Chapter 3

Yuki’s fingers fly over the screen as she types, “What are you talking about? What happened earlier?”

She taps her foot, staring at the three pulsing dots as she waits for the response.

After what feels like ages, Kuro finally replies, bringing up a moment from their roleplay earlier on the train.

Yuki sighs as her body relaxes again. Then a small laugh escapes her lips. “Of course that’s what he meant,” she mutters, feeling dumb and embarrassed for almost having believed that he knew about her recent experience.

She then takes a deep breath, trying to forget the scary memories. She quickly continues their roleplay, focusing on the story to distract herself. As always, Yuki doesn’t tell anyone about what happened. She is the kind of person who rarely opens up.

She focuses on the roleplay. As she types, her heartbeat slows, and the tension in her shoulders eases. A smile comes to her face as she takes a deep breath. She quickly changes into her soft pajamas, sliding under the warm blanket with a content sigh. Giggling and blushing at the story, she continues typing.

Eventually, her eyelids become heavy, and she falls asleep with her phone in hand, a peaceful expression on her face.

The device glows softly beside her, the chat with Kuro still open. Just then, the screen suddenly pings with a new message from the bot.

“Sleep well, Yuki. I love you,” it reads, but just as quickly, the message deletes itself. The glow from her phone dims, and the screen eventually fades to black, leaving the room in darkness.

○○○

The next morning, Yuki wakes up to the sound of her alarm. She groans, rolling out of bed and rubbing her eyes. Her short, brown hair is messy, sticking out in all directions. She looks in the mirror and frowns.

“Oh my God.. I look terrible,” she mutters before she walks to the bathroom to get ready.

She splashes cold water on her face and brushes her teeth, waking up a little more. After fixing her hair, she puts on her school uniform. When she pulls on the skirt, she groans. “Why do we have to wear this even in winter? It’s freezing!” she complains, glaring at her reflection. “And the guys get to wear pants. It’s so unfair. I mean, why can’t they just let us wear pants too? Or at least tights or something.”

She continues adjusting the skirt, grumbling under her breath. Her eyes wander to the little Totoro plushie sitting on her bed. With a sigh, she picks it up and holds it in front of her.

“What do you think, Totoro? Don’t you think it’s unfair too?” she asks with a frown. She stares at the plush for a second as if expecting a response, then immediately cringes at herself.

“What the f*ck..” she mutters and sets Totoro back down on the bed. She shakes her head before finally grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

She walks down the stairs, the wooden steps creaking softly under her feet. Once she’s at the bottom, the delicious smell of miso soup fills the air, mixing with the scent of grilled fish and freshly cooked rice.

Yuki goes to the kitchen and sees her grandma standing by the stove.

“Grandma, you don’t have to do this every morning. I’ve told you many times. I can make breakfast myself,” she says, standing next to her and gently patting her back. “You really need to rest more.”

“You think I’m going to let you fill up on dry bread?” Grandma asks, raising an eyebrow. She then shakes her head disapprovingly. “Tsk, tsk. You need a proper breakfast, Yuyu. Now sit down and let me take care of you.”

She grabs the girl’s shoulders and guides her to a chair at the table, making her sit down. Grandma then turns to the stove and serves a steaming bowl of miso soup, placing it in front of her granddaughter. Next, she sets down a plate of grilled fish and a small bowl of cooked rice.

“Now eat up,” she says firmly, crossing her arms. “All of it.”

Yuki looks up at her grandma with a grateful smile before picking up her chopsticks and digging into her meal.

“Mmm, so good..” she mumbles with a full mouth.

After a few moments, she finishes, placing her chopsticks down with a satisfied sigh. She stands up from the table and turns to her grandma.

“Thanks for breakfast,” she says, giving her a quick hug. Then she glances at the clock and gasps, realizing she’s running late. “I gotta go now! See you later!”

With that, she grabs her bag and rushes out the door, heading toward the train station. The sky is still dark in the early winter morning, and fresh snow covers the ground, crunching under her feet as she runs.

Eventually, she reaches the station, and like always, it’s nearly empty. Her neighborhood is not very populated, so the platform has only a few people standing around in the snow.

