The day quietly came to an end. Unfortunately, I didn't really accomplish anything that major.

As I headed downstairs to go to my cubbyhole, I ran into some familiar faces on the way.

"My, Takanori-san? Good afternoon."

"Oh... Shinomiya-senpai. Hey."

It was Shinomiya and Oozora. It seems they were talking about something before I accidentally interrupted them with my presence.

"Hey, Takanori-san. You doing good?"

Oozora greeted me next.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine. And you, Oozora-senpai?"

Shinomiya and Oozora looked at each other strangely.

"Um, Takanori-san... that's not Oozora-san."

"...it's not?"

I squinted at Oozora. No matter how I looked at it, it was definitely him.

Seeing my dumbfounded expression, Shinomiya began laughing softly.

"No, no. This is actually Suzui-kun."

"...I'm sorry?"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. That was Nibiiro?

I rubbed my eyes and looked at him again.

I seriously couldn't believe what I was seeing. Down to the style of their hair to the colour of their eyes, Nibiiro looked exactly like Oozora...

"Oops, I probably should've kept on my tie. My bad."

Nibiiro took out a Drachma Red tie out of his bag and strung it around his neck loosely.

"Wow... are you and Oozora-senpai doppelgängers?"

The chances of that happening are one in 135. I was honestly impressed that I got to witness it firsthand.

"I guess we are. You're not the first to mistake me as him."

Nibiiro merely chuckled like it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I'm surprised it happens so often, considering Oozora-san has a tattoo on his neck."

Shinomiya was right. If there was one way to easily tell these two apart, it was with that black tattoo.

Even so, that might be troublesome since the shirt collar covers their neck up. If it were more visible, I might've not mistaken Nibiiro for Oozora.

"Sorry about that."

I apologised for my ignorance. Nibiiro shook his head.

"Hey, you're all good. Actually, it's pretty convenient that me and Mai-san ran into you today."

For some reason, I felt irritated by Nibiiro calling Shinomiya by her first name.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Recently, people seen hanging out with her have been receiving strange letters."

"Strange letters? What do you mean by that?"

Nibiiro side glanced at Shinomiya.

"...should I show him?"

"...yeah. I don't want Takanori-san to freak out if he does get one."

It seems they were hesitant to show me. Was it really that bad?

Nibiiro took out a letter from his bag and handed it to me.

Opening it up, it was the exact same "I'll kill you" letter I received on Sunday.

...wait, so Nakajima wasn't the one who sent this letter to me?

I furrowed my eyebrows. If it wasn't him, then who did?

"Calling it a strange letter was just a nice way of putting it. They're actually death threats. I've gotten three so far."

"Yikes. I'm guessing Shinomiya-senpai's other friends have gotten them too?"

"Yeah. Nozomi-san got two, and everyone else got one each."

That was scary to think about. As I handed the letter back to Nibiiro, Shinomiya turned to me.

"Since we were seen at the gym together, there's a high chance you might get one too... but I really hope not. I don't want to see one of my precious kouhai getting dragged into this mess."

"Shinomiya-senpai..."

I gazed at Shinomiya, who looked incredibly guilty over a situation that wasn't even in her control.

"...does this have to do with your stalker by any chance?"

She paused briefly before nodding.

"Yes... it's most likely their doing."

Shinomiya didn't want to believe that the person stalking her would also go after her friends and acquaintances, yet it was the only reasonable explanation for these death threats.

I didn't want to worry her anymore than she already was, so I seriously considered not telling them about what I received. However, I figured it was probably better to tell them the truth.

"Actually... on Sunday, I received a letter like that."

A look of defeat appeared on Shinomiya's face.

"It seems we were too late to warn you... I'm sorry, Takanori-san."

"It's not your fault. The letter didn't bother me that much anyways."

"You did look surprisingly calm when you looked at my copy." Nibiiro said.

