Shizuku

"Takahashi, do you have a moment?"

When he received Sakura's message, Takahashi was in front of a vending machine, buying a drink.

As he turned and walked toward a bench off to the side, Takahashi's eyes casually swept over a highly suspicious person. Yes, he—an ordinary first-year student—seemed to be followed, and this had been going on for two days already!

Takahashi had noticed it on the first day, but he hadn't said anything in the end. He knew who this person was—a clerk from the repair shop. That clerk had no reason to follow him; the only possibility was because of Sakura. Over these two days, he'd also observed quietly. Sure enough, this stalker spent more time tailing Sakura. There had to be something behind it, so Takahashi had been waiting for Sakura to come clean.

Sitting down on the bench, Takahashi replied to Sakura's message while sipping his drink.

"If it were someone else's invitation, I might not have time."

"I'm a little scared. Can you come to my dorm? I want to talk to you about something."

"Bang!"

The door swung open the moment he knocked, as if Sakura had been waiting by it the whole time.

"Ta... Takahashi." Sakura's voice trembled.

Seeing Sakura's eyes brimming with tears, looking pitiful as if they might spill at any moment, Takahashi pulled her into his arms. "It's okay. I'm here."

Sakura's dorm was very clean, with a girlish feel to it. She'd clearly put effort into decorating her room.

The two of them sat in the room without speaking. Takahashi knew she was nervous and needed time to organize her words.

"Takahashi, I... I used to be... was... was..."

"Take your time. Speak slowly. I'm listening."

Takahashi moved closer to Sakura and patted her head as he spoke.

"Phew~ I used to be a blog idol, called 'Shizuku,'" she said, showing Takahashi her phone. The pinned blog post had two photos—one of Takahashi, one of herself. They were taken at the dessert shop, and the cherry-pink and light-blue bracelets on their wrists hinted at something. Even now, they were still wearing those same bracelets. "And before that, someone was stalking me..."

"It's that clerk from the repair shop, right?"

"Mm."

"No wonder you were about to cry when the camera broke, worrying my little Airi." Takahashi teased.

Hearing such an intimate remark from Takahashi, Sakura instantly turned into a steam engine. Her cheeks flushed bright red, steam practically rising from her head, and she clutched her skirt hem, stammering, "I... I... I..."

Takahashi thought she might say something like "Can you not call me that?" but instead, she finally managed, "C-Can I call you by your name too?"

"Of course you can."

"Ka... Kamiya?" Sakura said cautiously, her eyes darting to check his expression now and then, as if afraid he'd get angry.

"I'm here, Airi." Takahashi smiled. "From now on, let's call each other that!"

"Mm, Kamiya. I'm really sorry—I took your photo without your permission and uploaded it to my blog without asking." Sakura's voice grew quieter and quieter, as if she'd committed some terrible crime.

"That's nothing. I secretly took photos of Airi too." With that, Takahashi showed Sakura a picture of her playing with a cat at the Cat Cafe.

"As for uploading to the blog without my permission..." Takahashi's tone suddenly shifted. "Airi, I'm really mad!"

"Huh?" Sakura flinched at the sudden change in his voice, and tears began to well up in her eyes again. "S-Sorry... I... I was wrong... Please don't be mad... I..."

"How are you going to make it up to me?" Takahashi's expression flipped again, turning playful.

"I... I..."

"We'll talk about compensation later. Let's finish the main topic first."

Sakura blushed, clutching her skirt hem, and took several deep breaths. "That clerk from the repair shop was stalking me. When he saw the blog post I made about the two of us together, he said a lot of things like he'd kill you, and he secretly took a lot of photos of you too."

So that explained everything. Sakura had known all along that a stalker was following her, but because of her personality, she didn't dare speak up. When the camera broke, she was on the verge of tears because she knew the only electronics repair shop's clerk had been stalking her, so she didn't dare go there. Luckily, Takahashi went with her. And because of that, plus the blog posts that made it look like they were dating, the stalker mistakenly thought Takahashi was Sakura's boyfriend, so he'd been following Takahashi these past two days too.

"It's okay now. Leave it to me." Takahashi patted Sakura's head. "Alright, the main thing's settled. Now, about that compensation."

"Wh-What kind of compensation do you want?" Sakura asked nervously, both hands gripping her skirt hem.

"Airi, as a popular idol, you must have a lot of clothes for photoshoots, right?"

Leaving Sakura's dorm, Takahashi didn't rush back to his own room. Instead, he headed to the student council—he had a stalker to deal with.

Back in her dorm, Sakura sat on a bed covered in scattered clothes, both hands covering her flushed cheeks. She never imagined she'd agree to Takahashi's request—to be his photo model.

And most importantly, in the end, she even helped him... Thinking about that, Sakura instantly turned into a steam engine, hot air rising from her head as she collapsed onto the bed, hands pressed to her chest.

Maybe... bigger isn't all bad.

"Hey, are you sure that stalker will show up?" Tachibana Akane looked at Takahashi, skeptical that this handsome junior could be followed by a middle-aged man. If it were a pretty girl, she could understand, but why stalk a handsome boy?

"Why do you think they call him a stalker?" Takahashi gave Akane a deadpan look -_-||

Of course, after two days of gathering evidence, the stalker was caught. Since it involved student safety, the school took it seriously and arranged for the stalker to enjoy some state-sponsored meals.

Principal's Office.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Please come in."

Chairman Itayanagi, who was handling school administrative affairs, looked up at the visitor. "Oh, it's you, Takahashi. What's the matter?"

"I'd like to purchase one opportunity to call outside the school."

"Make the arrangements."

"Yes, young master."

The moment he stepped out of the chairman's office, Takahashi spotted a white-haired beauty leaning on a cane, staring at him as he emerged.

←_←

"What are you gawking at, you little cripple?"

"It's just that I haven't seen Kamiya in a long time. I'm a bit surprised to run into him here now, that's all." As she spoke, Itayanagi placed her hand onto Takahashi's outstretched one.