Hehehe, I Want to See Legs

Uesugi Hara lay in bed scrolling through videos, occasionally swiping over to his Terminal to exchange a few messages with Ayanokoji.

Or he would open the "intel" Kushida Kikyo had sent him. It was always the same old routine: Ayanokoji getting poked with a compass or a set square by Horikita. It happened often, but there was nothing new about it.

Just as he was starting to get bored, the video app suddenly recommended an old photo shoot of Shizuku-chan. He gazed at the girl on the screen, her eyes crinkled with laughter.

It reminded him of what had happened during the day.

He felt uneasy about it. If that shop assistant really went looking for Sakura Airi, she was so timid that she probably wouldn't dare tell him.

At the thought, Uesugi Hara decided he ought to do something.

But what could he do?

He puzzled over it for ages, then suddenly his eyes lit up as a "brilliant" idea came to him.

But it felt a little unethical. After all, Uesugi Hara considered himself a good person.

"This feels a little unethical..." he muttered. He had even proclaimed himself a "good person," but then he pictured Sakura Airi's self-conscious, wary expression from earlier and gritted his teeth. "Fine! If I don't go to hell, who will?"

After steeling himself, Uesugi Hara created a new account on the Blog with no profile picture and a string of random characters for a username. He searched for "Shizuku-chan," followed her, and opened the private-message window.

"Hmm... What should I say?"

"Got it!"

"I'll start by exposing who she is and making her nervous." He muttered to himself as he typed out a line: "Shizuku-chan, you're a student at Advanced Nurturing University, aren't you?" Then he hit send.

He immediately typed a second line, deliberately making it sound more threatening: "Don't worry about who I am. The important thing is, you wouldn't want your identity as 'Shizuku-chan' exposed at school, would you?" Send.

Finally, he imitated the tone of an online villain, adding a few lines to make the message sound menacing: "If you don't want your identity exposed, you'd better do as I say! Otherwise... Heh heh heh... You know what'll happen, don't you? Heh heh heh..."

After sending the messages, Uesugi Hara stared at the screen, feeling both guilty and eager to see what would happen.

This way, Sakura Airi would surely panic and come to him for help. Then he could "protect" her without anyone questioning it.

"It shouldn't be that bad... right?" He rubbed his nose, reassuring himself. "I'm doing it to help her. It's better than letting that shop assistant harass her. And this way, she can learn what to do in situations like this."

"Mm, that's right." Uesugi Hara was certain.

Meanwhile, Sakura Airi sat at her desk, scrolling through the Blog comments and her private messages.

At this time of night, she would usually be busy editing the photos she'd taken that day. But her camera was broken, so all she could do was pass the time reading comments on her old photos.

When she saw compliments like "Shizuku-chan has such a lively presence" and "The lighting in this shot is incredible—you're so good at photography," the corners of her mouth would curl up without her realizing it. A faint smile softened her eyes, and a light blush rose on her cheeks. Those warm comments were what kept her updating her Blog.

But whenever she came across invasive remarks like "Those boobs are huge. I want to squeeze them" or "Name your price for Shizuku-chan's address," her body would tense up and her heart would race. She would quickly scroll past and pretend she hadn't seen a thing, silently relieved. "Thank goodness they don't know who I am in real life..."

After scrolling for a while, Sakura Airi was about to turn off her Terminal and go to sleep when a private-message notification suddenly popped up at the top of the screen. She tapped it without thinking. The moment she read the message, her smile vanished. Her hands and feet turned cold, and she froze in her chair.

"Shizuku-chan, you're a student at Advanced Nurturing University, aren't you?"

That short sentence felt like an icicle driven into her heart. With trembling fingers, she opened the conversation. Two more messages followed, every word making her scalp prickle.

Fear washed over her like a rising tide. She wanted to close the conversation, but didn't dare. What if the sender really did expose her identity? What would her classmates think? Would they look at her strangely, like the creeps in those comments?

She curled up in her chair, hugging her knees as tears welled in her eyes. Suddenly, Uesugi Hara's words from earlier flashed through her mind: "If anyone harasses you, tell me anytime. I'll deal with it for you."

After a long hesitation, Sakura Airi wiped away her tears and shakily opened her chat with Uesugi Hara. Her fingers hovered over the screen for ages before she finally sent a message: "Uesugi... someone sent me a strange private message... I think he knows I'm Shizuku-chan..."

When Uesugi Hara saw Sakura Airi's message, he was delighted at first. She'd finally come to him! But the moment he opened it, guilt surged through him, and he even regretted what he'd done. He'd obviously scared her.

His fingers hovered over the screen. Several times, he nearly confessed, "I sent those messages." But then he thought better of it. If he admitted it now, all his efforts would be wasted, and Sakura Airi might feel he'd been messing with her, making it even harder for her to trust him. He wanted her to face the problem on her own and become a little braver, so he gritted his teeth and decided to keep up the act.

