I thought for sure that Arina had started cursing me. But thinking about it calmly, that would be strange. I have no reason to stalk Arina since I know she would kill me if I did that.
The first to react to Arina's words was Nakatsu Hitaki, the head of the baseball club, who was trying to get back to the field. He froze and looked back at us awkwardly.
"It's you. I just forgot your name. You're no longer a stalker, right?"
Hitaki was silent, dripping with cold sweat. Or maybe it was normal sweat.
"Stalker-san, you became to head of the baseball team. Good for you. Stalking the ball instead of me is more in line with your sexuality, so do that from the start. Stalker."
"No, that's not…"
"What? You mean I'm wrong?"
"That's right…"
"So you'd follow me home, haunt the library, and even come near my house. If you're not a stalker, what are you then?"
The members of the baseball club who were there, including me, were glancing at us. The coach seemed to have figured something out and said, "You guys go practice!" and everyone scattered except me, Arina, and Hitaki.
"It's not particularly a bad thing to turn my love towards something."
Wow, that's one hell of a tone of voice that doesn't sound like he means it.
"But it's bad to keep doing things that people don't like. No matter how much you claim it's an expression of love in your mind, others will feel it. It's in the past, but the next time you come after me, I'll report it to the teachers."
Somehow I could read the connection that Nakatsu Hitaki was stalking Hiwa Arina. I felt sorry for Hitaki as he grew paler and paler while shriveling up, but what he did was bad.
At the same time, I wondered if Arina was having a hard time as well. I wasn't worried about her, but if I found out that a weak high school girl was being targeted by a stalker, I'd be worried. Whether Arina is weak or not seems debatable, but apart from that, it's still annoying.
"You get it?"
"…Yes."
"I see."
Yep, he got the decisive line, her signature "I see".
Arina turned her back to Hitaki and started to walk away. I told Hitaki, whose face was clouded with regret and impatience, "Go for it". That's all I could say. I wasn't a part of the matter, nor was he a friend.
I bowed to the coach and walked away. The last thing I saw was the coach taking Hitaki somewhere.
I caught up with Arina and got a mouthful from her.
"What's next?"
"The track team."
"I see."
"Don't lose your temper, okay?"
"I'm not mad."
"He's been stalking you?"
"Yeah. It was a frequent thing just about a month ago. I was going to tie up his hands and feet and throw him in the river, but I wasn't strong enough to do that, so I ignored him. Now that he's in charge, he's pretty busy. This past month it hasn't happened much, but there were some times it happened."
"His attachment is like instant glue…"
"Maybe it was the bullshit rumor and you and me dating, or something, that got his attention and made him start hanging around me again."
"Arina, shit is dirty."
"Shut up. Let's go to the track team immediately."
She ran, which was really unusual.
I'd never seen her run before. I'd been by Arina's side on many occasions, helping out the tennis team, in the gym, but she'd always been slow. She untied her hair and ran off with a beautiful form. Her shimmering hair reflected in the setting sun. So free and alone, her beauty self-righteously sitting in a part of the world.
I admired her a little.