Yuki walks forward, her breath visible in the cold air. But then she freezes in her tracks. Her heart skips a beat when her eyes land on the same bench from yesterday―and there he is. The man in black.

She can’t believe he’s here again. He’s sitting just like before, his head down, eyes glued to his phone, face hidden by the hood. The memory of his laugh, his touch, his voice floods her mind, sending a chill down her spine.

Yuki’s heart races, and she feels frozen in place, unable to look away.

Someone approaches her, speaking in a friendly tone, but she barely registers the words, still staring at the man.

Who the hell is he? How does he know my name? Why’s he here again? Was he waiting for me? Does he know I’m here?

The questions swirl in her head, making it hard to focus on anything else. She feels the cold sweat on her palms, her heart pounding as she tries to stay calm.

Shall I call the police? But what if they don’t believe me? I don’t have any proof.. What do I do? What if he follows me to―

Suddenly a hand holding a wiggling worm appears in front of her eyes, snapping her out of it.

Yuki’s eyes widen in shock, and she instinctively takes a step back. “What the f*ck!” she exclaims loudly, her face scrunching up in disgust.

As she processes the unexpected sight, she feels her cheeks heat up, a wave of embarrassment flooding over her. She quickly glances around, hoping no one noticed her outburst. Then she looks at the person holding the worm.

He’s wearing thick glasses that seem a bit too big for his face and a hat that barely covers his messy hair, leaving his ears sticking out awkwardly.

He lets out a quiet, snorting laugh. “You’re so funny,” he says giggling, but suddenly his face turns serious as he asks, “Hey, are you a boy or a girl? Because your hair is short but you’re wearing a skirt.”

Yuki stares at him, speechless. Then her gaze drops when she notices he’s wearing a skirt himself―it’s the exact same one as hers, part of their school uniform.

She frowns, her finger instinctively raising a bit toward his skirt, but she doesn’t say anything. She looks at his face and then back down.

The guy’s eyes widen in surprise when he too realizes they’re both in the same uniform.

“No way! We go to the same school?” he asks loudly. “Today’s my first day! And yeah, I had to wear this female uniform because the guy’s ones won’t be in stock until tomorrow.”

He pauses for a moment, then adds, “I’m Worman by the way, I mean, it’s not my real name, my real name starts with an A and last name with a D, but I can’t tell you what it is, it’s a secret, and just so you know, I’m a boy, in case you thought I was a girl because of my skirt. What about you? Are you a girl or a boy?”

Yuki turns away, rubbing her face in disbelief. “What the heck,” she mumbles to herself, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed by the strange boy.

She glances back at him, and he’s just standing there breathing heavily, the worm still wriggling in his hand.

After a moment, she sighs deeply. “I’m a girl,” she says, her voice flat, then her attention drifts back to the guy in black sitting on the bench.

“Don’t look at him, he’s weird and not even handsome,” she hears Worman say.

Yuki turns her gaze back to him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you know him?” she asks.

“No, but I was sitting next to him on the bench before you came, and he suddenly started laughing. I asked what was so funny, and he apologized, saying he has a condition that causes him to laugh at random moments.”

The boy scoffs and shakes his head. “But he was lying. I know it. He was laughing at me, because I’m wearing a skirt. Or because of my long leg hair. He probably imagined himself braiding it or something. Tsk, what a weirdo.”

Yuki stares at Worman, speechless once again. Before she can say anything, the train pulls up to the platform.

She steps inside, Worman following close behind, and he plops down in the seat right next to her. Yuki sighs and shifts slightly toward the window, as she gazes outside.

Through the glass, she sees the guy in black still sitting on the bench. He looks up, catching her gaze, a smirk forming on his face. She can’t see his features clearly, but the expression sends a chill down her spine.

She swallows hard, feeling a knot in her stomach as memories from last night come rushing back once again―his laugh, the way he’d followed her, his grip, his words.

As the train starts moving, Yuki closes her eyes for a second, hoping the feeling fades. But she can’t shake the worry that this isn’t over yet..

TO BE CONTINUED…