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You were admired from afar, but you almost never knew. Nobody knew. Except the admirer.
He had always been a bit... eccentric. But little did you know how much power this man had. To you, he was just another guy, even if you were both members of the student council. But there was just one thing that made you feel uncomfortable about him: the stalking. Aoi would follow you for seemingly hours at a time. Like he was studying you, analyzing you As if he was taking mental note of each little movement you made.
Aoi may have had a strong perception of social cues, but he just couldn't seem to understand when they applied to himself, especially towards you. He was the type of person who thought his actions through and always deemed them reasonable, little did he know how clueless he actually was. Aoi found himself almost hypnotized by you. Your face, your voice, the geeky things you were into, your dreams, your internet search history, everything he could get his hands on he loved and cherished like no other.
You on the other hand knew almost nothing about him, the real him. Although, you couldn't shake the fact that he was undeniably handsome. Ever since you first met him when he was gambling with Mary Tsuzura and Yukimi, he seemed to take a strong interest in your input and opinions. Something he hadn't done for anyone else, except for Sakura maybe.
Aoi's mind was filled to the brim with thoughts, consumed by the house pet removal situation and you. The only thing stopping him from claiming you for himself was the house pet issue. He just never expected to put anything before that issue. He had to know you. He had to have you. He needed you.
"Aoi?" you ask him, the sound of your sweet soft voice dragging him out of his own mind back into reality.
"Yes, (y/n)?"
"Do you want me to organize the house pet numbers in alphabetical order or by date?" He had given you such a simple task for the day, you wonder if he was just trying to keep you later than the rest of the council.
"Date, please." He says blankly, as he scans over the large stack of manilla folders stuffed with forms. You were gripping onto the pile from the bottom, as it was tall enough to cover your entire stomach. Your arms only strained slightly from the weight of the task ahead.
" 'Kay." You grunted as you dropped the stack on a nearby coffee table. Aoi was relieved to see you would be working in the same room as him, he would almost know for a fact that you were safe.
"March... February... December... January... February..." You mumbled as you separated the victims of house pets by month. It truly devastating what Kirari has done, some students have even started dropping out as a cause of this system. As your large pile of paper turned into a few smaller ones. The sun began to sink below the city skyline, fading the natural light of the room. A few dim light bulbs and several cool-bright monitor screens illuminated it, and created harsh shadows that made it more difficult to read. Eventually, they were all sorted by month, and now you had to go through each pile and order them by the day. But it was getting much later and darker.
"Aoi, can I finish this tomorrow?" You ask breaking the silence. "I really need to head back to my home"
"(y/n) can you please finish this before you leave?" Aoi turned to look at you, and took a small breath in as he eyed your progress. "You're almost done, it seems."
"Uh, sure." But you felt uneasy. "I just don't want to have to walk alone at night, that's all."
"I figured as much." Aoi swivels his chair back to his computer. "I'll have someone arrange a room for you in the building."
"You want me to sleep at the academy?"
"I sometimes sleep at the academy when I can't be bothered to walk home." Aoi stated very matter-of-factly. It struck you as passive aggressive, though.
"That's kind of you, but I don't have anything with me."
"I know. Don't worry about it, I've got some things that you can borrow." Aoi stated, eyes still glued to the computer screen. "Now please my dear, stay until the morning. It's best for your safety, (y/n)." With that, you went back to sorting. This time in dead silence. The quiet bore into your soul as if you had embarrassed yourself. You were on the last stack of paper, still sorting by day and time.
"The 107th issued on the 13th.....108th issued on 16th...." You began to mumble again, trying to break the harsh deaf room. That's when you glanced up from the paper, and met two grey eyes that were backlit from the computer. You flinched, not expecting him to be staring at you.
"oh, did I startle you, my apologies (y/n)."
"oh no it's fine." You sighed and caught your breath. "You were just staring at me in the dark!" Laughing to yourself, you tried to brush it off. It's like he knew something about you that you didn't, as if each time he would look at you he got closer to invading your brain as you did to his.
"Well, anyway..." You stated. "It's all sorted. I'll put them away and go to bed."
"Here right?" Aoi asked, still keeping the immense eye contact with you.
"Yeah, sure." You figured he wouldn't let up with you. After all, what's the worst that can happen?
"wonderful." He said, with a sigh of relief you almost didn't pick up on. You went to your locker and began stuffing your papers into it. They fit almost perfectly against each other. Jesus, if the house pet situation wasn't dealt with sooner or later you wonder how many more trips to Ikea the council would have to make.
"Done." You say. It was officially dark out, and kinda late. As much as Aoi made your nights less lonely, he was really creeping you out today. Much more than any other day, with all the intense staring, you don't know how long you can put up with it.
"That's great." He said. "When would be most convenient for you to go to bed?"
"Could I go now?"
"Yes, of course. I'll try have Sakura show you to your room. It isn't far."
"Oh has she been staying after school hours too?"
"Yeah, every time school ends she just waits for me outside the gates like a creep, no matter how late it gets or how many times I tell her to go home, It's quite frustrating really..."
"Oh...well...Thanks, Aoi." And with that, After Sakura finally showed up ,After exchanging goodnights with Aoi, you followed Sakura outside. You shuddered, the Academy sure was dark at night. Just a couple flights of stairs later, and you were shown a door.
"Here you are Y/N, let me or Aoi know if there is anything else you need for the night." Sakura says blankly. "He really tried hard to make it special for you. If anything I'm quite jealous of you for managing to get his caring side."
"Oh...thanks, Sakura" You smiled awkwardly. Sakura's jealous and off Standish tone made everything sound worse. Although you did wonder, what did she mean by "special"? You opened the door, to find a room that made your heart stop.
Decor that was tailored to your exact aesthetic. Walls that were smoothly painted a shade of your favorite color, that complimented the plush bed. You could've sworn you had saved that exact canopy on pinterest, hoping to get it for your own apartment. There was even a small vanity. Upon inspection, it was covered with all of the products you used every day, in brand new looking bottles and cases. Even the ones that were out of stock or discontinued.
You look back to the bed, now noticing a set of pajamas, but they looked familiar too. You whip out your phone, check your browser bookmarks... and there they were. Plain as day. They looked so soft and comfortable, you knew you had to get them one day. But there was no way they would actually fit , right? No way in hell Aoi knew your measurements... They fit perfectly.
As much as you thought you should be grateful, the initial surprise wore off quickly. It was replaced with a shock, fear even.
"How the actual hell did he know all of this?" You thought to yourself. You felt yourself begin to tremble as you try to piece together how he could have known any of this from your interactions at work. Your outside work clothes were almost nothing like your clothes, you didn't bring half of the products on the vanity to work, nor would you have any reason to mention them. The exact pajama set that you wanted, sized to a tea.
You got the feeling... a strange pit deep in your stomach.
Looking up, disguised in the canopy, a strange shape... A tiny strange light...
You weren't alone.
You were never alone.