Before going home today, I noticed I had forgotten my tablet's charger in class while sorting out the contents of my bag.

While walking upstairs to get it, someone called out to me from the top of the stairwell.

"Yo."

Standing there was Oozora Yuudai, the male class representative of 2nd Year A Class.

"...hey."

I didn't expect him to make conversation with me. Did he want something from me?

I waited for a moment, but it seems he wasn't coming to meet me halfway.

"How are you?"

He continued to stand there, asking questions while looking down on me.

"I'm fine."

I briefly answered before continuing my journey upstairs.

"That's good."

I passed him, thinking we were done exchanging pleasantries, but Oozora continued talking to me.

"You know, a lot of upperclassmen have become interested in you recently."

"Yeah. I've heard."

Due to my various interactions with 2-A students in May, I've become quite the talking point amongst the seniors. I've also become quite familiar with the 2-E students, as I spent most of my free time at the gym, working out with Shinomiya.

"Even that Kurosaki-san has taken a liking to you, and she's really tough to impress."

"...are you talking from experience?"

Oozora laughed, grinning at me.

"I wish. Truthfully, she's never given me the light of day."

Kurosaki really did have high standards. If she didn't find a person interesting, she wouldn't bother talking to them.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. It's why it's so impressive that she seems to be fond of you."

Despite being her fellow class representative, Kurosaki wasn't interested in Oozora. I found it strange though, since he had a decorated past as the Great Sky Hero.

Still, Oozora must've been an impressive person since he was the leader of 2-A. I mean, even though Kurosaki was also a class representative, I really doubt the class would follow her lackadaisical lead.

For her, these titles were just stepping stones towards her ultimate goal of climbing up to the top. As such, she probably left Oozora in charge of the class.

"You're praising me too much. I don't know what I did to deserve her attention either."

"It isn't just her either. Shinomiya-san likes you too. You were eating lunch with her yesterday, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

Why does Oozora know that? I don't remember seeing him in the cafeteria during lunch time.

"What did you guys talk about?"

"...that's none of your business."

Oozora laughed lightly.

"My bad. So, between Kurosaki-san and Shinomiya-san, who do you like more?"

"What kind of question is that?"

I couldn't tell whether Oozora was trying to make small talk or if he was trying to feel me out. I've been trying to get him off my tail by giving short answers to end the conversation, but he keeps bringing up new topics to continue it.

"I'm just curious. You seem close to both of them."

"You don't seem close to either of them though."

"Me and Kurosaki-san might just be acquaintances, but I'm friends with Shinomiya-san. Though, that's probably because I look like her friend, Nibiiro-san."

"Yeah, I noticed... if it weren't for the tattoo on your neck, I wouldn't be able to tell you guys apart."

In fact, I already made that mistake once with Nibiiro.

"It does get confusing, especially when we're not in our uniform. When I first found out about it, I thought it was weird, but now I think it's cool. Somehow, it's become quite useful..."

Oozora muttered the last part to himself.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"Oh, don't worry. I was just talking to myself."

Despite presenting himself as cool, there was something creepy about the way Oozora acted.

"I see..."

"Anyways, who do you prefer?"

"You have to be more clear with what you mean."

"Can't you read between the lines? I'm asking who do you like more between Kurosaki-san and Shinomiya-san, obviously."

What a strange question... why would Oozora even be interested in this kind of stuff? We're not even friends. Am I missing something here?

He doesn't have a reason to ask me something so personal. Perhaps this is a normal conversation for riajuu to have? If so, it felt kind of wrong somehow.

In any case, I didn't have to entertain the thought so deeply. I gave a non-committal answer, like I always do.

"...I don't know. It's hard to say."

"Eh, is that so? I guess you like both just as equally then."

"Something like that, I guess."

"Heh. It must be nice having two beautiful upperclassmen interested in you. I'm a little jealous."

Oozora smiled strangely while saying that.

"Aren't you quite popular with the underclassmen, Oozora-senpai?"

"Oh, for sure. One of the girls from your class, Suzuki-san, asked me out awhile ago."

"How are things going with her?"

Oozora looked away slightly.

"Well, we broke up. Difference of opinions, and all that."

"That's unfortunate to hear."

