The Unexpected Hider

Pale streetlights illuminated the railings by the lake, and the woods between the artificial lake and the dormitory building rustled in the wind.

Amasawa Yuto looked around; everything seemed no different than before.

Was that slight sense of dissonance just his own nerves acting up?

"Looks like I'm a little tired today."

Amasawa Yuto exhaled and spoke softly.

That must be Amasawa from class.

She sat on the ground with her back against a large tree, holding her breath for dear life. Despite her considerable confidence in her ability to remain inconspicuous, this was the first time she had encountered someone at this hour.

Why would her classmate, Amasawa, be here at this time?

A brief panic flared in her heart. Could he have noticed her daily routine and come looking for her?

Impossible, impossible. She and Amasawa had never had any interaction—

"Looks like I'm a little tired today."

Hearing Amasawa say this, she let out a long sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, thank goodness she hadn't been discovered.

While feeling relieved, she also felt a hint of disappointment deep down.

She hadn't been noticed again. Even like this, she still hadn't been noticed.

No, if she had just walked out openly, Amasawa would have noticed her, right?

Since she was the one hiding now, she had no right to feel disappointed.

She couldn't relax yet; she had to confirm whether Amasawa had left.

Trembling, she peeked out from behind the tree without making a sound.

The lakeside was empty, save for the pale streetlights flickering mechanically.

Her tense body finally went limp.

That was too nerve-wracking... Amasawa being here really gave her a scare.

Well, the good news was that she hadn't been discovered by Amasawa. Tonight would be just like the others—time that belonged solely to her—

A mix of disappointment and relief, impossible to put into words, welled up in her heart.

Would it have been more in line with her expectations if she had been discovered by Amasawa just now?

Suddenly, her mouth was covered from behind.

An unimaginable force pulled her back into the woods and pinned her against a tree. She struggled desperately to break free from that hand, but the person behind her remained as immovable as a mountain.

Her frail strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree in the face of her captor.

"Who are you...?"

The voice was familiar. She finally realized who it was and stopped struggling.

"If I remember correctly, you're Yamamura Miki from my class, right?"

"Um... A-Amasawa, that hurts, could you please let go of me first..."

Yamamura Miki had been subdued by Amasawa Yuto in an instant. Her hands were pinned behind her back, held firmly by one of his hands.

His other hand gripped the back of her neck, pressing her face against the tree trunk.

The rough bark scraped her cheek. Amasawa's grip was so powerful that she couldn't move, and the pain nearly brought her to tears.

Suddenly, the pressure on her body vanished. Yamamura Miki collapsed to the ground, only then realizing that her legs had gone too weak to stand.

"Sorry, that was a bit rough." Amasawa Yuto stepped back, putting about three meters of distance between himself and Yamamura Miki.

"N-no, it's my fault. I hid instinctively." Yamamura Miki gasped for air.

"Amasawa... I didn't think you'd be able to find me..."

Amasawa Yuto nodded. "You were hiding quite well. If it hadn't been me, you probably wouldn't have been discovered tonight."

"Everyone in class... rarely notices me..." Yamamura Miki's voice sounded somewhat dejected.

Amasawa Yuto looked at Yamamura Miki sitting on the ground. Her long, dark green hair was styled into a side ponytail. Her features were regular; it wasn't an aggressive kind of beauty, but she was pleasant to look at.

Usually, this girl had an abnormally low presence. Tonight was actually the first time Amasawa Yuto had ever noticed her.

She was the type of person people would bump into while walking and then exclaim, "Oh! I didn't realize there was someone here!"

He hadn't noticed this girl even once in class, and he hadn't felt like there was a classmate missing from his field of vision at all.

It could be said that if the phone call tonight hadn't put Amasawa Yuto on high alert, he might never have discovered the hiding Yamamura Miki.

With a talent for hiding like this, she could be an assassin.

"So, Yamamura, what are you doing out here so late?"

Amasawa Yuto could tell that the girl before him was the type who lacked assertiveness, so he decided to take the initiative in the conversation before she could ask him anything.

"I... I..." Yamamura hesitated.

Amasawa Yuto waited for her to speak.

Although her stealth ability was impressive, given her current mental state, Amasawa Yuto really didn't think she was someone sent by others to act against him.

Besides, he had changed his route suddenly today, only encountering Yamamura because he went out at midnight.

Could it be that this was Yamamura's daily habit? Going out at midnight when the school was completely empty?

"Do you often go for walks at this time, Yamamura?"

"Yes..." Yamamura replied weakly. "Because I... I really like the atmosphere by the lake... I like the feeling of being alone... So I often come out to the lake at midnight to sit by myself for a while..."

It seemed that was indeed the case.

"Amasawa-kun!" Yamamura suddenly raised her voice, but she seemed to shrink back immediately, her voice dropping again.

"Amasawa-kun... to be able to find me... that's amazing... because my presence is so weak... nobody ever notices me... Actually, there's a reason I come out so late... As long as there's no one else around, I don't have to feel dejected about being ignored.

As expected, someone like me... would probably be better off dead..."

Amasawa Yuto listened in silence.

Presumably, her self-confidence had been completely worn away by being ignored so often.

That was why she stayed alone, closing herself off; the more she closed herself off, the more she was ignored, creating a vicious cycle.

But this talent of hers for stealth... it would be a waste not to make good use of it.

It had already been proven that this girl, Yamamura Miki, possessed unparalleled talent—she was someone who could even deceive his own senses.

In that case, the number of people in this school who could detect her tailing them wouldn't even exceed the fingers on one hand.

Thinking of this, Amasawa Yuto spoke up: "I need your help. I don't know if you'd be willing, Yamamura?"

"The help... of someone like me?" Yamamura looked up.

"Yes, there's something I really need Yamamura's help with, and only Yamamura can do it."

"I'll do my best!" Yamamura nodded vigorously.

"Aren't you going to ask what I want you to do?"

"Amasawa-kun is the first... the first person to ever notice me, and the first person to tell me that only Yamamura can help... so... I want to live up to Amasawa-kun's expectations as much as I can!"

"Alright then, Yamamura, let's exchange contact information first. I'll tell you via email later, since it's very late today."

"Ah... okay. I'm so sorry, I've wasted Amasawa-kun's time because of someone like me..."

She looked dazed, having completely failed to question why Amasawa was here in the first place.

But perhaps that was also part of what made this girl, Yamamura Miki, so endearing.