By the time about two hours had passed, the sun had completely set, and it’s true that I was getting impatient inside, thinking, “Huh? How long is this going to last? It’s really cramped in here…” But it’s also true that I trust the professor’s intellect, so one way or another, I managed to endure it.
Just as three hours were about to pass, the situation began to move rapidly.
“Is that an acquaintance of yours?”
In the direction of the professor’s gaze, in front of Mayuki-kun’s house, stood a suspicious-looking figure.
A silhouette that was wide and short. A woman… no, perhaps a short man?
Hearing the professor’s words, a look of fear appeared on Mayuki-kun’s lovely face.
“…I can’t tell from here… But I don’t have any acquaintances who would suddenly visit my house.”
Without waiting for him to finish, I quietly opened the door without making a sound and leaned out, taking the utmost care not to be noticed by the suspicious person.
“He’s been pacing back and forth in front of the house for a while now, taking pictures of the exterior with what looks like a smartphone. And now, it looks like he’s shoving something into the mailbox. Himari—”
“I’m looking now.”
In place of the professor, who has poor eyesight, I strained my eyes and saw that it was indeed true.
“That’s… some kind of container. A plastic bottle, maybe. I can’t make out the contents.”
“I don’t even want to imagine what’s inside.”
At my report, the professor covers her face with one hand.
I wonder if she has an idea of what’s inside…
“No matter how you look at it, this isn’t some kind of mail delivery. It’s trespassing, and depending on the circumstances, destruction of property. If that person really is the stalker, then more or less, photo data of Mayuki-kun will come out of that smartphone he’s holding, and now is probably the right time. Himari, are you ready?”
“Anytime.”
I answered succinctly and, taking the utmost care not to make a sound opening or closing the door, got out of the car.
“Mayuki-kun. Do you have the will to accompany us, understanding the criminal profile I’ve deduced?”
“…I’ll go. It’s something I have to face, too.”
He quietly gets out of the car. The figure doesn’t seem to have noticed us.
I made eye contact with the professor and cautiously approached the suspicious person, making sure my footsteps made no sound.
I turned on the IC recorder hidden in my breast pocket and silently closed the distance to the figure.
As I got closer, the suspicious person’s outline became clearer.
A short, stout man wearing glasses.
His height is about the same as mine.
The top of his head was thinning, and his eyes were bloodshot. The professor’s hypothesis that he was a middle-aged man was spot on.
The object in his hand was indeed a plastic bottle. It seemed he was struggling to get it into the mailbox as he wanted. He was panting, “Hah, hah.”
I smiled and called out from the side to this silhouette that was the very picture of suspiciousness.
“What are you doing here?”
The middle-aged man jumped in reaction and checked to see who I was.
The suspicious person turned around timidly, but as soon as he saw that I was just a woman, he blatantly relaxed his facial muscles.
Since he just grinned and didn’t answer, I took a step closer.
“I’m a friend of the person who lives here. I heard he’s been the victim of a stalker recently and he came to me for advice… By any chance, do you know anything about it?”
“No, I’m not, nothing…”
He said that much, then made a startled face for a different reason than before.
“You, you were in the picture with Nakamura…”
Nakamura… Mayuki-kun’s last name.
I recall the two-shot photo we took at the cafe during the day.
And the mention from the culprit that the professor had confirmed.
“…So it was you. You’re the stalker.”
The middle-aged man in front of me… or rather, Mayuki-kun’s stalker, gasps and covers his mouth.
But it was already too late. I pressed my attack all at once.
“Didn’t you know? Stalking is a crime, you know?”
“…I-It’s none of your business. This is a problem between me and Nakamura.”
“It’s not none of my business. Mayuki-kun is troubled by your actions.”
“Sh… Shut up! This is why women are no good… Poking your nose into things when you’re a complete stranger… The only ones who understand my feelings are men…”
“Ah…”
His assertion was so ridiculous I almost wondered if it was a joke, but I was starting to get irritated.
People who talk about things by saying “This is why X are…” are never any good.
“…So you hate women, is that why you’re targeting a cute boy?”
“It’s not that simple! I watch Nakamura every day, I even give him advice about his future and career path, I care about him from the bottom of my heart, we’re fated to be together!”
“Ugh…”
This time I was genuinely repulsed. My will to talk back faded like an ebbing tide.
