina stood up from the bed before going over to my side.

"Well then, Ruki, take care of Mina. Use the front door to go back."

As if that expression of hers was an illusion, Haruko winked and smiled meaningfully before sending us off to the Poem Appreciation Club's clubroom or rather, to the latter half of this clubroom

When the door behind us closed, Mina clasped my hand and guided me to their familiar cozy clubroom.

Since I'm also curious as to why she was waiting for me, I silently followed her while tracing her soft but a little rough palm with my thumb.

As soon as we stepped into the room, Mina turned around and stared straight into my eyes, "Can you help me with something, Onoda-kun?"