kscans

Chapter 101 - Acting Like a Master

"...Yo, did I keep you waiting?"

Fourth day of Obon break. I didn't have any particular plans today either, but Takahashi and Suzuki called me out, so I headed to the family restaurant they specified.

"No. But Satou-kun..."

"Something wrong?"

The two of them looked at me with concern. I see. I thought I didn't care about it anymore, but apparently I do.

"...Well, I went to Kawasaki's place yesterday."

"Ugh."

"Hey wait. Don't make such obviously disgusted faces. You guys are the ones who brought it up."

"But still... talking about that crazy woman... right?"

"Yeah. It's definitely nothing good. Sorry Satou, cancel that."

"There's no cooling-off period in my dictionary. Worry about me to the end! Pamper me!!"

I ordered one each of the classic parfaits, chocolate, strawberry, and banana, and gulped down some ice water. I ordered three, but it's not like they're for these guys. I'm eating them all myself.

"The whole thing started the day before yesterday. I was cleaning graves when Enma showed up."

"Wait. Enma? That's not some kind of metaphor..."

"Yeah, the actual King Enma. Well, Enma's not important so skip that, can't you read the mood?"

"Is that the attitude of someone asking people to listen to their story?"

"I was showing Enma around as a tourist when I bumped into Kawasaki, and she managed to get me to promise to hang out."

"So that's how you ended up going to Kawasaki's house."

When I laid out yesterday's events in order:

"...That's a girlfriend."

"...What? Are you two dating?"

They suddenly went cold. Well, I get it. Being made to listen to a story like this... These guys have zero romantic experience just like me.

"That's right, that's it."

"What's 'it'?"

"I've never even had a normal girlfriend, right? But I went and did typical boyfriend-girlfriend weekend stuff with Kawasaki."

I threw it away. My emotional virginity.

"I've been playing around with this stance of 'I'm not interested in that kind of thing,' but..."

Deep down, I'd been faintly yearning for it. To have Kawasaki... to consume that with Kawasaki... if I'd had some experience before, it would be fine.

"But your first time is special, right?"

"...You're such a pain in the ass, like some girl."

"That's rude to girls."

Wow, harsh.

"I don't hate Kawasaki or anything. It's just that the dream my pure side had been holding onto had scattered before I knew it..."

"Suzuki, isn't the air conditioning a bit too strong in this place?"

"That's because you're showing so much skin."

"Listen to me."

That aside, I think Takahashi's outfit is good. Short pants that emphasize Takahashi's weapon, those thick thighs. A camisole with her back wide open. Nice, it's good for the eyes. Age-wise, it makes me think a little, but she looks young so there's no problem.

"...Don't look at me with weird eyes."

"Ho ho ho, as someone who once taught you, I'm proud."

"Suddenly acting like a master... what about me?"

"Good."

Suzuki's outfit is the complete opposite of Takahashi's, pure and elegant. It's summer so she's lightly dressed, but there's no unnecessary exposure. On the bottom, a calm black flare skirt that goes down to her ankles. On top, a refreshing light blue shirt with a cardigan over it. This cardigan gets high points from me personally. It's thin so it's slightly see-through, giving a nice glimpse of skin. Because there's so little exposure... it makes your heart skip a beat.

"I-I see... that's good to hear."

"However, don't let it go to your head! There's no end to that path!!"

"Why are you suddenly acting like a master..."

Oh, the parfaits arrived.

"I got off track, but today I'm feeling a bit sentimental."

"Would a sentimental guy order parfaits?"

"Three of them too... Oh, but watching made me want some too. Excuse me! One deluxe parfait please!!"

"So, you know? I think you could do something for me in this state. We're friends, right?"

"Guys who start saying 'we're friends, right?' are never any good... Oh wait, you were already no good."

Y-You bastard...!

"Suzuki! You're different, right? You'll be nice to me, right?"

"Well... I'll at least listen. What do you want me to do?"

"Overwrite my memories."

"Overwrite your memories?"

