"So, dude, are you excited for today?" Shinji said with a grin as I, Shinji, and Subaru stepped into the cafeteria, which, surprisingly, wasn't crowded yet. I had arrived early with him after cleaning up because, well… I wanted my food first. Call me fat; I don't care… Okay, maybe I do a bit. And maybe I will call the police. But besides that, I probably should have checked on the girls, considering they were a bit of a mess.

  "Maybe I should go back?" I thought to myself, getting lost in thought.

  "HEY!" Shinji called out again.

  "Oh! My bad, bro. What did you say?" I replied, noticing his scowl.

  "Geez, dude, I know this whole thing has got you spacing out, but come on, I'm right here, your fellow friend! Gah! How insensitive! Come on, Subaru, join me in our moment of sadness."

  "Um… Sure?" Subaru replied, slightly confused.

  "But you kind of forced me to be your friend," I shot back, deadpan.

  "NGH! Well, you know I just saw you looking lonely, that's why! Hahaha!" Shinji replied, turning his attention to the food. "Now, let me repeat myself: who do you want to take on the role today?" he asked, balancing his food as we moved toward a table. I grabbed my own food and, to be honest, the role was the least of my concerns. I couldn't shake the feeling that we had a creepy stalker who might attack the girls. We settled onto one of the benches, and I could feel Shinji staring right through my skull, waiting for my answer.

  This guy…

  "Well, I'm not sure, to be honest. I don't really mind either way," I answered, taking a bite of my rice ball. "Honestly, each girl has her own quirks and strengths," I said, my mouth still full.

  "Ahhh, I see. Fair enough. If it were me, though…" Shinji said, a smirk creeping across his face. I glanced at him and could tell he was thinking about one of the sisters.

  "I would choose Yuki," he said, chewing on his rice ball.

  "Huh… Why her?"

  Shinji took a sip of his matcha tea, and I could see the light sparkle in his eyes. "I see the way she treats you, like a dog, someone who doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as her. You're really fumbling it! You should make her kick you, tell you you're a failure of a man, and ensure that every night she leaves you outside to fend off the cold!"

  "…What the fu-" I stopped short, realising Shinji had come down from whatever kooky fantasy he was in and let out a cough.

  "I agree with Shinji, well, not the whole dog thing…" Subaru said, a small smile growing on his face. "I think she's the nicest of them all," he continued as he chewed on his food.

  "Yeah, in looks, I'd say all of them are amazing, but still-"

  "No, not just looks, but personality," he cut me off.

  "Hahahahahaha!" I laughed, nearly choking on my food. "Jeez, Subaru, you're a funny guy." I began to compose myself, but Subaru's expression hadn't changed; he was dead serious.

  "Wait… You actually think she's got the best personality?" I muttered, my eyes slightly wide.

  Masochist alert!

  "Yeah, of course! Sure, she might have a rough exterior, but deep down, she cares. Next time you see her, and she does something slightly out of character, think about why,"

  My mouth opened, but no words escaped.

  "I've seen too many anime for this not to be the case," he added, getting up to finish his food.

  This guy… is something else. Basing his opinions on anime? Don't get me wrong; I love anime as much as the next guy, but this is too far.

  "Anyways, dude, I'm going to check out other roles, if there's anything other than just being a tree," Shinji smiled, waving his hand as he and Subaru walked away.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "Honestly, I think I just attract weirdos…" I muttered, finishing my meal.

  Or maybe I'm the weirdo attracting them?

  *

  After sitting in silence, munching on food for a bit, I got up from the bench and made my way to drop off my tray. At this point, it had been about ten minutes since Shinji had left. And I know I've said this a thousand times by now, but the thought of a man lurking around the campus wanting to… do whatever to the girls really got me thinking.

  Why? Why is he doing this now? And why make it so obvious? Again, I'm no expert, so don't call me weird, but if you were to have an obsession with someone, why make it public? You know she has sisters, and if you leave a note like that not once but twice, aren't you destroying your chances? Oh well, I guess some people have strange ways of doing things. Maybe I'd just have to outthink him.

  As I made my way through the white corridors, the sound of the carpet crunching under my feet grew louder the farther I moved away from the cafeteria. But my footsteps were soon overruled by the sound of multiple footsteps, all coming my way and all coming quickly.

  "Hmmm?" I hummed to myself, sensing a weird feeling. I couldn't see who was coming due to a corner that needed to be turned, but it didn't take long before I knew who it was.

