Disclaimer: No, I am not Yandere Dev, just another one of his many fans. And therefore, I don't own Yandere Simulator, or whatever it ends up being titled in the future.

Author's Notes: Just a fun little side project for me to chew on, when I'm burnt out from doing research and planning for Tales. I'll work on this when I'll work on it.

Fun fact on dates: As of this writing, the current debug build of YanSim is set in April of 2018. The year and dates on the calendar in the debug builds have been updated regularly, over the past few years, so in all likelihood, when the full game is released, it'll be set in April of 2019 or later. But, since I have no crystal ball or magic genie to tell me which year YanSim will be set in when it's released, I'm just going to set this fanfic in 2018.

Also, since I'm working with information from debug builds and the current YanSim website, which obviously is not the final version of details, I will be getting my facts about the characters wrong. If I can fix my mistakes as they come up, great. If not, then c'est la vie.

First uploaded: 2017/05/19

Chapter 1

Week 4 - 2018, April 24th, Tuesday

"Yamada-senpai? "

Taro looked up automatically at being addressed, the sudden greeting taking him by surprise. The girl who'd approached him was standing directly in front of him, not more than a metre away. Had he truly been so engrossed with reading that he'd lost all sense of his surroundings?

"Yes, can I help you?" he said, internally trying to recall the girl's name. She definitely wasn't in his year, but that was as far as he knew. Her appearance was remarkably ordinary, compared to many of the other students of Akademi High; the only halfway-memorable accessory of hers, was the bulky Saikou camera dangling in front of her abdomen, from a strap around her neck. Otherwise, her hair wasn't dyed or styled oddly, she had no makeup, glasses, or contact lenses on, her uniform didn't seem to be modified in any way, and even her stockings were a plain black that matched her hair and eyes.

Taro suppressed an awkward cough as he realised his gaze had been wandering, and jerked it back up to her face. The girl had a small, knowing smile on her lips, as though she knew of his internal dilemma and was amused by it.

"I'm Ayano Aishi, a junior member of the Photography Club, and I have some... suspicions regarding recent events that may concern you," she said, her smile fading at the mention of the past few weeks. Taro felt his own expression freeze.

"You... you do? How does it concern me?" he asked. Did she think he was the culprit? But... but surely if she'd thought he'd done it, she wouldn't have confronted him directly, alone, would she? Although they weren't exactly alone, out here in the school's courtyard, right in front of the fountain. In recent days, most of the school's population had taken to leaving school as early as was allowed, and the few students who remained in the school after classes, whether by choice or necessity, now preferred to congregate in the courtyard.

"Yes," Aishi-san said, though she didn't look threatening or accusatory at him in particular. Instead, she looked away, scanning their surroundings briefly. "But I won't elaborate here. Could we go somewhere more private?"

He took a moment to debate the pros and cons of her request. For all he knew, Aishi-san could've been asking to lure him into some sort of trap. Even her introduction hadn't rung any bells for him.

Taro's jaw clenched as he arrested his train of thought. A mere three weeks ago, he would've thought nothing of a fellow student approaching him, readily introducing themselves, and politely asking for a private setting to give him important information. On the other hand, a mere three weeks ago, students hadn't been mysteriously disappearing or suffering injuries that they couldn't remember receiving, or dying from inexplicable accidents. Nonetheless, Aishi-san seemed trustworthy enough, so he nodded at her and tucked his bookmark into his paperback, standing up to join her.

Her strides were even and confident as she led him wordlessly from the courtyard, into one of the many disused utility closets around the school, shutting the door behind him and flicking on the switch for the fluorescent light. Taro looked around the closet, blinking as the single bulb hummed to life.

Akademi's utility closets were fairly large, and this one was no exception, its walls being lined with brown metal shelves, stocked with a variety of cardboard boxes. The scent of detergent and other chemicals was strong in the air, but otherwise, the most noteworthy pieces of furniture in the closet was the single desk and chair that had been shoved into the closet, along with a large corkboard hanging on the shelf directly across from the desk. The board was covered with both photos and pieces of paper of various sizes, most with handwritten notes on them.

