It was Saturday.
I probably should act soon before Sayuri does something.
This was the final day that I was given to complete the mission.
I decided that it would be best to try to find the dorm she lived in. Depending on how confident she was, she would either be hiding or watching me in plain sight.
The first thing I did was meet up with Trista in the library.
"Do you know which room Sayuri Tachibana lives in?"
"You mean the fourth-ranked?"
"Yes, her."
"I think she lives somewhat close to me, I've seen her around a bit. So around rooms 24 to 29."
"Ok thanks."
There was a short moment of silence.
"Um, Ollie, is she the person who's been sending the letters?"
"I'm pretty sure."
"Wow, how did you find out."
"It's a long story. Anyways come with me and we'll go to her dorm."
We make our way towards the dorm rooms. As we got to the floor where Trista lived I looked around to make sure there weren't any bystanders. I put on some gloves and got out of the elevator
"Alright, I'm going to pick the locks on the doors. There are two security cameras on this floor, I'm going to cover them with tape so you keep a lookout and make sure no one sees us."
I left a 'maintenance in progress' sign on the stairway and had Trista guard the elevator. There was someone in the elevator with us who hurried to their room which was convenient as the security cameras would catch them as the last person before the cameras would be taped up.
The only other way someone would find us is if they came out of their room. I taped up the security cameras whilst staying out of view and made my way to the first room. Whilst most people used the phone scanning system to get in, there were still conventional locks in case you lost or forgot your phone.
I began picking the first lock. Without much trouble, the door slid open.
The room seemed to be empty.
I went over to the next room, picking the next lock, that too wasn't too difficult. I gently slid the door open and asked.
"Hello? James?"
"Eh? Who is this?" There was a response.
"Oh sorry, I was looking for my friend James."
"Oh, he doesn't live here."
"Sorry, pardon me then."
It wasn't that room either.
This excuse would get problematic the more I used it.
I began picking the third lock. Again, the door opened without much resistance. At first, the room seemed empty but I could hear some breathing from inside. I walked inside the room to observe it better, suddenly, I felt a pain on my side.
"Huh."
Two boys charged and tackled me. I managed to keep my footing and not fall to the ground but they were still holding onto me extremely tightly. In the background, I managed to catch a glimpse of a girl who seemed to be dashing out the door.
Was that Sayuri?
I struggled as hard as I could and managed to claw the two boys off of me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
The boys did not give me a response. Instead, they tried latching onto me again. I managed to slide out and looked around to see what had happened. Trista was still standing at the elevator, looking confused.
Crap, she must have escaped down the stair then.
I hurried over to the emergency staircase and noticed that the sign I placed had been knocked onto the ground.
Hold on, was that even Sayuri?
I noticed that the boys weren't chasing me as I expected.
I went back to the hallway and called for Trista.
"Go down the stairs and there should be a girl who is running down. If it's Sayuri, keep following her and make sure you call, don't text me. I'm going to check the room again."
She rushed down the stairway and I went back towards the room.
The boys were sitting down discussing something. The floor creaked as I walk back into the room. They seemed quite surprised when they saw me coming back.
"Why did you come back?" One of them asked me.
"I guess I just felt like it."
I gradually approached them.
"What do you want?" They asked.
"If you give me five hundred points, I'll tell you," I replied.
"Hah! Look at this guy," They snickered.
"Well, come in, we can have a chat." They continued.
It seemed like they were trying to stall me, but if Sayuri really left, then why didn't they try to chase me down. I theorized that she might still be hiding in the room because I didn't get a very good look at the girl when they were running away.
"So why did you come here?"
"I just came to have some tea."
The two boys laughed.
"As if you would break into someone's room for some tea."
"I mean it's not every day that there are two boys and two girls chilling in a room, somehow managing to attack me the moment I walked in."
"You're a funny guy, you know." He told me.
Suddenly I heard a beep on my phone.
I checked and saw a message.
"I've found Sayuri, I'm on the path to the arcade."
This was suspicious. I had very specifically told her to call me, not text.
I was almost certain that it wasn't her who sent the message.
This means that Sayuri was probably in the room with me. On the other hand, if someone else had access to her phone, it likely meant that she was in some kind of danger.
"Tell me, is Sayuri in here?"
"She left just a moment ago." One of them responded.
I walked further into the room.
"Hey, don't just come walking into our room like we're friends." One of them called out to me.
Suddenly, I heard a loud noise.
Another girl had dashed out of the bathroom, out the door.
This time, I managed to see her brown hair.
It was Sayuri.