A few days earlier, Ai had just finished class and was making her way down to the school entrance to change her shoes before heading to the baseball club.
She was in a great mood, sporting a smile as she reminisced about yesterday's encounter with Ken. It was their first time going home together after practice, yet everything felt so natural.
Ai didn't feel like she had to wear a mask, she could be her true self in front of Ken. He was always respectful, never saying anything inappropriate, nor overstepping his bounds.
While it was true she felt he was holding back a little, it more felt as if he was being respectful rather than deceitful, a welcome change.
'He said that we can head home together every day after practice.'
A beautiful smile blossomed onto her face unknowingly, the sight of which was enough to make any boy stop in their tracks and stare in awe and appreciation.
As she opened her locker to retrieve her outdoor shoes, a letter fell out, startling her. Instantly her smile vanished as memories resurfaced in her mind.
This was not the first time someone had left a note in her shoe locker. She had received many such confessions from strangers she had never even talked to at school.
However, this letter looked a little different.
'Maybe I'm over-thinking it.' She thought.
With practiced ease, she opened the envelope and looked inside. There was a piece of paper and some photographs within, piquing her curiosity.
"Hmm?"
Her eyes narrowed as she saw a buxom blond girl holding onto Ken's arm which sat in between her assets. As her eyes moved to Ken's face, she could see that his face was red, looking embarrassed.
In the next photo his face changed to one of a stoic mask. For those who did not know Ken, they would just assume it was his regular expression. Yet for some reason, Ai could see the emotion in his eyes.
'He's angry?'
Without jumping to conclusions, she opened up the piece of paper and read it.
'Dear Ai, I've seen you hanging out with this guy from the baseball team. He is playing with your feelings, all for the simple goal of deflowering you. I could not allow him to continue his wicked ways so I hid away and snapped this photo as proof.'
Ai frowned as the read the first part of the letter, starting to feel sick in her stomach.
'This piece of trash doesn't deserve to be in your presence. Your beauty is like a shining star that blinds us poor mortals, yet you are so down to Earth. I couldn't possibly let him taint such a pure and beautiful soul. - Kohei Gomi'
A look of disgust appeared on Ai's face as she read the rest of the letter. She did not believe any of the words that were written on the note, in fact she was extremely appalled that someone could write such garbage and try to pass it off as truth.
Without a word, Ai scrunched up the contents of the envelope and walked over to the bin before throwing it inside.
"What a load of crap." She said, not caring if anyone heard her or not.
With that, she headed back to her locker and retrieved her shoes before heading towards the baseball field behind the school for practice.
"T-This bitch…"
A boy mumbled to himself, balling his fists in anger. However, he quickly composed himself before a nasty grin appeared on his face.
'Good thing I made a back up plan.'
He pulled out another envelope from his pocket and quickly ran towards the retreating figure of Ai.
"Ai, please wait a moment."
His tone was respectful, which made her turn around almost on instinct.
However, when she made eye contact with the teen, her expression quickly turned to one of disgust. She instantly recognized the person as a 2nd year that had confessed to her in only her third week of high school.
Upon first glance, he looked like a typical shut-in teenager like one would see in those Anime and Manga. He had oily hair and wore glasses and could only be described as "unathletic" if one was being nice.
Instantly she put the pieces together, suspecting that the boy in front of her was the one who had left the letter she'd just discarded.
She debated giving him an earful, but decided against it. Ai turned on her heel and was about to continue on her journey, at least until she felt a hand grab her arm, preventing her from leaving.
"H-Hey!"
"Lower your voice… Unless you want this to spread." Kohei said, placing another envelope in her hand.
As soon as he handed over the envelope, he turned tail and left swiftly. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself.
Ai rubbed her arm that was grabbed, as if wanting to remove the filth left there by that person. Since his words sounded ominous, she decided to find a quiet place and open up the letter.
After finding such a place, she hesitantly opened the envelope and was once again greeted by a letter and some photos.
Her eyes widened and tears began to form, clouding her vision slightly.
The photos looked a little blurry, but she could clearly see herself and Ken in the baseball club store room. However, these photos depicted the two doing embarrassing acts that never happened.
As she went through the photos, each one was worse than the next, her tears began to silently fall upon them.
'No… These aren't true.'
Ai felt her stomach crawl as she looked at the sick and twisted doctored photos in front of her. What kind of disgusting person would do such a thing, and for what reason?
It took Ai almost a full 5 minutes to calm down after seeing such shocking imagery. After composing herself, she managed to open the letter and read it to herself silently.