The third day of school brought a new, unsettling sensation to Ryder's life: the feeling of being watched. Not in the way Aharee Ren watched him—which was like being scrutinized by a curious kitten—but a gaze that felt like a cold laser beam pointed at the back of his neck.
Ryder shifted in his seat, his sharp eyes scanning the classroom. Everything seemed normal. Ishikawa was catching up on sleep, Sarah was diligently highlighting her notes, and Aharee... Aharee was currently trying to balance a single mechanical pencil lead on the tip of her nose.
'Focus, Ryder,' he told himself, rubbing his temples. 'You're just paranoid because of yesterday's towelette incident. There is no secret organization following you. There is no—'
His thought cut off as he glanced at the classroom's rear sliding door. A tuft of dark hair and a single, trembling eye were visible through the small glass pane. As soon as Ryder made eye contact, the tuft of hair vanished with a muffled squeak.
'A spy!' Ryder's internal alarms went off. 'A scout from a rival school? Or perhaps a government agent sent to monitor Aharee's spatial anomalies? I knew it! Her silence wasn't just a quirk; it was a security protocol!'
Before he could investigate, a small tug on his sleeve brought his attention back to his immediate left. Aharee had failed her pencil-lead-balancing mission. The lead was now stuck to her cheek, and she was looking at him with her usual unreadable expression.
"....h....p...."
Ryder didn't even hesitate this time. He was becoming a pro. He leaned in until their noses were inches apart, a distance that would have made any other teenage boy faint. "Help? You want help getting it off?"
Aharee nodded once.
Ryder reached out with his large, steady hand. He had to be precise. Taking a deep breath, he gently plucked the tiny lead from her skin. Her cheek felt like a cool marshmallow.
CRASH!
The sound of a falling trash can echoed from the hallway. Ryder bolted upright, looking at the door. "Who's there?!"
No answer. Only the sound of frantic, retreating footsteps that sounded suspiciously like someone tripping over their own feet multiple times.
'They're clumsy,' Ryder noted, narrowing his eyes. 'An elite assassin wouldn't trip. This is a diversion. They want me to lower my guard.'
He turned back to Aharee, who was now holding a pair of binoculars. Where she got them, Ryder didn't want to know. She wasn't looking out the window; she was looking through the wrong end of the binoculars at Ryder's hand.
"Aharee-san, we're in the middle of Literature class," Ryder whispered urgently. "Put the optics away."
Aharee lowered the binoculars and whispered into the air, "....o....s....h....i...."
"Oshi?" Ryder repeated. "Is that a bird? A type of snack? A command to 'push' something?"
Aharee shook her head. She pointed toward the shadows in the corner of the room, near the cleaning locker.
Ryder followed her finger. There, squeezed into a space no wider than a textbook, was a tall, lanky girl with glasses that were practically opaque from how much she was sweating. She was clutching a camera like it was a holy relic, and she was vibrating so hard she was creating a low-frequency hum.
'The Shadow!' Ryder's brain went into overdrive. 'She's infiltrated the perimeter! She's documenting my every move! Is she writing a manifesto? A biography of my failures? Or is she—'
The girl, noticing Ryder's gaze, let out a sound like a deflating balloon and tried to merge with the wall.
"....m...y....f...r...i...e...n...d...." Aharee whispered.
Ryder blinked. He looked at the trembling girl in the corner, then back at Aharee. "That's your friend? Oshi-san?"
Aharee nodded.
Oshi suddenly found the courage to speak—or rather, to shout in a terrified, shaky voice that was still barely a whisper. "D-D-D-Don't... don't you dare... hurt... Ren-chan!"
Ryder felt his fearsome face twitch. "I'm not hurting her! I was just... removing a pencil lead!"
Oshi's eyes widened behind her glasses. "I saw it! You were... you were touching her face! You giant! You... you predator of small things!"
'A predator?!' Ryder was offended. 'I am a gentleman of the highest order! I have a three-foot comfort radius policy!'
"Listen, Oshi-san," Ryder began, trying to look as non-threatening as a six-foot-tall boy with a permanent scowl could look. "I'm just her neighbor. We're... we're just talking."
"Ren-chan doesn't talk to strangers!" Oshi hissed, though she was still hiding behind a stack of plastic chairs. "She's too quiet! Too pure! You're using your... your overwhelming height to confuse her sensors!"
Aharee, sensing the tension, decided to intervene in the only way she knew how. She stood up, walked over to Oshi, and hugged her. But because it was Aharee, she didn't just hug her; she climbed Oshi like a tree, hanging off her neck with her legs dangling in the air.
Oshi's face went through three different colors before settling on a bright purple. "R-Ren-chan! Too close! I... I'm going to... transcend!"
Ryder watched this display of chaotic friendship with a mixture of awe and exhaustion. 'So this is her life. A silent girl who thinks she's loud, and a stalking friend who thinks everyone is a villain. I'm the only normal person in this triangle, and that's a terrifying thought.'
He walked over, his heavy footsteps making Oshi flinch. He reached out a hand—not to grab, but to steady Aharee before she fell off her human climbing frame.
"Look," Ryder said softly. "I like Aharee-san too. As a friend! As a neighbor! I promise, I'm not here to... 'confuse her sensors'."
Oshi looked at Ryder's hand, then at his face. She seemed to be calculating his threat level. "You... you promise? No giant-style bullying?"
"No giant-style bullying," Ryder sighed.
Oshi adjusted her glasses, her trembling finally slowing down to a mild shiver. "Fine. But I'll be watching. From the vents. From the floorboards. From the very air you breathe, Ryder-kun."
'Please don't,' Ryder thought.
Aharee let go of Oshi and landed perfectly on her feet. She walked back to her desk, tugging on Ryder's blazer as she passed.
"....t...h...a...n...k....u...."
Ryder sat back down, feeling the weight of 500 chapters starting to settle on his shoulders. He had a girl who sat 1cm away from him, and a shadow that watched him from the darkness.
He looked at Aharee. She was now trying to see if she could fit her entire hand inside her mouth.
'Yeah,' Ryder thought, a faint, genuine smile appearing on his face. 'Peace was overrated anyway.'
He picked up his pen and started taking notes, acutely aware of the "Oshi-sensor" still pointing at him from the back of the room. It wasn't the peaceful high school life he had planned, but as he watched Aharee successfully fit three fingers in her mouth and look at him for approval, he realized he wouldn't trade this "unmeasurable distance" for anything in the world.