She's My...

The commercial district.

Uesugi Hara deliberately picked a small electronics store with hardly any customers.

After all, the girl was very shy, and being around lots of people would only make her more nervous.

The two walked into the store, and Uesugi Hara led her straight to the counter. He handed the camera to the clerk and asked, "Could you take a look and see if this camera can be repaired? I accidentally dropped it just now, and now it won't turn on."

But the clerk wasn't looking at the camera. From the moment they walked in, his eyes had been fixed on Sakura Airi. The undisguised way he sized her up made her deeply uncomfortable.

Sakura Airi noticed his gaze and instantly tensed up. She shrank behind Uesugi Hara, her small hands clutching the hem of her clothes. Head bowed, she even tried to breathe more quietly.

Uesugi Hara furrowed his brows and casually shifted a step to the side, blocking the clerk's view. His voice turned colder. "I'm asking you about the camera. Are you even listening?"

His sharp rebuke made greed flash through the clerk's eyes. He quickly looked away and forced a stiff, professional smile as he reached for the camera. "Sorry, customer. I wasn't paying attention just now. Please wait while I check it."

That fleeting flash of greed hadn't escaped Uesugi Hara's notice.

Did the guy think they were students and try to rip them off? Or did he have something else in mind?

He turned around and gently reassured the girl behind him. Only after she gave a slight nod did he turn back. While the clerk examined the camera, Uesugi Hara discreetly surveyed the store.

The location was a little out of the way, but the store was no worse equipped than any other. The lighting was just a bit dimmer. The biggest problem was the sleazy clerk.

No wonder the place was empty.

Uesugi Hara's gaze settled on the workbench behind the clerk. The computer's screensaver was on, displaying a smiling girl with twin ponytails. It was a photo of Shizuku-chan—the exact same one he used as his own screensaver!

Had this guy recognized Sakura Airi as Shizuku-chan?

Uesugi Hara's heart sank. He glanced at the clerk from the corner of his eye and, sure enough, saw him pretending to fiddle with the camera while repeatedly sneaking looks at Sakura Airi, who was hiding behind him. The greed and lechery in that gaze were even more blatant than before.

Disgusting!

Uesugi Hara felt a chill of revulsion.

Was this one of those greasy creeps people talked about online, fantasizing over their idol's pictures from behind a screen, then showing their sordid side when they saw her in person?

He edged closer to Sakura Airi, blocking the clerk's view, and asked coolly, "Are you done checking it? Can it be repaired or not? If not, we'll go somewhere else."

The clerk jumped at his tone and quickly looked away. He took the camera and fiddled with it for a moment, then replied with an offhand, impatient tone, "Maybe something inside came loose when it fell. I'll have to take it apart and check. It'll cost at least 2,000 Points, and it'll take three days."

"If you want it repaired, sign here and fill in your name and class." The clerk pushed over a form and pointed to the blank spaces.

Uesugi Hara frowned again. "Does it really cost that many Points?"

"Customer, my prices are clearly listed. The parts and labor are all laid out." The clerk pointed to the price list, then added, trying to keep them from leaving, "This is already the cheapest place in the commercial district. Go ahead and ask around. You won't find a lower price."

Uesugi Hara was about to take Sakura Airi to another store when someone gently tugged at his wrist. It was Sakura Airi. Head lowered, she clutched the hem of his clothes, her eyes pleading. She clearly didn't want to cause him trouble.

Uesugi Hara looked at the tips of her ears, flushed red, and sighed inwardly. Then he said coldly to the clerk, "Fine. Give me the pen."

"Wait." The clerk suddenly stopped him, glancing between the two of them with an impatient air. "Is this your camera? The owner needs to sign. The registration information has to match the user." His meaning was obvious—what was an outsider butting in for?

Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, then suddenly put an arm around Sakura Airi's shoulders and drew her closer. Lifting his chin, he asked provocatively, "I'm her boyfriend. Do you think I'm allowed to sign for her?"

"B-boyfriend?!" The clerk's eyes widened. He clearly hadn't expected things to take this turn.

Sakura Airi, standing beside him, jolted as if she'd been scalded. She jerked her head up, her cheeks turning so red they looked ready to bleed. Her mouth opened, but for a long moment she couldn't get out a complete sentence. All she could do was stammer, "B-boyfriend! A-ba-ba..." She turned into a literal Steam Princess, heat practically rising off her, even the tips of her ears bright red.

"Of course." Uesugi Hara ignored the girl beside him, who had completely frozen up, and glared coldly at the clerk. "Can I sign now?"

"N-no way!" The clerk clearly didn't believe him. He pointed at Sakura Airi. "I want to ask her!"

"Mind your own damn business!" Uesugi Hara snapped. "We're just getting a camera repaired. Why are you making such a fuss?"

"I..." The clerk tried to argue.

"Mind your own damn business!" Uesugi Hara cut him off, raising his voice. "Can you fix it or not? If you can't, we're leaving right now. Stop wasting our time!"

