‘Could it be because it’s Saturday… they have their own business to attend to, so they didn’t come to stalk Arisa Kiyono?’
‘Or, is it that the other party noticed my intentions and purposefully restrained their behavior?’
Xiao Chun Miura recalled the scene at the café this afternoon.
She had deliberately provoked Arisa Kiyono, making her have an exaggerated reaction to passively attract the attention of those around them.
She had tried to induce the people around them to look at Arisa Kiyono with a clear purpose: she wanted to use this “startle the snake” method to observe if anyone among the people looking on out of simple curiosity showed an abnormal reaction.
For example, “irritation due to an unexpected reaction,” or a “deviation in reaction from others due to being too focused on Arisa Kiyono.”
…But the result was that most customers just looked curiously for a moment, and a few only glanced up before continuing their own conversations.
Not a single person’s reaction exceeded the scope of a “normal passerby.”
From Xiao Chun Miura’s perspective, this was originally somewhat unreasonable.
“Was the direction of my speculation wrong from the start?”
Feeling that the bedroom was a bit stuffy, Xiao Chun Miura muttered to herself as she stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open a crack.
The night wind poured in, clearing the girl’s slightly overheated brain.
“…”
It was almost certain that the other party knew Arisa Kiyono’s movements during school. The most fitting identity for this would certainly be a classmate.
The possibility of it being a teacher wasn’t nonexistent, but when she had that thought before, she had subconsciously dismissed it.
One reason was the motive.
No matter how she thought about it, a teacher had no reason to do such things to Arisa Kiyono.
If a teacher found out Arisa Kiyono was working as an idol outside of school, they should have immediately criticized her and ordered her to stop her idol activities.
What motive could support a teacher doing such a thing to a student in their class?
Xiao Chun Miura couldn’t think of one.
She could only feel that the motive came from resentment, so the most likely candidate was a student in the class.
However, being a classmate could indeed explain how Arisa Kiyono’s movements at school were known.
But if it were just a classmate, where did all that private information come from?
Xiao Chun Miura frowned in thought.
A long time passed.
“Hm?”
A long time later—
A strange idea popped into Xiao Chun Miura’s head.
‘What if…’
‘…What if the other party isn’t just one person?’
This strange thought suddenly flashed through her mind like lightning.
She recalled the posts and replies made by “Post Forty-Nine.”
The content not only included details of school life but also extremely professional stage evaluations and precise itinerary recounts.
There were even industry rumors that only those in the business could access, such as headhunting and the like.
‘What if Post Forty-Nine isn’t a single individual, but a Malicious Collaboration Group composed of several people?’
Xiao Chun Miura suddenly shuddered.
Once this thought appeared, the previous jarring details began to snap together like puzzle pieces.
“…There could be classmates from Arisa Kiyono’s class as well as people from outside the school,” Xiao Chun Miura murmured to herself.
Classmates would be primarily responsible for monitoring Arisa Kiyono’s attendance, lunch choices, and class socialization.
When Arisa Kiyono was absent, they could lock in the news that she had no training that day.
As for the outsiders—perhaps extreme anti-fans, or professional stalkers hired by some malice—they would take over the relay, monitoring the livehouse and performance venues around the clock.
This would perfectly explain why the sources of information were so varied and rich.
Students in the class couldn’t know the internal details of the livehouse, and outsiders couldn’t know the reviews of the cafeteria food.
But if they shared an account, or if they were an organized bullying group targeting Arisa Kiyono, then it would all make sense.
Moreover, this also explained why Arisa Kiyono didn’t feel followed today.
Because today was Saturday.
The monitors who were classmates didn’t have the school as a base and couldn’t immediately lock onto Arisa Kiyono’s whereabouts.
And the outsiders responsible for the relay probably couldn’t grasp the schedule of Arisa Kiyono being suddenly asked out by Xiao Chun at noon today—after all, only the two of them knew about it.
So this unpredicted private meeting wasn’t within their surveillance scope.
Because of the appearance of Xiao Chun as a “variable,” their original fixed monitoring rhythm was disrupted, creating a brief vacuum today.
Xiao Chun Miura’s heart tightened, and she gripped her phone.
Although this hypothesis explained many issues, it also made her break into a cold sweat.
If it was really like this, then the scale and danger of the enemy had to be reassessed.
This was beyond a small spat from a classmate’s jealousy; it was a premeditated, multidimensional bullying.
Compared to this possibility, the idea of “Arisa Kiyono’s teacher doing it” didn’t even seem that absurd anymore.
At that moment, the LIME notification sounded again.
Xiao Chun Miura snapped out of it and realized she had been staring out the window for a long time.
【Sorry, I was thinking about some things.】
Picking up the phone and seeing that Arisa Kiyono was still messaging her, Xiao Chun Miura replied quickly.
【Since no abnormalities were found today, it means the other party might not have reached the level of around-the-clock monitoring yet. But you absolutely cannot let your guard down.】
【Yeah, I know.】
Arisa Kiyono’s message popped up quickly.
【But I can’t keep spending energy on this. The Anniversary is coming up, I have to work harder at rehearsals.】
Xiao Chun Miura looked at the screen, the irritation from the unclear truth growing thicker.
She didn’t plan to tell Arisa Kiyono about the “multi-person collaboration” theory yet.
The idol was already exhausted preparing for the Anniversary; if Xiao Chun told her such an impactful speculation without evidence…
She didn’t dare imagine how big a blow it would be to Arisa Kiyono, who had been under high pressure for a long time.
Arisa Kiyono’s words revealed exhaustion, making Xiao Chun Miura realize that saying these things now would only increase her psychological burden — if she knew now that she might be facing the malice of an entire group, her already precarious sense of self might instantly collapse.
【I understand. Good work, Arisa.】
Xiao Chun Miura tried to make her reply look as normal as usual.
【Let’s stop here for tonight. Focus on your rehearsals and don’t get distracted. I’ll continue to track the movements on the forum.】
【……Thanks.】
Arisa Kiyono simply sent a simple thanks, but Xiao Chun Miura knew that was the most sincere emotion the idol girl could express.
【Goodnight.】
After sending the last word, the other party’s avatar quickly darkened, showing they were offline.
Xiao Chun Miura tossed her phone onto the bed and lay down in a starfish position.
“Multi-person collaboration, huh…”
She stared at the patterns on the ceiling, as if she could see Kanzaki Sou’s eyes that could see through everything in those intricate lines.
She saw Kondo Haruka’s expression full of doubt and concern.
—And that “Post Forty-Nine” hiding in the shadows of the forum, not knowing how many people it was composed of.
The complex thoughts made Xiao Chun Miura understand.
Tonight was destined not to pass as peacefully as usual.