Stirring Up the Grass to Startle the Snake

The next evening, Sakura Airi returned to her dormitory. After taking a shower, she habitually opened the private message interface of her blog's backend.

The moment her finger tapped the screen, Sakura's body stiffened abruptly.

A new message, carrying a chilling, greasy sensation, sat coldly on the screen.

"Shizuku-chan, you haven't been very well-behaved these past few days. There is someone by your side who shouldn't be there. Do you think that by finding a few companions, you can find me? Hehe... how naive."

"Uncle is very disappointed in you. I didn't want to break the secret that only the two of us share, because the pleasure of exclusively enjoying the true face of 'Shizuku-chan' is so wonderful..."

"However, if you continue to let those unclean eyes get close to you, close to my secret, I will have no choice but to make a painful decision."

"You know the consequences, Airi-chan. What would happen if your true identity, 'Shizuku', were exposed on the school's internal network and forums? Would your peaceful campus life still be safe?"

"Behave yourself. My love is exclusive. Don't force me to destroy this secret."

Sakura Airi stared at the text on the screen, her mind going completely blank. The courage and reliance she had just begun to build were utterly destroyed in that instant.

He not only knew she had asked Ichinose for help, but he even knew they were investigating his "territory." He was more terrifying and closer than they had imagined.

He knew everything.

Fear surged like a tide, completely drowning Sakura Airi. She trembled, her fingers unable to even grip her terminal. She knew this threatening letter was no joke. If her identity as an idol were exposed within the school, her life would completely collapse.

Her first instinct was to flee. She needed the voice that could give her a sense of security.

Sakura Airi did not hesitate; she immediately dialed that number—Natsukawa Sosuke.

These last two sentences were fatal to Sakura. They struck directly at her core weakness—the fear of being watched. Exposing her identity would not only affect her career, but it would also strip away her protective camouflage of ordinariness in this closed school, making her the center of everyone's attention.

The phone was answered in less than two rings.

"Hello, Sakura?" Natsukawa's voice was as steady as ever, without any panic or surprise, as if he had anticipated this call all along.

"Na, Natsukawa-kun!" Sakura Airi's voice was instantly torn apart by fear, laced with a heavy, tearful tremor. "He... he sent another message... He knows Ichinose-san is helping me... He, he said if I keep investigating, he, he's going to... expose those photos and everything about me..."

Her breathing was chaotic, every word accompanied by rapid, intermittent gasps.

"Don't panic, Sakura-san." Natsukawa's voice came clearly through the terminal, carrying a power that could pull someone out of a panic. "Take a deep breath. Where are you right now?"

"In, in the dorm..."

"Good, listen to me." Natsukawa's tone slowed, but it carried an unquestionable sense of stability. "Now, first, go and lock your door. Then, take a screenshot of that private message interface and send it to me."

Sakura Airi followed his every instruction, mechanically locking the door, then using trembling fingers to take the screenshot and send it to Natsukawa.

After about thirty seconds, Natsukawa's voice sounded again.

"I see it."

"Sakura-san, the actions you and Ichinose-san have taken over the past two days have been very effective." He first affirmed her efforts, giving her confidence.

"The purpose of him sending this letter is not to expose you, but to stop you from continuing your investigation." Natsukawa analyzed the stalker's psychology thoroughly. "He finds more satisfaction in exclusively enjoying your fear and secret than in the brief clamor of exposing you. He needs you to keep cowering in the shadows, accepting his surveillance."

"This means our direction is correct. We have already touched upon his territory. Your actions have made him feel a huge threat."

Sakura Airi sobbed on the other end of the line; her rationality, which had been on the verge of collapse from the threats, slowly began to reassemble under Natsukawa's guidance.

"But..." Sakura's voice trembled. "If I continue... he really will... post those photos... on the forum..."

The image already appeared in her mind: everyone looking at her with mockery and disgust, watching her unable to stand from fear, watching her cowering in a corner in her pathetic state. That was more terrifying than any punishment.

Natsukawa did not answer directly, but instead asked a question, his tone gentle yet filled with guiding power.

"Sakura-san, we are currently facing two choices."

"Choice one: You stop now, stop investigating, and no longer let me or Ichinose-san intervene."

"The consequence is: he will become convinced that as long as he threatens to expose you, you will submit. From then on, he will use more frequent and more malicious ways to intimidate you to gain the satisfaction he craves. He will control your life like a marionette, keeping you living under his gaze forever."

"Choice two: We continue the investigation, risking the chance of him exposing you, to drag this lurker out of the shadows."

"The consequence is: your life might become very difficult for a period of time. You will experience the thing you fear most—being watched by many people and enduring the strange looks of others. But once he is dragged out, you will be completely free from the threat of being targeted and will gain true freedom from then on."

Natsukawa's voice was very slow, every word striking against Sakura's mind.

"I will not make the decision for you, Sakura-san." He returned the final power to her, his tone filled with full respect. "Because this is not a price I have to pay; it is yours. Therefore, you need to think it through yourself."

"Are you willing to let your future be controlled by him forever, or are you willing to endure temporary pain in exchange for your true freedom?"

A long silence fell on the other end of the line.

Sakura Airi hugged the terminal tightly, burying her head in her knees. Inside her, a violent storm raged. She longed to hide, to return to that corner where no one knew her. But Natsukawa's words were like a thorn stuck in her heart, making it impossible for her to escape any longer.

--Living under his gaze forever.

--Enduring temporary pain to exchange for true freedom.

The humiliation of being continuously monitored and the powerlessness of being controlled finally overcame her fear of losing her daily life due to exposure. She could not let that person use her weaknesses to enslave her forever. She had already taken the first step toward changing herself; she could not retreat now.

Sakura Airi lifted her head abruptly, and a glimmer of determination flashed within her red, swollen eyes.

"Natsukawa-kun..." Her voice still carried a nasal tone, but it no longer trembled, her words clear and slow.

"I..."