Stalker and Camera

"Sorry for the trouble today. Thanks for making time to help me."

"I really owe you one." An Xiao looked at the vendor information they'd finished processing and let out a long breath.

"Not at all." Honami Ichinose shook her head and smiled at An Xiao. "Besides, I wouldn't call it trouble. I'm actually happy."

"I'm happy I could help you with something, Xiao An."

He'd smiled so much these past few days that An Xiao was starting to feel worn out.

Now, even the thought of lifting the corners of his mouth made him feel slightly nauseous.

Besides, he was still a little bothered by the employee he'd seen yesterday. So he'd asked Ichinose to help inquire with the remaining vendors, freeing up more of his time.

To show his gratitude, An Xiao led Ichinose to the coffee shop they'd visited yesterday and offered to treat her to something.

"Welcome! Oh, it's you again, kid?"

Watanabe, who was standing at the counter polishing a glass, first froze when he saw An Xiao. Then he spotted Honami Ichinose beside him, his expression turned serious, and he leaned over to An Xiao.

"Hey, kid. I know you're at that age when your hormones are running wild, but there are some things you just shouldn't do."

"Don't blame me for putting it bluntly, but two-timing and all that..."

"Hold it, hold it. What are you even talking about all of a sudden?"

An Xiao was at a loss for words.

Had the old man gotten senile already?

"What do you mean, two-timing? Explain yourself. I've never even dated anyone. Are you going to find me a girlfriend to make up for the one I'm missing?"

"I ought to sue you for slander!"

"Then the girl you brought in yesterday was..."

"She was just a friend I happened to run into. The person with me today helped me out a lot, so I brought her here to treat her to something."

An Xiao said, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Seriously, Watanabe, you should listen less to the gossip those ladies around here spread. Out of all the male employees, you're the one who gets the most excited about it."

"Uh... Sorry, sorry. That was my mistake." Watanabe looked a little embarrassed after An Xiao called him out.

"Let me make it up to you. Drinks are on me."

Before An Xiao could refuse, Watanabe hurried off.

"Honestly..." An Xiao said helplessly. Then he turned to Ichinose. "Sorry about that. He might seem like a bit of a character, but he's actually a good guy."

"It's fine." Ichinose's face was a little red, probably because of what the manager had just said. Pretending not to mind, she asked, "Xiao An, did you meet another girl from our class yesterday?"

"Huh? No, she wasn't from our class." An Xiao found them a place to sit, and they settled down.

"She was Sakura from Class D."

"Come to think of it, this is related to some of the things I did today."

Then An Xiao told Ichinose about what had happened after he ran into Sakura yesterday, as well as the employee at the electronics store.

"Do you think I'm being too sensitive, Ichinose?" An Xiao covered his face with the files he'd collected and spoke in a listless voice.

"I feel like I might be judging him by his appearance."

Ichinose didn't reply. She just took the files off An Xiao's face and read them carefully.

"Huh? Isn't that the guy?"

Watanabe had just brought over their drinks. When he caught sight of the file in Ichinose's hands, the words slipped out before he could stop himself.

"Hm? You know him, Watanabe?" An Xiao sat up abruptly and looked at him.

"I wouldn't say I know him." As he spoke, Watanabe took out his phone, swiped through it a few times, found a photo, and handed it to An Xiao.

"The local vendors made a group chat a while back. Someone mentioned him in there."

"I remember him pretty well because of this photo."

An Xiao took the phone and saw a post on a forum for Shizuku, a gravure idol.

"Do you believe in fate? I do. It must have been fate that brought us together."

"Do you know? I fell in love with you the first time I saw you in a magazine."

"I love you so much."

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"What are you doing right now? I want to see you, I want to see you, I really want to see you!"

"I love you so much... I can't stop thinking about you."

The chilling words crawled up An Xiao's neck like venomous snakes, making him feel physically sick.

"Pretty outrageous, huh?"

Watanabe saw An Xiao's reaction and gave a knowing smile.

"That was how I felt when I first read it, too."

"Can't anyone do anything about this?" Ichinose looked at the lines on the phone screen and felt sick herself.

"Do what, exactly?" Watanabe said helplessly. "He's just posting online. At most, you could call him an obsessive fan."

"Even just seeing these posts must be awful for that girl."

An Xiao said nothing. He took out his own phone and searched for the same thing Watanabe had shown him.

"Wait, could this be... Sakura?"

The photo Watanabe had saved didn't include the gravure idol Shizuku, so this was the first time An Xiao had seen her.

"Is she the Sakura you told me about earlier?" Ichinose asked, sounding concerned.

An Xiao pressed his lips together and quickly scrolled down the forum, his eyes darting between the two phones as he searched for a certain ID.

"Found it..."

An Xiao stopped his finger in front of a name. But he wasn't happy about it at all. In fact, his expression was grim.

It was a post from yesterday.

"Of course! We're made for each other. Fate brought us together, so wait for me. I'm coming right now."

"This time, nothing can keep us apart!"

"Xiao An, we need to contact Sakura right away."

"Yeah. This is getting serious." An Xiao nodded, then called Sakura.

Toot... Toot... Toot...

The phone rang again and again, but its owner never picked up.

An Xiao's heart sank.

Things seemed to be taking a turn for the worst.

"Watanabe, something's come up. I have to go. I'll talk to you another time."

He ran while working on his phone.

As long as location sharing was enabled, he could check where his friends were.

He'd learned that from Ike in Class D, who'd bragged about how to stage a chance encounter during a study session at the library.

But after running only a short distance, An Xiao sensed someone following him. He turned around and saw Ichinose.

"I'll come with you. I might not look it, but I was in the track club in middle school."

"...Then keep up."

P.S. The author had to catch a train first thing this morning and even went to the wrong station, so the update might be a little late. But there's no way it'll be skipped!