  "We need to find him!" a light, feminine voice called out, one that usually had a lot of joy and happiness behind it. So much so that I found it more annoying than cute, but this time, that same voice had fear lingering in it.

  "Nao?"

  I muttered, and as soon as I spoke, Nao, along with Yuki, Arisa, and Reina, rounded the corner, their faces etched with worry.

  Nao was the first to reach me, and of course, her eyes locked onto mine. "SOUTA!" she shouted, sprinting toward me.

  "Hey, what's wrong?" I replied, genuinely concerned by her tone.

  But of course, Nao, being Nao, didn't stop running. "NAO! WAIT, WHAT'S WRO—"

  Thump.

  "NGH!" I cried out as Nao jumped into me. I'm no Mr Strong, so as soon as she put a bit of weight on me, we both fell. Though my body was in pain, I still tried to get answers. "Nao, what's up?"

  "S-s-souta," she said softly, burying her face in my stomach.

  Just what the hell is going on?

  "We got a letter from someone… weird," Yuki said, standing next to Nao and me.

  Shit. Another letter.

  "W-where did you find it?!" I shot straight up, holding onto Nao. Yuki glanced at Arisa and Nao before sighing. Her voice also carried a lingering sense of fear. "It was in our room…"

  "Your… room—" I started, but the words never came out. My eyes widened in pure horror as my mind raced back to the whole door being open just ever so slightly… The thought of that bastard going into their room made me sick.

  Arisa looked at me with worried eyes as she turned to face Yuki, then back to me, asking, "Souta… do you know anything about this?" She squatted down, her concern evident.

  I froze. Her words were simple, yet in this situation, they felt incredibly complicated. What do I say? Now that I'm thinking about it, I've kept this whole thing to myself. I should have told them first and foremost instead of playing Mr Detective. But if I say I knew everything and just never told them because I forgot, they might get upset… or maybe even not trust me anymore. I looked at Arisa; she was staring back at me, her expression worried. "What do I say? Should I just tell them? Am I overthinking this? It's not that deep, is it?" All these questions were racing through my mind as Arisa tilted her head slightly, her crimson hair swaying in front of her face.

  "Souta?" she asked softly, confused by how quiet I was being.

  "No, sorry," I finally replied, my voice still slightly shaky.

  "This is for the best… if they find out I've known about this and never told them, there's no way I could face them properly," I told myself as the lie slipped out of my mouth.

  Arisa blinked before smiling slightly. "Oh… then that's okay, don't worry about it. At the end of the day, you're our maid, not our bodyguard," she said, sticking her tongue out playfully.

  "Yeah… I'm sorry, but I will find out who this person is," I replied, getting up.

  Yuki's gaze stayed on me as I stood up, and I could feel her eyes boring into me. She scoffed, "Hmph, you better. Dad pays you enough to do both," Yuki replied, crossing her arms as she turned away.

  Yeah, sure. I think he needs to give me a survival bonus as well.

  "Souta. Make sure you don't do anything rash. If you find anything, please report it to us before you do anything impulsive," the teacher advised. I nodded in agreement, but truth be told, I was confused and angry, and all my frustration was directed at this guy…

  He's just making my already complicated life much harder for what? A bizarre obsession?

  LIKE, COME ON!

  As that was settled, the girls began to turn around and walk away from me. I should have followed suit, but knowing I had lied to them made me feel uneasy. I convinced myself it was for the best, but does lying about something like this make me a better person? Or do I just seem like an overthinking idiot? Either way, I'm not sure, but I've got to find out who this person is before it gets any worse than it already has.

  This was meant to be the cue for my ultimate detective Souta mode. Instead, I was interrupted when Reina stopped while the others kept walking. She was so quiet, and Arisa, Nao, and Yuki were engrossed in a deep conversation, theorising about who this mysterious person could be, completely unaware of Reina's pause.

  "Reina?" I whispered, confused about why she had stopped.

  She looked at me with a gaze I had never seen before, one filled with conviction and energy. She took another glance back at the others, waiting until they were entirely out of sight. Once they were gone, she turned back to me.

  "Souta… I know you knew about this from the beginning…"

  three times a week. This change is so I can focus on maintaining strong quality and consistency throughout the story.

  New upload schedule (GMT / ET):

  Monday: 2:00 PM GMT (9:00 AM ET)

  Wednesday: 9:00 PM GMT (4:00 PM ET)

  Friday: 2:00 PM GMT (9:00 AM ET)