Chapter 337: Urge to Tease

Upon seeing the girl froze in place, I waited for her to recover while observing her.

Although I always see her in class, this should be the first time I got close enough to observe every little detail about her.

When it comes to Imada, what’s easily noticeable was her dimples due to how she was constantly smiling. Every time one would look at her, more often than not, there’s a smile on her face.

Apart from that, her green eyes were always shining in excitement. It’s different from how Otsuka-senpai’s eyes glittered in excitement from her extreme curiosity. It’s more like the girl was the most cheerful girl in class or even in school.

No wonder that Mentor of hers ran off when given a chance. She couldn’t match up with her relentless energy.

Her shoulder-length black hair was often tied into a bun on top of her head when in class. There were only a few occasions where she let it flow down.

Nonetheless, either of the two gave her the same amount of charm.

If I recall correctly, that silent guy in their group, who I still couldn’t remember the name of, often looked in her direction even if she’s not the focus of their conversation.

Although that guy was somewhat emotionless, I guess he has a secret crush on this girl. I don’t know.

“W-what are you talking about? He has many admirers, why would I want to join their fray?”

As she stuttered at the first part of her answer, Imada showed the same flustered expression she had back in that clubroom.

I guess she’s not good at lying or she was caught completely off guard by my words.

“Imada, I’m only asking if you’re interested in him. It’s a simple yes or no question. Alright, for your sake, I’ll pretend you didn’t stutter to keep your secret secured.”

If she’s also into Ogawa, it finally makes sense why she’s so enthusiastic about my relationship with Nami.

Like Hina and Izumi-senpai, she lost her greatest rival.

Not that she was actively seeking his attention though. If I’m not wrong, Ogawa might be more annoyed with her because of her constant harping about my relationship with Nami. She’s also the one who would always invite me to join them. To the cafeteria or their clubroom.

“W-wha! N-no… Onoda-kun. Don’t misunderstand… I’m… I’m not…”

“Alright. Don’t worry too much Imada, my lips are sealed. You can trust me on that.”

I made a gesture of zipping my lips which resulted in Imada putting on a defeated expression. Her cute dimples were nowhere in sight now.

Looking at her like this, I had this sudden urge to continue teasing her.

Well, it’s not like I would instantly mark her as a target just because I found out that she’s also interested in that coward.

No matter what, she truly helped Nami and me.

I guess this is just me trying to make use of this free time I got. Just like that time with Arisa-senpai, I’m only trying to enjoy this moment.

After contemplating for a while, Imada’s voice entered my ears as she grabbed my collar to pull my ears near her once more, whispering her admittance. “… You better keep quiet, Onoda-kun. I’m not chasing after him. With the others around, I’m convinced that I don’t have any chance to get his attention.”

Well, I knew that’s the case. She’s probably someone who’s already content at admiring that dense coward from afar.

Moreover, she could even get close to her without anyone suspecting that she likes him.

Let’s see… What is this I’m feeling?

The urge to tease this girl had just suddenly heightened. I know that I should stop now but this urge was preventing me from doing so.

For this to surface even if she’s not one of my girls… What’s the meaning of this? Is this part of my desire that I couldn’t cure?

Now that I think of it, I also unconsciously did this during that time with Coach Ayu.

Whatever this urge may be, I need to understand this.

And with it being triggered with her, there's no better time to understand it than now.

As she pulled away after whispering to me, I slowly turned my head to meet her gaze.

“I see. So you admit you’re interested in him.“

Upon hearing it, a vein popped out on her forehead as she released her hold on my collar before pushing me away from her.

“Argh! You’re so hateful Onoda-kun! Whatever, no one will believe that I am interested in him anyway.”

As I expected, because of this urge to tease her, watching her react like this was somewhat satisfying.

Nonetheless, it still couldn’t be compared to when I teased my Mizuki earlier.

Let's push on. There's still time anyway.

“Are you sure? What if I tell him about this to get his reaction?”

