"I... I can't stop."
She chose the second path.
Natsukawa's voice finally revealed a hint of subtle approval: "Very good, Sakura-san. You are much braver than you give yourself credit for."
"You weren't paralyzed by fear; you chose to fight back. Since you chose to fight back, the rest of the matter will be simple."
"You don't need to worry about whether he will expose you, nor what you'll do if he does."
Natsukawa's voice carried a power that commanded unconditional trust.
"Because I'm here."
"I promise you, Sakura-san. I absolutely will not let you fall into that situation. If he wants to expose you on the school forum, he'll have to go through me first. The worst-case scenario you are worried about will definitely not happen."
Sakura Airi's mind went blank.
That heavy, suffocating fear seemed... to be forcibly held up by Natsukawa's guarantee, which was casually stated yet as heavy as Mount Tai.
"Natsukawa-kun..." Her tears welled up again, but this time, it wasn't due to fear, but an indescribable sense of relief.
"Alright." Natsukawa sensed her emotions settling down. "Now, there is one more thing you need to do."
"Ichinose-san has also put in a lot of effort to help you, and she might even be targeted by that stalker because of our actions. You should let her know the current situation."
"Me..."
"M-me?" Sakura instinctively wanted to shrink back. "Yes, you." Natsukawa's tone was gentle, yet brooked no refusal. "Ichinose-san is your ally. You must let her know about the latest threat. Furthermore, Sakura-san, you need to learn to rely on more than just me. Ichinose is also a trustworthy friend."
"Tell her what happened. Tell her that I know about it and am working on a solution. If you still don't make any progress after discussing it, or if the stalker makes any further dangerous moves, then come find me."
"I... I understand." Sakura Airi took a deep breath. Natsukawa had already taken care of everything for her; all she had to do was take one step forward.
"Go on. Lock your door tonight and sleep soundly. With me here, he can't do anything."
The call ended.
Sakura Airi sat on the cold dorm floor, hugging her knees. The room was quiet, but Natsukawa's final words, "With me here," echoed constantly in her ears.
Her heart, which had been pounding wildly from fear, finally began to stabilize, slowly but surely.
She wiped away her tears and, using still trembling fingers, opened Ichinose Honami's contact information. She stared at the name for a long time, flashes of Ichinose's warm smile and Natsukawa's determined back flashing through her mind.
She pressed the call button... Meanwhile, the atmosphere was lively in a Karaoke Box at the Keyaki Shopping Center.
Ichinose Honami had just been pushed onto the stage by her friends and was laughing while fighting Amakura Mako for the microphone, when her personal terminal suddenly lit up in the corner of the sofa.
"Wait! Wait! I have to take a call!" Ichinose laughed, begging off, and took the opportunity to escape the stage.
She picked up the terminal, saw the caller ID was "Sakura Airi," and the smile on her face shifted to a hint of worry. She immediately pressed the answer button, quickly walked out of the room, and shut the deafening music behind the door.
"Sakura-san? It's so late, what happened?"
Over the phone, Sakura Airi's intermittent account, thick with sniffles, reached her ear.
As Sakura spoke, Ichinose's expression gradually grew solemn, eventually turning into deep self-reproach and anger.
"...I'm so sorry, Sakura-san!" As soon as Sakura finished, Ichinose immediately apologized.
"This is all my fault! I was too impatient these past few days, taking you around to investigate, and our actions were too obvious... Not only did we fail to help you, but we also alerted the enemy, putting you in a more dangerous situation..." Ichinose's voice was full of regret. As the leader of Class B, this was the first time she felt her "good intentions" had resulted in harm.
"No! That's not true!"
On the other end of the line, hearing Ichinose's apology, Sakura Airi actually mustered a sliver of courage and quickly retorted, "It's not Ichinose-san's fault! You, you were helping me..."
Her voice dropped again, filled with self-loathing: "It's me... I'm just useless. I can't do anything but be afraid... all I do is... hide behind Natsukawa-kun and Ichinose-san..."
"Natsukawa-kun...?"
Ichinose keenly picked up on the name. Her heart inexplicably skipped a beat, but her tone remained gentle: "You... told Natsukawa-kun too?"
"Mhm..." Sakura's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "I, I contacted him... first."
An indescribably complex emotion surged in Ichinose's heart—the realization that this was expected, mixed with a hint of bitterness that she herself hadn't noticed.
"Then..." Ichinose tried hard to make her voice sound as cheerful as usual. "What did Natsukawa-kun say? I bet he gave you a lot of impressive analysis, right?"
"Mhm..." Sakura Airi quietly recounted Natsukawa's analysis, along with that most crucial guarantee.
"He said... he absolutely wouldn't let me fall into a dangerous situation..."
"Is that so..." Ichinose repeated softly. The heavy stone hanging in her heart also dropped completely due to Natsukawa's intervention. That man always managed to give people a complete sense of security at the most critical moment.
"He also said..." Sakura continued to relay, "If, if Ichinose-san and I... still don't make progress, or if there's danger again... w-we should go find him."
Ichinose Honami was silent for a moment.
The cold wind blowing through the corridor sobered her up considerably.
Then, she suddenly let out a small laugh, a sound that once again carried her characteristic, infectious vitality.
"Sakura-san, I get it!"
"Eh?" Sakura couldn't quite keep up with her pace.
"Oh dear... then we really need to put in some effort!" Ichinose's tone contained both teasing and a strange sense of drive. "We can't let Natsukawa-kun laugh at us for everything!"
"If the two of us girls can't even handle this small matter and end up running to him crying for help," Ichinose said jokingly, "that would be too embarrassing, wouldn't it?"
"I, I..." Sakura's cheeks flushed at her words.
"I'm just kidding!" Ichinose said with a soothing laugh. "Natsukawa-kun is right, we can't let that jerk lead us around by the nose."
She dropped the joking tone, her eyes becoming resolute: "Sakura-san, don't worry. Since Natsukawa-kun already has a backup plan, we absolutely cannot back down. Starting tomorrow, we will proceed as usual, but we'll change our approach."
"Make sure you lock your door tonight. Tomorrow, I'll come pick you up."
"Mhm!" Sakura Airi nodded vigorously.
Hanging up the phone, Ichinose Honami leaned against the cold corridor wall and let out a long sigh. She looked down at Natsukawa Sosuke's name pinned at the top of her terminal's contact list, and the corners of her mouth curled up into an uncontrollable, slight smile.
...
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