"Dear Diary.

  The moment I saw her for the first time. I knew it was love at first sight, but as time passed, I realised that things aren't like they are in TV shows. None of this mutual understanding exists, and the whole 'love at first sight' is bullshit. I tried and tried to talk to her, but every time she ignores me, she doesn't give me the time of day. I thought she was just being hard to get until I saw him.

  That guy is suddenly hanging around them.

  Like he belonged with them.

  Laughing and smiling with them, even landing on Yuki's breasts.

  IT'S INFURIATING!

  HOW DARE HE COME AND TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME

  TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!"

  END.

  As I read the letter over and over, emotions churned inside me, white-hot anger intertwined with bone-chilling terror. The realisation that a real person had written these words sent a shiver down my spine.

  "This is really bad," I muttered, finally folding the paper closed. I wanted to take it, but doing so would tip off this absolute monster of a human, so taking a photo seemed the best option.

  "Right, just a quick photo, and off we go, Souta," I whispered to myself, fingers trembling as I fumbled for my phone.

  What should have been simple, take the phone out, snap a photo, leave, became nearly impossible as my hands betrayed me. They shook violently as I struggled to retrieve my phone and open the camera app, making it impossible to capture a clear image.

  "Shit! Damn these hands!"

  Click.

  The sound of my phone taking a photo shattered the forest silence like a gunshot. Then came another sound. Footsteps, approaching rapidly.

  "Oh shit, I'm going to die. I'm going to actually die. This motherfucker is going to kill me right here and now."

  My hands trembled even more violently as I jammed my phone back into my pocket. Just before bolting from the tent, my fingers grazed something on the "bed", if you could even call the ragged pile that. With just enough pressure, I revealed what lay beneath.

  "A bracelet?" I murmured, heart pounding.

  It was silver, delicate, clearly meant for a girl's wrist. My instinct was to grab it, but I hesitated for a second before I snatched it anyway.

  But before I could turn around. I got a spine-tingling feeling that someone was nearby. And when I heard his voice.

  I knew it was too late.

  "OI! WHO'S THERE?" A man's voice roared as I burst from the campsite.

  "NOPE! I AIN'T DYING TODAY!" I screamed, legs pumping desperately.

  "GET BACK HERE, YOU BITCH!" The familiar voice of a man bellowed, his footsteps accelerating from walking to running in seconds.

  "GET AWAY, YOU SCARED BITCH!" I shouted back.

  "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S RUNNING AWAY!"

  "THAT'S A FAIR POINT!" I gasped, zigzagging through the trees, desperately trying to lose him.

  For some ungodly reason, either I'm pathetically slow, or Usain Bolt himself was on my tail, this guy wasn't giving up. What felt like hours of running, and still the sound of leaves crunching behind me persisted, the only thing keeping my terror-fueled legs moving.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Until, thank god, I spotted a flashlight beam cutting through the darkness.

  I'm SAVED!

  But my pursuer wasn't slowing down. The only logical move was to run toward this person, strength in numbers and all that. I kept running, legs burning, lungs screaming.

  I'm going to live.

  I'm going to live.

  I'm going to live.

  As the flashlight grew close enough to reveal who held it, my heart plummeted.

  It was Shiori.

  I'M NOT GOING TO LIVE!

  "Souta?" She murmured, hearing my laboured breathing. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw my terror-stricken face barrelling toward her.

  "HEY, STOP!" she shouted.

  "NO, MOVE! WE NEED TO-" I started, but Ms Statue didn't budge an inch, and I was moving too fast to stop.

  Crash!

  Ngh!

  Of course, running at top speed meant no chance of stopping; physics doesn't work that way. What did I expect? Running at that speed requires some serious brakes, you know? We both cried out in pain as I landed hard on my backside, Shiori suffering the same fate.

  "FOOLISH idiot! What were you thinking?!" She shouted, rubbing her head.

  "Ngh! What do you mean?! MOVE! Ever heard of that?!" I snapped back, furiously rubbing my throbbing head, fighting back tears. Though my brain was screaming 'yo Souta, you've gone from five brain cells to two,' my mind instantly snapped back to the predator who'd been chasing me.

  "Quick, Shiori! That guy! The one stalking the sisters, he's chasing me!" I shouted, scrambling back to my feet.

  "What?!" Shiori replied, tilting her head. "Chasing you in the middle of the woods? Like tag?"

  No. Well, actually, that kind of does sound like a fun game of tag...

  "NO! Of course not! We're not playing tag! I'll explain everything on the way, but we need to GO!" I shouted, grabbing her hand and hauling her to her feet.

  "H-hey!" She protested as I pulled her along, her hand warm in my desperate grip.

