Aoi had returned to the classroom, but the odd feeling persisted.
While seated at her desk, her intuition of something being amiss continued to gnaw at her. She tried to concentrate on her sketchbook, on the whiteness of its pages, and on the muted sounds of her classmates' voices. But the feeling of being watched stuck with her like an unwelcome shadow.
Outside, just out of sight and certainly beyond reach, someone lay hidden.
A Presence in the Background
Masure had always been the observant type. A shadow in the corridors of Seinen High; someone even the most concrete of minds would find hard to remember.
But he was adamant about not overlooking her.
Aoi.
She was different from every girl in Seinen High. The way she moved, the way she carried on with her affairs-they seemed to suggest that she belonged to some other sphere, one that being ordinary would simply never comprehend. A true work of art, fragile, enchanting, yet elusive.
And something rare had been witnessed today.
She had been vulnerable.
Earlier in a hallway, he had noticed her standing somewhere deep in thought, her vision apparently turned far away from that of the world. The crack in her composed mask had called something buried deep within him.
He had been watching her, like he always did.
Secluded behind the corner of a distant hallway, from the edge of the crowd. Close enough to see, never close enough to be seen.
So strangely satisfying knowing her habits, her routes. Knowing when she would be alone.
And yet he knew, deep down, the ugly truth.
What he felt for her was not admiration. It hadn't been for a long time.
Still, he waited.
Because someday, she was going to notice him.
And he would be ready.