Stealing Spree

Chapter 2309: Recruitment

”By the way, Reira-senpai. Is your club going to do something for this upcoming festival?”

After indulging in the comfort of Reira-senpaiʼs embrace for a bit, I shifted our conversation to the other reason why I came here to visit her.

I know their club has ghost members whose names are just put in the registry to keep the club afloat. Shizu also couldnʼt care less about it as long as theyʼre producing activity reports with their experiments and the budget allocated to them wasnʼt wasted on something unrelated. With only the three of them here, or two, since Enomoto seldom stayed here, I doubt they had something to do. Furthermore, remembering that Reira-senpai, and maybe Nikka-senpai too, had been locked in here for two straight years -- going three -- I thought I should help them enjoy their last year in high school.

Right. By inviting them to join our booth as additional actors for the other roles that the girls would probably add to make the interactive story more engaging.

”Our class, yes. But this club? Ruki-kun, how can we prepare if there are only the two of us?” Reira-senpai answered as she pulled me up, cupping both my cheeks and letting our eyes meet. ”Besides, the Alchemy Clubʼs participation in the festival hasnʼt been the best idea. What do you want us to do? Concoct a love potion?”

”Thatʼs not a bad idea, donʼt you think so? Open a cafe and make all the drinks named after potions,” I suggested with a grin as I listed any absurd potion name I could think of.

Reira-senpai laughed, ”Youʼre really pushing it, arenʼt you? But, itʼs true that we havenʼt had many opportunities to participate in the festival. Maybe we can think of something.”

”Well, itʼs just an idea. Iʼm actually to offer you something else,” I said, sitting up straight and then turning to the partition where I already sensed Nikka-senpai listening to our conversation.

”What offer?”

”You know, being hired actresses for our Literature Clubʼs interactive tale booth,” I said with a wink then returned to the comfortable softness of Reira-senpai. ”Itʼs going to be epic, and I think having a couple of scientific geniuses like you guys would add an interesting twist to the story.”

Nikka-senpai popped her head from behind the partition, her eyes wide with excitement. ”Can we really? Itʼs been so long since Iʼve done something like that!”

”Nikka, youʼre listening?! Or wait. Were you peeking at us?!” Reira-senpai exclaimed as she didnʼt notice her until she spoke up.

Nikka-senpaiʼs cheeks turned a shade of red, ”Iʼm just curious! You two moved somewhere more private. Who knows what youʼre going to do alone.”

Reira-senpai glared at her friend yet her face was also as red as hers, ”Nikka! What are you saying?! What would we do?!”

She then forced a cough, leaving that topic behind, ”Anyhow, your suggestion sounded interesting. Weʼve never done anything with the club for two years straight. This is our last year and thereʼs still nothing... Maybe itʼs time to change that.”

I nodded, ”Great! Itʼll be a blast, I promise. Think of it as a science meets literature kind of crossover. Weʼll have you two as special guests. Maybe you could even show off some of your alchemy skills. But of course, weʼll have to integrate that seamlessly into the story. Weʼve already done a draft so... when you come to a decision, Iʼll bring you two to our club. You donʼt have to decide right away.”

Nikka-senpai looked like a kid in a candy store, ”Iʼm in! Letʼs do it, Reira!”

Reira-senpai rolled her eyes at Nikka-senpaiʼs enthusiasm but couldnʼt hide her own smile, ”Alright, weʼre in. But you know we still need to tell Enomoto about this, right?”

”Thatʼs why I said you donʼt have to decide right away. If he rejects it, well, leave it to me. Iʼll change his mind.”

”That sounds like youʼre going to threaten him if he doesnʼt agree,” Reira-senpaiʼs lips curled up as she shook her head slightly.

”Threaten? Come on Reira-senpai, do you think Iʼm that kind of guy?” I said, feigning innocence, earning me a giggle from Nikka-senpai whose complicated expression at the mention of Enomoto eased up slightly.

”Sure. Sure. I believe you.”

The alluring senior pinched my cheeks again, her smile openly conveying she didnʼt believe me one bit.

Well, I couldnʼt blame her for that. I mean, she witnessed me taking down a group of delinquents, after all. Although she only showed up after I made Uchiyama and the other dudes back down, she assumed that it might be the case considering I left that alley unscathed after getting flanked by them.

Anyway, our conversation continued with that topic, telling them our vision for our booth as well as the other preparations. Surprisingly, maybe because they were deprived of doing things for the past two years, theyʼre both enthusiastic about it.

After that, I stood up, stretching my legs out after I cozied up in Reira-senpaiʼs embrace for a good amount of time. ”Alright, I should get back to my patrol. See you tomorrow, Nikka- senpai, Reira-senpai.”

”Wait. Iʼll walk you out...”

”Heh, if youʼre going to kiss me, do it now, Reira-senpai.”

Her eyes widened and slapped my shoulder lightly, ”Ruki-kun! Iʼm not going to do that! Not... yet.”

The way she said ʼnot yetʼ left a tingling feeling in my spine. Sheʼs definitely up to something. I smirked, ”Looking forward to it.”

”Pfft. You two. Go and kiss each other, I wonʼt look.” Nikka-senpai said as she turned around, retreating back to the experiment table that she had yet to finish tidying up.

Reira-senpai and I looked at each other and laughed before silence filled the room again. She took a deep breath and stood up, her hand reaching for mine. ”Alright, letʼs go. Iʼll walk you out. And no, I wonʼt kiss you, cheeky brat.”𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

”Itʼs kind of regretful but itʼs not a loss. After all, I got to hug you like that,” I said with a grin as we stepped out of the clubroom.

Before letting my hand go, Reira-senpai rolled her eyes, trying to act exasperated but her lips betrayed her, curving into a smile she couldnʼt hold back. ”Donʼt make me hit you again,

cheeky brat... T-thank you for visiting me. Itʼs relaxing.”

”Iʼm glad it feels that way to you. Looks like I did the right thing by dropping by.” I squeezed her hand gently before letting go reluctantly.

Reira-senpai remained standing by the door, watching me walk away.

I glanced back at her and comically saluted, earning me another giggle from her before continuing my patrol.