I guess their relationship ended as soon as it started. They were an odd combination, so I didn't see it lasting for long anyways.

"It's whatever. Romance is like that sometimes."

Oozora laughed it off and looked up at me.

"Do you like someone, Takanori-san?"

"...not particularly. You?"

I was never the type for romance.

"Well, there's one girl I've had my eye on for awhile."

"Oh. Who is it?"

Oozora scratched the back of his head sheepishly, grinning to himself.

"If I say, you might hate me for it, you know?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean...?"

"We talked about her earlier. You seem to be close to her, so I thought you were into her as well."

Don't tell me... is this why he was asking all these weird questions earlier?

"...are you referring to Shinomiya-senpai?"

"A ha ha ha ha. I got found out."

Oozora laughed, raising his arms in surrender.

"She's quite beautiful, isn't she?"

For some reason, I started feeling irritated in his presence.

"...I suppose."

"It's no wonder why you like her. Shinomiya-san treats kouhai like you especially well. She absolutely adores her underclassmen."

I didn't notice her treat me any differently than how she treated her friends in 2-E.

"I think you're mistaking something."

"What?"

"I only like Shinomiya-senpai as a friend. There isn't anything like that going on between us."

Oozora's faint smile vanished.

"Then how do you explain this, Takanori-san?"

Oozora closed the distance between us, slinging an arm around my shoulder. Pulling me in closer, he showed me a picture on his phone.

My eyes widened.

It was a picture of me on top of Shinomiya, squeezing her breasts. This is from back when I first met her in the Drachma Gym. I had fell off the treadmill and she caught me, leading to this accident.

How does he have this...?

On that day, only three people were present at the time. Me, her, and... a man in a hoodie.

I looked up to see Oozora's disconnected face stare back at me.

"What the hell..."

"Don't act shocked. You know what you did."

Oozora's voice had turned from friendly to stern.

"Why do you have that? How do you even have that?"

"You're in no position to ask such questions. This is about you and your crime, not the person who caught you sexually harassing Shinomiya-san."

I wasn't worried about the photo, since I could explain it was an accident. If need be, I could also ask Shinomiya to corroborate it on my behalf as well.

What I was more concerned about was the fact this photo was proof Shinomiya had a stalker. There's no way Oozora could have this image unless he or someone he knew was present on the day this happened.

And there just so happened to be a third person at the gym on that day I met her... I have to get to the bottom of this. Oozora was my key to solving who was Shinomiya's stalker.

"I'm not sexually harassing her, this is an honest accident."

"Like I'm going to buy that flimsy excuse. Who do you think you are, a harem protagonist? A lucky lecher? That kind of stuff doesn't happen in real life. It's obvious you took advantage of her kindness to grope her."

"I already told you, this is an accident. She tried catching me as I fell of the treadmill and we ended up in that position."

"A position that conveniently let you squeeze her breasts like that? Give me a break. You're not fooling anyone with how close your body is pressed up against her. You're practically grinding your crotch between her legs. What are you trying to do, rape her?"

"Don't be ridiculous, if I did something that extreme, she'd report me for it."

"Knowing Shinomiya-san, she'd probably forgive you even if you did something like that."

"Don't talk about senpai like that..."

I absolutely hated how he was objectifying her like that...

"But it's true though. That's how much she cares for her kouhai. Even if you did something horrible to her, she'd rather keep quiet about it than get you into trouble. That's why I can't stand it when people like you take advantage of her kindness like this."

"I didn't take advantage of anything. If you don't believe me, go show Shinomiya-senpai this picture and ask her yourself. She'll give you the same story as me."

"I don't need to. She'll just go along with whatever lie you spout to protect you."

I was starting to get tired with Oozora's insistence that I did this on purpose. If I had a penny every time I was falsely accused of something, I'd have two pennies, but it's strange that it's happened twice.

"Then what's the point of berating me like this? If you think I did something wrong, then report it to the school."

"I already have. I've told Momiji-sensei about this and she's going to look into this."

I wasn't worried about that, since my innocence could be cleared by looking at the surveillance footage. After all, GEN has surveillance cameras littered throughout the island, including the Drachma Gym.

