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-senpai's 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 couldn't care less about it as long as they're producing activity reports with their experiments and the budget allocated to them wasn't 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 Club's participation in the festival hasn't been the best idea. What do you want us to do? Concoct a love potion?"

"That's not a bad idea, don't 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, "You're really pushing it, aren't you? But, it's true that we haven't had many opportunities to participate in the festival. Maybe we can think of something."

"Well, it's just an idea. I'm 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 Club's interactive tale booth," I said with a wink then returned to the comfortable softness of Reira-senpai. "It's 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? It's been so long since I've done something like that!"

"Nikka, you're listening?! Or wait. Were you peeking at us?!" Reira-senpai exclaimed as she didn't notice her until she spoke up.

Nikka-senpai's cheeks turned a shade of red, "I'm just curious! You two moved somewhere more private. Who knows what you're 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. We've never done anything with the club for two years straight. This is our last year and there's still nothing... Maybe it's time to change that."

I nodded, "Great! It'll be a blast, I promise. Think of it as a science meets literature kind of crossover. We'll have you two as special guests. Maybe you could even show off some of your alchemy skills. But of course, we'll have to integrate that seamlessly into the story. We've already done a draft so... when you come to a decision, I'll bring you two to our club. You don't have to decide right away."

Nikka-senpai looked like a kid in a candy store, "I'm in! Let's do it, Reira!"

Reira-senpai rolled her eyes at Nikka-senpai's enthusiasm but couldn't hide her own smile, "Alright, we're in. But you know we still need to tell Enomoto about this, right?"

"That's why I said you don't have to decide right away. If he rejects it, well, leave it to me. I'll change his mind."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"That sounds like you're going to threaten him if he doesn't agree," Reira-senpai's lips curled up as she shook her head slightly.

"Threaten? Come on Reira-senpai, do you think I'm 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 didn't believe me one bit.

Well, I couldn't 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, they're both enthusiastic about it.

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

"Wait. I'll walk you out..."

"Heh, if you're going to kiss me, do it now, Reira-senpai."

Her eyes widened and slapped my shoulder lightly, "Ruki-kun! I'm not going to do that! Not... yet."

The way she said 'not yet' left a tingling feeling in my spine. She's definitely up to something. I smirked, "Looking forward to it."

"Pfft. You two. Go and kiss each other, I won't 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, let's go. I'll walk you out. And no, I won't kiss you, cheeky brat."

"It's kind of regretful but it's 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 couldn't hold back. "Don't make me hit you again,

cheeky brat... T-thank you for visiting me. It's relaxing."

"I'm 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.