"Yeah. I have this list of things I secretly wanted to do with a girlfriend way back when. Will you do them with me?"

"Wha-"

Suzuki's face turned bright red... ah, no, it's not like that.

"Don't worry, they're wholesome. Not even kissing. Even I'm not stupid enough to ask for that much from a friend."

Besides, that kind of stuff isn't even on the list. Really, it's just like casual pages from everyday life, that sort of thing.

"W-well? If it's just that much..."

"...You're talking nonsense. Hey Satou, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Why are you suddenly in a bad mood? What is it?"

"We called you out because we had business with you."

...Come to think of it, that's right.

"You seriously forgot..."

"Sorry, sorry. I got carried away while talking... so, what did you need from me?"

"Actually, we've been getting offers to return to the Mutual Aid Society for a while now."

"Specifically, since we went to observe Satou-kun's suspicious classes."

Don't call them suspicious classes.

"Wait, you still haven't returned yet..."

"It's not something you can do that easily."

"...That's right. We did act disloyally once."

Disloyally, huh. Honestly, do we need to feel any loyalty toward the Mutual Aid Society from when we were all members?

"It may be normalized now, but back then it was shit."

They tried to eliminate us under the guise of training. Well, when that kind of thing happens, it actually fires me up. My rebellious heart gets ignited and retaliating against harassment becomes fun. Gradually building up stress in those guys while reading the line is irresistible. But anyway.

"You can't blame us for being disloyal."

If you ask whether we had motives to betray them, we absolutely did.

"In that sense, even the current chairman could be called one of the sources of corruption."

The chairman was already in the upper ranks of the Mutual Aid Society back then. Despite that, he couldn't correct the corruption, so he has no right to act high and mighty.

"That's, well, true but..."

"...You're pretty cold about stuff like that."

"From our perspective back then, they were adults with overwhelmingly superior violence and power. Of course our assessment would be harsh."

And furthermore, all of the current upper management of the Mutual Aid Society is like that.

"In the first place, it wasn't them who created the flow of normalization... the coup. It was me."

"...Come to think of it, why did you do that?"

"I was curious about that too. You're a guy who has nothing to do with correcting corruption."

"Well, that's true. And to be precise, rather than a coup, I was planning to completely destroy the Mutual Aid Society itself."

"Huh?!"

One of the major executives who was favored by the chairman at the time. Killing him was the beginning. Why did I kill him? Because he was secretly communicating with enemy organizations, True World and the Chaos Army, leaking information. He would subtly investigate guys who seemed likely to respond to their ideology and pass information to them, and in exchange receive money and guarantees of position in case things went bad... In other words, Takahashi and Suzuki being targeted was also that guy's fault.

"...Though you two made the final decision."

It was unreasonable to expect the kid I was to accept that. So I killed that guy, and from the flow that started there, I planned to destroy the Mutual Aid Society itself. The current chairman and others, sensing this, hurriedly contacted me. As a result of persuasion, I modified my plan and switched to a coup. In other words, the current chairman and others just jumped on later. Well, the coup becoming solid was partly due to the chairman's connections, but that wasn't the original plan.

"...You like us way too much."

"Of course I love you, idiot."

"Wha?!"

A decisive break. An eternal farewell. Maybe it's because the path crossed again with friends I thought I'd never see again. Even I'm surprised how honestly the words came out.

(Their faces are bright red... I can't really talk though... I'm probably the same.)

I'm so shaken right now that I can't even taste the parfait.

"Usually you're so carefree."

"That's just like you, Satou-kun."

"...Shut up. What about you guys... how do you feel?"

I can't look them in the eyes. If there was a function to die from embarrassment, I'd have croaked thirty times by now.

"I like you. Ah, being with you is the most fun."

"I love you too. I never want to be separated again."

"...I-I see."

"...Don't get embarrassed. It makes the atmosphere weird."

"R-right... hey, come on! Say something!!"

Ah, damn! What are adults our age doing?! ...It doesn't feel bad though.