Chapter 193 - The Innocent Girl and the Guilty Me
Girls are mysterious creatures. They fall for you where you can't see, and they build up resentment where you can't see.
If only they'd act a bit more straightforwardly, it'd be easier on me—thinking thoughts like a husband blindsided by a divorce filing from his longtime wife, I left the apartment.
Of course, I didn't forget to do the goodbye kiss with every one of my housemates.
"...Nakamoto-san is a bad person. I think he definitely makes girls cry or breaks their hearts without even realizing it."
That meaningful remark from Ayako-chan stuck with me strangely.
Having entered the TV station with Rio, I headed straight for the dressing room.
"Morning."
Just like yesterday, the Foreign Girl Trio was huddled together in the corner of the room.
Script in hand, they were practicing their lines in broken pronunciation: "Whaaat. This is TV? Oh my gaaah...! I'm interested in Japanese shows!"
They seem to be diligently polishing their Sakura Skill today as well.
Nodding at their admirable work ethic, I stood before Emily.
"You got a minute?"
"...?"
The girl who claimed to be half-Japanese, half-American stared at me with a blank expression.
Just how much of this is an act?
"Come with me. I have something I want to discuss in private."
It's pillow business... it's pillow business... the surroundings buzzed, but I couldn't afford to care.
I took Emily and left the dressing room. I rounded the corridor and stopped when we reached the lounge.
A place with nothing but break chairs, tables, and vending machines.
We sat in the back seats, right next to each other.
"Want something to drink? My treat."
"...I don't need anything."
The girl shook her head softly. Her refined face was stiff with tension.
Perhaps because her features are more defined than a pure Japanese person's, her expressions are easy to read.
"...Um... so this is... starting a deal where I get work in exchange for sleeping with you, Nakamoto-san, right?"
"Wrong."
I cut it off with a single word.
It was a statement made while running through the lowest thoughts—like how I'm not so hard up for underage girls that I'd need to do that—but from the outside, I might have looked like a man of principle.
"Let me be direct. —You're from another world, aren't you?"
In that instant, time stopped.
As if time itself had been cryogenically preserved.
"...Excuse me?"
Emily clasped her hands together on her lap.
Was that a sign I'd hit the mark?
"I-se-kai-jin? Is that some kind of slang? I'm a mix of American and Japanese, so..."
"So you intend to play dumb to the bitter end."
Then I have my own plan, I thought, extending my arm.
"I had my muscle strength adjusted to about five times that of a normal person today. ...With an Earthling's stats, you should feel pain."
"...Nakamoto-san? Is this some kind of prank?"
I launched Dispel at Emily.
...Good.
That should have undone any status changes.
I put strength into my grip and squeezed Emily's upper arm with all my might.
Quite conveniently, Emily was wearing a sleeveless outfit today, so I could carefully observe the changes in her bare skin.
"...Ow...! Nakamoto-san!?"
She's in pain? No, this is just an act.
She should actually have tough defensive power, so she should be fine.
I turned my eyes to Emily's white skin.
...It was turning red.
Swelling was starting to appear too.
In other words, Emily's physical defense isn't anything special. It's on par with an ordinary Earthling.
"...What does this mean?"
Then why does the numerical display go haywire every time I touch Emily?
In a great panic, I pulled out my smartphone and checked the time.
...It wasn't going wildly wrong like it did yesterday.
"Huh?"
That's strange.
Today's Emily is completely harmless.
"...I didn't know you were the kind of person who would do something like this, Nakamoto-san..."
Emily is innocent?
...If so, that's bad.
Very bad.
I have become a deviant who called out an innocent girl (15) and suddenly squeezed her upper arm until it creaked.
I might end up on the front page of tomorrow's morning paper, and after being reported as Keisuke Nakamoto, Member or Keisuke Nakamoto, Talent under pressure from the authorities, I'll draw even more public ire than if they'd just reported me as Keisuke Nakamoto, Suspect, and be driven into retirement from the entertainment industry.
