No Need to Fear

"I... can't stop."

She chose the second path.

Only then did a trace of approval surface in Natsukawa's voice. "Good, Sakura. You're much braver than you think."

"You didn't let fear overwhelm you. You chose to fight back. Now that you've made that choice, the rest is simple."

"You don't need to worry about whether he'll expose you, or what you'll do if he does."

There was a power in Natsukawa's voice that made people believe him without question.

"Because I'm here."

"I promise you, Sakura. I won't let you end up in that situation. If he wants to expose you on the school forum, he'll have to get past me first. The worst-case scenario you're worried about will never happen."

Sakura Airi's mind went blank.

That crushing fear, so heavy it had left her struggling to breathe, seemed... to be held back by Natsukawa's casual yet weighty promise.

"Natsukawa..." Tears welled up in her eyes again, but this time, they weren't from fear. They came from a sense of security she couldn't put into words.

"All right." Natsukawa sensed her calming down. "Now, there's one more thing you need to do."

"Ichinose has made a lot of effort to help you. Our actions may even have made the stalker target her, too. You should let her know what's happening."

"You..."

"M-me?" Sakura instinctively wanted to back out...

"Yes, you." Natsukawa's tone was gentle, but firm. "Ichinose is your ally. You need to tell her about this latest threat. And Sakura, I'm not the only person you need to learn to rely on. Ichinose is a friend you can trust, too."

"Tell her what happened. Tell her I know about it and that I'm working on a solution. If you two still can't make any progress after discussing it, or if the stalker makes any other dangerous moves, come to me."

"I... I understand." Sakura Airi took a deep breath. Natsukawa had already put everything in place to support her. All she had to do was take one step forward.

"Go on. Lock your door tonight and get some sleep. I'm here. He won't be able to do anything."

The call ended.

Sakura Airi sat on the cold floor of her dorm room, her arms wrapped around her knees. The room was quiet, but Natsukawa's final words—"I'm here"—kept echoing in her ears.

Her heart, which had been pounding wildly with fear, finally began to settle, little by little.

She wiped away her tears and, with fingers that were still trembling, opened Ichinose Honami's contact. She stared at the name for a long time, Ichinose's warm smile and Natsukawa's steadfast figure flashing through her mind.

She pressed the call button.

Meanwhile, the karaoke room at Keyaki Mall was buzzing with excitement.

Ichinose Honami had just been pushed by her friends up to the song-selection console. Laughing, she was wrestling Amikura Mako for the microphone when her Personal Terminal suddenly lit up in the corner of the sofa.

"Wait! Hold on! I need to take this!" Ichinose laughed apologetically, using the opportunity to escape the song-selection console.

She picked up her terminal and saw that the caller was Sakura Airi. Her smile turned to concern, and she immediately answered, hurrying out of the room and leaving the deafening music behind the door.

"Sakura? It's so late. What happened?"

From the other end came Sakura Airi's halting account, thick with tears.

As Sakura spoke, Ichinose's expression gradually grew solemn, then finally turned to deep guilt and anger.

"...I'm sorry, Sakura!" As soon as Sakura finished, Ichinose immediately apologized.

"It's all my fault! I was too impatient these past few days. I dragged you around investigating, and we were too obvious... We didn't help you at all. We only tipped him off and put you in even more danger..." Remorse filled Ichinose's voice. As Class B's leader, this was the first time she'd felt that her "good intentions" had made things worse.

"No! That's not true!"

Hearing Ichinose apologize, Sakura Airi found a little courage and hurriedly protested from the other end of the line. "It wasn't your fault, Ichinose! You—you were trying to help me..."

Her voice sank again, full of self-loathing. "It was me... I'm just useless. I can't do anything. All I do is get scared... and... hide behind you and Natsukawa..."

"Natsukawa...?"

Ichinose caught the name at once. Her heart inexplicably skipped a beat, but her voice remained gentle. "You... told Natsukawa, too?"

"Mm..." Sakura's voice was so quiet it was barely audible. "I... I contacted him first."

A complicated feeling welled up inside Ichinose. There was the sense of "I knew it," along with a trace of... bitterness she hadn't even realized she felt.

"So..." Ichinose tried to make her voice sound as cheerful as usual. "What did Natsukawa say? I bet he came up with all sorts of brilliant analyses again, didn't he?"

"Mm..." Sakura Airi quietly repeated Natsukawa's analysis, along with his most important promise.

"He said... he absolutely won't let me end up in danger..."

"I see..." Ichinose murmured. The stone weighing on her heart had finally dropped, too, now that Natsukawa had stepped in. That man always managed to make people feel completely safe at the most crucial moments.

"He also said..." Sakura continued. "If... if you and I still can't make any progress, or if something dangerous happens again... then... then we should go to him."

Ichinose Honami fell silent for a moment.

A cold draft passed through the hallway, clearing her head.

Then she suddenly let out a giggle, her laugh once again full of the infectious energy that was uniquely hers.

"Sakura, I understand!"

"Huh?" Sakura struggled to keep up with her.

"Come on... then we'll just have to try harder!" Ichinose's tone carried a teasing note and an inexplicable burst of determination. "We can't let Natsukawa laugh at us over everything!"

"If we can't even handle this little problem ourselves, and end up running to him in tears to beg for help..." Ichinose joked, "that'd be so embarrassing, wouldn't it?"

"I-I..." Ichinose's words made Sakura's cheeks burn.

"I'm just kidding!" Ichinose laughed, reassuring her. "Natsukawa's right. We can't let that jerk lead us around by the nose."

Her playful tone faded, and her gaze grew firm. "Don't worry, Sakura. Now that Natsukawa has a backup plan, that's all the more reason for us not to back down. Starting tomorrow, we'll carry on as usual, but we'll change our approach."

"Make sure you lock your door tonight. I'll come get you tomorrow."

"Okay!" Sakura Airi nodded emphatically.

After ending the call, Ichinose Honami leaned against the cold hallway wall and let out a long breath. She looked down at Natsukawa Sosuke's name, pinned at the top of her terminal's contact list, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly despite herself.