22 Stalker
[Hasabe: I invited Sakura-san out and she agreed to meet up tomorrow again.]
Today, I have added an additional number to my contacts, however, I never expected that person to text me so quickly.
'I said it's alright for her to spend more time with her before inviting her out but I guess she just wants to deal with the crisis as soon as possible.'
[Alright, did you mention me?]
[Hasabe: Well...yeah, thankfully she agreed despite knowing you would be coming along]
[Why did you tell her about me tagging along?] I never told her to exclude me from their messages but I thought she was aware of Sakura's personality.
[Hasabe: Let's just say I was confident she wouldn't mind your presence after today. I go to bed now so see you tomorrow]
I frowned after reading her message.
'Did my name appear in their talk today? Whatever'
[Good night]
The next day afternoon, we once again gathered but this time without Kushida around.
At first, it was quite awkward, however, Hasabe took the charge and made Sakura more comfortable. I refrained from butting in their conversation so I just listened from a decent distance. After a while, we ended up in front of the electronics store.
From the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Sakura grew nervous when we stopped there.
"Hasabe-san, Sakura-san, would you mind if I take a look around this shop?" I gave Hasabe a long and profound look which she thankfully understood.
"Yeah, I wanted to take a look at a few electronics here too."
While Sakura looked uncomfortable, she didn't say anything and just followed right by Hasabe's side. Apparently, her presence was making her feel safer.
I already gave Hasabe instructions on what to do once I express my desire to go inside some shop so she took some Triple A batteries and went to the counter along with Sakura next to her.
I was watching Hasabe discussing something with the clerk who seemed more focused on Sakura despite talking to Hasabe, however, I could catch him taking a few glances at Hasabe's rack.
After a while of chatting, Hasabe went to put the batteries back before leaving the shop where I was already waiting for them.
"I didn't find what I wanted, what about you?"
"Me neither, should we just wrap it up for today and go home?" Hasabe shook her head and suggested to which both of us agreed.
---Airi Sakura---
Affection: 1 -> 2
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---Haruka Hasebe---
Affection: 9 -> 10
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When I finally returned back to my room I received a message from Hasabe.
[Hasabe: That clerk was absolutely creepy and sleazy.]
[I know, I saw him glance down your chest a few times] I casually replied without thinking too much about it.
[Hasabe: You DON'T have to mention it!]
[Sorry, but we will have to return there tomorrow, hopefully for the last time]
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We returned to the entrance of the electronics store.
"So...I take it that salesman is the creep you mentioned before...How are we going to get him to stop bothering Sakura-san...no, how do we stop him from bothering anyone else?" Hasabe asked, seemingly disgusted as she was looking at the store.
"All I need you to do is to lure him to that alley next to the store, there should be a back entrance to the store's warehouse so no one will see him entering through there."
"How? And what do you intend to do there? You can't possibly think he is going to stop just because you will confront him."
"Don't worry about it, you just need to lure him there and then you can leave. As for how..." I explained my plan to her.
"No, no way! How can you even be sure it will work when he is obsessed with Sakura-san?!" She quickly refused while shaking her head.
"That might be true, however, he definitely won't be able to resist his curiosity since you are beautiful and he also saw you with Sakura-san yesterday" I crossed my arms in front of my chest and closed my eyes.
When I heard Hasabe stuttering, I opened my eyes just to see her blushing.
"H-How can you say that so casually!"
"Oh...sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot, however, you were the one who asked for the reasoning behind my thoughts" Only now have I realized how much it means for these girls to hear those words personally.
"Anyway, if you don't have any problem with my plan, let's get going. You can go home after luring him out, I will take care of the rest." I explained and moved turned towards the alley, intending to walk that way just to feel someone tugging my sleeve.
"...Are you going to fight him?" When I turned back at Hasabe, she was looking at me with a slightly worried expression.
"No, I don't intend to fight with him..." I looked right into her eyes and replied calmly.
"...Alright" She didn't seem that convinced by my words, however, she ended up nodding her head before making her way inside the store.
Strength: 1.330 / 5
Endurance: 2.010 / 5
Agility: 1.750 / 5
Speed: 1.560 / 5
With these stats, it should be enough to deal with this timid creep.
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I was hidden in the dark, waiting for the back entrance to open. The moment the door was opened, I saw the guy's face illuminated by the light coming out from the inside before he closed the door, which was my cue to make a move.
I darted towards the target as fast as I could, the moment he heard some disturbance and turned towards me, I was already too close for him to run away or react in any way.
"Gah!" He groaned in pain when I shoved him against the wall with my forearm pressing against his neck.
"W-What are you doing?!" He was having a hard time catching his breath but he didn't look as scared as I predicted.
'I have a bad feeling about this...'
"Catching a creepy stalker, that's what I am doing right now!" I narrowed my eyes and slightly increased the pressure on his neck and finally, a hint of fear could have been discerned in his eyes.
"*cough* I- I have no idea what you are talking about, however, if you won't let go, I will report you for assault."
"So you have no idea who that idol is, huh? So this definitely isn't your comment on her social media, right?" I said and showed him the display of my phone.
"I already told you, I have no idea what you are talking about, who are you anyway?!"
