COTE : There is Something Wrong With Hikigaya-Chapter 283: Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

"Sakura, what’s wrong?"

At the study session in the library the next day, Hikigaya noticed that Sakura seemed distracted. She kept making mistakes on her problems, and it was obvious that something was bothering her.

"I-I’m sorry!"

Sakura quickly lowered her head and apologized.

"Why don’t we take a break? I’ll go buy a drink."

Hasebe suddenly gave Sakura a knowing look before getting up and leaving, leaving only Hikigaya and Sakura at the table.

Sakura knew that Hasebe had "misunderstood," but it was hard to explain the real situation to her. That thought only made her feel more troubled.

"You were fine yesterday. Did something happen?"

Hikigaya pretended not to notice Hasebe’s strange behavior and asked Sakura directly.

"Hikigaya-kun, I... I..."

Sakura lifted her head and looked at the boy sitting across from her.

She knew that he was the only one who could help her with this problem. But when she was about to say it, she hesitated.

She didn’t want to rely on him for everything. He had already helped her so much. And... she wanted to grow. She wanted to become someone who wouldn’t need him to worry about her all the time. Only then could she—

"It’s because of the letters, isn’t it?"

Hikigaya’s words froze Sakura in place. Her eyes widened, and she blurted out, "H-Hikigaya-kun, how do you know?!"

But then, she immediately realized—there was only one person who knew about what happened yesterday.

"Haruka..."

"Yeah. Hasebe was really worried about you."

Hikigaya sighed.

Last night, Hasebe had come to him about this because she had also noticed that something was wrong with Sakura and hoped Hikigaya could help.

"Why did she come to me specifically? Wouldn’t it be easier for you girls to talk to each other?"

Hearing his question, Hasebe had sighed.

"No, you’re wrong. Sometimes, because we’re all girls, it’s even harder to talk about certain things. Besides, I know Airi’s personality well. She’s the type who would rather suffer alone than bother anyone else. If I try to step in, it might only make things worse."

"Uh... wouldn’t I be the same?"

"No. Compared to me, Airi trusts you more, Hikki."

Hasebe’s eyes were full of frustration and resentment—directed entirely at Hikigaya.

He had no idea how to respond.

And that was how things had led to this moment.

Hearing Hikigaya’s words, Sakura lowered her head in guilt.

Hikigaya sighed.

"Sakura, you’re being stalked, aren’t you?"

"Hikigaya-kun, y-you... how did you—?"

Sakura looked completely shocked.

Ever since the sports festival, she had felt like someone was watching her. That feeling had disappeared for a while, so she thought it was just her imagination.

But last week, she started finding strange letters in the dormitory’s mailbox.

There was no sender’s name—just photos of her from her time as the idol "Shizuku."

The letters were filled with disturbing messages:

"I really like you."

"You are my destined goddess."

"I wish I could hold you while we sleep."

And as time went on, the messages became more and more unsettling.

But what scared her the most was the latest message:

"Hehe... My Venus, I’ve finally found you."

The worst part?

The photos inside were no longer just her old idol pictures.

They were recent pictures—of her daily life.

That means this stalker not only discovered Sakura’s real identity but also secretly took photos of her in the dark!

Just thinking about this made Sakura tremble with fear. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

She had once thought about telling Hikigaya, but she hesitated, afraid of dragging him into trouble... and that hesitation led things to this point.

Hikigaya sighed. He could already guess why she kept it a secret. "Not wanting to trouble others" is often the first thought that comes to the mind of lonely people. In modern Japanese society, this mindset has even started to become somewhat twisted.

Because he was the same way, he understood Sakura’s feelings all too well—afraid of bothering others, afraid of becoming a burden, afraid that people would dislike her because of it.

"Sakura, this is serious. Don’t think about things like ’I don’t want to be a bother’ or ’I don’t want to drag others into this.’ Friends never see helping each other as trouble. Relationships grow through helping one another, little by little. The more you try not to ask for help, the more distant the relationship will become."

"I-I’m sorry..."

"Don’t say sorry."

Hikigaya shook his head. "The important thing now is solving this."

"By the way, Hikigaya-kun, how did you even..."

Sakura suddenly thought of something. She had always kept these letters to herself and never told anyone. So how did Hikigaya know?

"You remember your old blog, right? You haven’t updated it in a long time, but the comments are still visible. The most recent ones were from early October, which was right around the time of the sports festival."

Hikigaya had pieced things together from small clues.

Sakura blushed at his words. The photos on her blog were from her time as the idol Shizuku, and they were on the bold and revealing side. Just the thought that Hikigaya had seen them made her feel both embarrassed and flustered—even though he had probably already seen some of the more daring ones.

"The stalker probably spotted you by chance at the sports festival."

Hikigaya deduced.

"But I haven’t updated my blog in a long time. The only thing I posted recently was a selfie at the start of the school year, and that was it..."

Sakura recalled.

"The problem is in that photo."

Hikigaya took out his phone, opened Sakura’s blog, and scrolled to her latest post—a selfie from April 17, right after the school year started.

"Look at the top left of the background. This part here must have revealed that you’re attending this school."

"I-I see..."

Sakura’s face turned bright red.

Hikigaya was confused at first, then quickly realized and hurriedly exited the blog, making the atmosphere even more awkward.

"S-So, what should I do now?"

"Do nothing for now."

A sharp look flashed in Hikigaya’s eyes. "I’ve already asked someone for help. There should be some news soon, so for now, don’t do anything that might alert the stalker."

"But just in case he tries anything reckless in the meantime, until we catch him, I’ll walk you to and from school. Is that okay?"

Sakura froze for a moment before finally processing his words.

"Eh???"

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l