Chapter 143 - Candy Toy Girl
'Sorry, tell me more about that. A scout, you said?'
The conversation seemed likely to drag on, so I decided to leave the conference room.
My destination was a break area just a little way down the corridor.
It's what you'd call walking while using a smartphone, but I hope I'll be forgiven given the emergency.
'So, like, I was waiting at a traffic light and someone called out to me.'
I stared at the screen while moving my feet.
According to Rio's explanation, a person claiming to be a TV station staff member apparently handed her a business card.
"Would you like to appear on a Sumire TV program? You can meet the idol boys too," was the pick-up line, she said.
It was obviously suspicious, and she couldn't care less about idols, but when she heard I was the host, she suddenly became extremely motivated.
'Nakamoto-san, you seriously have your own show? That's amazing.'
'There is indeed talk of that. I'm terrible at talking though, what am I supposed to do?'
'You're steadily climbing the ladder, you should be happy.'
'...Do you even know what kind of show this is? It's an information variety show themed around high school girls, you know?'
'Seems like it.'
'What am I supposed to talk about while surrounded by teenage girls? Apparently, I even have to share the dressing room with them, and honestly, I'm feeling overwhelmed.'
'Wait a minute. You and the girls, your dressing rooms aren't separate?'
'That's what I've been told.'
'...Isn't that bad? What if a high school girl who likes older men and is starved for fatherhood sneaks in and targets Nakamoto-san's body? She might force you into something lewd, you know. I'm going to protest to the station right now. Since I'm acquainted with you, I'll take responsibility and make sure I can guard Nakamoto-san, maybe get them to arrange it so only we share a dressing room.'
'You're the most dangerous one.'
What are you trying to do, shamelessly maneuvering to get me alone in a locked room? This girl is utterly relentless.
'Girls who are properly affiliated with talent agencies have professional pride, so they probably won't do anything weird. The problem is the ones who were amateurs until yesterday. You never know what those types will do. Especially you, and you, and you.'
'Huh, what's that? Are you suspecting me? Have I ever done anything strange to Nakamoto-san?'
A statement hard to believe coming from a high school girl who rubbed her freshly removed bra against my face, fed me liquor-filled chocolate via a kiss, and ended up going without panties.
Her lack of self-awareness was almost refreshingly complete.
'I see that a fog of fetish has settled over your brain. Especially around the hippocampus. That's the area governing memory.'
'I don't really get it, but I might like that insulting phrase.'
'Anyway, don't talk to me much in the dressing room. If we carelessly look too friendly, they might write some weird articles.'
'Why are you trying so hard to avoid me? I don't get it.'
What a troublesome person.
Well, I was prepared for this to some extent.
Expecting a former delinquent girl to understand adult professional ethics was asking the impossible from the start.
Still, I'm gradually getting used to handling her.
There is a proper method to silence a high school girl with a complicated father complex.
'Our relationship, let's keep it a secret just between us.'
'Why?'
'Because of ordinances and various other dangerous things. I'm the one who'd get arrested. Can't you listen to what Papa says?'
'Umm...'
'If you can't be a good girl, I won't look at your coloring book anymore, and I'll stop taking you to and from kindergarten too.'
'That would be a problem... I don't even go to kindergarten, but somehow it's a problem...'
Don't even go to kindergarten?
Somehow, Rio's vibe is off. Her phrasing sounds like reason is stuck in her throat.
Normally, that message should have been enough to melt her reason in one blow and make her accept my demands.
Maybe it's because it's still morning, and she might even be in the middle of class.
Do I need an even stronger Papa-vibe...?
But for me, who has never properly raised a child, that's too heavy a burden.
Where in this body am I supposed to squeeze out the essence of a father with a four-year-old daughter?
Desperately, I fully imagine myself as Rio's father, tracing the thought process.
I am a dad of a kindergartener, an authoritative Showa-era oyaji, the embodiment of the patriarchal system.
And what Rio likes is a depraved oyaji who makes moves on her.
The conclusion drawn from that is—
'Rio, just shut up and be Papa's toy. Don't talk back. We'll only be close where no one can see us. Okay?'
How about this?
It's a phrase of a brutal father, exuding a quiet madness, exactly like someone who would mess around with his daughter.
I'm confident I threw it right into the middle of Rio's strike zone.
If this doesn't work, there's no next pitch. I'll be completely out of options.
With a feeling like praying, I wait for a reply.
