I think we all know character development is a good thing to have in a story, but when it comes to getting your ass beat in an over-the-top pillow fight, I don't think you could classify that as character building.

  "HAYA!" Subaru roared as pillows came flying.

  "HOW ARE YOU DUAL WIELDING?!" I cried out.

  "I'M TENGEN BITCH!"

  WHAM.

  WHAM.

  I hit the floor, staring up at him as the memory of last night clawed back into my head.

  "I can't concentrate, damn it!" I shouted in frustration, jumping back onto my feet.

  "AHHHHHHH!" Subaru shouted.

  "AHHHHH!" I screamed back, utterly sick of life.

  As we both ran at each other, each holding our own pillow, before we could get close enough to land a hit, the hall room door slammed open, and the everyone went silent instantly.

  "Whoa, it's the police," someone whispered as officers in navy and black uniforms stepped in. There were three of them, two men and a female officer.

  "Is there a Souta Kannazuki in here?" the female officer asked, and of course, Subaru and I froze. That's when Shinji whispered, "Souta... I think they're for you." He shouted more than whispered.

  No shit, dumbass?! But Shinji's little call-out gave me away, making it sound like I was hiding from them, which I wasn't. But who wants to be involved with the police? They're scary. Even if the female officer is cute.

  "So you're Souta, I take it," she said, walking up to me.

  "Y-yes, ma'am," I replied, doing my best not to stutter.

  "Good, but before I begin speaking to you," she said, turning to all the boys, "We have an ongoing issue. Someone here is escalating, and if it continues, someone will get hurt."

  The moment those words were spoken, murmurs began among the boys, but no one had any idea who it could be.

  "If anyone here thinks they've gone too far, speak up now. Your punishment will be lighter if you come forward. But if you don't..." Her eyes narrowed. "We will find you."

  Silence. Nothing, of course. I mean, what kind of terrible villain would come out the moment the police asked them to?

  "I see then; it seems we're going to play hard mode-"

  "Wait!" Subaru shouted.

  No way… it can't be, really, Subaru!

  "Wait, is it Subaru?" some voices began to murmur. I could already see the dirty looks he was getting.

  "So it was you..." The officer narrowed her eyes at Subaru.

  "NO! PLEASE, IT WASN'T ME!" he shouted, putting both hands up, flustered at the accusation.

  "Go on," the officer nodded.

  His voice shook, but I couldn't tell if it was fear... Or guilt."Well, last night, I swear I saw someone walking through the corridor, um, but when I tried to follow them, they disappeared, so I'm not sure." His eyes darted to the officer, then to me.

  "I see… and is there any reason why you're only just telling us, or even one of your teachers, this?" the officer said, clearly getting suspicious of Subaru.

  "NO! Well, the only reason was that I didn't know about this whole stalker thing."

  "Yeah, I'm not going to lie; the whole thing has been quiet. Only a select few people know about it," I replied, feeling sorry for Subaru.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  "I see then… Very well, we will need a testimony from you soon, so until then, please do your best to remember everything." The officer said before her gaze came back onto me.

  Oh shit.

  "So, Souta, if we could speak to you in a more private matter, that would be much appreciated," she said, gesturing for us to leave.

  "O-of course!" I replied, following her lead.

  The quiet murmurs that usually plague the room when something weird or bad happened weren't there this time, as if the whole room had held its breath in anticipation of what the hell was going to happen to me.

  "Souta…" I heard Shinji say my name as if this was the last time he would see me.

  I made sure to give him a small smile before we left the room.

  "Dude, can't believe there's a stalker," Felix muttered in Subaru's ear.

  "I know… And whoever they are, they're going for... Yuki" Subaru replied.

  I didn't realise my hands had clenched into fists. Right now, the stalker could be here. Someone who wanted to hurt Yuki. My jaw tightened in anger and frustration

  "Yuki..." I muttered.

  ***

  "So, Mr Kannazuki, tell me what happened on the night Miss Yuki went out to meet her alleged stalker."

  Oh, Mr Kannazuki, I feel special.

  "Um, well, I'm not all too sure why she went out.

