章 1: Blackmail
The school bell rung, indicating the end of another long school day. For Arata Kashimura, this was the moment he's been waiting for all since he stepped foot inside.
"Ah finally." He stretched out his arms from being so stiff. He nearly forgot that he was at school for a moment, until a voice brought him back to reality.
"You're unusually happy for school to be out." It was his classmate, Yogi Aono, who sat beside him. "You must be looking forward to something."
"Oh… it's not that." He lied. "You know, just happy to be done on a Monday." In actuality, there was something that he'd been looking forward to for a while now. And today was the day he could finally get it.
"Really, then does that mean you might be able to join me after school for some food then?"
"Sorry, but I've got to say no to that. Got some errands to take care of." At this point the pair had known each other since the beginning of their first year of high school. With the recent start of their second year, this meant it's been a little over a year since they've met.
Lately, Yogi has been trying to get him to join and hang out with some friends. In fact, from what he's heard, they seem like an interesting bunch. But unfortunately for his classmate, Arata had already resigned himself to avoid making friends, due to his secret.
"Aw, but you always say that." Yogi replied, saddened.
"Ah, well what can I do. Gotta focus on what life throws at me first." With that, the two said their goodbyes and separated. Arata assumed Yogi went to meet with friends at the nearest fast food joint. Meanwhile, he went the opposite direction, finding himself in front of a store he'd know too well. He looked around, making sure there wasn't anyone he knew to see him and he entered.
"Arata, I knew I'd see you here right about now." The store owner greeted him. The store he entered was an otaku shop, stuffed with merchandising of popular anime, manga, and light novel products.
"You know it." He smiled, looking around, seemed there were a few patrons shopping. Even though he was aware that anyone here wouldn't really judge him. It always felt awkward for him here. "So, you've got you-know-what."
"Sorry, but you're going to have to be more specific than that." The owner always enjoyed teasing his best customer.
"Come on, you know what I'm talking about." He sighed. "You got the new figurine from the manga 'Mad Love'." He asked, in a somewhat quiet voice.
"Sorry, but I just sold the last one."
"What?"
"Is what I'd say if you weren't such a loyal customer. Don't worry." He reached under the counter, reveling the figurine. "I saved one just for you." In his excitement, Arata grabbed it from the owners hands. It was a full figure of the main girl in the manga he was reading at the moment. Limited edition, no less.
"Awesome, this is just what I've been waiting for."
"I don't know why you like that girl so much. She's pretty crazy."
"Well duh, she's a yandere after all." That answer didn't really persuade the man. "Her devotion is just so mesmerizing, and unlike others of her type, her love is just so pure."
"Even if that was the case, I think she'd be pretty terrible in real life."
"I don't know, I'd like to think I could tame someone like that." The two shared a laugh at his joke. As if Arata was ever the type to have a girlfriend, let alone a stalker. After he paid, Arata quickly made his way back home to avoid being seen.
He made it home, being welcomed by his mom before getting to his room. Covered with posters, along with a pair of book shelves filled with manga and light novels. His room was a confession to his secret. He already had the perfect place for his new prize, placing on his desk, for him to always look at when doing homework.
Life for an otaku was hard, is what he always said. But this was the life he chose, he just couldn't resist the enjoyment he got from it all. Unfortunately for him, that mostly meant he avoid making friends in high school, much to the disappointment of his parents. It also meant taking some odd jobs to fund his hobby, not that he minded since it was pretty easy work most of the time.
In fact, tomorrow was when he was going to get back to helping some elderly folks with their gardens. Something that was feasible again with Spring warming the land once more. Knowing that, he quickly finished up his homework and headed to bed early, since it was going to be a long day. But little did he know, that it was going to be much more complicated than he ever could've expected.
The next morning went as it always did. Getting to school fairly early, he went to his locker to get into his school shoes. However, inside a note greeted him.
Meet me behind the school, by the big oak tree, it read. He looked around the paper, but it seemed that there was not name to identify the writer. Odd, he thought. Was this a letter for a confession? It didn't seem to be written like one. The handwriting indicated that this was a more serious matter than that. The timing was odd too, since he didn't consider early morning to be the time for something like that. Well, there was only one way to find out.
After getting ready for the school day, he headed over to where the note directed. It wasn't hard to find, the big oak tree the school had was something that was unique to it. Also, as its name suggested, it wasn't small either. When he got there, there wasn't anyone in sight.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" He asked. Nothing came in response to his words. Perhaps whoever sent the note got too nervous, he wondered. But before he made his leave, the branches above rustled. Looking up, he was shocked to see a girl, sitting on a large branch.
"Surprise." She exclaimed, hopping from her perch. He hardly had anytime to move out of her way.
"What the?" He stood awestruck at her. "Who are you?" He asked, but taking a moment to look at her more carefully, he realized that she looked familiar. "Wait a second, I know you. You're Erina Hayama, right?" She wasn't exactly someone he would consider very acquainted with him. But he knew for certain that she was one of Yogi's friends. Well judging from the way she acted with him, maybe something a little one-sided as well.
"Yep, that's me all right." She replied proudly. Not that knowing her made him any less confused. He stood there, looking at her dumbfounded. "Well are you gonna say something?"
"Um, well, you were the one that called me here. I think you're the one that needs to say something." Taking a scanning look at her, he noticed her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, as usual. Despite how early it was, as school wouldn't start for another half hour, it was clear that she'd planned being here at this time. Did she expect him so soon as well?
Hmph, well I guess we'll get right to the point then." Her face let off a smug expression. He didn't like that, he didn't like that at all. The look on his face betrayed his anxiousness, something that anyone could notice. "Ha, if you're scared now, wait until you see this."
"What do you mean by that?" She threw what seemed like a piece of paper towards him. It would've been impressive to him if it wasn't for the situation he was in at the moment. He caught it, scared to look at its content, he slowly turned it around to reveal the image. "No..." He saw it. There was no way, he thought. In his hands, a picture of him buying the figurine from yesterday.
"Oh it's real all right." She answered his disbelief. "I know your little secret." She spoke in a singsong manner, to rub salt into his wound. He stood still, frozen from the circumstances he found himself in. The girl that stood behind, for all he originally knew wasn't someone he'd expected to have him in this position. It made him wonder what type of person she really was.
"B-but why, how did you get something like this?" He was certain that there wasn't anyone at school near him. Given the way the picture was taking, it seemed like she was stalking him to get something like that.
"Simple, blackmail." She answered, keeping her grin that was starting to make him mad.
"Blackmail?" He paused to think to himself, was there anything that he'd done recently to wrong her?
"Ohoh, you've nothing wrong. Yet." She answered, as if she could read his mind. "But if you don't want these leaking out to any unwanted eyes. I think you'd better listen very careful to what I'm gonna say next."
"This sounds like something I'm not going to like, is it?"
"It might… You see, I need you. To get Yogi Aono to fall in love with me."
"W-what?" It seemed this morning was just filled with new things to give him pause. "Make him fall in love?"
"What this? Sounds like there's an echo here." She mocked him. It felt kind of unfair to him how she was acting. Though with this information, he now knew for certain her feelings for his classmate. Unfortunately, it was probably better when he didn't know.
"B-but why me?" He asked.
"Oh you can save your questions for later." She began to walk past him, exiting their conversation as if it had finished. Now standing beside him, she gave him his ultimatum. "You'll get to know everything when you agree to this. If you say no, or think you can just ignore this. Everyone's going to know your dirty little secret tomorrow." She laughed slyly as she continued to walk back inside the school. She could only stand there, frozen in what seemed like a nightmare.
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