'...Okay. That was really good just now. It has the scent of a depraved oyaji with high social status... like a doctor or a lawyer, someone in that kind of profession, but who indulges in lewd acts with his daughter at home. Definitely a guy with glasses. Totally my thing.'
'You understood. So you can manage not to talk to me in the dressing room, right?'
'But too bad for you. It might be a little off.'
'What?'
'I prefer the athletic type over intellectuals, you know. Rather than being slowly toyed with by a glasses-wearing father, I'd rather be forcefully pushed down by a drunk oyaji in work clothes.'
'What did you say...?'
In the first place, as a non-drinker, I can't even reproduce the feelings of a father who relies on alcohol to do bad things to his daughter.
Could it be, am I stuck?
Will I fail to persuade Rio, end up being clung to in the dressing room, and then have to hold a press conference to apologize?
As I'm groaning with my hand on my forehead, the "New Message" notification appears again.
What is she going to say this time? I tap the screen fearfully.
'I mean, there's no way I can leave Nakamoto-san alone in a dressing room full of girls, right? I have to make sure the other girls see, and let them know whose Papa Nakamoto-san is, you know?'
You just don't get it, I reply, half-pissed off.
'What do you want, making trouble for Papa? You really seem to want punishment, huh? Eh?'
'Ah... that's good...'
'Are you, by any chance, throwing a tantrum because you want me to scold you more?'
'There's no way tha'
'That typo is suspicious, why are you flustered! Stop messing around already!'
'...I like that...'
'Alright, fine. If you want me to bully you that badly, go to the restroom right now and send me a selfie. And make sure you bring your coloring book.'
'Huh? Coloring book? You're telling me to bring something like that and go to the restroom?'
'Obviously. Do it.'
I can picture Rio's bewildered state.
This is all I have left. I have to seize the initiative with a rush of brutal commands and make her obey through momentum.
Once I drive her into sow mode, Rio is a girl who suddenly becomes obedient.
If I do that, I should be able to discipline her behavior in the dressing room too.
'I'm in class right now though.'
'The fact that you're contacting me via SNS during class already makes you a delinquent. Don't complain now, just slip out quickly.'
'Heading to the restroom holding a notebook is obviously suspicious, isn't it? I don't think the teacher will give permission. I'm already being marked for having a bad attitude and stuff.'
'Is this teacher a man?'
'Yeah.'
'Then it's simple. A female student can easily get permission to go to the restroom carrying her belongings.'
'Huh? How?'
I tell Rio an idea so devilish even I'm appalled at myself.
'You've got a pouch or something in your bag, right? That thing all girls carry. Put that on your desk, tuck your coloring book under your arm, and then just raise your hand looking embarrassed. "Teacher, please let me go to the restroom." If the teacher is a man, I think he'll change color and give permission. The more stuff you carry, the more serious it looks, and he'll panic. From a guy's perspective, he doesn't know what it's all used for, but if there's a lot, he'll freak out thinking, "Does she need to use all that!?"'
'...You're kidding, right? That would make everyone in class think that I... you know... that it came, during class. Until graduation, forever...'
'You like that sort of thing, right?'
'Pervert! Pervert! Pervert! Ah, he said I can go to the restroom.'
'You put it into action the moment I said it. You're fast.'
'This is bad... Nakamoto-san's training today is divinely inspired... To trample a girl's dignity so precisely, it's beyond expectations... this is bad... I'm so worked up I can barely walk straight...'
I imagine Rio heading to the women's restroom with a fidgety walk.
It reeks of an indefensible crime, but this is a preliminary violation of the Child Welfare Act to prevent an even more heinous violation of the Child Welfare Act.
Before Rio in heat can attack me, I'll relieve her sexual frustration from a distance.
It's like a vaccination, so to speak.
Ignoring the voice of reason asking, "Aren't you just piling up crimes?", I send further instructions.
Once you're in the restroom, sit on the toilet... cover your crotch with the coloring book... in that state... lower your... panties... and... apply... to the notebook... take a selfie, and send it to me...
"Phew."
When it was all over, Rio had been completely transformed into a female slave.
She swore firmly that she absolutely would not interact with me weirdly in the dressing room.
'Rio is a candy toy shipped out for Papa. My body is candy, and my heart is a toy that comes as a bonus. You can do as you like with both.'
She even said that.
However, I can't shake the feeling that I've lost something very precious in return.
A sense of guilt throbs and torments me...