He was prevented from examining the board further by Aishi-san, who moved to the desk and simply spread her hands across its surface, staring down at them, as though considering what to say. The silence grew slightly awkward as Taro realised how strange it would look if the two of them were caught together in a closet like this.

"Aishi-san?" he finally asked, hoping to prompt her to speak. "What's the meaning of all this?"

She looked back up at him, and now the first sign of uncertainty she had shown since approaching him, flitted across her face. It was gone with a quick exhale, however, and she shook her head.

"Right, sorry. I know it's weird, all this stuff in here," she said, waving her hand at the corkboard. "But... anyway, do you know about what's been happening lately?"

What a silly question, how could anyone not have known of the past few weeks, what with everyone talking about it? Taro nodded mutely, his expression flat. She laughed, a short, self-deprecating chuckle.

"Yeah, well, the Photography Club's been talking about it ever since it all started, and the other members decided to start asking around, trying to figure out who's behind it. I wanted to keep my own investigation apart from theirs, so... here I am," Aishi-san said, now turning away from him to stare at what were most likely her notes on the board. Looking at it closer now, he could identify the various subjects of the photos, from various students, including Osana, Amai, Kizana, and himself, to several scenes of... the aftermath of the incidents. Taro felt his stomach lurch as he involuntarily shut his eyes.

"... Why wouldn't you want to work with your club? And how does all this involve me?" he asked again, looking back to Aishi-san. The questions were almost painfully obvious, even to him. She remained silent for another moment, and he'd almost opened his mouth to speak again, when she resettled her gaze on him. His voice died in his throat at the grim, determined set of her eyes and mouth, all traces of mirth or sarcasm gone.

"Because I was afraid that the culprit might be someone in this school, Yamada-senpai, and so far, the only connection between all of the victims, that I can identify with any certainty… is you," she said, and her words seemed to ring like a death knell in his ears.

"I-it's n-not me..." he managed to say around the sudden dead-weight his tongue had become. Here it finally was, the accusation that he had known was inevitable, drawn from the natural observation that anyone would've made, and his only defense was a weak, stuttered denial.

"Oh," Aishi-san said, her eyes widening in surprise, "no, Yamada-senpai, I don't think you're the one behind all these incidents." She raised her hands, as if reaching out to soothe him, but she stopped the movement just shy of actually touching him, and wrapped her hands around their opposite elbows instead. "All your movements and whereabouts during the times of the incidents have been accounted for, and whoever it was, they carried out their assaults while you were nowhere near the crime scene."

Taro could've collapsed with relief at her assurance that she didn't think he was responsible for what had happened. As it was, the only thing that kept him standing and grounded was Aishi-san herself, as she continued speaking.

"I can't be sure whether your proximity to the scenes were a coincidence or not, though I think it's just a side-effect of the perpetrator making sure there were no witnesses around," she said, now furrowing her brow at the board in contemplation.

"If you don't think I did it... why am I here, then?" he asked, regaining his voice. She blinked at him.

"Because you're the only connection between the victims, as far as I can tell, Yamada-senpai," she said again, like it was obvious. "So far, all of them have been female, but they didn't know each other personally, none of them were in the same club, or in a club, in Najimi-senpai's case, and the only person that they knew in common was you."

Hesitantly, Taro swallowed past the sudden lump that had developed in his throat. He couldn't decide if having his own suspicions confirmed as true was a relief, or if it simply made things worse. "So, whoever's doing this..."

"May be targetting you next," Aishi-san said, completing his thought, and then she grimaced. "Alternatively, they may not be trying to get you at all, or at least, not directly." Taro sucked in a sudden breath.

"How?" he said, grabbing at the slim hope that he wouldn't be the next victim, like a lifeline. For the third time, Aishi-san fell silent. "Please, I need to know!" In response, she only closed her eyes, as he had earlier, and then sighed regretfully.

