Unintentional Scare

The convenience store was situated in the part of town where there aren't that many street lights. That's why every time Hajime walked past it, he couldn't help but get the shivers, not because the surrounding area was ill-lit, but because the placement of the convenience store made it look more menacing even though it shouldn't be.

On his way home after dropping Akamine-sensei at her place, Hajime increased his pace as his heart rate quickened. He wanted to steer clear of the convenience store since it made him a tad bit uncomfortable. It wasn't as threatening as before, but since the night has grown even darker, Hajime started feeling the sinisterness of the place.

And that's when he noticed her... or it?

Hajime squinted his eyes as a hazy silhouette of a girl entered his line of sight. 'Nah, it might just be my eyes playing tricks on me. There's no way there's a girl over there. And who uses a phone booth nowadays?' Hajime told himself, trying to reassure himself that the figure of a girl by the side of the convenience store wasn't real.

With bated breaths, Hajime anxiously turned around and headed the other way, but as he did, he felt some sort of warmth on his nape as if someone was looking directly at him, staring him right through his soul. It didn't feel that odd, but it sure sent shivers up and down Hajime's spine as he felt goosebumps all over his body. Mustering all his courage, he slowly swiveled his head around, hoping that the figure of the girl wouldn't be there anymore.

'Aiyo~! The girl is still there!' He exclaimed inwardly, hurriedly turning around so he won't get cursed or anything of the sort. If he had salt in his possession right now, he would've sprinkled it all over the general direction of the girl's silhouette.

Sniffle~

Sniffle~

There was no need to confirm whether the sniffle came from the girl or not since Hajime had heard it twice. Upon hearing it, he was then reminded of every horror movie he watched, turning his legs into jelly. In nightmares, it was bearable since he was aware that he was in a nightmare. Right now, however, we're talking about real life, and Hajime found it even scarier in real life than in his dreams. Even though there was a good chance that he was reading too much into this, an inkling feeling led him to believe that there really is an evil spirit lurking by the side of the convenience store.

"I should go away... but what if it's really a girl and she's lost? If I left her alone and she's actually not an evil spirit, then... argh~ every single time this happens in a horror story, the person who approached the evil spirit first gets haunted for quite some time until they die." Hajime said to himself, rubbing his chin as he contemplated his current situation.

Still, his curiosity far outweighed how scared he was, and that caused him to cautiously approach the girl to ask if she was all right. He kind of lingered around the front part of the convenience store first though, before he finally made up his mind to go to the girl and ask if she was all right.

"Hey, um, excuse me? Are you all ri— " Hajime concernedly asked.

However, before he could finish voicing out his worries, the girl interrupted her with an ear-piercing scream. "Waghhh!"

Hajime stopped short in his tracks. He didn't expect the girl to react so exaggeratingly towards him when he hasn't done anything at all. In fact, the only reason why he called out to her was that he wanted to help. It even cost him every ounce of courage he has in his system in order to call out to her just like that, and she just had to scream.

.....

It was dangerous in these parts of town, and somehow she found herself lost in it. A while ago, she was brimming with positivity and excitement since she almost reached her sister. She knew she was close and she was confident that she'd get there. But right now, things are somewhat looking grim and there was nothing she could do but wait for her sister as she had instructed.

There's also the weird man lurking around the road as if he was trying to approach her. Fuuka could tell that she had garnered the man's attention but she wasn't so sure. She didn't want to jump to conclusions either so she just waited it out. In the worst-case scenario, she'd just run inside the convenience store and ask the worker there for help.

But what if he's in cahoots with this guy as well? She'd just be putting herself in trouble if she were to do that. Shaking her head, she continued to observe the guy who seemed to be getting nearer and nearer to her like the boogeyman. She gulped, and she felt like she was in the middle of a thriller movie and there was no way of getting out.

Unbeknownst to her though, the man lurking around felt the same, and because she was sitting by the sidewalk where the lights of the convenience store didn't reach, she also seemed more like an evil spirit than a person.

The man, by now, was in front of the convenience store. When he was already out of sight, Fuuka sighed in relief. It seems like she just misunderstood the entire situation. The reason why the man was lurking around was probably that he was unsure of what to buy inside the convenience store, or maybe he was pondering whether his money was enough or not. Whatever the case, Fuuka wanted to accept any convenient reason as to why the man scared her unintentionally like that.

"Hey, um, excuse me? Are you all ri— "Fuuka immediately heard right beside her, causing a large dose of adrenaline to course through her body as she stiffened up.

'It wasn't unintentional!' She said to herself as she let out a scream out of desperation in hopes that somebody would come to her aid.

"Waghhh!"