It was now eleven o'clock at night and Shiina had returned to her apartment.
I operated my handphone and logged into the school's underground site. I'll summarize what just happened today.
I'm sure many of you reading are confused, but let me explain a bit.
Last week, Shiina received a mysterious letter in her shoe locker. I saw her take the letter and read it, but quickly put it in her pocket after showing a scared and confused expression.
Tuesday, I arrived earlier than anyone and checked her locker, there was a letter tucked between the shoes, it was new and unopened. I read it and saved it for now.
Also on Wednesday, I did the same thing and saved it.
However, I didn't find any other letters on Thursday and Friday. Because back then there was a rumor that someone had stolen Shiina's gym uniform. The culprit must have been careful to send another letter as he became the most wanted person in the school year.
In short, the contents of the letter are like this.
The letter I took on Tuesday said that he wanted Shiina to be his model and out of urgency, he borrowed Shiina's sports uniform for now.
The letter that on Wednesday urged Shiina to reply to the previous letter immediately, is she willing to be his model? Of course, he also praised Shiina's appearance.
I assumed he had taken the uniform on Monday because Shiina was wearing a uniform borrowed from the infirmary. He just confirmed that he borrowed Shiina's uniform by sending a letter on Tuesday, unfortunately, the letter never arrived because I took it.
So far, I can conclude that there are three or maybe four letters that Shiina should have received.
The first letter was received on Monday and arrived in Shiina's hands. The second and third letters I deliberately kept. However, I suspect there's another letter she might receive on Saturday. In other words, there are four letters so far.
I knew right away that the sender was Sotomura.
On Wednesday, right after the exam results were distributed, I found out that Sotomura tends to forget to write his name when he's excited about something.
Because the writing is neat and careful, I can tell that he put everything in this letter. I've heard that handwriting analysis is difficult even for a professional.
The way he delivered it looked scary from a girl's point of view. If only Sotomura had the courage to come to Shiina directly to ask her, things wouldn't be this complicated.
His overreaction when there were strange rumors circulating about Shiina's uniform having been stolen was understandable. Because the letter never reached Shiina, Hakase became worried and thought that he was framed by Shiina.
If he hadn't forgotten to write his name...
[Do you know? It looks like Student A likes Student B]
Looking at the screen of my phone that I had put back in my pocket, I forgot to mention it.
These are anonymous chat messages that can be read widely without worrying about someone knowing your identity.
One of the so-called underground school sites.
It's similar to 4chan, where you can freely write whatever you like anonymously. This was popular ten years ago, but now it has become a den of bullying to an excessive degree.
Well, looking at today's world, it seems like outlets for venting stress have just moved to Twitter and LINE. However, such type of SNS carries the risk of a person being identified quickly after a slight misstep. Students have come to the conclusion that if we do something like badmouth someone in writing, as one might expect, the more convenient option is the old way-underground school website. Thus, things go full cycle, and behind the scenes, such sites become popular again.
Later that night, there was a rumor circulating that Shiina lost her gym uniform during gym class, most likely, someone had taken it from the locker in the changing room. The rumors would have more impact if there was some truth in them. Because during gym class that day, everyone could see Shiina wearing old-fashioned gym uniforms that were usually borrowed from the infirmary
As a result, the truth of the rumors increased to 80%.
I waited for the right moment to confirm this with Sotomura. A week later on Thursday, he admitted it in front of me and promised to return Shiina's gym uniform at lunch.
I managed to figure out his true feelings for her, and no further precautions were needed. The subject is removed from the blacklist for now.
We move on to the second problem.
Incidentally, when I came home from school, I saw Sotonaka following Shiina to her house.
What does he want to do? Why did he do that?
That may have been answered today, he wanted to confess his feelings to her, hoping to talk to her right then and there.
This is just a hypothesis, but, he made a plan like this:
He walked home from school => then accidentally saw Shiina and greeted her => they chatted together and he walked her home.
Then he would do the same scenario every day after that.
But he didn't that day, probably out of shyness and lack of confidence.
As I explained above, this guy is driven by a momentary impulse. His environment and friends pushed his self-confidence to a higher level, and the fear of returning to his middle school days as an otaku who had no friends became the charcoal that burned that instinct.
The next day, I didn't see him do that again. But precautions must be taken
I know this is not the road he took to return to his house, he was willing to take a detour by taking the bus afterward. All of that to get closer to Shiina.
Two people who were originally just friends can forge a deeper relationship when they spend more time together.
There was a strange rumor on the school's underground site.
[Today I went home through the station. I had never seen this guy walk home this way before. However, I was shocked to find out that he was following someone! That's so creepy~]
[Lol, who is he following?]
[That's..... Shiina-san!]
[OMG! Shiina-san is in danger]
[Isn't Shiina-san missing her sweatpants right now?]
[Could it be, that guy was the culprit?]