"Even so, you shouldn't have to be involved in my situation! It's not fair for you..."

"It's not exactly fair to feel so guilty because of your stalker either, Shinomiya-senpai."

Nibiiro put his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it.

"He's right, Mai-san. What's done is done. We should use Takanori-san's involvement to our advantage."

"Wait, are you saying... you want him to participate in our plan...?"

"Yeah. The more people we have on our side, the better."

"But he's just a 1st Year, Suzui-kun! We can't put him in danger like that!"

"Going off what Itteki-senpai and Sakate-senpai have told me about him, Takanori-san will be fine. If anything, he's exactly what we're missing."

"What do you mean?"

"His strength."

I narrowed my eyes slightly when Nibiiro said that.

How did he find out about that? I know that he's aware of the time I punched Ritaka, but surely he couldn't have based his assessment of my power just on that.

I didn't trust him the first time we met, and this was only making me further distrust him. What kind of ridiculous nonsense has Itteki and Onibitenbu been telling this guy?

"Takanori-san's one of the strongest first years."

"But Itsuki-kun said he was one of the weakest?"

"He spread that info among the 2nd Years to protect Takanori-san from their scrutiny back when he was being labelled as a woman beater. It directly contradicted with the idea that he could overpower a girl if he was weaker than one."

I had no idea that Asukai did such a thing for me, simply because his little sister was involved in the incident. I can't say I'm exactly happy he did though, since Masaoka and Miura ended up attacking me to try and test my strength.

"In reality, he probably has strength equal to or higher than Itsuki. If we want to take down that stalker once and for all, we'll need more muscle power."

So that was Shinomiya and Nibiiro's plan, huh? They were going to catch that stalker themselves.

"I guess I can't argue with that... me and Nozomi won't be of much use, and you have that heart condition holding you back. At best, we have Itsuki-kun, Masaoka-san, Miura-san, and Jouji-kun, but even then I'd question if Jouji-kun could keep up with those three."

"Jouji could put up a fight if he wanted too, but he definitely wouldn't be on the same level as those former delinquents."

I don't know, I heard through the grapevine that Jouji punched a kangaroo in the face once.

"Thought so."

"That's why, if we bring Takanori-san aboard, he could fill in that spot for him. I think he'd be able to keep up."

"I see... but I'm still hesitant on getting a 1st Year involved, though. We'd look like irresponsible senpais, dragging him along."

To be honest, when I heard Shinomiya had a stalker, I also wanted to take the stalker down to protect her. Now that the option to do so was presented to me, I wanted in.

At the same time, I didn't want to needlessly worry her due my status as her kouhai, so I spoke up to reassure her that I'd be fine.

"Shinomiya-senpai, you don't have to worry about me. If it's to take down your stalker, then I don't mind fighting on your behalf. As long as you're safe, that's all I care about."

Shinomiya's eyes widened gently.

"Takanori-san..."

Nibiiro smiled at my resolve.

"You found yourself a good kouhai, Mai-san."

"Yeah... thank you so much for going this far for me."

"It's nothing."

"We're planning to strike on the weekend after finals week. It's likely they'll be highly stressed due to the exams and will try to stalk Mai-san as a way to relieve some of it. That's when we'll pounce."

"I see. That's perfect, actually."

If they were planning to take the stalker down this week, it might have caused some issues for me.

"One more thing, actually."

"What is it?"

"You guys have a Korean girl in your class, don't you?"

"You mean Siyeon-san?"

"Yeah. I'd like to ask a favour from her."

Shinomiya and Nibiiro looked at each other in surprise.

"You do? What's it about?"

"I need her ability to speak Korean for something."

"I see... sure, we can introduce you to her. Come on, follow us."

Shinomiya and Nibiiro led me to 2-E where Siyeon was.

After introducing ourselves to each other, I asked for my favour and Siyeon agreed to help me out.

While I left school later than I intended, I got some invaluable assets for the special exam in the process.