"I… feel… tired…" Yuki muttered as the cloth pressed against her face. Her eyelids burned, the world pulling at the edges of her vision, even as panic screamed in her mind. She tried to scream. Tried to beg. But the words never left her mouth, her body refusing to obey as numbness spread.
"Please don’t move, my darling. This will all be over in just a few moments. Once you wake up, our lives together will truly begin."
"STOP THAT, YOU BASTARD!" a male voice roared, footsteps tearing through the darkness from behind.
"S-s-souta," Yuki whispered, dragging herself backwards with what little strength she had left.
"SHIT! Already?" The man cursed, finally stepping away from Yuki. The crunch of footsteps on the ground drew nearer and nearer until, even in the darkness, Yuki could see a light was coming
"Souta, you're here…" she gasped as he finally arrived.
"Yuki…
***
Just a few minutes ago...
So… why did I get forced to help you, you might wonder. Well, I have no idea, because for some reason my amazing teacher thought I could paint? Like, what in the nani?!
There I was, painting away a stickman while Arisa and Reina were drawing actual backgrounds for the play. Even the other students around me were like, "What the hell is this weirdo doing here?" But either way, alas, I was stuck in the corner, dodging flying paint from Nao as she… 'painted away.' But the thought of this plan lingered in my mind: the thought of having Yuki as bait, just the thought of it sat wrong in my chest.
“I know Wilhelm would kill me if he found out… I pray that he doesn't.”
Sitting on the desk of one of the empty rooms, the teacher eventually walked over to check on the 'progress' we had made. After hearing the "Congratulations!" and "Wow, you really are an amazing painter!" her eyes finally fell on mine, and, well, you guessed it, her reaction wasn’t pleasant.
At least, that’s what I thought.
“It seems he was wrong about you?” she said, glancing over my drawing.
“He was wrong about me?” I muttered as my gaze slowly drifted to the teacher.
She blinked and tilted her head sideways. “Yeah, one of our students… I didn’t catch his name. Or, to be honest…” She drew out the words, “…or his face either?”
Umm. This is weird. trusting some random guy?
“Um, you don’t mind me asking, when did you see this guy, or how did this conversation even begin?” I asked.
The teacher scratched the top of her head. “Well, it was literally right after the announcement was made and everyone was leaving. A student came up behind me while I was still sitting and asked if he could get some help in the art room for backgrounds. He said to ask for you and the other sisters. Not Yuki..."
“…”
“Shit.”
The moment the realisation hit me, my mind instantly went to one thing, and one guy only.
“The Stalker,” I muttered as my heart began racing.
I jumped up in a hurry. “Are you sure you don’t remember anything?” I shouted, disregarding the classroom. The chatter among the students stopped. Reina, Arisa, and Nao’s eyes widened as they saw me shouting.
“Souta, what’s going on?” Arisa shouted, running over.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I’m sorry; apart from the fact that it was a male’s voice… now that I think about it, the voice sounded… familiar.” The teacher replied, guilt creeping onto her face.
“Souta!” Arisa shook me.
I explained everything the teacher had told me, and the fear that grew on all the girls' faces was palpable.
“I’m texting Yuki now!” Nao shouted as she rushed to grab her phone. But that wasn’t enough; we couldn’t leave her by herself. This seemed too well planned out.
“Arisa, we need to go back to your room, the one you stayed in with Yuki,” I said quickly, moving toward the door.
“S-sure, of course, let’s go!” Arisa stammered as we took off running.
“I’ll get another teacher to join them,” our teacher muttered, following us out.
The halls were half-empty, some students lazing around while others were talking to each other, but my heart was racing a million miles an hour. I had already begun running before I'd made the decision to.
"Souta!" Arisa and the others shouted, trailing behind me, just close enough for Arisa to shout directions.
I turned the corner into a dead-end corridor; the only way out was back the way I came. The door at the end opened to a storage room, but the door on the left wall was Yuki's and Arisa's room.
"The end is on the left!" Arisa shouted, finally coming to a stop. Nao and Reina had a bit more stamina, so they joined me as I burst open the door.
“Wait, if she's in there, that might be a bad idea-”
But the moment the door swung open, my eyes widened in horror; there was no Yuki.
"She's not here…" I muttered.
The lights were off, and the entire room was quiet. The only sign she’d been here was a brush lying on the bed.
"That's Yuki's," Nao muttered as she walked in.
"Is she not there?!" Arisa finally caught up, stepping inside.
"This is bad; where the hell is she?" I shouted, grinding my teeth in frustration. If there was ever a time to disappear unannounced, this would be literally the worst time, and not even a text!
"Where the hell has she gone?" Arisa cried out, frantically typing away on her phone.
You know when the world is burning around you, and there's literally nothing you can do? Yeah. Welcome to my life.
But you know what? Instead of panicking, instead of screaming, I took a seat on the edge of the bed.
Activating Sage mode.
I closed my eyes as I conjured up the double hand sign, the same one Naruto does in the Sage mode training arc. The moment I started, I felt Arisa's shouting quiet down, and the chaos in the room, the entire sound around me, started to fade.
“Yes, it's working! Now to find Yuki’s chakra,” I thought to myself as a smile began to form.
Until-
"Souta, what the hell are you doing?" Nao muttered.
"Shhh! I will find her."
"…."
"…."
"AHHHHHHH, SOUTA, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? YUKI IS MISSING, AND THERE'S A STALKER OUT TO GET HER!!!!" Arisa shrieked, losing it.
"AHHHHHHH, I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE! WHAT AM I MEANT TO DO? THE WOMAN HAS LEFT NOTHING BEHIND TO FIND HER!!!!!" I screamed back.
"Shut up and let Souta activate his thingy!!!" Nao shouted.
"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" Arisa replied, her voice rising in panic.
"Guys… can we not scream?" Reina muttered, clearly being ignored.
"What do we do? WHO DOES SHE THINK WE ARE, SCOOBY-DOO?!" I screamed, ruffling my hair frantically.
But before we knew it, the sound of more footsteps rushed in.
"SOUTA!" Shirori's voice called out as she burst into the room.
"Shirori?!" I exclaimed, ready to lay everything out, but I didn't get the chance.
"Shut it! Listen, I've got someone who says they saw where Yuki went. Quick, follow me!" she shouted before racing back out.
"S-Sure!" I replied, and the rest of us followed Shirori along.
We kept running. Running. Running. Out through the building and into the woods.
"SHIRORI, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TAKING US?!"
"JUST TRUST ME!" Shirori shouted back.
At this point, we felt like we were on the brink of collapse, barely hanging onto life as we reached a clearing in the forest. And in the centre stood a small tent; someone crouched just outside it.
"Who. The. Hell, is that… And why’s there a tent here?" I gasped between breaths.
"It's one of the council members. We found this while searching for some firewood," Shirori replied as she walked over.
"Sir, can I show Souta the note?" Shirori asked, crouching down.
The council member finally emerged from the tent, looking concerned.
"Yeah, here," he said softly, handing me a piece of paper. There were loads of sheets, but the one on top had today's date.
"Dear Diary. Today I'm going to meet Yuki! I can't wait. She said she'll agree to meet up, which I never thought she would openly want to, but I guess things are turning out. But I do have a weird feeling that this is some sort of setup, especially being on the bridge," I read, but it was the words after that that sent a shiver down my spine.
"And if it is, I'll show her… what it means to lie to me…"
DeadEndYuto!