The clerk was cowed by his forceful attitude. He glanced at Sakura Airi, who had nearly buried her head in her chest, and finally gave in. "Y-yes, I can fix it."

"Hmph." Uesugi Hara gave a cold laugh, took the pen, and quickly wrote down his name and class. He snatched the form back, took Sakura Airi—who was still stuck in an "a-ba-ba" brain overload—and turned to leave.

At the door, Uesugi Hara deliberately looked back and shot the clerk a cold glare. The warning in his eyes made the clerk shrink back at once. He didn't dare follow them out.

It wasn't until they'd left the store that Sakura Airi finally found her voice. She murmured, "U-Uesugi Hara, just now you..."

Just now, Shizuku-chan had looked so much like a Steam Princess. She'd been unbearably cute!

Uesugi Hara turned to look at her and deliberately skipped over the subject.

His voice had lost its earlier iciness toward the clerk and now held a note of seriousness. "Sakura, you're the photo blogger Shizuku-chan, aren't you?"

"Sh-Shizuku-chan?!" Sakura Airi jerked her head up, her eyes full of panic. Her voice trembled. "W-what Shizuku-chan? I-I don't know..." Guilt, embarrassment, and fear of having her identity exposed surged through her, making her stammer.

"Don't be nervous. I mean you no harm." Uesugi Hara quickly softened his tone. "I came across your photos on the Blog before. I thought they were really beautiful, so I remembered them."

"H-how could I possibly be?" Sakura Airi was still trying to hold out. She forced a smile that looked worse than crying. "Ha! Haha! You must have mistaken me for someone else..."

"That clerk at the electronics store had one of your photos as his computer screensaver." Uesugi Hara cut through her excuses, his tone turning more serious. "He must have recognized you. That's why he was looking at you so strangely."

"H-how could that happen..." Sakura Airi's face turned deathly pale, her small hands clutching the hem of her clothes. "Y-you're joking, right?"

She'd always been careful to hide her identity as Shizuku-chan because she was afraid her classmates would look at her differently if they found out. Now a stranger had recognized her, and he'd looked at her in such an unsettling way. She was instantly thrown into a panic.

Seeing Sakura Airi's eyes turn red as if she were about to cry, Uesugi Hara quickly softened his voice and gently patted her shoulder to reassure her. "Don't panic. It's okay. Even if he recognized you, he wouldn't dare spread it around—not after I gave him a hard time just now. He'll be afraid of causing trouble."

Once Sakura Airi seemed a little calmer, he continued, "Still, just to be safe, keep an eye on your Terminal and Blog messages over the next few days. Some strange person might try to add you as a friend or message you. Add me as a friend first. If anyone harasses you or sends you weird messages, tell me anytime. I'll deal with it."

As he spoke, he opened his friends list and held it out to Sakura Airi. His voice was reassuringly firm. "Don't worry. I'm here. I won't let him cause you any trouble."

Sakura Airi looked at the Terminal he held out, then up at his earnest expression. The panic in her heart slowly ebbed. After a moment's hesitation, she took out her own Terminal and added him as a friend. "Th-thank you, Uesugi Hara..."

"You don't have to thank me." Uesugi Hara put away his Terminal and smiled. "By the way, the photos on your Blog really are beautiful. Especially the one of you under the cherry tree last time. The composition was fantastic."

At that, Sakura Airi's cheeks flushed again, and she lowered her head even further, murmuring, "Y-you really have seen them..."

"Of course. I'm a fan of yours," Uesugi Hara said, half joking. Seeing that she wasn't so nervous anymore, he felt relieved too. Thank goodness I didn't scare Shizuku-chan into crying.

"Oh..." Sakura Airi's cheeks turned even redder. She bowed her little head until it was almost touching her chest, fingers fidgeting unconsciously. Even her voice was as soft as cotton candy.

Uesugi Hara watched her bashful expression, secretly amused, but pretended not to notice. In a casual tone, he suggested, "It'll take two days to fix the camera. I'll come pick it up by myself, so the clerk won't look at you strangely again and scare you."

He deliberately emphasized the words "look at you strangely" to reassure Sakura Airi.

With him around, he wouldn't let that sleazy clerk get near her again.

Sakura Airi froze for a moment and looked up at him. Seeing that he was serious and wasn't joking, she felt a warm rush in her heart. She nodded gently, her voice barely audible. "Mm... Sorry for the trouble, Uesugi Hara."

"It's no trouble." Uesugi Hara smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair—it was even softer than he'd imagined. "By the way, if that clerk tries to add you as a friend or messages you over the next couple of days, make sure you tell me right away."

"O-okay..." Sakura Airi was startled by his sudden gesture. Her cheeks flushed a little more, and she quickly lowered her head, answering softly.

The two walked side by side around the school. Sunlight fell on them, and Sakura Airi secretly glanced up at the profile of the boy beside her, thinking to herself, Uesugi Hara really does seem like a good person.