I, Who Am Somehow Only Liked by Yanderes, Tried Transferring into a Class Full of Yandere Girls - Chapter 24: Pretending Not to Know

I, Aiji Yuto, was perplexed.

It happened tonight.

After ending karaoke with friends early, I was relaxing at home when I opened the closet to take out my summer pajamas—that’s when it happened.

There was someone in the closet.

Next to the wooden dresser, in a space that had been cleared, sat a girl, huddled with her knees pulled up to her chest, beneath the clothes hanging on hangers, in a dim and cramped spot.

—Huh?

For a moment, I thought I was seeing things.

Like mistaking a withered branch for a ghost, I wondered if I had hallucinated someone being there.

Or perhaps a zashiki-warashi (a protective house spirit) had appeared.

But, there was no mistake—a person was indeed there.

More precisely, it was a girl I recognized. It was Usuki Sayoko.

“This is…”

The surprise that welled up reflexively was about to leak out as my voice.

However, I quickly changed course.

“—Good. The summer pajamas I bought from my parents’ house are here. It’s about time to switch from long sleeves since it’s getting warmer.”

As if nothing had happened, I feigned calmness.

I must not provoke her.

I must pretend I hadn’t seen anything.

Do not show even a slight reaction.

I quietly closed the closet after taking out the summer pajamas, pretending not to have noticed anything, and sat deeply on the sofa, sighing inwardly.

—Eh? No, huh? Why is Usuki-san inside the closet?

Undoubtedly, the person sitting cramped in the darkness, hugging her knees, was my classmate and library committee member, Usuki Sayoko.

—How long has she been there? And how does she know my house? Moreover, she’s inside my room. For what purpose?

As I regained composure, a torrent of questions flooded my mind.

The answer I came to was—Stalker.

Glancing sideways at the closet, I noticed the left door was slightly ajar, and I could feel a gaze peeking out at me.

That confirms it, right?

Otherwise, she wouldn’t break into my house and hide in the closet.

Thinking back on my reaction earlier, it was indeed a fine play.

If I had exclaimed in surprise, then Usuki-san would have realized that I had noticed her, potentially leading to a strange situation.

Afterward, I managed to act as if I hadn’t noticed anything to avoid making Usuki-san aware that I was aware, and I decided to leave the house earlier than usual the next morning.

It was to give Usuki-san a chance to leave.

Usuki-san came to school a bit late the next day. It must have taken her time to return to her house and prepare after that incident.

Usuki-san was my stalker.

…No, wait, that must be some mistake.

There must have been some circumstances that necessitated her to hide in my room’s closet just for that day.

Is that even possible?

No way.

It’s stalking.

…To think that Usuki-san was on that side.

The stalking continued in the days that followed.

At night, when I returned home from my part-time job, I noticed the closet’s left door slightly ajar and thought, “Ah, she’s here again today.”

I wondered if she ever got hungry staying there all the time.

Didn’t she get bored?

And what about the bathroom?

Did her parents not worry about her being out at night?

Various questions came to mind.

I even started to worry about her.

One day, while Usuki-san was staying late at school as a library committee member, I rushed home and opened the closet.

In the space where she had been sitting, huddled with her knees, there was a reading lamp, and several books, presumably hers, were stacked up.

This girl… was enjoying herself…!

That wasn’t all.

CalorieMate and bottles of water were also stocked.

Usuki-san had steadily made her own space inside the closet.

There were empty two-liter bottles and a funnel, but I decided it was best not to think about their use.

Too careless.

It was bound to be discovered. Storing personal items was going too far. Well, I already knew.

It seems Usuki-san entered my house using a key she found in the mailbox, so I secretly changed the hiding place of the spare key.

But she was still there the next day.

She probably had already made a duplicate.

In the library, my interaction with Usuki-san continued as usual.

We shared our thoughts on the books we had recently read.

And I borrowed books recommended by Usuki-san.

There was no way I could suddenly ask, “By the way, Usuki-san, are you sneaking into my closet?”

I had to continue our interactions as if nothing had changed on the surface.

However, I needed to figure out how to get her to leave my room.

I had to regain my privacy.

To do that, I needed to naturally drive Usuki-san out of the closet without letting her know I was aware of her presence.

I devised a plan and set it into motion.

That night, sitting on the sofa and confirming that Usuki-san was there again, I operated the remote control.

The next moment.

A grotesque video played on the large screen TV visible from her position.

An extreme one.

I could feel Usuki-san in the closet, holding her breath.

I don’t have such tastes.

Yet, why would I deliberately watch something like this?

It was to discourage Usuki-san.

—This should disillusion her about me or scare her away.

The next day.

When I went to the library, Usuki-san lent me a recommended book.

“…’ Mucous Membrane Human’?”

The cover alone was ominous.

“…I, I like this work,” Usuki-san said timidly.

“I was worried that if I recommended this, you would be put off, but I thought Aiji-kun might also accept grotesque themes.”

Usuki-san also liked grotesque themes.

My plan had backfired completely.

Instead of being put off, she felt a sense of closeness to me.

The book she lent me was intense.

It was like the epitome of erotic grotesque.

Although, it was interesting.

For now, there’s no sign of Usuki-san leaving the closet.