  From what she told me, she didn't want to burden me by making me handle everything alone. I think that's why she went. But in terms of what I saw…" I said, taking a slight pause. The corridor was quiet; even the room on the other side, usually filled with loud and rowdy teenage boys, was silent, making the stillness even more awkward than it should have been. "Well, I'm not going to lie. The moment I saw him, I went into a blind rage… and I honestly don't remember much beyond that" My tone sounded disappointed.

  "Can't you remember the perpetrator's face?" she asked, glancing at the other two officers.

  "No, not because I didn't look, but the guy had a mask on. And even at the end, when I tripped and tore part of his mask, I still didn't see enough to identify him."

  "I see. Very well then, I guess there's nothing more we can do at the moment," the officer sighed.

  "We will be on the lookout and will continue our investigation. But you, Souta, since you're acting as her caretaker right now, need to make sure you're extra alert, and if anything comes up, don't hesitate to call us," the officer instructed.

  "Yes, of course. That was the plan," I replied with a smile.

  With that, I was let go, and before long, I returned to the room.

  "This guy might actually get away with it… If only Scooby were here." I muttered before opening the door

  And of course, the vibe was completely different. Everyone was quiet. No shouting, no chanting, just the sound of pages turning and the occasional whispers.

  The moment the doors closed behind me, some of the other guys actually began to get their scripts out and practice, while people like Felix, Subaru, and Shinji kind of just stood there.

  "Um, about that pillow-I mean fight, haha?" I let out a dry chuckle, unsure of how they were feeling.

  "Yeah, I think let's just move on from that," Felix muttered as he brought out his piece of paper, his eyes not reaching mine.

  "Yeah…" Subaru replied a little too quickly, also doing the same.

  My eyes wandered back to Shinji, who was staring off into space.

  “Yo, Shinji?”

  "Huh? Sorry, bro, was just lost in thought there, haha," he replied.

  "Oh, okay. You want to actually get started on the script, then?"

  "Yeah, dude. I can't believe I got the random character in the background. I was fully expecting to be a tree or something," he said, getting ready.

  "Yeah… Lucky you." I replied.

  But even as he smiled, something about him felt off. Distant, maybe. Like his mind was somewhere else entirely.

  ***

  The next two days felt like a blurry movie that somehow blended together. And you’re probably thinking: has Souta or the police gotten any clues on the mysterious stalker? I’m here to tell you that we absolutely don’t.

  Ever since that whole incident in the forest, the stalker had gone quiet, too quiet, and that scared me more than anything. The police did take the tent and the notes for forensic evidence, but that takes a while, time we don’t have.

  I found myself in one of the drama halls with Arisa, Reina, and Shiori. Yuki and Nao had gone with some of the other girls to see how Yuki's dress was coming along. I was worried at first, but since Yuki was with a group, I guess it couldn’t hurt. And though I think she didn’t really show it, I knew she was worried about me because, I’ll be honest, sleep wasn’t happening for me.

  I felt like at any moment that stalker could burst into our rooms and attack us, causing me to spend needless hours scrolling on my phone. While Nao helped me correct my stiff acting, Arisa, who sat on the floor, looked up at me.

  “Hey, Souta,” she said, her voice carrying a seriousness I hadn’t heard in a while.

  “Yes?” I replied, standing still with my arm out.

  “With everything going on, do you think you might want to, you know, step down from this role?” she asked. I paused for a brief moment, letting my arm drop to my side.

  "She was right. Somewhere between the forest and now, the play had stopped mattering," I thought to myself as the realisation crossed my mind.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I think I just… Never stopped to ask myself that.”

  Arisa tilted her head slightly, her crimson hair brushing past her eyes.

  "So what do you think? Do you really want to continue?" she asked, genuinely concerned. "You haven't gotten much sleep, and you’ve been focusing a lot of your energy on the play along with Yuki’s stalker. It seems like you need some sort of break, you know?"

  I didn’t know how to respond. My eyes drifted from Arisa to Nao-I watched as she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something... But then it closed again.

  "I guess I wouldn’t mind stepping-"

  BOOM!

  "If you're quitting, then you can call this entire thing off!" The voice sounded sharp. Familiar. And it was way too loud to be joking.

  “What the?”The girls and I muttered as our eyes landed on the door…

  DeadEndYuto.