  By the time we reached the front entrance of the building, I'd explained everything I'd seen in the woods to Shiori. I'm not sure why I told her, maybe because of the adrenaline, maybe because something in me trusted her. But as I finished telling the story, the look on Shiori's face mirrored exactly what I felt inside.

  Pure terror.

  "S-s-so you're telling me that a random person is living in the forest that you just so happened to stumble upon, then literally invaded their privacy and then snuck through their stuff and found a creepy note that had some random creepy stuff on it?!" Shiori quickly whispered, her voice trembling.

  "Yes... Well, maybe not exactly the way you've just put it, but close enough. Look at the picture I took of the note," I replied, pulling out my phone and opening the photo.

  Only to find a blurry mess.

  "FUC-"

  "Damn it! My shaky hands let me down! I groaned, desperately trying to salvage the abomination I'd captured, but nothing could fix it.

  "It's fine, Souta. As long as you have some proof and at least a rough idea of the tent, I'm sure the teachers don't need the specifics," Shiori reassured me, her hand gently squeezing my shoulder, the warmth somehow steadying me.

  "Yeah... You're right."

  Now the question was: do I report this now or wait until morning?

  "Go now, Souta. Tell the teachers immediately, just in case," Shiori urged.

  "How did you...?" I stammered. She'd answered as if I'd spoken aloud.

  "I know you better now. I could tell you were thinking about waiting until morning, which isn't the right move," Shiori nodded, her face serious, before she took her hand off my shoulder.

  "Fair enough, I guess you're right," I replied with a dry, humourless chuckle. Together, Shiori and I went to the teacher's room. The greeting wasn't pleasant; our teacher had clearly been enjoying a nap, stepping outside in her nightgown with a bra strap barely clinging to her shoulder.

  "I see... This is a very concerning matter. Thank you for telling me, Souta," she said, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

  "So what do we do now?" I asked, worry threading through every word.

  She smiled reassuringly. "Well, for now, I want you to just focus on making sure the sisters are safe, and to try to keep this under wraps as best you can, and let us deal with this unknown person. Okay?"

  But that's never going to happen!

  How can I just pretend I don't know about this dangerous deviant lurking around?

  Of course, I couldn't say that to her.

  "S-sure, I guess. But please," I bowed deeply, my voice dropping to a sincere plea, "I ask not as Souta, but as their caretaker, please solve this quickly."

  The teacher's eyes widened slightly before she nodded solemnly. "Of course, Souta, the police will be informed," she promised.

  "You heard her, Souta. Relax now..." Shiori said softly as we sat on the bench in the main room.

  "Yeah, yeah, I know. But how can I?" The words tumbled out, heavy with responsibility. "Think about it, my job is to look after them. If someone's out there trying to harm them, how can I rest until he's caught?" My voice cracked with emotion, betraying the depth of my fear.

  Shiori didn't respond. The silence was acknowledgement enough; she knew I was right. There was no possible way I could relax until this threat was eliminated. Then, like a lightning strike, a memory flashed through my mind.

  "Shit... I forgot about that," I blurted.

  "About what?" Shiori asked, tilting her head curiously.

  "There was that letter, right?"

  "Hmm."

  "But that wasn't the only thing I found..." I said, the crucial detail resurging in my memory. I pulled the silver bracelet out of my pocket, holding it up like a prized treasure.

  "A bracelet?" Shiori questioned, her brow furrowing.

  "Yes, exactly! A bracelet!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet as energy surged through me.

  "What the... Wait, don't tell me."

  "Exactly! I'm telling you it has to belong to one of the sisters!" I paced back and forth, mind racing. "Just think, if we find out who the bracelet belongs to, we can figure out who this weirdo is targeting! Then we can use that to our advantage!"

  God, I'm so smart.

  "Yeah, but what about the glaring fact that you need to find out who it belongs to? And last time I checked, you haven't told anyone, have you?"

  Shit.

  Wait.

  "Hehehe, don't you worry," I said, wagging my finger smugly. "I have Reina. She's the only one who knows, so I could find out through her."

  Shiori blinked, unimpressed.

  "Okay... I think you've forgotten one thing..." Shirori said, slightly tilting her head. "You have to find time to get her alone, which, knowing those sisters, is nearly impossible. They don't leave each other's sides."

  Ah! Come on! Just let me have my moment of glory!

  "Well..." I stammered, deflated by Shiori's relentless logic.

  "I know! I'll just send her a note or some-"

  "Who are you sending a letter to?"

  "..."

  My words froze in my throat as someone else interrupted, footsteps approaching down the corridor, a voice that sounded eerily like...

  Thank you for reading.

  DeadEndYuto!