All they have to do is check the footage to see whether or not I really did commit any sexual assault against Shinomiya. Once they see that it was an accident, I'll walk away without any charges.

However, something still felt off.

"If you've passed this off to the adults, then you should let the adults handle it. Confronting me won't do anything."

"That's what you think, huh?"

Oozora shoved me into the wall. He was stronger than I anticipated...

"If all you came here to do is gloat about reporting me, then I'm leaving..."

"You're not going anywhere. Not until I make sure you won't try anything like that on Shinomiya-san ever again."

Just as I was about to walk away, Oozora dragged me back in by grabbing the collar of my shirt.

"And that goes for the other girls you're close to too, like Kurosaki-san and Tokihara-san."

Kurosaki is probably one of the last people who needed protecting. I also found it disturbing that he knew I was friends with Tokihara, one of the student librarians.

"...you can play the role of vigilante all you want, but isn't it a little ironic that you're taking the moral high ground?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're the one stalking Shinomiya-senpai."

Oozora shoved me away. I guess that's one way of getting him to let go of me...

"Don't accuse me of being a stalker."

"Oh? Did that strike a nerve?"

By revealing that picture to me, Oozora had also inadvertently revealed his connection to the stalker. Whether or not he was actually the stalker was irrelevant. All that mattered is he knew who it was, one way or another.

"You'd react the same if someone suddenly called you a stalker."

"But you know about her situation, right?"

"Of course. Nearly everyone in our year is aware about it."

"Then, if you like Shinomiya-senpai so much, instead of wasting your time talking to me, why don't you go help her find out who that bastard is?"

"I've already tried, but trying to catch that guy is like chasing after smoke. We have no leads whatsoever."

"That photo of me groping her is a lead."

Upon hearing my challenge, Oozora raised his eyebrows.

"You know who the stalker is, Oozora-senpai. If you want to protect Shinomiya-senpai that badly, hurry up and spit out their name, instead of going after an irrelevant kouhai like me."

"Sorry, I don't get what you mean. How's this photo a lead to the stalker?"

"Only three people were present on the day this image was taken. Me, Shinomiya-senpai, and someone else. That someone else could be the only one who took it. Whoever it is, they've sent you a copy of that photo. All you have to do is trace back the steps."

"In other words, you're asking me who sent this?"

"That's what I asked from the very beginning. After all, that person is Shinomiya-senpai's stalker."

"...oh."

Oozora broke out into a thin smile.

"Nibiiro-san's the one who sent me this."

"...what? Nibiiro-senpai?"

There's no way... why would he...?

"Mhm. In hindsight, this makes a lot of sense."

"Wait, he can't be the stalker. He's Shinomiya-senpai's best friend. There's no reason for him to do something like this."

"Ever heard of something called stalking in plain sight? Those two are always hanging around each other. It'd be easy for Nibiiro-san to observe her from afar like a creep. It'd also explain why they're having so much trouble catching the damn stalker... Shinomiya-san would never consider him a suspect since she trusts him so deeply. He even has a foolproof alibi, that bastard."

Oozora clicked his tongue in anger, but something still didn't feel right.

"...can I see your phone? I want to see proof that Nibiiro-san sent you the message."

"Huh? Sure thing."

Oozora flipped his phone around to face me. I felt my fists tighten in my pockets.

For some reason, it was Nibiiro who sent the image to Oozora.

"...this makes no sense."

Oozora sighed, putting away his device.

"To think, two of the people close to her are both disgusting perverts... poor Shinomiya-san. I feel awful for her. I guess I need to report this to Momiji-sensei too."

For some reason, Oozora laughed.

"Thanks for the help, Takanori-san. I guess even awful people have their uses."

He began walking away from me, disappearing downstairs.

"...what the hell is going on?"

I muttered to myself, making my way back to E Class.

I thought this stalker situation would be cut and dry, but Oozora's sudden appearance made everything murky... I need to talk to Shinomiya and the others about this before I start getting the wrong ideas myself.

I grabbed my charger and shoved it in my bag.

When I returned to the dorms, I was greeted by another death threat in my letterbox. I sighed and put it in my pocket before heading to my room.

That makes it the fifth now... this stalker seriously hates me. That, or they really want me dead.