Day 89

[from I Watch You Sleeping]

At the start of our first ten-minute break between lessons, my phone vibrates in my pocket, telling me that I have a text message. Curious as to who could be texting me at this precise moment, I take out my phone and check the sender ID. It's an unknown number. With a strange sense of dread, I open the text and read it.

Hello Ken-chan! You got my letter, right? Look out for me in school today! I’ll be waiting for you~ xxxxxxx

I stare at the screen in horror, question after frightened question tumbling around inside my head. What do I make of this? Is this really the same person who wrote the letter? Who took all those photos of me? Are they here, at the school, right now? Are they watching me right now? How on earth did they get my number? In my paranoia I frantically look around the classroom, trying to see if anybody is watching me. There doesn't seem to be anybody…

…this is insane. I was still holding out a faint hope that this would all be just a hoax, a joke, or something, but this feels way too real to be a hoax. So… I really do have a stalker then. Raiden was right. Damn.

Luckily, my thoughts are suddenly interrupted by Meiko's arrival at our desks. "Here you go!" she says cheerfully. "This is all the girls in the photography club!" She hands me and Raiden a piece of paper that she appears to have torn from her exercise book. Written on it are two names.

"This is all of them?" says Raiden, surprised.

"Yep!" says Meiko. "It's kind of a small club, I guess."

"Well, that'll make our investigation a little easier, then," says Raiden. "Thanks, Meiko."

"No problem!" says Meiko cheerfully, before heading back to her seat, leaving the two of us to look at the list of names. Well… that's if you can really call it a list, since there are only two names on it. One is Meiko's. The other name I don't recognize, but Meiko seems to have anticipated that: A scribble next to the name tells us that she's from Class 2-4.

I take note of Meiko's handwriting. it's very loopy and girlish, like the title card for a girls' TV show. It's not like the handwriting on the letter at all. I point this out to Raiden.

"So you're saying it's not Meiko?" he replies.

"Doesn't look like it," I tell him.

"Well, that makes things simple," Raiden remarks. "I know a couple of second-year girls from the soccer club, maybe they'll know who this other girl is." Raiden's expression then becomes almost uncharacteristically serious as he continues, "You should go take a walk or something next break. Get some fresh air, clear your head. This must be pretty heavy for you."

I nod. "Yeah, just a bit."

"Alright, then that's settled," says Raiden, his expression going back to normal.

"Indeed it is." I reckon a walk will do me good. I'll get some fresh air, clear my head a bit. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Next break I'll go outside and take a nice walk.

***

True to my word, when the next lesson ends I head off to take a short walk through the grounds. Since there's only ten minutes of break, I can't really go all that far, but hopefully it'll still be enough to take my mind off things.

There aren't that many other students around outside. Most of them are still indoors, hanging out in their classrooms or in the corridors. Because of how short the breaks between lessons are, most people don't see the point in going outside during them. I never really did, either. But today is different.

As I round the back of one of the school buildings I spy a familiar face leaning against one of the walls, phone in hand. Her name is Aiko Minatoya. She's another of the students in my class. She's a strange one, by most people's accounts. She rarely, if ever, talks to anyone. She spends all her time on her phone, doing who-knows-what. Even during class she just sits at the back, quietly getting on with her work and ignoring everyone else around her, like she's the only person in the room. Right now that's a quality I find admirable. Being able to carry on regardless of what's going on around you…

My eyes rest for a moment on Aiko's phone, and a paranoid thought rushes through my mind. She was probably using it during the last break as well. She could easily have…

This ridiculous train of thought is halted in the nick of time as Aiko finally notices my presence. She almost reluctantly shifts her gaze away from her phone screen to look at me.

"Hey, Aiko," I say, raising a hand in greeting.

"Hello," is the quiet response.

I have no idea why, considering how quiet she usually is, but I decide to try and strike up a conversation with Aiko. Perhaps a good chat will help take my mind off things as well. "So, how are things?" I ask.

Aiko blinks, looking at me with a blank expression. "Things?"

"Yeah, you know… are you doing well with your schoolwork?"

A single, almost imperceptible nod is the only answer I get. Yeah… maybe Aiko wasn't the best person to try and strike up a conversation with. I might as well press on, though. It's not like I have anything better to do. Besides, any thoughts of her being my stalker are long gone. There's no way someone this anti-social could be a stalker. Right?

I decide to ask the one thing that everyone else in the year has probably been wondering since day one. "So, what are you up to on your phone?"

I'm almost expecting her to say, "It's a secret", or something, but instead she tilts her phone screen towards me, to show me. She's on a news site, halfway through an article on some conflict somewhere in the Middle East. There seem to be a lot of those happening.

"Are you interested in current affairs, then?" I ask.

Another tiny nod. Would it kill this girl to loosen her tongue a little? Still, I try to think of a current news topic that Aiko might have an opinion on. Maybe that way I can get a proper conversation going.

The article she was reading gives me an idea. "So, uhh… what's your opinion on all those Middle Eastern uprisings?" I ask.

A very slight change of expression indicates that Aiko finds this an interesting topic. "You mean the Arab Spring," she says.

"Yeah, that," I say nodding.

"It is long overdue," says Aiko. "These countries deserve freedom and equality." The words sounds strangely dispassionate when spoken in Aiko's hushed monotone voice.

"So you support the rebels?" I ask. Aiko nods, a little more forcefully than before. "But what about that guy, uhh… the one who ruled Libya? What was his name?"

"Muammar al-Gaddafi," says Aiko, her pronunciation flawless. I assume.

"Yeah, him," I say. "I heard that when the rebels found him, he was dragged from his hiding place and shot in the street. Didn't he deserve a fair trial?"

"Yes," admits Aiko. "But what of the thousands of innocents dragged from their homes and shot on Gaddafi's orders? They also deserved fair trials, did they not? Sinning against many is worse than sinning against one. If it takes one sin to prevent a thousand more, then that one sin is justified."

That's the longest I've ever heard Aiko speak for before. Not only that, but she's completely right. This is obviously a topic she feels very strongly about, even if she's still speaking in her quiet, almost monotone voice. "I guess you have a point there," I admit.

Before I can say anything further on the topic, however, Aiko speaks again. "If you don't mind," she says, "I would like you to leave me alone now."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to annoy you," I say.

"You didn't," said Aiko. "I just prefer reading in silence. That's all."

Right now, I think I can understand why Aiko prefers solitude. And I think I can respect that. "Alright. My apologies," I say. "I'll leave you alone now."

"Thank you," mutters Aiko. she returns to staring at her phone screen, and I turn and head back the way I came. A short time later the bell rings to signal the end of break, and I traipse back to the classroom, my head no clearer than it had been when I'd left it.