Stealing Spree

Chapter 2120: Boy Best Friend

”Has Akane ever seduced you?” With the glittery glint in her eyes as though she was just acquiring common knowledge, Eri fired her question.

Sheʼs going places. But I guess this is still in line with ʼa manʼs perspectiveʼ. If Akane does it for me, sheʼll probably think whether she can also try it with her boyfriend.

”Donʼt you think Akane can answer that better than me?”

”I will ask her later but Onoda-kun, I also want to hear your side. Hehe.” With the same

playful smile as earlier during our game, the girl pressed in on me, her eyes reminding me of Otsuka-senpai.

Sheʼs now acting this comfortable with me.

However, for some reason, Iʼm feeling a little uneasy...

”Alright, Iʼll answer in the best way I can.” I nodded.

Overjoyed, Eri grinned and hugged my arm, ”Thank you! I knew I could count on you.” Ah. I see.

Looking at her rejoicing like this, I finally pinpointed the source of that uneasy feeling.

Eri. Her trust in me seemed so overblown that her sense of distance from me had already disappeared. And this was after I told her she was attractive to me.

Should I do something about this? Like giving her a lesson on being meticulous. In particular, the lesson for not completely trusting a guy whoʼs not her boyfriend alone in the room with her. I can incorporate it along with my answer.

I know that this can be seen as me overreacting but I canʼt help but be worried about her being defenseless like this...

No matter what, I still considered myself a dangerous guy for any girl.

After organizing my thoughts, I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

”Alright. Donʼt celebrate too early. Akane did seduce me before but the reverse was also true.” Upon saying that, while she still had my arm in her embrace, I reached for one of her hands and pulled it down to be held by mine, ”I also seduced her. Wanna try how I did it?

Not taking my words seriously, Eri laughed at what I did and didnʼt bother stopping me. She even met my hand and grabbed it just the same.𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

”Hmm? Are you saying youʼll also try and seduce me? Sure. Let me try it!”

Look at her, she couldnʼt take a hint.

I shook my head inwardly.

”Are you not worried Iʼm going to take advantage of you?”

”Not at all. I trust you, Onoda-kun.”

Haa. I know that she means that. Her trust in me has been built but why do I still feel uneasy? Am I just overthinking again?

No... I trust my gut feeling that I have to do this. To remind her.

”Arenʼt I doing it already? Iʼm holding your hand, Eri. What do you think? Isnʼt this intimate enough for you? Or do I have to do more?”

Now that I spelled it out to her face, there was finally a reaction. The girl immediately averted her gaze.

Following up with that, I changed my act a little. I increased my presence while putting on a not-so-kind and suggestive smile. My hand on hers tightened as I filled the gaps between her fingers.

Sensing the change in me, Eri tensed up and instinctively drew back, instantly creating a distance between us.

However, because of our connected hands, sheʼs still close to me.

”You... Onoda-kun, whatʼs happening suddenly? Youʼre joking, right?” Her voice stuttered a little and I could sense her apprehension.

I finally got through to her.

Since I didnʼt plan to scare her silly, I nodded and let go of her hand before dispelling that unsettling cloak I put on.

”Yes. Iʼm joking. Now, do you understand why I acted like that?”

Eriʼs lips trembled slightly as she looked around us before returning her gaze to me.

”You are reminding me, is that it, Onoda-kun?”

”Good. Look at you getting nervous. Do not be too careless around other guys. Not even me.”

”But you are... a friend, Onoda-kun.” She refuted.

”Be that as it may but you donʼt know what Iʼm thinking, right? For example, I can also do this.” Without warning, I stretched my arm to her back and then grabbed her waist, pulling her closer.

”Onoda-kun?!” Alerted, Eri tensed up once again. And with my hand also brushing against her ticklish area, the girl immediately squirmed but only for a bit. Following that, the girl faced me, ”Wait. Wait. Did I do something wrong, Onoda-kun? Or did I ask the wrong question? Iʼll take it back. Itʼs a little scary for you to suddenly act like this...”

”No. You did nothing wrong. And thereʼs nothing problematic to your question. Like you said, Iʼm simply reminding you. This is just an extension of it.”

”But...” Maybe it was a little too much for her, the girl deeply frowned as her eyes became out of focus. She possibly couldnʼt process everything all at once.

Well then, Iʼll add another layer.

”No buts, alright? Youʼre a girl. And an attractive one at that. You act tomboyish but itʼs not really covering it up. This may just be coming from me but Eri, you should be more confident about yourself.”

”I am confident...” Eri declared but there was a little hesitation in her voice.

At this point, I already got my message across. The layer I added was to take care of her low self-esteem.

It may look forced but I could see itʼs essentially working.

However, looking at how sheʼs not even attempting to escape my grasp, having her see me as a threat is probably not working.

”Thatʼs not what Iʼm seeing but if you say so then so be it. I hope you can really be confident in yourself.” I shrugged and slid my arm further.

Because of her lean figure, the tip of my fingertips reached around her navel pretty easily.

I could already feel the softness and smoothness of her belly as she shivered inwardly. And like this, I whispered to her ear, ”Alright. Can you look at how close we are, right now? Do you think this is still normal?”

”Yeah. This is not. Onoda-kun, I get your reminder but I donʼt see any reason to be wary of you. Should I push you away?”

This girl... Despite recognizing everything I did and said, she seemed adamant not to listen to my warning about me. Am I really that trustworthy for her?

In any case, this should be enough.

”Yes, you should. But youʼre not doing that even when your chest is already racing from

nervousness. Why is that?”

Eri lifted her head to stare at me directly. With a proud grin, she answered, ”Like I said, because I trust Onoda-kun not to do anything that will betray my trust.”

”I see. Youʼre pretty stubborn yourself.”

Admitting my defeat, I sighed, shook my head, and let go of her, taking my arm back.

Eri giggled as her eyes followed me. Sheʼs still pretty nervous but I guess sheʼs happy that she

won her gamble.

Am I not intimidating enough? No. Itʼs because, in her eyes, Iʼve already put myself in a position of trust. If I had done that stunt before all this and without any context at all, she mightʼve acted differently.

A few seconds later, Eri fixed her hair and then waited for me to speak again.

I put on a defeated smile and poked her wide forehead.

”Alright. I hope you do well with your boyfriend. If you have more questions, come and ask

me again.”

”Hehe. Thank you, Onoda-kun. Youʼre not just great at comforting a girl, youʼre so thoughtful as well. Now I get why Fuyu fell for you and didnʼt mind sharing you with Akane.”

Upon saying that, Eri hugged me again. This time, her arms also slid to my back, enclosing my

waist.

Thereʼs a playful smile on her face as though sheʼs returning what I did to her earlier.

”I convinced you through this, huh?”

”Un. Itʼs convincing enough when you can even go that far just to remind me. Donʼt worry,

apart from Toshi-kun, only you can get this close to me.”

”Heʼs going to be jealous, you know?” ”Youʼre now my boy best friend. Whatʼs there to be jealous about?”

”Girl, are you hearing yourself right now? Have you not heard of stories about opposite-

gender best friends ruining relationships?”

”Oh. I heard them. But it wonʼt happen with you when you already have Akane and Fuyu.”

... I guess the phrase ʼignorance is blissʼ is very fitting for this situation. Alright. Letʼs keep it that way then.

I ruffled Eriʼs hair and then reciprocated her embrace by dropping my hand on her shoulder.

This only lasted for half a minute. After that, the girl happily returned upstairs, leaving me alone again.