The Hidden Client (II)

"Sakura..."

Having just sat down, Sakura heard someone call her name and, like a startled bird, she immediately lowered her head in fear:

"I don't know... I really don't know anything..."

"Um, actually, I didn't want to ask you about Sudo. I just have a small favor to ask."

Sakura calmed down slightly, but she still didn't want to answer any questions. She had been worried for the past two days, and as expected, strangers were the most terrifying thing!

"It's like this: I saw that you have a camera, and I've been thinking about buying one lately, but I don't know much about them, so..."

"A camera? I... I don't really know much about them either..."

Shinjo rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. Gaining the trust of someone with social anxiety was undoubtedly difficult. In that case, he should change his approach.

"You bought your camera at that digital shop in the shopping district, right, Sakura?"

Wasn't that a waste of breath?

Of course not.

A necessary step in gaining someone's trust is making them feel that you aren't an aggressive person.

Therefore, one should ask as few utilitarian questions as possible, sticking to simple ones that almost everyone knows and that can be answered with a simple nod or shake of the head.

So, Sakura didn't overthink it and simply nodded gently in response to Shinjo.

"Alright, thank you, Sakura. Oh! By the way, if you're planning on going there soon, it's better to go with a friend, because there seem to be some unsavory people around there lately..."

"Eh?"

Just as Sakura was about to say something, she noticed that Shinjo had already returned to his seat.

Shinjo... why does he... know that?! Could it be that person has already told him about me...

But no one could answer the questions swirling in her mind, and as for taking the initiative to ask Shinjo? She didn't have the courage to talk to anyone, let alone a boy.

Although that boy seemed different from others and appeared to be the kind-hearted type, his girlfriend was no pushover.

Karuizawa, the fiercest woman in Class D besides Suzune Horikita!

Just like that, until the lunch break, Sakura was entangled in intense self-conflict. Watching others leave one after another to eat lunch, she and Shinjo were the only ones left in the classroom.

If she wanted to ask, now was the perfect opportunity, right?

But... what was she supposed to say first when talking to someone?

Shinjo, waiting alone on the side, was doing so entirely to create the most comfortable environment possible for Sakura. However, to lower her guard, letting her stew for a while was necessary.

Still, this girl's psychological defenses are way too thick, aren't they?

Five minutes later, Sakura seemed to have finally made up her mind. She slowly stood up and took a step toward Shinjo!

Forget it, I'll do it.

"Is there something you need, Sakura?"

"Ah... I... actually... I..."

"Don't be nervous. You have something you want to ask me, right? Take your time. If you feel scared, we can text or write notes to each other."

Method number two for dealing with social anxiety: if you can avoid speaking out loud, you might get twice the result with half the effort!

In this day and age, many young people might not suffer from clinical social anxiety, but they clearly prefer communicating via text on social platforms rather than answering phone calls.

This might be a habit, or it might be a self-protection mechanism.

Sakura's eyes lit up instantly. She had to admit, this was a great idea.

She picked up the notebook on her desk, tore off a page, and began to write.

A moment later, a crumpled ball of paper landed on Shinjo's desk.

"Shinjo, what's this about the strange people at the digital shop you mentioned?"

(After all, you can't stutter while writing a note, so there were no inexplicable ellipses; it was perfectly logical!)

Shinjo followed suit, picking up his pen and writing below:

"Actually, I recently received information that an employee there has been looking at customers with a strange gaze. I'm investigating this matter."

And just like that, the two began to talk normally by passing notes.

"Shinjo, why are you, investigating this?"

"It's a job that was supposed to be outsourced to the Student Council, but then got outsourced again. All in all, having someone like that stay at school is a pretty terrifying thing, isn't it?"

Sakura fell silent after reading Shinjo's message. She knew who that person was, but she didn't want to talk about it, because doing so would expose the secret she had been hiding all this time.

However, she really didn't want to see that person again... and so, she found herself in a dilemma.

Shinjo didn't rush her. He was now one hundred percent certain that Sakura knew something, though she might have some reservations about speaking up.

After a while, Sakura picked up her pen, thought for a moment, tore off a fresh sheet of paper, and wrote a line:

"Shinjo, can I trust you?"

"If you don't want to say it, then you don't have to. But if you tell me, I can swear on my name that I will never reveal your secret to anyone."

"Sh-Shinjo... actually, I..."

"Actually, I've always been terrified of talking to others. Or rather, I've always been terrified of looking people in the eye..."

Afterward, she tore off a fresh sheet of white paper and slowly wrote her secret on it.

[Shinjo, you should be someone I can trust... so... please... save me!]

Simply put, because of her social anxiety, Sakura only dared to truly unleash her nature on social media platforms.

It turned out that beneath her silent and reserved exterior, her true dream was to become a beloved idol.

However, how could someone who didn't even dare to look others in the eye dress up and express herself in front of a crowd? Singing or dancing—these were all impossible things.

But because of the internet, she had realized her dream in a different way within that magical paradise.

Sakura loved that feeling; no one knew her true identity, no one knew her true personality, and she had even gained a large group of fans who loved and supported her because of her cute appearance.

After arriving at Advanced Nurturing Middle School, Sakura would secretly take selfies in secluded places and store the photos in her camera, while the popular idol known as 'Shizuku' had disappeared from the public eye.

Even so, Sakura would still dress up as her idol persona when she was alone and take some photos with her camera.

But good things didn't last long. A while ago, her camera was accidentally dropped and broken. When she sent it to a digital shop for repairs, a clerk stared at her with a very perverted gaze after fiddling with the camera for a few moments.

After that, the clerk used the repair as an excuse to temporarily withhold Sakura's camera, and through some channel, he managed to obtain her personal information.

That is why, recently, every time Sakura opens her shoe locker, she finds photos of herself with various perverted fan declarations written on them.