Disclaimer: Again I don't own Flame of Recca.

I have no beta reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are mine.

Yes, this chapter is also edited. I don't think I need to repeat the reason why.

Stalker

Chapter 2: I'm Just Near You And You Don't Know It

Fuuko opened the door of the room where the photography club will be having their meeting. The club was composed of almost 100 members. Tokyo University offers different organization and countless of extracurricular activities for their students. Anyone can enter any (and as many) guild that he wants to be part of, given that he would be able to handle it along with his academics.

As for her, she was a member of the photography club and a contributor to their college's newspaper. She was taking up a course in journalism and thought that it would be a good idea to join the photography club since she's a photographer by whim and taking pictures are also part of her course.

"Hello!" She greeted the other members which were there already. They weren't that many since it was only five minutes after 5. A chorus of hi and hellos answered her greeting. She strode towards a guy who was near the open window and patted his back. "Natsuo, I'm here." She said.

Kamatari Natsuo turned his head towards her and smiled. "I thought you weren't coming." He pinched Fuuko's right ear, playfully. He was an inch taller than Fuuko, with blond hair and blue eyes. He's one of the photography club's officers. Above all, he's also Fuuko's closest friend (next to Yanagi-chan and that bastard Recca) and is a hundred percent gay.

"Of course I'll come!" Fuuko retorted, rubbing her ear when Natsuo finally released his hand. "I think you want me to lose my ear, damn it!" She cursed. "I just pierced it last night."

Natsuo peered at her right ear. A small earring can be seen on the upper part. He let out a sigh. "What are you planning to do with your ears anyway? Put some holes all around it? Gosh Fuuko-chan! You're not turning into a punk, are you?"

"Of course not!" Fuuko answered defensively. "It just looks cute. And if I want to, I can let it close again. No need to fuss! Besides it's the only earring I'm wearing." She tucked her long hair back.

"Ok, ok!" Natsuo held up his hands in defeat. "I got the point." He glanced again at her. "And I think you're right. It looks cute."

Fuuko beamed and sat on the window sill. "So what's this meeting all about?"

Natsuo frowned. "Sheesh, can't you wait 'til all the members are here so I don't have to explain it again?" He complained.

"Hey," Fuuko retorted. "In case you're forgetting Mr. Vice-President, I'm also a club officer." She crossed her arms and pouted. "I have the right to know what kind of agendas we have."

"Point taken." Natsuo answered. He pouted back at her. "You're starting to sound like our Mikagami-sama." He joked.

Fuuko groaned. "Gee Natsuo-chan. How can I forget that you're also a member of Mikagami Tokiya's official fan club?" She said sarcastically. "Don't you have a meeting today with your fellow members?"

Natsuo laughed. "Dah-ling," he drawled. "Me and half of the female and the whole acting-females here at Tokyo University are members of his fan club." He paused momentarily to glance at her before continuing. "We are already planning to form a kind of cult with him as our god, you know, just like Dionysus or Apollo."

"Cut it out." Fuuko whispered fiercely. The door opened and more members came in. "Are you telling me that you're also planning to make a statue of him and worship it?"

Natsuo gave her a surprised look. "How did you know that?" He gasped. "Do you want to join us? We can make you the high priestess since…"

"Are you crazy?" Fuuko interrupted, placing both of her hands on her hips.

Natsuo laughed rather sarcastically. "Your expression's worth a million Fuu-chan." He rolled his eyes. "I wish I had a camera with me."

"That was sick." Fuuko muttered. "I thought you're really planning to form some cult." She gave a small sigh of relief.

"Hey, I wasn't joking about it." Natsuo replied. "Actually every member agreed to it. A lot of us are willing to sell all our belongings so we can make a statue of him." Fuuko stared at him wide-eye. "But," Natsuo continued. "Since we have Yumi Haru, a very talented sculptor, we don't have to worry about money." He glanced at Fuuko whose jaw dropped off its hinges.

He waved her expression away like it was some sort of a mosquito. "Are you surprised? We have so many plans…" He sighed dreamily.

"He's mine now!"

"Nani?" Natsuo looked at her with a surprised expression. "Care to repeat that again?"

"I said Mikagami Tokiya's mine now." Fuuko repeated with a smug smile on her lips.

Natsuo sniffled. "You don't have to make me remember that fact." He cried, dabbing his eyes with a lacy handkerchief. "It breaks my heart."

"Yumi Haru, huh?" Fuuko repeated the name, so as to change the subject. "The name's familiar." She heard that name before, but when and where, she couldn't remember.

"And you call yourself a journalist." Natsuo commented with a snort. "You did an article about her and her winning sculpture a few months ago. Have you forgotten about it already?"

Fuuko snapped her fingers. "Yeah, you're right." Now she remembers. "The editor loved my story, ne?" She winked at Natsuo who snorted again.

"So you've seen some of her work? How would you rate it?"

"Perfect 10." Fuuko answered. "Or maybe I'd go for 20."

"Same here." Natsuo agreed. "So this Yumi Haru, she has this piece that she's currently working on for an upcoming competition. I just thought you might be interested to know. Maybe you can help me make an article about it for the paper. Kami knows how they need some good news to feature there." Natsuo was also a contributor to their paper just like her.

"Uh-huh."

"This piece," Natsuo continued. "She calls it 'The Unknown'. I haven't seen what it looks like but you could go, or we could go, and check it personally in her apartment."

"Seems like the university's entering her to a lot of competitions." Fuuko observed.