"What exactly did the person say? Did he ask you to do anything?" He tried to make his tone sound calm and reassuring.

Sakura Airi quickly sent him a screenshot of the private messages, along with a follow-up: "Th-that's all... He didn't say what he wanted me to do, just that I had to do what he said or he'd expose me..." Her fear practically spilled off the screen.

Uesugi Hara looked at the deliberately typed "Heh heh heh" in the screenshot and felt even guiltier. Still, he forced himself to reply: "Don't panic. He hasn't exposed your identity, so we can't act rashly. Let's ask what he wants first."

"Mm..."

"You... What exactly do you want?"

"Heh heh, don't be so nervous! I don't want anything in particular. I just want to see more of your 'pretty' photos. Send me some more, or else... Heh heh... You know what I mean." This time, Uesugi Hara didn't add any weird sound effects.

Sakura Airi stared at the message in her inbox, gripping her Terminal with icy fingers. Even her breathing had grown ragged.

The sender's flippant tone and brazen demand made it clear: she'd run into a creep.

She didn't dare waste a moment. With trembling fingers, she took a screenshot and immediately sent it to Uesugi Hara, followed by a message: "What should I do, Uesugi? He... he wants me to send him more photos..."

"Don't panic. He still hasn't asked for anything perverted, so agree for now and keep him calm. Send the photos to me first. I'll tell you which ones to send him."

Worried she might still be anxious, he added a reassuring message: "Don't worry. I'll pick photos that are completely safe. I won't let him get anything that could reveal who you are."

On the other end, Sakura Airi read the message on her screen. Her tense shoulders finally relaxed a little. Her eyes were still red, but she nodded firmly and replied, "O-okay... I'll take some now and send them to you as soon as I'm done."

Her camera was still being repaired, so she had to use her Terminal. She carefully took a lot of photos from different angles, checking each one over and over to make sure there was nothing wrong. Then she clutched her Terminal like it was a red-hot coal and sent the photos to Uesugi Hara.

Uesugi Hara opened them and saw the girl with her eyes lowered, her eyelashes trembling. He felt guilty, but looking at the photos, he couldn't help thinking the whole "plan" had been worth it.

He picked out a few of the safest shots and replied: "Send these and nothing else. Don't say much when you send them. Just tell him, 'These are all I could take.' Keep your tone cool, so he doesn't think he can push you around."

"Okay!" Sakura Airi did as he said at once and sent the photos. She was secretly relieved. Thank goodness Uesugi was there; otherwise, she really would have been scared out of her wits.

"These are all I could take." Following Uesugi Hara's instructions, Sakura Airi typed the words and sent them to the other person, her fingers still trembling slightly.

A few seconds later, a new message popped up in the private-message window: "Heh heh heh, I'll let you off for today. Tomorrow, I want to see your legs. Got it?"

At the first part of the message, Sakura Airi's taut nerves had just begun to relax. But the words "Tomorrow, I want to see your legs" hit her like a heavy blow, and she panicked all over again. She'd sent photos of her legs before and hadn't thought there was anything wrong with that. But remembering the sender's leering tone and the fact that he'd be back tomorrow made fear creep over her again.

She immediately opened her chat with Uesugi Hara and sent a series of frantic messages: "Uesugi! He says he's coming back tomorrow, and he wants me to take pictures of my legs... What should I do? It seems like he really is going to keep harassing me..."

Uesugi Hara saw the message and reassured her: "That's normal. He plans to latch onto you because he thinks you're easy to push around. Don't panic. Just do what he says tomorrow. Send the photos to me first, and I'll check they're safe before you send them to him."

Worried she still might not trust him, he added: "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I won't let him take things too far. As long as you do what he says, he won't do anything crazy. For now, just keep him calm and don't make him suspicious."

Sakura Airi read the message, and some of the panic in her heart gradually subsided. She was still scared, but Uesugi Hara's confidence made her feel strangely reassured. She bit her lip and replied, "O-okay. I understand... I'll take the photos tomorrow and send them to you."

Sakura Airi read the message, and some of the panic in her heart gradually subsided. She was still scared, but Uesugi Hara's words made her feel strangely reassured. She bit her lip and replied, "O-okay. I understand... I'll take the photos tomorrow and send them to you."

Uesugi Hara sent a few more messages to reassure her.

After putting down her Terminal, Sakura Airi felt uneasy at the thought of being harassed again tomorrow. But knowing Uesugi Hara would check everything for her made her feel less afraid.

Compared to the times she'd been so frightened by comments that she couldn't sleep, she had a fairly peaceful night with Uesugi Hara's reassurance...

Uesugi Hara: He probably didn't notice anything, right? I played the creep pretty convincingly, didn't I?