Mio Akiyama's POV:
I gulped a little as I asked Mugi.
"Wait Mugi, are you serious?"
Mugi only nodded with a worried face.
This was indeed a worrying situation. Mugi was not a type of person who would get scared due to trivial things. If she felt someone was following her, then it might as well be true.
"Who is it?", Ritsu asked with a slightly anxious look.
"I... don't know..." (Mugi)
"Did you not see his face?" (Ritsu)
"I just felt that someone was following me while I go to school and come back home. But whenever I look at every direction, I find no suspicious person." (Mugi)
All the girls thought for a moment to process the information.
"Are you sure you're not just having random thoughts?" (Ritsu)
"I mean Ritsu-senpai might be correct. You might just be mistaken, Mugi-senpai. It sometimes happens to me as well." (Azusa)
Mugi smiled wryly.
"Even I want to believe I have mistaken. But I just can't help but feel it. Whenever I'm on road, I just feel someone is following me." (Mugi)
Ritsu was a little sceptical at first but she was also showing concerns.
"Okay... that's not good looking. You need to be careful." (Ritsu)
"Yeah! Mugi! You need to be careful. I'm scared." (Yui)
Yui was so anxious that it seemed like she was about to cry.
"It's okay Yui. Don't worry so much." (Mugi)
"Yeah. Yui needs to calm down.", I said and patted her head to calm her down.
"B-But Mio. Mugi might be in trouble!" (Yui)
I sighed as I also felt she was right.
"Mugi-senpai, did you say to anyone regarding this, like your parents?" (Azusa)
"N-No. Actually even I think I might be mistaken so I didn't bother to tell them. Besides this odd feelings is coming to me only since two days ago." (Mugi)
Azusa then thought a little. Then she asked,
"Right now, do you think someone is following you or us?" (Azusa)
Ritsu chuckled a little to lighten the mood.
"Yeah... right now we all are together. I don't think someone will dare to follow you now." (Ritsu)
"Actually... I do think someone is following us RIGHT NOW." (Mugi)
All five of us simultaneously stopped at our track. Everyone of us was too shocked to say anything. Yui got so scared that she clung on to me. Ritsu, the one who always boasted about her bravery, was shivering.
"C-Come on. You're joking right?", Ritsu stuttered and looked our surroundings.
"I'm not joking." (Mugi)
"I looked everywhere. Couldn't find any suspicious person." (Ritsu)
"Yeah, There's no one around us.", I too tried to calm everyone down.
Mugi was silent, but she definitely seemed alarmed. Meanwhile Yui was also too scared to say anything. Azusa thought a little and said,
"We should walk again... but simultaneously looking around everywhere." (Azusa)
"You're right, Azusa.", I supported her idea.
"Azu-nyan I'm scared." (Yui)
"Come on Yui, we all are here. Don't be a scaredy cat." (Ritsu)
As we were walking, everyone was cautiously noticing at different directions. Only Yui was too scared to look at the surroundings. We were also whispering to ourselves.
"Again there's no suspicious person I can see." (Ritsu)
"Me too. Mugi-senpai, can you see anyone?" (Azusa)
"No. Even I can't see anyone suspicious." (Mugi)
"H-How many people are on the street anyway?" (Yui)
"Not many. Just a few men and women. Also a few high school boys on the other side of the street, who definitely don't look suspicious to me." (Mio)
"Yeah those boys are laughing among themselves. I don't see them being creepy or suspicious either." (Ritsu)
Mugi also nodded while agreeing with us.
"You're right. For now, no one around us is suspicious. But still, I'm feeling someone following us." (Mugi)
"Really? Even now? But I don't see who is suspicious.", I frowned while looking at every direction again.
"Mugi, you should seriously relax a little. You seem really tired." (Ritsu)
Ten more minutes passed while we were walking. Yui was still a little scared about our surroundings. She then meekly asked,
"Right now, how many people are around us?" (Yui)
"Let's see... Not many people again. Three old women are walking. A few high school boys as well. Some other high school girls too were walking. And some children." (Ritsu)
"I don't see anyone suspicious even now. I honestly don't get what is making Mugi-senpai worried." (Azusa)
Even I was confused as Mugi was so hell bent on claiming someone was following us.
Yui tried to smile a little and said:
"Mugi... you should eat some chocolate cookies to calm your mind." (Yui)
Mugi chuckled a little. It seemed like she was about to finally relax as well. Ritsu also chuckled.
"Yui might be right. I see that boy there is also eating a chocolate cookie." (Ritsu)
"Who?" (Yui)
"See that boy walking some ten yards behind us on the other side of the street. He is also eating a cookie." (Ritsu)
"Oh I see... mmm... I want to eat some as well." (Yui)
I rolled my eyes at her words.
"Oh come on, Yui. Didn't you eat like five cookies just earlier?" (Mio)
Yui frowned at my words and pouted a little at me. The others were suppressing their laughter. Mugi was also looking at good mood. However, suddenly she noticed something, and her smile faded away.
"Did something happen, Mugi?", I asked while noticing her concerned expression.
