Chapter 251: Ririka and Miho

"That uniform looks good on you, husband."

Akane teasingly smiled as she moved in front of me after the seven girls backed away after seeing me up close.

Looks like they had some kind of agreement, eh?

"Is it? Whose uniform is this by the way?"

"It's yours… I made that!"

Someone from the seven girls raised her hand and stood up. Her face was blushing profusely and she couldn't really look at me straight.

I see. If it's someone who's good at making costumes for her cosplays, making a boy's uniform from their own school will be easily achieved.

"Thank you, Ririka."

I stepped forward and thanked her sincerely.

Upon hearing that, she slowly lifted her head and smiled.

"You don't need to, even before I wanted to make something for you."

Akasaka Ririka, she's in the same year as us. She's a cosplayer who I chanced upon at a maid cafe where she was working part-time before. She has long light brown hair with a part of it tied with a red ribbon at the back of her head. At a distance, the tied-up part of her hair could be seen sticking up. She's a cheerful girl who always has a bright smile on her lips. Back then, I often saw her daydreaming about what kind of costume she will make next. I wonder if that already changed.

"Even so, thanks to this, I can sneak into this school without worrying about the gazes of the others."

"Uh, I'm surprised you can say thanks now… Okay. I'll accept your thank you."

"Good then. Let's talk more later, alright?"

I put my hand on her cheek and caressed it. Because she was blushing, her face felt kind of hot.

And due to what I did, it turned even hotter. All she could do was nod her head as tried to rub her cheeks on my hand.

Like with Yua, I still don't know what I did for her which led her to decide staying in the group and wanting to reconnect with me. And the same could be said for the other six.

My eyes scanned them again and whenever our eyes would meet, they had varying reactions, some smiled, some didn't know what to do and some just stared back.

"Sweetie, what will you do? We only planned up to this part. You now have full control over what to do next."

Yae went next to me and asked.

The other girls were also waiting for my answer.

"Let's see. Since we're already somehow reconnected through the use of Messenger, we only needed to confirm it. Girls, like I said, it's your choice whether you still wanted to be connected to me. I will never turn down anyone. I stole all of you from someone and I would not steal just anyone. I can confirm upon seeing you all here that I really like you."

I thought for a while before turning to Yua, Ririka, and the other six. And I didn't stop there. I turned around and directed my next words to Yae, Aoi, Sena and Otoha.

Ria wasn't here yet maybe she wouldn't be able to come or she's running late and Akane is a special case. Among everyone here, she's the only one I never stole, she's already mine to begin with.

"That goes for you too. We already had the time to reconnect again. Our feelings for each other have already been made clear."

"I know, darling." Aoi nodded before moving towards me, her unruly nature came out again as she slid her arms to my side and hugged me.

"That's not fair, Aoi."

Otoha who I haven't seen for a while since that day she visited our house complained.

"Do you want a round with me, Aoi?"

With a menacing glare, Sena made a gesture of punching her own palm.

Aoi smirked at them.

"Don't be so goody-two-shoes you two. Just come here and give darling a hug. I'm sure he also misses you two."

After saying that, Aoi drew her face closer.

Well, the way I didn't react to what she did already meant that what she said is true. I really missed them.

With Aoi showing her affection like this, I didn't stop her and instead, I kissed her before she could even take the initiative.

There are no strangers here anyway. Kissing is already something I did with everyone and it even went beyond that. If they were still embarrassed to see us doing it, that's just their personality.

Sena and Otoha flared up but the two didn't say anything. They followed what Aoi said and moved towards me.

After I released Aoi, Otoha switched places with her.

"I missed you, Ruki. It's like years already since I've been this close to you."

"You know you could ask Mihara-san to drive you to our house or even ask me to see you once in a while. I won't reject you as long as I'm free."

"Grandfather isn't home yet and Mother is restricting me to go out or stay late."

"I see. Then I'll save time for you today."

After saying that, like with Aoi, I initiated a kiss that Otoha wholeheartedly received.

With this I know I really love Otoha just because it's her and not because of her family. Her Mother restricting her was most likely because of the engagement…

She told me through one of our talks in Messenger that her Grandfather left for an overseas trip so she still couldn't set the time for us to meet.

It's a good thing since I'm also still not ready to go head-to-head against that big of a person. But I won't shy away from it. It's for Otoha after all.

After Otoha, Sena also went into my arms, she's not wearing her uniform but her tracksuit that was half-zipped which made way for her PE shirt to peek out. Her class probably had PE as their last period today and she couldn't bother to change back to her uniform.

"Don't you have training today? Coach Ayu will scold you again."

"I already called her. It's an important day for you after all. I want to be here and witness it."

"Important, huh? Maybe it really is. In any case, I'll be going there this Sunday as promised."

"I know. I'll wait for you at the station again."

I will pass the required papers for that part-time job and well, since I'm already there, it's a waste not to spend the time with her.

And the same with the other two, I kissed Sena passionately, ignoring the gazes of everyone.

Yae and Akane were just watching at their side. The two were quite confident since they'll have more time with me later. Today will be Yae's day to sleepover after all.

"Ruki, me too."

Maybe influenced by what she saw, someone from the eight came forward and asked me for the same treatment after Sena separated from me and the three of them went back to their place.

I turned towards the girl and smiled.

"Come here then, Miho."

Nishioka Miho. Among the eight here, she's the hardest to conquer back then but once I became successful, she's almost like Yae who somehow fell for me halfway. But yeah, she's one of those I cut off even before the graduation.

I never really tried to understand her and unlike Yae, she just quietly went away after that. Soon after that, I forgot about her or I put her at the back of my mind. Not really understanding the why and how she ended up falling for me.

I reached for her hand and grasped it in mine. Her fingers were still as delicate as before. She's a pianist and someone really good at it so these fingers of hers were even more important than her face.

Back when I still kept her by my side, I was often listening to her play it. Even though I don't know that much about music, she kept on asking me for my opinion whether she did good or bad.

"I'm glad I accepted Akane's invite, I still got another chance like this."

She started with a shaky voice. With her head slightly hung down, the fringes of her maroon hair covered her eyes. Even without seeing it, she's about to cry already. Her hand grasped mine as well before lifting it to her face.

"I'm sorry I never understood you before. And honestly, you would've been better off without me. As you can see, there are lots of you waiting for me."

"It doesn't matter. I already accepted that way before. Every time I will play a piece, I'm always looking back, hoping to see you there listening to me. But the reality is cruel. You're not there anymore…"

Miho opened my palm and placed it on her cheeks, like with Ririka, she started rubbing her cheeks on it as she slowly looked up at me, with a hint of tear in her purple eyes.

"I don't know if I already said it before, I hate to see your face be stained with tears. But yeah, I'm sure I'm always the reason for that. If it's really fine with you then..."

I pulled her into my arms before continuing.

"… I will understand you better and hear you play again."

With her face buried in my chest, I couldn't see her expression upon hearing my words. However, everything was answered when her arms embraced me back as if she didn't want to let go anymore.

All of the girls here were hurt by me in one way or another. Compared to my new girls at my school, these girls' memory of me was that of the selfish and greedy guy who will do anything to get them. There's no way to write that off. There's only the promise of making it right for them.