A New Beginning

Chapter 5: Stranger

I walked to school like any other day. It all seemed oh-so strange to me.

I still did not see Budo around. I tried to call him but he did not pick. My texts were also unseen and unread. All his school stuff was still there but he was nowhere to be seen.
People took it as if he just mysteriously disappeared. I felt kind of mixed in emotions. I did not know whether to be sad or worried. More than those both, I was just confused.
He couldn't have just vanished into thin air.

Was he capable of being kidnapped? He was a well trained fighter. I wouldn't know why he would be unable to protect himself. Besides, just like Ayato said, he should be safe. But, then, where is he? Where did he suddenly go off to without telling anybody?

"What had actually happened to him?"

Oh well...

On my way to school, I got a text from a strange unknown number.  That's very weird, I never gave anyone my number. Not yet. Only the school board has my number in case of any emergency if they need to contact me.

And Ayato had my number as well. But I saved Ayato in my contacts, meaning this wasn't him. Who could this be?

Assuming it may be one of my teachers I opened the text just to be caught-off guard.

The text said, "Hello, Y/N."

Okay, so I felt a little taken aback, confused even. First name terms? With teachers? Okay, that is very very strange.
Couldn't be a teacher. I did not know whether to reply so I continued walking, thinking of how to reply instead.
Maybe I should reply with a "hey" but is it safe speaking to a complete and utter stranger?

It seemed so so harmless though. I could try to find out who it is...but how? Suddenly, my phone chimed once again.

A feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that it was the stranger again.

"You can try to ignore me all you want, eventually you will want to talk to me."

But, why would I? Did this person know some sort of sensitive information about me? Or any private data that no-one is supposed to know of? Am I going to be blackmailed?

It all felt so strange. So unreal.

My life was always so boring and had almost no drama. Why suddenly now?

Wildly, I looked around. Was anyone following me? How did they know I was ignoring them?

Around were just normal teenagers. Normal students.
None of them were really gawking at their phone with eyebrows raised, wearing a peculiar expression to my silence. We were literally out at the open, at the road. No cameras could be here...

Could there?

Paranoid, my breathing got slightly faster and I made for something between a walk and a run.

I reached school after a while and ran upto my locker and opened it. I wore my indoor shoes and took my outdoor shoes off. Trying to forget about what happened, just as I was going to proceed to continue the rest of my day, my phone chimed again.

Oh, no.

Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck.

"Those shoes look good on you, Y/N L/N."