YOU are the Yandere!

Chapter 3

"You study for the math exam tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Julian says, dropping down onto the cafeteria bench. "I'm still trying to remember all the Laplace transforms though."

"It's dumb. Shouldn't they give us a table to use instead of just forcing us to memorize? Yvon grumbles. "Hey MC, what about you?"

"...MC?"

"She's not here. Didn't she follow behind you?"

"Hey, don't look at me like that. She was following me earlier..."

That's worrying. Julian suddenly feels uneasy. She's not the type to leave without saying anything...

"Maybe she got pushed along by the crowd earlier." Yvon offers, staring at the group of students still crowding near the cafeteria entrance. "You think she'll be mad at me for leaving her behind?"

"She's not like that." Julian mutters, barely registering the words his friend was saying. It's the first time MC was ever late to lunch with him. "I'm going to look for her. I'm worried something happened."

"...Alright. Let's go then."

Yvon abruptly stands up, yanking Julian along. He heads directly for the cafeteria entrance, despite the long line of people waiting to make it inside.

"S'cuse me!" He calls, roughly shouldering a path out of the busy cafeteria. "Sorry! Just gonna squeeze right by ya..." Yvon fights the tide of pushing bodies as Julian follows closely behind.

They finally make it back into the hallway, and even though it's much emptier here, they still don't manage to find any trace of you.

"Hey!" Yvon shouts loudly over the chatter of incoming students. "Have any of you seen MC? She's about this tall with black hair and pale eyes!" But all it does is cause some students to look at him weirdly. "Shit..."

"Are you two looking for MC?" A nervous voice traveled through the room.

Julian pauses, staring down the hall. A male walks up to them, somewhat timidly as he raises his head in greeting. He seems small and shy, the perfect target for bullies.

"I saw her with Tahl a few minutes earlier..." He mutters, almost too quiet to hear. "She was being harassed by him, but I was too scared to do anything..."

What?! Julian's eyes widen. Tahl's name is familiar to him, and a knot of worry tightens over his chest. The longer you're with him, the higher the chance of something terrible happening.

"Where?!"

"The stairs leading to the roof..."

"Fuck!" Julian pushes past him and sprints down the hallway.

"Hey, wait up! What's wrong?" Yvon shouts, scrambling after him. It's unlike Julian to be so worried, especially over a random high school kid.

"Yvon..." Julian gasped, vaulting up the stairs three at a time. "This might be bad."

"Huh?"

"I know Tahl." Julian replies breathlessly. "You might not know, but he's actually part of a Seoul gang that primarily recruits hunters... they act as debt collectors for the Korean mafia."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I've seen him with them before-."

"Hey, quiet." Yvon suddenly hisses, grabbing Julian's arm to stop him from going any further.

There's a low hum in the air, barely discernible over the background noise of the school, but it's there, and Yvon feels it deep in his chest. "You hear that sound?"