"From what I could gather, Najimi-senpai, Odayaka-senpai, and Sunobu-senpai are or were either very close to you, or developing... feelings, for you," she said, finally looking at him again. "So... the goal of these attacks may have been to hurt those closest to you."

If he'd felt like she'd punched him in the gut earlier, Taro now felt like he was being bludgeoned with a bat. He took a step back and hit the shelf behind him, grabbing at it for support. That his friends had been hurt, had been killed because of him... "Why?" he could only whisper, staring desperately at her.

She pursed her lips. "That's what I wanted to ask you, Yamada-senpai. Can you think of anyone who might bear you a grudge, or anything you might have done to cross someone?" she said, her voice low and soothing. It was the stability he needed to regain his bearings.

"No," he said, the answer coming easily to him. "I don't know... I'm just an average guy. I'm not looking to cause anyone any kind of trouble or anything, all I want to do is graduate with good grades! Why would anyone want to do something like this?" What could he possibly have done, to make someone angry enough at him to kill? He gripped the shelf even harder, his breaths now coming in shallow pants in his panic.

"Please, Yamada-senpai, calm down," he faintly registered Aishi-san saying. She held her hands out towards him again, palms down in a placating gesture. "You're not in danger here, I can assure you of that." No, he certainly wasn't in any danger, but his friends, what few of them he'd managed to make in passing, were. Taro could only shake his head helplessly, unable to bring himself to speak. Thankfully, Aishi-san got the message, and backed off quietly, allowing him the time to gather himself.

When he did, it was with a horrified realisation. His breath hitched in terror as he looked at her, not in fear of her, but for her. It was her turn to step back in confusion. "Ah...?"

"If-if we were seen walking together, Aishi-san... you could be next! I need to get out of here! You can't be seen with me!" he said, barely managing to keep his voice from rising into a shout. She wasn't safe, just being around him made her a target-!

"Yamada-senpai!" she said firmly, her tone slicing through his panic. "You need to calm down. Not everyone you've ever interacted with has been harmed, only people you were particularly close to. This is the first time I've even spoken to you, and as long as we can keep this a secret, I'll be fine!" Once again, it was Aishi-san's words that helped him to keep his cool. He could certainly keep quiet about her and her investigations... but that wasn't all he could do. Taro drew another deep, shaky breath, and pushed himself upright to look her straight in the eye.

"You're right. And yes, I definitely won't tell anyone about this. But please, Aishi-san... let me help you, in any way I can. I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me," he said, feeling certain about something for the first time in their conversation. He needed to help her in this; if it hadn't been for him, none of this would have been necessary. "Please," he added, his heart sinking as she frowned hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" she asked simply. "It might get personal for you."

He shook his head, his jaw clenching. "It's already personal for me, Aishi-san. I'm grateful that you've been working so hard already, on behalf of others, but it would make me feel much better if I knew you weren't doing this alone," he said.

A wry smile blossomed across her face. "Yamada-senpai, my motives aren't exactly altruistic, you know. I'm as scared as anyone else in this school right now, and I'm trying to put a stop to these crimes for my own safety as much as anyone else's. But if you're offering it, then I'll accept your help," she said, straightening up to give him a polite bow.

He answered her bow with one of his own, his mood already lifting at the thought of being able to actively help protect his friends. "Thank you, Aishi-san. I'm just glad you're doing this, no matter what your reasons are! If there's anything I can do that you need, just tell me," he said, and he even felt light enough to offer her a small smile.

"Well," she said, and her smile turned teasing again, the way it had been back in the courtyard, "what I need now is for us to not be seen leaving this closet together, just in case there's anyone watching us. You should leave first, and I'll wait a while before I come out."

And so, it was with a fire of determination lit in his heart, that Taro Yamada stepped cautiously out of a utility closet in Akademi High, after exchanging contact numbers with Ayano Aishi, to collect his things and make his way home. Whoever was trying to hurt his friends would be brought to justice, he solemnly promised himself, as the main gates of the school faded into the distance behind him.

Thanks for reading! I'm a lazy, tired jerk, so don't expect updates anytime soon!