The Cage Called Despair

Dawn had barely broken.

Sakura Airi had not slept all night, and dark circles hung heavily beneath her eyes.

The sound of scratching at her door the night before lingered in her mind like a curse, impossible to shake.

Forcing her body onward despite feeling as though it might fall apart, she made her way to the door, every step like walking on cotton.

She had to go to school.

She could not cause Class D any more trouble over something like this.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the dormitory door with trembling hands.

There was no one outside.

Only the white corner of an envelope protruded from the dormitory mailbox slot.

Was it a notice from the school?

Confused, Sakura Airi walked over and took out the unmarked envelope.

The envelope was thick and heavy.

She tore it open.

Its contents scattered across the cold floor with a rustle, like falling snow.

They were not sheets of paper.

They were photographs.

One after another, every single one was a photograph of her.

Her shopping at a convenience store.

Her reading at a bookstore.

Her walking home alone.

Sakura Airi's breathing stopped instantly.

Her gaze locked onto the final few photographs.

The angle those photographs had been taken from... was outside her dormitory window!

Through a tiny gap in the curtains, they showed her blurred figure sitting at her desk with her head lowered as she read.

He knows I live here!

He knows my room number!

He can even... see what I do in my room!

"Ah—!"

A scream suppressed to its limit forced its way out of her throat.

Sakura Airi's legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.

She crawled back into her room on her hands and knees, slammed the door shut with a bang, then pressed her back against it. Her body shook violently as she curled into a ball.

Fear.

An unprecedented fear gripped her heart like countless icy hands, choking her until she could not breathe.

She was not going to school.

She did not dare leave her room.

She did not even dare go near the window.

The entire world had become a huge cage filled with malice.

After an unknown amount of time, she grabbed her phone and, with fingers trembling beyond recognition, dialed her homeroom teacher Chabashira Sae.

Chabashira Sae's voice on the other end was as cold as ever.

"What is it?"

"Te... Teacher..." Sakura Airi's voice was thick with tears as she incoherently explained what had happened. "Someone... someone's stalking me... He even took pictures of me... outside my dormitory..."

There was several seconds of silence on the other end.

Then Chabashira Sae's emotionless voice sounded again.

"Where is the evidence? Those photographs?"

"They're... they're with me..."

"Is that person's face in any of the photographs? Or can you clearly identify who did it?"

"I... I don't know... but..."

"Sakura." Chabashira Sae cut her off. "Without concrete evidence, the school can do nothing. You can only resolve this matter yourself."

"But... but I..."

"Beep... beep... beep..."

The call had been disconnected.

The cold busy tone was like a basin of ice water, extinguishing Sakura Airi's last shred of hope from head to toe.

She had been completely isolated and left helpless.

Inside Class D's classroom.

Sakura Airi's seat stood empty.

Sudo Ken lounged with one leg crossed over the other, complaining with an irritated expression.

"Hey, what's with Sakura? She didn't come again today? Does she not know absences deduct class points?"

Ike Kanji chimed in as well. "Exactly. Our class points are already tight enough. Isn't she being way too irresponsible?"

Not one of the surrounding students spoke up for Sakura Airi.

All they cared about were their own interests and those cold class points.

No one truly cared about the kind of hell that timid girl was going through.

In the corner of the classroom.

Natsume Yu rested his chin on one hand and calmly watched the empty seat.

Everything was proceeding according to his script.

He took out his phone, its cold screen light reflecting in his unmoving eyes.

He sent Ayanokoji Kiyotaka a brief instruction.

"After school, go to this place."

An address was attached below it: a surveillance blind spot beneath Sakura Airi's dormitory building.

"Don't do anything. Just watch."

The message was sent.

Natsume Yu put away his phone, a barely noticeable curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

The chess piece was already in place.

Evening.

Inside an electronics store.

The clerk wearing black-rimmed glasses appeared somewhat restless.

From time to time, he looked toward the entrance, his eyes carrying a cold, stubborn fixation.

She didn't go to school today.

Why?

Is she sick? Or... did she discover me?

Impossible.

He believed he had done everything flawlessly.

The thought of that girl trembling in her room filled him with a sick thrill of excitement.

He could not wait any longer.

He decided that tonight, he would take more aggressive action.

He would make her understand that she could not escape.

Meanwhile.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood in the dark corner Natsume Yu had designated.

Like an emotionless statue, he blended perfectly into his surroundings.

Before long.

A suspicious-looking man entered his field of vision.

The man wore black-rimmed glasses and had an ordinary face. He was the very person in the photograph Natsume Yu had sent him.

The man did not go upstairs immediately.

He hid behind the bushes below, furtively raising his head as he stared fixedly at the window of a room on the third floor.

His eyes were filled with greed and desire.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka watched everything expressionlessly.

He was merely an observer.

A tool that carried out orders.

Inside the dark room.

Sakura Airi hugged her knees and curled up in the corner against the wall.

Her tears had already run dry.

She felt as though the entire world had abandoned her.

Her teacher would not help her.

Her classmates ignored her.

No one could save her.

She could only huddle within this cramped space, like a lamb awaiting slaughter, silently praying for a miracle.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway.

They were very soft.

Yet in that deathly silence, they were terrifyingly clear.

One step.

Two steps.

The footsteps stopped outside her door.

Sakura Airi's heart leaped into her throat.

He's here!

He's here!

Downstairs.

Just as the Stalker Clerk was about to go upstairs, the phone in his pocket suddenly began vibrating wildly.

It was an unknown number.

He answered it in confusion.

"Hello?"

No one spoke on the other end.

There was only an ear-piercing electrical noise, like signal interference, violently assailing his eardrums.

"Bzzzt—bzzzzzt—!"

"Fuck!"

The sudden noise left the man irritated and disoriented. He cursed and hung up.

But that inexplicable call had interrupted his sick impulse.

He irritably scratched his head, then ultimately decided to give up for now and disappeared into the night.

Inside the room.

Sakura Airi waited for a long time.

Yet there was no further movement outside the door.

Was... was it just my imagination?

Just as her mind was about to snap.

Her phone screen suddenly lit up in the darkness.

Buzz buzz.

It was a text message.

It came from an anonymous number.

Sakura Airi picked up her phone with trembling hands.

There was only one short sentence on the screen.

"If you want to escape all this, wait for me tomorrow at noon in the innermost seat on the third floor of the library."

As she looked at those words.

For the first time, a tiny spark rekindled in Sakura Airi's lifeless eyes.