School had ended for the day. Another routine walk back to my dorm, another quiet afternoon where nothing particularly interesting happened. Today felt... fast. Easy. Almost too uneventful.
Not that I was complaining, I could use a nap. Even though it was still the afternoon, my body was already begging for rest. I yawned, stretching my arms behind my head, already fantasizing about crashing onto my bed and shutting my eyes for a few hours.
Just as I was about to enter full zombie mode,
"Yamamoto!"
"Ahh!" I nearly jumped out of my skin, the sudden voice snapping me out of my half-asleep state.
I turned around to find Sakura Nozomi standing there, laughing awkwardly at my startled reaction.
"O-oh, sorry, sorry! Did I scare you?" she asked, her voice light with amusement.
I exhaled, trying to slow my racing heartbeat. "Y-yeah..."
Sakura-san clasped her hands behind her back and took a step closer. "I saw you walking and wanted to join. Is that okay?"
I squinted at her. "Why?"
That was too direct, wasn't it?
I wasn't trying to be rude, but this felt off. Why was she walking up to me of all people?
She smiled, though there was something a little forced about it. "Well, I wanted your opinion on something."
Knew it.
"W-what is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sakura-san clasped her hands together, as if trying to sound casual. "I'm thinking between a red carpet or a pink carpet for the party's floor. Which one do you think is better?"
I blinked. That's it? A question about carpets?
Before I could answer, I noticed something strange.
Sakura-san was shaking.
It was subtle at first, but as I took a better look at her, I saw the way her arms trembled slightly, how she kept shifting her weight from foot to foot like she couldn't stay still. Her shoulders were tense, and every few seconds, she glanced behind her as if-
I turned my head slightly and scanned the area.
Then I saw it.
A guy was following us from a distance, walking at a pace that matched ours. He wasn't close enough to be part of our conversation, but he wasn't just some random student heading to the dorms either. His eyes were locked onto Sakura.
Everything suddenly clicked into place.
My stomach dropped, the cold reality of the situation hitting me all at once. This wasn't a joke. She wasn't just being weird about carpets. She was trapped.
I swallowed hard, my own hands starting to feel clammy, but I forced my posture to relax. If I panicked, he would know she told me.
"I prefer red carpet, I think," I said, keeping my tone as dangerously even as I could manage, pretending the shadow behind us didn't exist at all.
Her expression faltered for a moment, then she snapped her head back to reality. "Y-yeah I think so too! I..."
But she was shaking more now.
I lowered my voice. "Is someone following you?"
Sakura-san hesitated, as if unsure whether she should say it out loud. But then, finally,
"Y-y-yeah," she admitted, voice barely above a whisper. "He kept confessing to me, and I tried to turn him down softly, but... he wouldn't take no for an answer and started to follow me when I went out of school. He wanted to touch me, so I just ran to the nearest person I knew."
Her voice trembled slightly.
So that's why she suddenly came up to me. She wasn't just trying to talk about her party, she was escaping.
I took a slow breath.
"I-It's okay." My voice came out steady, though inside, my mind was racing.
Sakura-san was close to me now, too close. Not in a way that was intimate or anything like that, just in a way that told me she was terrified. But even now, she didn't grab my hand, didn't clutch onto my arm like girls in those dramatic movies.
She didn't trust me enough to hold onto me.
I glanced back at the guy. He was closer now.
Okay. What now?
"Sakura-san, do you want me to tell him off, or do you just want me to make sure you get back to your dorm safely?"
She looked up at me, eyes filled with uncertainty. "B-both. Please. I don't want him near me."
I inhaled sharply.
Great. Now my confidence was dropping fast. I'd just acted all cool and reliable, but now that I had to do something, I realized,
How the hell was I supposed to handle this?
The guy was bigger than me. I wasn't exactly in great shape myself. I didn't work out, and my punches were probably as effective as throwing a pillow at someone.
Still... I had to do something.
I stopped walking, and Sakura instinctively stepped behind me.
I puffed out my chest slightly, trying to make myself look bigger. I shifted my right hand behind my back, not because I had anything to grab, but because it might make the guy hesitate.
The guy slowed down as he approached, his gaze flicking from Sakura-san to me.
Then, finally, he spoke.
"Is this your boyfriend?"