"I am the boyfriend of that very idol you are bothering, that's why I have a problem with you!" I slightly raised my voice and for a moment pressed my forearm against his neck very strongly but it was enough for his face to turn pale.
*Gasping* "That's a lie! She doesn't have a boyfriend!" Out of nowhere, he shouted at me full of anger.
"And how would you know that when even her own classmates have no idea whether she is in a relationship, huh?! Don't try to weasel out of this, I already know about those disgusting letters you keep sending her, if I were to report this to authorities, do you think they wouldn't investigate you even if there wasn't any other evidence? I don't even want to imagine what other fucked up things you are hiding inside your room"
"Then why didn't you report me if you are so confident?"
"Because as her boyfriend, I wanted to personally hear it from your disgusting mouth" I tried to look as enraged as possibly
"Stop pretending to be her boyfriend! She is mine, we love each other!" He suddenly pushed me back, slightly surprising me by this outburst of abrupt strength, however, I was much more shocked at his crazy words and expression.
'He really is crazy, no...maybe he is even crazier than in the original'
"She doesn't belong to anyo-?!" As I was replying, he swung his fist towards my face which caught me off guard since I never thought he would even dare to start a fight. Despite being caught off guard, thanks to Clairvoyance, I noticed the trajectory of his fist the moment before he swung it.
I leaned forward, making his fist miss my cheek and I immediately counter-attacked by punching him into his solar plexus before he could even react. It was clear he was different from the original, however, he still wasn't experienced in fighting.
*gasping* *gasping* I watched him fall to the ground while desperately gasping for air.
"Tsk tsk tsk, stalking and on top of that assaulting a high school student? At first, I was planning to let you go just with a warning but now...I guess I have enough reasons to report you now." I said and turned away from the guy who was still having a hard time catching his breath.
"W-Wait!" He was still gasping for air but still managed to shout at me.
I turned back at him with a surprised expression.
"What, you don't want me to report you? Then say it all, everything you have done and then I might consider giving you a second chance."
"I-I will leave Sakura alone, in exchange please don't report me!" He turned timider after taking a single punch so I guess I was feeling uneasy for no good reason.
"I already told you, I want to hear everything you have done personally from your filthy mouth and after that, I swear I won't report you as long as you will keep your distance from Sakura-san."
After I promised this to him, he quickly started reciting all his crimes obviously without calling it stalking, however, that was more than enough for me even if he was sugarcoating his actions.
I let him run back to the store and as I left the alley, I noticed someone approaching me.
"You had me worried for a moment! Still, that was so cool! I have a lot of questions but I guess they can wait for a bit..." It was Hasabe who didn't leave and stayed around. I was aware she might remain and watch therefore I didn't plan to beat the creep up but I never expected him to actually start a fight, albeit a bit short one.
"But why did you let him go?!"
"There was no need to interact with him any further, I got what I needed" I explained and pulled a voice recorder out of my pocket.
"Oh?! Are you going to report him to the authorities and give this to them as evidence?"
"Nah, my mother taught me well to always keep my word and I told him I won't report him, however..." I refused with a smile before putting the voice recorder into her hand and then patting her a few times on the shoulder.
"I understand! Are we going to tell Sakura-san now? She will probably be truly relieved after hearing this news" Hasabe was quite excited though I had no idea why.
"You can tell her, however, don't involve me in this" I slowly shook my head with my hands in pockets
"What? Why? Weren't you the one who solved this problem for her?" Hasabe looked quite shocked by my intentions.
"There is simply no need for her to know. You can take all the credit" I said before I started walking toward the dorms since I wanted to wrap it up for today.
"So the route of mysterious protector? Are you sure there are no feelings involved?" Hasabe ran up to my side and started walking along side me.
"I swear there are no feelings involved. I simply don't want her to feel like she has another stalker" Then I proceeded to tell her how I noticed this stalker and also about Sakura being idol despite how she behaves in public.
She took it rather well and believed everything I told her.
"I see, I see...so you decided to help just because you couldn't leave this matter alone after knowing she has such a crazy stalker. Still, I didn't take you for a fighter, Kanji" She said with a mysterious smile on her face and her hands behind her back.
"I am not, that wasn't even a fight, just a little dispute ended with one punch."
"Woow...no reaction at all, stone cold!" She suddenly exclaimed which surprised me and made me turn at her.
"What?"
"I called you by your first name and you didn't even react" She explained and I finally understood her reaction.
"Oh...You can call me whatever you want, Haruka. I don't mind"
My words caused her to stop walking so I slowed my pace and looked behind at her with a teasing smile.
"?! Not fair!" She quickly catch up with a hint of red on her cheeks after realizing I was just making fun of her.
"You were the one who started it"
With this finished, the next major event should be that island...should I completely change the original Class D's strategy to earn points?
---Haruka Hasebe---
Affection: 10 -> 20
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Silver Tongue lv. 1 (21/100, passive) -> Silver Tongue lv. 1 (24/100, passive)
Clairvoyance lv. 1 (4/100) -> Clairvoyance lv. 1 (5/100)
'Damn, what kind of increase in affection is that?! She is nearing Inogashira's level without any kind of boost, though, I guess it's understandable after we worked together to help a "friend" Inogashira's level increased just through the normal discussions and hanging out.'
