Yuki Nekoyama's Arc

Chapter 1 of 7

Yuki Nekoyama found the fourth note tucked in her favorite book, and this time she wanted to catch the person who wrote it. The library castle stayed open late, and she always came for the same shelf of short stories. Someone had been reading them too. Each night a new note waited between the pages, in neat handwriting, with a tiny cat sketched in the corner. "You're doing great," the last one said. "Don't forget to take a break." Yuki had never told anyone she loved these books. Whoever wrote the notes knew her without her saying a word. The problem was simple. She never saw them arrive. She would open the book, read the note, and set it down. By morning the book was reshelved, and the writer was gone. Yuki hated attention, but she wanted this person's name. She just could not stand in the open and wait. Everyone would look at her. So she built a hiding spot. In the far corner she stacked pillows and books until it looked like a cozy reading nook. From there she could watch the short story shelf without being seen. She brought a notebook and wrote down every person who came near the books that week. By Friday she had six names. A cheerleader with a high, swinging ponytail. The head of athletics, measuring the aisle like he was planning a swim lane. A blond girl in yellow, flipping pages fast. A boy with a bright star crest. And two seniors in purple and yellow plaid, both with raven crests. Six suspects, and no way to know which one. Yuki pressed her pen into the paper. She could not follow all of them. She had to narrow the list tonight. Then the librarian passed her nook, holding a book against her chest, glasses low on her nose. She stopped. "You've been here every night," she said quietly. "Watching that shelf." Yuki froze. "I'm just reading." The librarian smiled. She set a slip of paper on the pillow beside Yuki. "The notes you keep finding. Whoever leaves them checks out that book after you return it. Their name is on the record. But I can't share it. That's the rule." She tapped the slip. "I can tell you when they come. He returns it right at closing." Yuki's chest went tight. He. One word cut her list of six in half. It is a him. She thought.