"But Yuki think about Souta," Arisa said softly as Yuki entered the room.

  "Yeah, I know Souta's stressed. But I'm not doing this with anyone else. I can't trust anyone else," she replied, her gaze dropping slightly.

  "Yuki," I murmured under my breath.

  She was right. If I quit now, Yuki would be paired with someone else, and there was no guarantee that someone wasn’t the stalker.

  "Guess I'm not leaving just yet, am I?" I let out a small chuckle.

  "Good," Yuki replied, a small smile crossing her face.

  The girls, including Shirori, and I went back to practising, making sure Yuki and I stayed in sync.

  ***

  And well, that's how things went for a bit longer. Soon, we found ourselves one day before the big play. Yet at the same time, we still had nothing. The police were doing their best to figure out who this stalker was, but the guy had gone quiet and hadn't made a move since. On one side, that made me happy and relieved. But on the other side, I was worried about what he was planning to do. Surely, as time went on, he was becoming more desperate.

  "Just leave it alone!" I said to myself, shaking my head. I was tasked with getting Arisa's makeup bag because, for some reason, Yuki's makeup "wasn't good enough," as she put it. That comment was enough to get little old me moving all the way back to the room, which, I'll have you know, is pretty far for a guy like me. I turned each corner half-expecting this guy to show up out of the blue and send me to an isekai world. But the police visit still lingered in my mind, as did Shinji's behaviour. Even before that, he kind of admitted to being the stalker… I think? He said he was just acting and everything, but there was almost a hint of truth behind his voice. Or maybe I was just paranoid. I dunno.

  So when I turned the final corner toward the main chilling room and saw him there, I froze.

  "Oh! Hey, Souta, my man!" he shouted the moment his eyes landed on mine.

  "H-hey, Shinji," I replied, doing my best not to raise any suspicion.

  "Fancy seeing you here! I was just about to head to the vending machines. You wanna join?" he said, walking up to me.

  What was he doing here by himself? There was no one else here but him.

  "Sure…" I muttered. "But Shinji, what were you doing here by yourself?" I asked directly.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "Uh… Well, I was just going to get a drink from the vending machine," he replied, confusion lingering in his voice.

  My eyes narrowed. I can't believe I have to question him. I was exhausted, sick of constantly worrying about this bastard who kept ruining my somewhat peaceful life. Right now, I have an extreme suspicion that bastard was Shinji. It all made sense when I pieced it together: he randomly became my friend, said he liked Yuki, was always hanging around me, and was one of the few people who knew where the girls and I were staying before anyone else.

  I could feel my brain starting to hurt. Every little detail, everything, it all went back to him.

  "Why does everything point back to you?" I said out loud.

  "Huh?" Shinji replied, his voice lingering with nervousness.

  I couldn't help but smile. There it was; he was nervous. Why would he be? He's finally made a mistake.

  "CUT IT, SHINJI!" I raised my voice. "Just admit it now, and I'll make sure that your punishment isn't as bad."

  "Bro… You're kidding me, right? There's no way you're actually saying I'm the stalker guy! Like, what evidence do you even have? You're just springing this on me!" Shinji shouted back, his voice tinged with fear.

  "You had the same fighting stance as the stalker. You're always hanging around me. You were one of the few people who knew where we were staying. Even the way you write it felt familiar, IT IS YOU, SHINJI!" I snapped, my heart racing. I could feel sweat dripping from my forehead as I did my best to keep my shaking hands from revealing my fear. Because right now, I was standing in front of the stalker, the one who most likely, most definitely, wanted to kill me.

  Shinji paused, his lips parted like he was going to say something. But nothing came out. His brow furrowed as his face looked like it had seen a ghost.

  Until.

  "Hahahaha!" He let out an unsettling laugh.

  My face widened in horror as his laughter continued for a moment. I stayed silent, letting him have his final laugh before he fessed up. Until-

  "Souta, broski, your acting has gotten really good! Hahahaha! Give me two seconds; I'm going to get a Coke from the machine, and we can go line for line!" He said with a smile before taking off.

  "WAIT, NO! I MEANT EVERYTHING I SAID!" I shouted, but Shinji didn't look back.

  You're probably thinking, Did you chase him? Surely you chased him, grabbed him, and called the police? Right?

  Wrong.

  I didn't chase him. Not because I didn't want to, but because something in my gut screamed that confronting him alone, in an empty hallway, with no witnesses, was exactly what he wanted. If he really was the stalker, cornering him now would only make him desperate. Dangerous.

  "I'll let the teachers know after getting Arisa's stuff," I whispered before taking off to our room, making sure I was constantly checking my back just in case Shinji was following me. My heart pounded in my chest, the back of my mind kept saying, "It was him. It was him. It had to be!"

  I just needed to get the stuff and get out. Just keep going, get there in time," I said to myself as my speed walking turned into a full-blown run.

  Then the moment I saw our door, the realisation hit me.

  "If he's been caught, he knows he's finished… Meaning that he's got nothing to lose."

  My legs slowed down as the horrifying thought shot through my brain.

  "Shit!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

  "DAMN THAT ARISA!" I cried out, bursting through the door.

  "Just get that makeup and-"

  I paused.

  The moment the door swung open, I saw it. A person in our room.

  It wasn't Yuki, Arisa, Nao or Reina.

  It was him.

  Standing there, holding a piece of paper in one hand and Yuki's clothes in the other.

  "B-b-but it C-can't be you…"

  DeadEndYuto!