Having reached my limit with the stalker’s selfish assertions that made me think he might start frothing at the mouth, I played the trump card I had been saving: the phrase that middle-aged men of his generation detest the most.
“Sorry, but no matter how you look at it, you don’t have a chance. You’re a grown adult, can’t you even understand that?”
At that, the greasy face in front of me instantly flushed red, his anger becoming apparent.
“Y-y-y-aaaah!”
In that instant, the stalker let out a scream and lunged at me.
Enraged, he impulsively tries to shut my mouth without thinking of the consequences.
How very convenient.
“Hmph!”
With a short cry, I pulled back and slipped under my opponent’s stomach.
Just as I thought, the movements of an amateur. His centerline is wide open.
However, aiming there could be considered excessive self-defense.
Using the bending and stretching motion of my knees.
I put my entire body weight into it, at a single point avoiding any vital spots.
“────Hah!”
I slammed the heel of my palm into his side.
A tingling response from the palm of my hand.
A blow that reliably sealed the opponent’s movements.
“…Ugh… goooah…!”
The opponent, still in the posture of trying to grab me, let out a dull cry and collapsed to the ground.
“Phew.”
As I dusted my hands with a “pan, pan,” sound, the Professor and Mayuki-kun, who had been waiting for the situation to resolve, came over to me. The Professor, seeing the crouching culprit, said this as the first thing out of her mouth.
“Himari, this guy isn’t dead, is he? If you end up behind bars, who’s going to make my coffee? The lab needs to be cleaned, too.”
“What is my worth to you!?”
When I told her I had avoided his vital spots and had recorded the whole incident, the Professor nodded with a “Fumu.”
Mayuki-kun, who was watching this from a step back, timidly asked.
“…Himari-san, who exactly are you?”
“Who am I, huh…”
After pondering for a bit on how to answer.
“Just an ordinary college girl?”
I played dumb with an evasive answer.
The Professor followed up.
“Mayuki-kun, do you recognize this man?”
And then, Mayuki-kun, who fearfully peeked at the stalker’s face, widened his eyes in surprise.
“…He’s my homeroom teacher.”
I was so shocked I couldn’t speak.
When I heard the Professor’s deduction, in my heart, I didn’t want to believe it.
That a teacher, who should be teaching the proper way to live as a person, would do something like stalk a student.
Ignoring me, who was clenching my fists tightly again, the Professor began to speak nonchalantly.
“Fumu. So the worst-case scenario turned out to be true. Not that I’m happy about being right.”
Just then.
“…Damn it… This is why women are…”
The stalker, whose rounded back squirmed at the edge of my vision, let out a groan.
“Shit… That woman… If that meddling woman was gone… I was supposed to be the one Nakamura could rely on… Always, always women… they just get in my damn way…”
That woman? A meddling woman?
I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I don’t want to hear any more of this stalker’s incoherent groaning.
“At least I don’t think ‘This is why men are…’ just because someone like you caused trouble for others. If you’re going to say any more unnecessary things, then one more time—”
I reflexively tried to kick his still-crouching back. To be precise, my right leg moved on its own. As if my instincts were demanding retribution.
“Calm down. The requirements for a citizen’s arrest have already been met. Any more than this will be excessive self-defense.”
“Himari-san, I’m okay now, so…”
──Himarin, don’t worry about it.
──I’m fine now.
──I’m just… tired of everything.
Suddenly, voices resurfaced in my mind. Along with a tone I can’t forget.
As if to overwrite my sentimentality, the Professor gazed into the distance and muttered.
“Showing up so soon. I suppose it’s a different story when they’re caught red-handed.”
When I looked, the police car the Professor had called was entering the residential area with its red lights flashing.
“Don’t you think the most attractive kind of person is someone who can protect what’s important to them with their own power?”
The things that are important to me.
What could they be?
Perhaps a lover.
Perhaps family.
Perhaps friends.
But before all that—everyone would surely answer “themselves.”
I think a person who can lend a hand to others on top of that is what makes an attractive person.
The power I have has very limited applications, and power without application tends to be fragile. But, if I can protect someone with it, I’m sure I can get closer to being an attractive person. I want to believe that.
Because I once failed to protect something precious—I never want to feel that way again.