Mugi then indicated all of us to get close to her. Everyone did so and then she whispered:
"You see that boy eating the cookie?" (Mugi)
"Yeah. You want some cookie too?" (Ritsu)
"No! That boy... I feel he might be the one following us." (Mugi)
"What!?" (Everyone)
Everyone of us were both surprised and confused after hearing that. I then glanced at the boy. I was doubtful after looking at him. I then whispered again,
"Really? Mugi, are you sure? That guy really doesn't give me creepy vibes." (Mio)
"Yeah... I agree with Mio. That seems like a bored guy minding his own business." (Ritsu)
"You see... I just realized I saw this guy almost everywhere for the past two days." (Mugi)
"Eh??", everyone gasped at Mugi's words. Azusa then immediately glanced behind to look at the boy. The boy was tall and had short black hair. He was neither handsome nor ugly. He seemed your average high school guy. He was still eating a cookie while walking.
"Unm... Mugi-senpai, no matter how many times I look at him, I just don't see him as a creep. Are you really sure this guy is the one you always noticed following you?" (Azusa)
"Yes. At first I didn't realize it. But now I rememberI did see a guy eating a cookie behind me while either walking or sitting in the train." (Mugi)
Ritsu was now becoming impatient.
"Okay. Let's just confront that guy and ask him. No need to fear him, he looks like an average loser. And we are five girls together. If he is indeed a stalker, I will beat the shit out of him." (Ritsu)
"Wait Ritsu." (Mio)
I somehow grabbed Ritsu's hand to stop her.
"Why are you stopping me, Mio?" (Ritsu)
"Ritsu, it's not good to confront and disturb someone without enough evidence." (Mio)
The others also agreed with me. Ritsu frowned a little and asked, "What should we do then?".
I thought a little and then decided a plan.
"Hey Mugi, you are about to catch the train right now? How long is your train journey?" (Mio)
"Yes, it's just of 15 minutes." (Mugi)
"Great! Everyone, let's go to Mugi's house today." (Mio)
Everyone was a little confused. Yui tilted her head and asked.
"Are we planning to eat some cake at Mugi's house?" (Yui)
"No, Yui. We are going to be with Mugi today to notice if any suspicious guy follows her. Especially the guy who is currently behind us. If the guy really follows Mugi even on the train and gets down at the same station as Mugi, then we can conclude this guy is indeed the stalker of Mugi." (Mio)
The others finally understood my plan and agreed to go with it. Mugi also nodded and approved my plan. Yui chimed in and said,
"It's actually a good idea. If he's indeed the stalker, we will confront him. If he's not, we will still look for any other suspicious guy. If no one comes as a stalker, we will go to Mugi's house and eat cake."
We all chuckled at the ever hungry Yui's plan.
"Well... is the boy still behind us?", Ritsu whispered.
"Yeah... he doesn't look like he's paying attention to us though. I still think he's not a stalker." (Azusa)
"Let's just wait till we reach the train station." (Ritsu)
As we reached the train station, after a brief amount of time the boy didn't seem anywhere close to us.
After five of us entered the train, we stood together at one corner. I was frankly very relaxed knowing the boy was not anywhere near. It seemed like he was really not a creep. We were just misunderstood.
"Well... it seems like the boy was not a creep. As I thought." (Azusa)
"I told you, Ritsu. We shouldn't have confronted him. It would have made the innocent guy freak out." (Mio)
"Haha you're correct. Poor guy would have been traumatized." (Ritsu)
Mugi didn't say anything and just smiled softly.
"So... we are going to Mugi's house, right? I'm excited." (Yui)
"Yeah we are." (Mio)
After a short 15 minutes journey, we got out of the train. However, as we were leaving the train station, suddenly we got ourselves into a Big problem.
A group of five guys who seemed like college students, suddenly confronted us.
"Oh my god...", I gasped a little. This was going to be a problem. All of us, including even Ritsu, started to panic as the guys suddenly giving us dangerous stares.
"Hey look at these cuties... what a coincidence. We are also five. Wanna hangout?"
"Umm... no. Please leave our path.", I tried to keep my composure. However the guys then blocked all the directions.
Ritsu really wanted to beat them up, but their number was too much of her. Yui was almost about to cry. Azusa and Mugi was also getting extremely worried.
Suddenly I heard a continuous noise which kind of resembled gunshots. In a flash, the five guys groaned and held their heads in pain. It seemed like they were getting hit by something.
"Ouch! Ouch what is it?"
"I don't know. Ouch..."
As they were rattling in pain, we got a chance to escape. I held Yui's hand and also indicated others and sneaked out of there.
No one's POV:
The confused guys looked at the girls escaping but couldn't do anything to stop them as they were still getting hit by some "wooden bullets".
Then finally, the rain of bullets stopped.
"What the fuck was that? Wooden bullets? Who were hitting us?"
"Me."
All of them looked behind to see a tall, short haired, high school boy, with a gun in hand.
"You think it's funny, you brat! Your wooden bullets have stopped us getting some chicks! You will pay for it."
As they made a few steps forward, the boy suddenly put his gun in his pocket and pulled out another gun under his belt.
"You guys are not going to learn, are you?", he warned them sternly.
"Oh! Look at the audacity. Do you really think your wooden bullets going to save you?"
*BANG*
"Ughh! What the fuck!"
One of the guys cried and held his leg as blood began to flow. His friends had just seen absolute horror in front of their eyes.
"You idiot. This one has real bullets. And don't make me angry. I really don't want to murder anyone. Just remember not to lay a hand on those girls ever."
His bone chilling warning was enough for the guys to panic and run away. The one guy who was bleeding from his leg, was also somehow running for his life.
Kazuhiko smiled a little and went to the other direction. His task was not finished yet. He had to make sure Tsumugi Kotobuki and her friends reach her house safe.
In the meantime, he also resumed eating another piece of his favorite chocolate cookies.
[TO BE CONTINUED]