Episode 140: The Third Ally

「Kazuma, how’s it going with the Nishikawa girl?」

This line. It’s like a broken record by now.

I wonder if my old man even realizes he treats me like I’m just a tool or something.

「I’m making my move. But it’s not going that well yet!」

The one my dad calls「the Nishikawa girl」… Nishikawa Eri-san, is the person I’ve positioned as my main target right now.

She’s different from the girls I’ve dealt with so far. She’s a real-deal lady, and money or brand-name stuff doesn’t work on her at all. And she doesn’t show even a hint of interest in my looks, either.

There are two reasons why I’ve made someone like that my main target.

The first is her father.

He’s the chairman of the Nishikawa Group, a massive corporation, and an important business partner for my dad’s company. Well, that’s the nice way to put it. In reality, my dad’s failing company is practically dependent on them for loans and job placements.

So for my old man, he desperately wants me to win Eri-san over to secure our future connection.

And the second reason is simple.

I’ve just plain fallen for her. Compared to Eri-san, it’s easy to see how childish the girls I’ve known were.

So whether my dad says it or not, I’m gonna keep coming at Eri-san.

「Speaking of which, have you gotten used to it yet? If you bring your future subordinates under your control now, it’ll be useful later.」

As soon as I graduate high school, I’m supposed to enter university and get involved in management at the same time.

So, on my dad’s orders, I’m holding regular「networking events」(mixers) for the guys who are destined to be my subordinates.

As the one standing above them, I need to provide them with「charity,」and being「used to it」refers to that kind of stuff.

The number of participants for these events has increased a bit, so it might be time to toss in that idiot girl and her hangers-on.

Well, I only put up with that moron for the sake of having her available for stuff like this, so I plan to make her useful.

Of course, I won’t get involved if things turn into personal relationships after the mixers.

I’m never getting caught up in something like the Sagawa incident again.

If you want to bring someone to heel quickly: money and women.

If you want to win over a negotiation partner: money and women.

I’ve watched my dad do it that way forever.

On the flip side, more than one or two women have approached me just to get close to my dad.

They were probably ordered by someone, but seeing people desperately sucking up to a kid like me was pathetic. It’s only natural that I look down on women after seeing that.

Back in middle school, I was still a kid too, so I did whatever I wanted because it was fun.

The girls who confessed to me were all just people lured in by my looks or my money.

Dealing with girls like that as playthings was more than enough.

But none of this is my fault. The environment around me just made me this way.

If anything, I’m a victim too.

「I get the situation. But it’s probably still gonna be tough with just those RAIN logs and that photo.」

Just as Hayato pointed out, this alone won’t do much. At best, it’s enough to drop hints to acquaintances or people involved.

「I’d like to hear from Todo-san’s friend too… what do you think? Of course, if she doesn’t want to remember it, that can’t be helped.」

When I said that, Todo-san shook her head. Does that mean it’s okay?

「Yoko still hates Yamazaki and Sasagawa. It’s a weird way to put it, but ever since she met someone else who hates Yamazaki, the two of them have been following him around… so she said that if this settles things, maybe Yoko can go back to laughing and playing again…」

Todo-san’s sad expression made it clear she was truly worried about her friend.

The details are different, but I have a grudge against Yamazaki too, so I understand the feeling.

The reason she reacted so strongly when I said I’d crush Yamazaki was probably because she wanted to free her friend as soon as possible.

「If it’s Takanashi-kun, I’m sure Yoko and the other person would definitely help. So, if it’s okay with you, would you mind meeting them?」

So, when Todo-san contacted her friend, the reply came back instantly that they were coming here now. That instant reply really seemed to show the depth of their grudge…

「I’ll be there, but what about you senpais and Yokogawa-kun?」

「I’ve already decided to carry this burden with Kazunari-san, so I’ll go with you wherever you go.」

Sara-san replied while looking at my face.

「Of course I’m going. There’s no way I’m bowing out now.」

「I want to participate too. It might end up involving me, after all.」

So everyone ended up joining. We decided to meet in front of the station and disbanded for a bit to change clothes and such.

「To introduce myself again, I’m Tachikawa Yoko.」

Since it’s hard to have complicated talks at a family restaurant, we ended up using a large room at a karaoke place.

I didn’t know since I don’t go to karaoke, but apparently it’s cheap and convenient even for big rooms if you use the「free time」plan.

It was cute seeing Sara-san, who also hasn’t been to a karaoke place, looking around curiously at everything.

Once we entered the room and everyone got their drinks from the drink bar, we got straight into introductions.

First, the two newcomers gave their greetings, but besides Tachikawa-san, the other person was… a bit of a character.

「Nice to meet you… don’t worry about me too much. You can just call me Hanako.」

That obviously sounds like a fake name… well, whatever for now.

Once the introductions were done, Hanako-san started talking to me with a lot of intensity.

「So, I heard from Yoko that you’re gonna crush Yamazaki, right?」

I was surprised since she was so blunt, but seeing Tachikawa-san give a wry smile, she took over for Hanako-san.

「Actually, Hanako-san went to the same middle school as us. Today’s the first time she’s seen Takanashi-kun’s face, but she’s known about the rumors. Because of this situation, Hanako-san has something she wants you to hear, Takanashi-kun.」

Something she wants me to hear?

「When I was looking for Yamazaki’s weaknesses, I recorded Sasagawa Yuzuha talking to her friends a few times. I’ll give this to you.」

With that, Hanako-san pulled out her smartphone, operated it, and played a recorded audio file.

「Yamazaki-kun gave me advice~」

That’s definitely Yuzuha’s voice.

It sounds like she’s talking to someone.

「He said for now, just make Kazunari the villain, and once I’m happy, I can just apologize. He said that in the end, a childhood friend is someone who definitely forgives you if you apologize. Besides, Kazunari told me before that he’d forgive me, so I should just do whatever I want.」

…Huh?

I feel like I might’ve said something like that a long time ago, but I definitely didn’t mean it like that.

What is she even thinking, Yuzuha?

「Um… Takanashi-kun, “forgive” doesn’t mean it in that way, does it?」

Natsumi-senpai asked me, sounding exasperated.

「No, of course not.」

「Don’t worry, this woman’s just intentionally misunderstanding. Just because you said that, she wants to convince herself that it’s okay to do terrible things, just to escape the guilt.」

I don’t know what’s「okay」about it, but it was a very convincing analysis.

I don’t get it now, but I guess she was making those kinds of selfish assumptions back in middle school.

THUD!!!

The sound of someone slamming the table surprised me. Looking toward the sound, Sara-san’s hand, who was sitting next to me, was on the table… everyone was shocked.

「…My apologies.」

Sara-san pulled her hand back as if suppressing something.

I bet she was angry at Yuzuha’s selfishness.

I gently grabbed Sara-san’s hand on the table as if to hold it.

Sara-san flinched a bit, but she calmed down immediately, sat closer to me, and rested her head on my shoulder.

「Um… why’d you guys suddenly start flirting?」

It was Natsumi-senpai who answered Hanako-san’s confusion.

「It’s a regular thing, so don’t worry about it.」

Even if people look at us coldly, I can’t help but feel that Sara-san, who got angry for my sake, is precious. I’m not ashamed at all.

「But this makes it clear that Yamazaki was involved in Yuzuha’s actions. That’s one more reason to pay him back.」

I tried to answer seriously after composed myself, but with Sara-san snuggling up to me, I bet it didn’t look very dignified to everyone else…