My Childhood Friend, a Cool, Beautiful Girl With a Pure Face, Is a Monopolising Yandere
The school festival was over.
The atmosphere in the school building on a weekday had returned to normal, as if the excitement of the festival had been a lie.
I was lying on my desk, thinking back to the festival the other day. Compared to the heat of the festival, this morning’s air felt somewhat cooler.
It was not just a feeling, but a sign that summer was already passing.
“When the festival is over, it suddenly feels like autumn. ……”
“When one event is over, time seems to go by faster.”
The next seat, Ran, said in her usual cool tone of voice.
“But I’m glad it all went well. The poster display was trouble free.”
“Well, the whole thing went smoothly. I think you did a great job.”
It was a little unusual for Ran to compliment me. I was about to look away when my homeroom teacher came into the classroom.
“Yes, everyone pay attention. Today’s HR is an “Information Safety Assembly”. We’re going to do it together with the other grades, so please move to the gym.”
The teacher’s words caused a stir among the classmates.
“Information safety means …… how to use smartphones and social networking services? Why do you have to ask that now?”
“You know, the other day a second-year student did something wrong. It caused quite a stir.”
“Oh, ……, there are so many things going on in this day and age.”
I don’t know much about it, but something seems to have happened.
The HR is the fourth period, right? It’s before lunch, so I’m hungry.
Third period. In the gym, the students were lined up in order of grade, and a man in a suit and tie, who appeared to be a guest lecturer, was standing on the stage.
The place where the volunteer band had given an enthusiastic performance at the school festival just a few days before, but the lingering scent of that performance had already disappeared. A screen and projector provided by the school projected inorganic images.
The male lecturer spoke plainly about the current state of the Internet society and what pitfalls there are when using social networking services. He emphasized the fear of personal information being leaked easily and of someone unknown being able to figure out one’s behavioral patterns.
To be honest, most of the content is obvious to those of us who are digital natives, but I’ll give it a listen.
“…. Recently, a service that allows couples in a relationship to use location-based apps to keep track of each other’s real-time whereabouts has become popular. But think twice about whether it is really safe. Even close friends can be dangerous. ……”
An app that shares your location, huh?
What’s the joy of informing people of such things? ……
As I was thinking absentmindedly, Ran, who was sitting next to me, suddenly gave a small cough.
“I see,…….that’s an option”
“Eh?”
“It is nothing. Concentrate on the story.”
Ran looked at the screen with a serious face.
The meeting ended as it did.
It was a common talk about how to use social networking services properly and to be careful with personal information. Well, I don’t want to talk about real life experiences.
Lunch break. When I returned to the classroom, my classmates were talking about how sleepy they were.
I sat in my seat and nibbled on a piece of bread I had bought at the store.
“Yuto, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Ran speaks to me in an unusually quiet voice.
As she stood up, her eyes were a little sharp for some reason.
“Eh, What is it?”
“There are too many people here, so let’s move. Let’s go to another classroom.”
“Uh, ……, umm…”
What is it?
We moved to an empty classroom, and fortunately, no one was there. Ran quietly closed the door and looked back at me.
“Hey, about the information safety meeting earlier.”
“Y-yeah. It was very informative, wasn’t it?”
“I think we need to be a little more careful with ‘information'”
What on earth had Ran wanted to say by taking the trouble to call me to an empty classroom? As I tilted my head to the side, she took out her smartphone.
“This. It’s a location sharing app. Why don’t you try it, Yuto?”
“Eh?”
She took out the thing that was emphasized so much at the meeting as “dangerous” from the front of the room. I didn’t think Ran was using it.
“…… No, no, no, the instructor said it too. Sharing location information is risky and you have to be careful.”
“That’s right. But the risk is when you share it with many people. We are sharing with only two people. If there is a need for it, it is not so dangerous.”
Ran’s eyes are serious. In fact, they look convinced.
“Necessity ……?”
“Yes. You’re a risky one.”
“Is it enough to worry you so much ……?”
“Not being aware of it is the most dangerous.”
Ran declared firmly and thrust the smartphone screen in front of me, showing the download screen for a location information app.
“For example, what would you do if you were in an accident on your way home from school, or if you suddenly became ill? It’s possible that this app is the only reason you’re able to notice it early enough to go…… to help.”
Sure, it’s not that there’s no part of it that makes sense when you put it that way. But …….
“No, but, as the instructor said, isn’t it normal to call 110 or contact a familiar adult when something happens?”
“Well, an emergency contact network can be time-consuming, and you probably don’t know many people to contact. Worst case scenario, what if you were lying unconscious?”
Ran lays out one anxiety item after another. It was as if she believed that I would surely be involved in an incident or accident someday.
“Well, sure, it might be convenient to be able to contact you immediately in case of an emergency. ……”
I am overwhelmed by Ran’s seriousness, even though I think the story is too exaggerated or that it would not happen that often in reality.
“It’s not just for you. The risk of sudden illness is for me too. Can’t Yuto help me when I’m in trouble?”
“Ummm… ……”
When you say it like that, I feel weak.
“That’s not all. For example, we can know each other’s location even in crowded places, and it is convenient for meeting up. It reduces unnecessary communication. It’s rational and efficient. We won’t waste time.”
Ran continued to persuade me in a tone as if she was trying to get close to me. Seeing that I had fallen silent, she held out her phone to me as if to push me further.
“Don’t worry, I’ll set it up just for the two of us. No one else will be able to see anything. Only you and I will share our location.”
-Only me and Ran.
“Well, that’s …… no problem. ………?”
“Deal. Give me your phone.”
In a blink of an eye, Ran snatched my phone and installed the app and set it up in no time at all.
W-What a speed, …….
Looking at the LCD, I see that my location is indeed shared. Now, wherever I am, my location is known to Ran. The opposite is also true.
I wonder if this is a good thing.
–Please think carefully whether it is really safe or not. Even if you are close to each other, it could be dangerous. ……
Although it brings back the words of the guest lecturer I just heard,
“Fufufu… there we go.”
Ran holds her phone cutely with a satisfied smile.
Yeah, well, it’s okay.
It looks like Ran is having a good time.