Karasuno's Managers: Little Ukai and The Vulnerable

10: The Stalker at Itachiyama High

Day 3

The six main buildings of Itachiyama Institute were connected by underground tunnels so students could escape rain and cold weather. Whoever designed them, however, decided that it would be absolutely necessary to make the maps unreadable.

Her fingers shook as she traced the lines from the you are here point to the closest exit. She swallowed her anxieties and ran but where there should have been a door was a slab of brick wall.

The footsteps behind her grew closer.

A growl like noise escaped her mouth as she pushed her legs to sprint. It was a risky move because the narrow corridors were barely lit. Her phone had no bars of service and because she wanted to avoid the overly friendly students at Itachiyama, she did not tell anyone where she was.

As she rounded another corner, she was enveloped in complete darkness.

The footsteps quickened.

She pressed her back to the wall and used it as a guide to put as much distance between herself and the stalker. Of course, she could take them on. Mirae could throw a mean punch and make it count as a knockout. Still, she was worried because there was a possibility that there was more than one person. If she were outnumbered, it would end badly.

The feeling of plastered wall changed when her fingers grazed the cold metal knob of a door. Her eyes widened and she pushed it open. She slammed it shut and fumbled with the lock. Once it was done, she pressed her back to the door and sighed.

"Mirae?"

She glanced up and saw Himari coming down the steps towards her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a shaking voice.

Himari jumped down the last few steps. She answered, "The boys mentioned that you didn't make it to practice. I asked around and someone saw you at the library. I figured you would use the tunnels to get back to the gym so I came to find you myself. It's not safe to travel down here alone."

She wiped at her forehead. Her hand was cold, and her skin was sticky and warm. "Yeah, I feel like I've been going in circles."

"You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you okay?"

"Someone was following me," she confessed, throwing a look over her shoulder. "I tried calling out to them, but they hid. When I started running away, they followed me. Honestly, I feel like they were luring me somewhere."

Himari grabbed Mirae's arm and pulled. With wide eyes, she pointed to the door. Someone was shaking the handle from the other side.

"That's a stalker." Himari gasped, "some of the girls have talked about being followed when they use these tunnels to get to class or their clubs late at night. Most of us thought they were just making it up."

"Do you have your phone? We need to call the police. A detective. Someone in the military. Let's call the emperor."

The person behind the door tapped a provocative tune. The girls clung to each other and cried.

"I left my phone in the gym," Himari shrieked. "What about yours?"

"No service. We have to notify the principal; we have to throw the school in a lockdown."

"A stalker at Itachiyama. This is so surreal and terrifying. Oh my God, what if this is part of an organization? A gang of stalkers who prey on high school girls?"

"We need to get the police involved. Come on-"

"Wait, they could run away before we get help." Her eyes widened. "There are two of us. I bet we could take them on."