Episode 146: Strategy Meeting, Part 1

「Ahem… let me get us back on track and start over.」

Nishikawa-san began speaking to reset the mood.

While everyone focused on her, we waited for her to continue.

…Though Sara-san didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go of me.

「First, I’d like to hold our discussion regarding the Yamazaki investigation results and our response right here in the car. To be honest, the content of the report isn’t exactly something we can talk about in the open.」

It might sound like an exaggeration, but if the content could potentially wipe out an entire company, that level of caution might be necessary.

「The details involve some repulsive things, especially for the women here… but since I’m sure you’re all prepared, I’ll go ahead and tell you.」

With that, a video of a mixer, a「networking event」in name only, was shown on the car’s TV.

It showed the reality of the situation led by Yamazaki: providing hospitality, the host encouraging the men to take part in gray-zone brokerage of women, and the fact that high schoolers were there.

「Hm?… Sorry, could you slow it down and go back a bit? Stop there. Kazunari, this girl…」

Hayato seemed to notice something. He pointed at a girl on the screen after having the footage rewound a bit.

Have I seen her somewhere?

「That’s the girl who was with Sasagawa Yuzuha when we saw her at the meet.」

That’s right. She was the girl Hayato was talking to with a bored expression while I was talking to Yuzuha.

「I don’t know if she’s involved in the business, but it definitely means Yamazaki brought her along.」

It certainly looks that way.

Yuzuha probably doesn’t know about the company’s internal affairs, so she likely isn’t involved to that extent.

「That’s all for the report. Even with just the facts uncovered so far, we could probably end Yamazaki’s company for good. I’ll report to my father so the Nishikawa Group cuts all ties immediately. Since Yamazaki’s management is already at a dead end, they’ll collapse in no time. Or, we could even turn it into a criminal case.」

In other words, no matter how it plays out, Yamazaki’s finished.

But that wouldn’t mean we personally gave Yamazaki the pain he deserves.

Looking at Hanako-san and Tachikawa-san, they seemed to be thinking the same thing. Our eyes met, and they gave a firm nod.

「…Hehe, I see you have the look of people who won’t be satisfied with just a simple ending. That said, I won’t be satisfied either unless I make Yamazaki Kazuma suffer directly. He’s just a piece of trash, and I’ll make him regret ever trying to make a fool out of me.」

I bet my expression looked pretty villainous right then. I say that because Nishikawa-san, Hanako-san, and Tachikawa-san all had that same kind of look on their faces.

Amidst all that, Sara-san was the one who spoke up.

「I’ll say this first: I have something I want to say to Sasagawa Yuzuha directly. From what we’ve heard, I understand she was being manipulated by Yamazaki. But even so, I have no intention of forgiving her for tramping on Kazunari-san’s kindness and making him suffer.」

I know Sara-san is getting angry for my sake.

But I just want her to stay the same kind Sara-san she always is. I want her to always be smiling. I can’t help but feel that way.

Besides, settling things with Yuzuha is my job.

「Sara-san… for you, I…」

「I’m sorry… I know what you’re trying to say. You’re so kind that I’m sure you don’t approve of me having these thoughts… I don’t want to show you this side of myself either. But even so, I have things I must say to Sasagawa Yuzuha.」

Sara-san started saying that with a sad look.

Why am I making her make that face?

Accepting every side of Sara-san is my job, isn’t it?

I pulled Sara-san into a deep hug to stop her from saying any more.

「I love every version of you, Sara-san. Besides, the anger you’re feeling right now is for my sake, isn’t it? Because you’re kind, you’re getting angry on my behalf. It might be inappropriate, but that makes me happy.」

Since I’m always the one receiving things from Sara-san, this time I’ll…

Chu.

I kissed Sara-san on the cheek.

Come to think of it, is this the first time I’ve been the one to initiate it?

Once I realized that, I started getting nervous, even though I’d already done it.

Looking at Sara-san’s face… well, the expression「red as an apple」is common, but that’s exactly what she looked like right now.

「Kazunari-san… I’m so glad I met you. I adore you. I really… love you…」

Chu.

She kissed my cheek back as if in return.

Then, with moist eyes while looking at my mouth, she slowly placed her finger against my lips.

「…Please be the one to give me my first, Kazunari-san…」

She whispered that with a bright red face.

There’s no way I don’t understand what that means. The first kiss must be…

I’m sure my face is just as red as Sara-san’s.

「A-CHOO!! Ah… crap…」

?

I heard Hanako-san’s voice.

Wait, where are we right n—… right.

I slooooowly looked up and saw…

「Sara… Sara actually… and I haven’t even…」

「Get it together! We’re just getting started!」

Natsumi-senpai was shaking Nishikawa-san, who was muttering something under her breath.

「I thought I was gonna puke sugar.」

「Takanashi-kun, maybe you should just forget about the misery of middle school…」

「Ahaha… but I’m jealous that there’s someone who loves him that much.」

Hanako-san, Tachikawa-san, and Todo-san were all talking amongst themselves.

「Kazunari is still a hero, huh?」

「Well, he’s the guy who confessed in front of Sara-senpai’s mother, let alone me or Natsumi-senpai.」

「What? I haven’t heard that story.」

What’s with those two? Can they really become friends just by using me as a conversation starter?

「Right, thanks to you two, the conversation has veered off track again… This isn’t very professional.」

Nishikawa-san, having somewhat recovered, started the meeting again, but thanks to us, the serious atmosphere had vanished and things felt a bit loose.

「I’m sorry…」

「Kazunari-san, we didn’t do anything wrong…」

Sara-san tried to start backing me up(?), but if she did that, the talk would just stop again, so I looked into her eyes and gave her head a slow, light pat.

She gave a firm nod and leaned against me a bit, showing she was ready to participate in the conversation quietly.

「Hah… you two really do flirt at the drop of a hat, don’t you? Fine, let’s just keep going.」

Nishikawa-san reset the mood and got back to what she was saying.

She looked at me for my opinion, so I decided to speak my mind first.

「First, about Yamazaki. Even if we can end him with Nishikawa-san’s pressure, that alone doesn’t have much meaning. I think Hanako-san and Tachikawa-san feel the same way. And since Nishikawa-san has a personal stake too… the best way is to call him out and tell him to his face.」

When I said that…

「No objections!」

「I’ll corner him to the very end…」

Tachikawa-san and Hanako-san agreed with a lot of energy.

「Understood. If we’re gonna do it, we might as well corner him as much as possible and give him total ruin as a final gift. It’s payback for making a fool of me.」

Nishikawa-san made that final declaration with a dark smile.

So the direction for Yamazaki is decided.

The rest is just working out the details, or rather, creating a scenario for how the flow of events will go.