(Un)Fortunately the Yandere is Not After Me

A Mile in the Other's Shoe

All night, he could hardly sleep a wink with what was on his mind. At class, he could hardly keep his eyes open.

"Are you all right?" His seatmate asked him, once they finally got their break.

"It's nothing major, just didn't get that much sleep last night." He answered. It was the truth, but the reason was something he didn't want to mention.

"That sounds like a bit of a shame." A shame indeed, but Arata realized. It might be a good idea to try to get to know Erina better, but if she was going to be so hard to talk to. Then maybe the better option was right next to him.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what do you need?" He knew that he probably didn't have to ask for permission because Yogi was generally nice enough to listen to anything. He just wanted to be considerate, seeing what that boy had to put up with on a daily basis.

"How did you meet Erina in the first place?"

"Well, formally, it was when she transferred into our class last year."

"Wait, she was a transfer student?"

"You don't remember, man you really don't pay attention to what's going on around you." That was an understatement. All he remembered from their last year was that Erina seemed to come out of nowhere one day. Otherwise, he never paid any mind to his classmates.

"Well what about on a personal level. I mean, you're friends now." Yogi took some time to think it over. It had been a while, and it wasn't something he always thought about. He snapped his fingers when it came to him.

"Now I remember, the first time we truly talked. Was when the teacher assigned us to take care of the garden on the roof." There was a garden on the roof? That was news to Arata, but he didn't mention it. That would just prompt the same joke from before. "She was so shy then. But I guess it isn't easy going to school the first time after moving away from your parents."

"Away from her parents? I never knew she lived on her own."

"I thought you did, aren't you two close now?"

"No, we're not as close as you might think." That statement sounded laughable. Right now, the pair couldn't possibly be further apart.

"Well anyway, I saw how lonely she was, so I asked her to join me and my friends for lunch, and I guess we just started to hang out more." Arata was aware of some of the adventures he had with her, along with the others.

He never realized that it was Yogi that made the first move for her. Inviting her to join him and his friends. It kind of reminded Arata of what he had been trying to get him to so for so long. Did he view him in the same way?

Without any time to process it, class begun yet again for the two. Putting an end to their conversation. However, it did make Arata see her in a new light. He never understood her situation, nor did he ever try to think of her. So this was all new to him, but was there any way for him to have found out otherwise?

During lunch, Arata didn't have eat with the others. For he had obligations to another teacher. He was afraid that Erina would get mad, but during class, Yogi told him that she didn't eat with them either. Odd, he wondered where she was then.

School went on as usual. Once it was over, he left without comment. Since this was a day off, he thought this was a good time to sneak over to the otaku shop to browse and hear about new things coming out. Erina didn't message him on his phone, so he didn't think she needed him either.

What a surprise it was when he entered the store as he always did. Saying his usual greeting to the store owner, he found none other than her talking to the man.