"I feel like I'm being stalked physical and online." Akane revealed, her voice trembling.
Then, Akane picked up something from her large purse, her cellphone.
"Here, check this selfie video and tell me I'm not being stalked." Akane said while browsing her phone's gallery.
After a minute of browsing, she handed me her phone.
I grabbed her phone and started to watch Akane's selfie video. In it, she was inside a convenient store, blending into the aisles filled with everyday items. She wore a large hoodie with the hood pulled up, casting a shadow over face. Sunglasses covered her eyes, and a mask concealed the lower half of her face, making her almost unrecognizable
As she spoke softly into the camera, her voice trembling slightly.
"Hey, it's Akane-chan. I just wanted to document this in case anything happens as I feel like somebody's following like a crazy predator." She whispered, her head turning slightly as she scanned her surroundings.
Outside the store, the dark night was visible through the glass windows, with the occasional headlights of passing cars illuminating the street. The fluorescent lights inside the store cast a stark, clinical glow, contrasting sharply with the inky darkness outside.
With my attention undivided to the video, I swiftly spotted her stalker.
Behind her, reflected in the store's mirror, was the eerie figure of a man in dark, nondescript clothing. He stood near the entrance, barely visible behind a rack of magazines, watching her intently. His baseball cap was pulled low over his face, obscuring his features. His stance appeared casual, but the intensity in his eyes was unmistakable, following Akane's every movement with a predatory gaze.
The contrast between the brightly lit store and the shadows outside heightened the tension in the scene. Other customers moved about the store, unaware of Akane's identity and the silent threat looming in the background, their normalcy only intensifying the sense of danger captured in the video.
Akane subtly moved her phone, angling it to ensure the stalker was clearly invisible in the frame.
"I don't know they are or what they want, but I need help." She said, her voice filled with fear.
The video ended abruptly, leaving a chilling sense of urgency and danger.
I handed her phone back to her and closed my eyes for a brief moment to process and immerse myself in Akane's situation.
I took a deep sigh and asked Akane a question with a bit of concern.
"Was this recent?"
Akane nodded, fear and worry etched on her pretty face.
"Why wasn't Shinji with you?" I inquired solemnly.
"He visited his family yesterday in Osaka. He said he'll be back before sunset." Akane answered.
"Why were you alone in a convenient store?" I inquired again.
"I left my bodyguards in the house, told them I'll be going somewhere and will return shortly." She answered truthfully.
I stopped asking her any more questions and stared at her infuriatingly. It annoyed me that fact that Akane went alone without her bodyguards and disregarded the idea of being in danger before going out by herself. This made her seem stupid and reckless.
"You shouldn't be going out alone." I scolded Akane in annoyance but there was sound of concern my voice.
Akane lowered her head like a child that was reprimanded for something they shouldn't have done.
"I don't want to know what will happen to you if that stalker scum had made his move." I added with a stern voice.
"Gomenasai, Ray-kun." Akane uttered under her breath while her gaze dropped to the floor, and her shoulder tensed.
Suddenly, her phone chimed.
She looked down at the screen. With a quick read of message, her eyes widened in alarm and fear, and a visible shiver ran through her, causing her to momentarily forget the tension of the scolding she had just received from me.
"Ray-kun." Akane softly uttered, her voice shaking.
"They message me again." She added anxiously.
"What?" I asked with my eyebrows furrowed and my eyes narrowed.
She handed me her phone again. Her hand were trembling in fear as if someone had just threatened her life through a message.
I looked at the screen again, and the content I read made my eyes widened in a bit.
"We're coming for you, Akane-chan. Can't wait to see you squirm and beg. You'll be ours soon enough, whether you like it or not. Watch your back. :) :p <3
Your biggest fan, K****."