However, someone had already made a rumor beforehand that someone might have followed Shiina on her way home from school
But, Sotonaka should have stopped doing that by Thursday, how come that rumor could circulate so easily?
Who followed Shiina and gave off a feeling of discomfort until the next week?
The answer is simple, the one who followed Shiina
Was me.
And I was the one who spread the rumors.
That day, I took a picture of Sotonaka who was walking some distance behind Shiina. I deliberately set the position of the image slightly contrasted so as to make it not easily recognizable.
Then I did the same on my way home from school, I kept a few meters behind her, deliberately making my presence known, then when she turned around to check, I hid behind the walls or something to hide my presence.
I did it every day for a whole week, when she came home with her friends, when she was alone, I made her uncomfortable and annoyed with my actions. All for the sake of the next plan.
Using the school's underground website, I spread rumors on Saturday night. All to put the spice of truth in the rumors I spread.
Yesterday during gym class, Kikuchi and I brought things to the gymnasium. Class J that time had gym class too, and they used the gymnasium building.
The rest, it's just about luck. I looked around and looked for my target.
We took a detour when we both finished putting all the things from the soccer club
Class J is playing volleyball. Because it is impossible for all students to play at once, so they are divided into several teams and will take turns playing. Each consists of two people.
I watched for a while with Kikuchi who turned out to be a little interested in women's volleyball matches too. There seems to be a girl he likes in class J. But that doesn't matter, since Sotonaka is currently standing a few meters in front of me.
After making him aware of us, he seemed to want to turn around and greet us, leaving the different classes aside, but I restrained his movement, bringing up the topic of rumors about Shiina being stalked by someone. As expected, the guy stopped his intention to turn around and silently listened to our chat.
All that's left is to trap him, he must have heard our conversation. Driven by feelings of love towards Shiina, he thought of doing the same.
The rest is like irony above irony. I sent Kikuchi and Yukimura to go follow Sotonaka while I searched for Hakase.
Why am I doing all these things?
By doing so, I managed to lock Sotonaka from taking further action to Shiina. I created a stage for him to express his feelings to Shiina, in class to be exact. Kikuchi is a useful variable, I took advantage of his dislike of him.
The act of stalking itself is horrific and if someone is caught stalking and disturbing the comfort of others, you can be taken to the police station.
Japanese society has grown over the years. We are starting to adopt rules that seek to ensure safety and maintain a comfortable public space for everyone. This culture of discipline is our hallmark.
Someone who commits lewdness on the train, those who violate the norm by making a fuss on the street, on the bus, in the mall, and in other public places, can be legally prosecuted for violating public order. Down to the smallest thing like littering, I observed such rapid growth.
In this school environment, there are rules that regulate students. In short, this is like a small social sphere whose citizens are students themselves. We have norms, customs, and rules among students that really do exist even though they are not written directly.
Then, what are the sanctions for students who violate this?
By the rule, they will be punished by the school. In fact, among other students, discrimination can occur.
Here you can observe various students with abilities in certain fields. Communication, learning, sports, socializing, making friends, and working together. To find a few students who master all these areas is not difficult. They usually stand out from the crowd of students.
Riajuu and Hiriajuu.
Riajuu itself is the one who manages to run their social life at school, while the word hi-, in front means 'non' in English, in other words, it is the opposite of Riajuu.
Sotonaka with his social and communication skills, which he acquired as a result of his hard work to create a better life in high school, is able to overcome the obstacles in front of him. Even though it took time, he managed to improve his reputation again.
The momentary impulse, which arises due to environmental influences, pushes him to create a different person. Interesting individual.
I'm actually interested in observing the changing social dynamics. I tend to want to know to what extent a human being can act. Determination and self-confidence, but he also has weaknesses.
His past being bullied by all his classmates, and betrayed by his own girlfriend. He decided to create a new charm in high school. A brilliant personality and a role model in society. Sotonaka is a good person.
There are two possibilities that happened.
The first, he fell and decided to drop out of school after rumors about him could not be suppressed which ended in bullying.
Second, he managed to overcome the problem and improve his reputation.
I sincerely hope for the first result.
But I have learned not to underestimate the creature called "human"
If he had not been in contact with Shiina, maybe I wouldn't have pulled this thread and played with it.
I have confirmed two things that are bothering me in the future.
First, Sotomura was not an individual who could potentially hurt Shiina. At first, I thought he would act to an alarming degree because of his obsession with Shiina. I'm glad I didn't have to eliminate him.
Second, I managed to get rid of Sotonaka with one hit. He didn't have a chance with Shiina anymore. I had pushed him to confess sooner without any progress in their relationship.
After the incident with her uniform, she now feels indebted to me and has her attention focused on me when Sotonaka confesses his feelings to her.
Everything went according to plan.
I may have unkwonly become too possessive
.