Upon hearing it, Imada instantly put on a pained expression as she shoved me with more force than earlier.

“Ugh. No! Go away now. Shoo… Leave me alone!”

“Eh? What about that interesting thing you’re telling me?”

“Now you’re interested? What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know. Someone suddenly got my interest.”

I shrugged before closing the distance between us again, rendering her efforts to push me away earlier completely useless.

Since we're sitting on a bench facing the baseball field, anyone who would see us here would probably mistake us as some kind of couple playing with each other.

Naturally, I checked behind to make sure there wouldn't be an unnecessary eye spying on us before pushing forward to what I planned to do.

I had to be somewhat careful with Izumi-senpai but with Imada… This is just me testing how far I could go by teasing someone like her who seemed to lack the resolve to truly push me away from her.

She could run away anytime. We're not in an enclosed space after all. Nonetheless, all she did was push me away and inch farther from this little bench we were sitting on.

Imada avoided my gaze and went silent for a while. Perhaps she's trying to reinforce in her mind that the 'someone' who got my interest was not her.

In the end, she couldn't help but ask a question while letting out a suppressed groan. Whatever's on this girl's mind at the moment, I could somehow detect a slight curiosity.

She's probably curious as to how far I could take this act of mine. Or perhaps, she picked up that I was deliberately teasing her.

“... Ugh. Are you like this to Nanami?”

Before I answered, I put some distance between us which immediately made the girl release a relieved sigh. However, as soon as she did, I brought my lips next to her ear and whispered, “You saw how close we were back at that clubroom. By any chance, do you like to try it?”

As if she got tickled with my breath blowing into her ear, Imada flinched and covered her ears before she asked in clear confusion. “Onoda-kun, is this my imagination, or are you hitting on me?"

Not really. I'm just teasing you.

Well, instead of that, I answered differently.

"Maybe. What do you think?"

Her reactions were truly unearthing this suppressed desire of mine to tease. I don't know if it will be triggered by anyone else but apart from Coach Ayu, this was probably what happened with Ishida-senpai yesterday.

However, because I was trying to be careful around her, I stopped almost immediately after seeing her flustered.

Perhaps, those two were not the only instances, I was already doing this unconsciously. Be it with my girls, my targets or someone completely unrelated like this girl.

The trigger might be the way they were reacting to me.

"I don't know… I can't read your mind." Imada hurriedly shook her head. The girl was already shrinking on her seat but still, she didn't have any intention to run away from me.

Is she actually digging this attitude of mine? I don't know.

Let's push her further then.

"What if I do this? Will you be able to read what's on my mind right now?" I reached for her lowered head and gently lifted her face towards me. Afterward, I lowered my head and placed my forehead on hears

As soon as I did that, Imada closed her eyes and pursed her lips.

With our foreheads touching like this, I could feel how she's slightly shaking as well as how her breathing quickened.

"… You're really trying to hit on me." In a low voice, Imada's answer came out as she slowly reached for my hand that was currently cupping her cheek.

I thought she was going to remove it but I was wrong.

She clasped it tight and pushed my hand to completely feel her gradually heating cheeks.

Her confused expression somehow relaxed followed by a hint of red filling up her face.

This girl… She likes this? Is she actually feeling excited about this situation?

With her heartbeat that fast and her lips that she somehow glossed with her saliva, this girl was expecting something else to happen with us.

I know I'm just trying to tease her and understand this sudden urge that led to this... But for it to progress to this point.

What should I do?

What about her liking with Ogawa? Is that true or false?

"I guess you could say that I'm hitting on you, have you forgotten? Nami asked you if you also want to experience it. Kissing, if you're wondering. And you failed to give us your answer."

With her eyes still closed I could only observe the minute reaction she was doing.

She pursed her lips once and stealthily inhaled my breath which blew onto her face when I talked.

After a while, Imada opened her eyes and slowly pulled her head away.

"What answer? It's obvious, why will I agree to kiss you in front of your girlfriend?"