His voice was low, edged with a cold, entitled irritation. He didn't even look at me. His eyes bypassed me entirely, locking onto Sakura-san as if I was just a piece of furniture in his way.
Sakura-san flinched, her breath hitching beside me. Her eyes darted to the ground, and I could feel the violent tremor running through her shoulders.
My pulse pounded in my ears. I wasn't built for this. I didn't work out, I couldn't fight, but I couldn't just stand here while he stared right through her.
I took a half-step sideways, deliberately blocking his line of sight to Sakura-san.
"We're in the middle of a conversation," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady even though my chest was tight. "Leave us alone."
The guy finally blinked, his gaze snapping to me. His jaw tightened, the delusional calm breaking for a fraction of a second as he realized a few other students down the street were starting to glance our way.
He scoffed, his lips twisting into a bitter sneer. "Whatever," he muttered under his breath, shooting one last, dark look at Sakura-san before turning on his heel and walking off down the street.
I exhaled a breath. My body was still tense, half-expecting him to turn back around. But he didn't.
Sakura-san let out a shaky breath, her shoulders slumping as she finally relaxed. Without thinking, she took a small step closer, leaning slightly against my back for support.
I felt it, the weight of her relief pressing into me.
"D-Do you want me to walk you back to your dorm?" I asked, my voice softer now.
"Y-yeah..." she murmured.
We started walking again, the air still cool against my skin. The only sounds were the soft echo of our footsteps and the distant hum of traffic. I glanced at Sakura from the corner of my eye. The girl who was always so put-together, so lively, was now shaken, her usual brightness dimmed by fear.
A strange feeling stirred in my chest, something close to protectiveness.
I thought about Ichika, about the times she had always been the one looking out for me. And now, in this moment, I was the one looking out for someone else. Maybe this wasn't a huge act of bravery, but it was something.
The silence between us wasn't awkward. It was filled with unspoken understanding.
After a while, Sakura-san's voice broke the quiet.
"Thank you, Yamamoto-kun." Her voice was quiet, almost hesitant. "I-I don't like being alone with someone following me."
I glanced at her, offering a small smile, though my face felt warmer than it should. "It's alright. I just wanted to make sure you got back safely, y'know..." I hesitated.
Sakura-san blinked, then a soft giggle escaped her lips. "Kenji-kun," she hummed, as if testing out my name on her tongue. She smiled, a real smile this time, not the forced one she had given earlier. "Call me Nozomi."
"Nozomi-san," I repeated, the name rolling off my tongue more naturally than I expected.
We continued walking until we reached the entrance of her dorm building. The guard at the door gave me a suspicious nod as we passed. I hated that guy. He always had this look, like he was judging everyone. 'How to not look like a creep?'
We stepped into the elevator together. I pressed the button for the fifth floor, and she pressed eight.
We stood in silence as the elevator doors closed and the soft hum of the machine carried us upward.
Just as the doors slid open on my floor, I stepped forward only to feel a gentle tug on my wrist.
"Huh?" I turned back, surprised.
Nozomi-san was gripping my sleeve, her fingers trembling slightly. She looked at me with an expression I hadn't seen before. Vulnerable. Hesitant.
"K-Kenji-kun..." she started, her voice almost too quiet to hear. She took a breath, steadying herself. "Please come to my birthday party, okay?"
Her eyes searched mine.
Something in my chest tightened.
"...I'll come," I said after a moment. "Don't worry, I promise."
A look of relief washed over her face, and she smiled again. "Thank you."
Then, to my surprise, she took a small step forward and wrapped her arms around me.
It wasn't a long hug. Just a brief, fleeting moment of warmth.
I stood there, caught off guard, but after a second, I returned the gesture awkwardly, but sincerely.
As she pulled away, I noticed something. There were tears in her eyes.
I had always thought that people like her, as popular as Nozomi-san, would be used to things like this. That stalkers and unwanted attention would just be another part of their lives. But... maybe I was wrong.
Maybe no one ever really gets used to that kind of stuff.
"Bye, Kenji-kun," Nozomi-san said softly as she stepped back into the elevator. "Take care."
"You too," I replied, still trying to process what had just happened.
The doors slid closed between us, and just like that, she was gone.
I stood there for a moment longer, staring at my reflection in the metallic elevator doors.