"You're right. But who could blame them? We have so many talented artists here. And that includes both of us." Natsuo winked at her and she laughed. "But that's not really my concern."

"And what is?" Fuuko queried.

"In this competition that she would enter, she's required to bring two sculptures as entries." Natsuo explained. "The other sculpture is the one that concerns me now."

Fuuko's brows furrowed. "Why? What's the other sculpture?"

Natsuo smiled. "Mikagami Tokiya!"

"Would you stop that? It's not funny!" The former Fuujin wielder managed not to screech in front of all the photography club members.

Natsuo shrugged. "That's what she told me. And I passed it on to you since she's afraid to tell you personally. Besides if that sculpture won, then it would be the perfect statue for our about-to-be-founded-cult to worship, ne Fuuko-chan? I even suggested to Yumi that she should sculpt Tokiya-sama naked." He let out a high tinkling laugh, while Fuuko was fighting the urge to send him flying to the sky.

"QUIT. IT!" Fuuko punctuated her sentence, indicating that she's near to being irritated. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Besides, what makes you think Tokiya will agree to that?"

Natsuo stopped laughing. "That's where you'll come in honey." He looked at her somberly for a moment and without another word, he suddenly threw himself at her feet. "Come on Fuuko-chan! Convince him please!" Everyone turned to look at them.

Fuuko turned red, and tried prying off Natsuo's arms which were wrapped around her leg. "Please, oh, pretty please with sugar on the top." Natsuo continued clinging at her leg.

"Ignore us, please." The purple-haired girl grinned sheepishly at the club members who were staring at them, wide-eyed. "Natsuo's just having his episodes." Turning to her so-called, exaggeration-loving friend, she growled. "Get up or I'll throw you out of the window."

"Not until you agree to convince Mikagami-san." Natsuo retorted.

Fuuko sighed and leveled her face with his. "I can't and he wouldn't agree to it. Now get up. You look stupid."

As if recalling that he's one of the most respected students in the university, Natsuo stood up confidently, dusted his shirt and cleared his throat. He glanced at Fuuko, who had one of her eyebrows up.

"If you can't convince him, then what kind of girlfriend are you?" Natsuo muttered.

"How about YOU convince him." Fuuko suggested.

"And have my pretty head chopped off?" Natsuo replied. "No, thank you. I'm too young to die."

Fuuko gave him a 'see-what-I-mean' look.

"Sheesh," Natsuo murmured. He sighed and looked at her. "Are you sure you can't?"

"Can't." Fuuko answered.

"Not even if you beg him?"

"No."

"Or serve him as his slave?"

"Why would I do that?"

"How about if you bargain with your body?"

"Do you want me to chop your head off?"

"Oh come on he can't resist that."

"How did you know?"

"For Kami's sake are you that stupid Fuuko? With that body?"

"Are you insulting me?"

"Gomen! I'm joking!"

"I said no!"

"Onegai!"

"No!!"

"Not if you tell him, you'd let him do whatever he wants with your body?"

"He already did."

"Nani?"

"I'm joking!" Fuuko rolled her eyes. "Mi-chan's not a pervert. Unlike some people I know." She looked at him pointedly and Natsuo pretended to whistle.

"Fuuko-chan's got a secret." Natsuo sang.

"It's not what you're thinking!" Fuuko retorted.

Natsuo grinned. "If you say so…"

"There's nothing going on like that between us." Fuuko reasoned out.

"Spare me the excuses." Natsuo replied, examining his fingernails as if it was the most important thing in the world.

"You're really a pervert!" She bonked his head.

"That hurts!"

Fuuko groaned. "I'm going to repeat it. There's nothing going on between us like that. Is it that hard to understand?"

"A little defensive aren't we?" Natsuo teased. "Ok, so there's nothing going on between you and our Tokiya-sama like that 'thing'?"

Fuuko took a deep breath to calm her nerves. At least, Natsuo managed to get that inside his thick-skulled head.

"But certainly there IS something going on between both of your legs, ne?" He smiled sweetly at Fuuko.

It was all Fuuko could do to stop herself from killing Natsuo.

Natsuo let out a laugh. Fuuko gritted her teeth. Calm down, Fuuko-chan, calm down. She repeated it over and over again, like a chant. Or you'll end up killing this so-called friend of yours.

"Don't take it that seriously. I'm only joking." Natsuo patted her shoulder.

"I would love to slit your throat," Fuuko muttered. "You seem to be picking me as your target today. Do you have a problem?"

Natsuo shook his head, laughing a little. "Gomen! You know I just love teasing you." He smiled and looked around. "Well I think we better start the meeting now." He sauntered off to the front of the room.

Fuuko followed him with her gazed and sighed.

--

There she is--my beautiful goddess. She looks good no matter what she wears. She seemed to be having some fun time with her gay friend, Kamatari Natsuo. I have to be careful of this guy also. Just like Yanagi, he might be another threat. He's also smart.

I don't think he knows anything about my letter. Fuuko didn't show it to him. Yanagi-san's the only one who knows about it. At least, I'm still safe. But will she tell Mikagami about it? Well I'm going to find out. He smiled discreetly, aware that there are people around him.

My Fuuko-chan. I left a little gift inside your locker. I hope you like it. He glanced at her again. I'm sure you'll try harder this time to figure out who sent it to you. Well too bad, you can't.

He smiled again.

I'm just near you… and you don't know it.

-To Be Continued-

So how was it? I hope the edited version's much better than the first one.