Chapter 29: What If He Hadn't Repented?

It was a few days after I was united with Laila, at school.

My head was completely filled with the first breeze of spring after finding true happiness with my real girlfriend, and I was having lunch with Yuu.

「You've been walking around with a dopey look on your face lately. Something good must have happened.」

「Yeah, a new spring has come to me, who was at the bottom of a heartbreak. And this girl is just so cute!!」

「O-Ou. Aren't you a little too hyped up? Well, whatever. ...But how come you can get a girlfriend right away when I can't? It's kinda unfair~」

「Don't rush it, I was just lucky. I think you're a good guy too. Have some confidence.」

「I don't need your pity, I'd feel pathetic. Ah, more importantly. …Do you know about Kiyama?」

Kiyama? ......Ahh, there was a guy like that.

Even though he was once the target of my revenge, I had completely forgotten about him after it was over, because my current love life is so much fun.

「So, what about this Kiyama guy? I don't know anything in particular. Did he drop out? That's about all I know.」

「Yeah, yeah, after he dropped out, he was disowned by his parents. Well, that was to be expected. ...After that, it seems he got a new woman and is bumming off her.」

「Even though he had a painful experience because of a woman, he still does it? Some people never learn.」

「A guy like that who's used to playing around can eventually live as a woman's freeloader. Just having one painful experience isn't enough to make him truly repent.」

I see. His very nature is rotten, his true self has been exposed, and he has nothing left to pretend with, so if he throws away his pride, he can live on as much as he wants.

He's as persistent as a cockroach. No, that's rude to cockroaches.

「But there's nothing we can do about it now, right? I might have some thoughts on it, but honestly, don't we have to give up?」

「......Mmm, normally, yeah.」

What is it? He looks like he's holding something back?

「You have a plan?」

「It's a little risky, but there's a way to finish him off completely. Even that bastard would have a change of heart if we went that far.」

To boast like that, it must be a pretty extreme measure.

I don't have any desire for revenge anymore, but I decided to ask out of simple curiosity.

And the plan Yuu described... was certainly an outrageous one.

◇◇◇

Yuu and I found a man with a sooty back walking through the city.

A man with handsome features cast in shadow──our former nemesis, Kiyama Souta.

The man who had lost everyone to rely on except his current woman no longer had the confidence he once did.

He looks like he's afraid of something, and at the same time, like he resents everything around him.

「Alright, let's start the finishing touches.」

「You're something else, Yuu. ...And so am I for going along with this.」

We approached from behind without being noticed, and just as Kiyama entered a deserted alley──I pressed the stun gun I had hidden against the back of his neck.

「!? Wh! ......」

For a moment I thought he noticed, but he passed out right away.

It was worth borrowing it from the self-defense club.

「Alright, now just put this hat on him deep and...」

Yuu put a large hat on Kiyama and hoisted his shoulder.

I carry his other shoulder. If we walk like this, we should look like friends painstakingly carrying their unsteady companion.

「How are the arrangements?」

「They're all ready on that end. No problem at all.」

Yuu answers with a grin.

For a certain purpose, we headed to a spa that was famous in "those circles".

You should be grateful, Kiyama, we're going out of our way to rehabilitate you, a former victim. I think I'm quite the good samaritan myself.

◇◇◇

We arrived at the spa reception without any problems.

So as not to arouse suspicion from the receptionist, I said our companion was just a little tired, paid for three people, and went inside.

「So far so good. Alright, let's hurry up and strip him bare, shall we?」

「Yeah. ...Even this guy will surely have a change of heart after this.」

Saying such things, we stripped Kiyama naked. We put his clothes in a locker and wrapped the key around Kiyama's "left ankle".

「Well then, enjoy yourselves. Please make sure to transfer the data properly.」

「Yeah, I know. ...But, this guy. He's got a pretty nice face.」

Yuu speaks to a man in the changing room.

The man glances at the naked Kiyama and licks his lips slightly.

I don't know who this man is, and Yuu doesn't know him well either.

All I know is that this man is a professional in "that" sort of thing and that he seems to take on jobs depending on the payment and the partner.

We entrusted the rest to the man, killed time in the bathroom so as not to seem suspicious to the reception, and left the spa.

With that, my part-time job pay for this month, combined with the karaoke bill from the other day, is all gone.

「I said I'd chip in too... Are you really sure about this?」

「It's fine. This money was for my ex-girlfriend's present. It feels better to spend it all at once, right?」