A nasty sweat poured out endlessly.
As for Emily, tears were spilling from the corners of her eyes.
...It's over.
No matter how you look at it, I was far too rash.
I sent a mail to Sugitani-san, wondering if there was any way to just squash this whole incident.
'How far can you protect someone caught red-handed making a middle school girl cry by squeezing her upper arm?'
Sugitani-san's reply was,
'That's terrible. Did you catch another groper? You really can't help yourself when it comes to helping girls, Nakamoto-san.'
He had gotten the completely wrong idea in a very favorable direction.
It was absolutely not an atmosphere where I could say, "I'm the culprit."
"Shit!"
I clutched my head and let out a roar of anguish.
If it's come to this, I have no choice but to turn myself in and try damage control...
I moved to operate my smartphone again, to call 110.
Then, from down the corridor, a languid voice rang out.
"Nakamoto-saaan. Where are you?"
It was Rio.
She came along in her uniform, which had practically become her everyday wear, both hands shoved in her pockets.
Her unsteady gait was unmistakably a punk's swagger.
Her face is like a young actress's, but inside, she's the kind of social trash that loiters around vending machines.
Though, as it happens, I too have just now turned into the kind of social trash that touches girls...
"...Huh, wait... why is this girl crying?"
It was the worst.
My fiancée appears at the scene where I've made another girl cry.
Just how far down is my life going to spiral?
Rio's gaze was fixed on Emily's swollen upper arm.
"D-don't tell me, Nakamoto-san, you injured this girl?"
"No, listen—"
Trembling slightly, Rio pointed at Emily.
"I can't believe this! What are you doing trying to pick up girls first thing in the morning!?"
"How do you arrive at that interpretation!?"
With a "Huh?" expression, Emily looked up.
"...Pick up...?"
To Emily, whose eyes said she had no idea what was being talked about, Rio strode right up.
"Yep. Nakamoto-san is a scoundrel who can't love a girl without violence. He's been a genuine brute caught red-handed for assault from the very first time we met."
"H-he was that kind of scary person?"
"You didn't know? He spanks my butt all the time too."
That's because you beg for it! My protest definitely didn't reach Emily's ears.
"But Nakamoto-san is actually a complicated guy who hates his own violent nature. The type of guy who rampages reluctantly, regrets it afterward, and gets gentle after hitting. He should just call himself the DV Prince or something."
"...That's twisted..."
I've hit enemies before, but I've never sent Rio flying.
The people I've been gentle with after hitting them are King Leo and Gondo!
And as a result we got along... wait? Am I running an aggressive DV business on guys? Isn't that even worse?
While I stood frozen, having realized an abnormal fact, Rio continued talking.
"Right now he's having fun putting diapers on a girl whose clothes he set on fire, and he's also keeping a girl he threw to the ground as a pet... He's basically blasting down the DV route on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Honestly, I think he's the guy who's been doing DV the best since the 21st century started."
"Nakamoto-san seemed so kind, but he was actually a really unhealthy person..."
Is she talking about Philia and Erin?
...Yeah, when you summarize it like that, I'm a brute with no comeback.
"Huh? So, when Nakamoto-san suddenly squeezed my upper arm..."
"...It pisses me off, but he probably took quite a liking to you, don't you think? Well, I'll grill Nakamoto-san about that later."
How about you hurry up and treat this girl? Rio gestured at Emily with her chin.
"Ah, damn, you're right."
I chanted Recovery Magic and healed Emily's skin.
The beautiful half-Japanese girl watched the mystical experience unfold, letting out an awed, "What is this..."
"...Is it a magic trick?"
"Yeah, yeah, magic trick, magic trick. It's all a magic trick. ...Hey, since the injury's healed and all, I'd be really happy if we could settle this privately, or rather..."
"..."
"Emily?"
Rubbing her arm, from which the swelling had completely subsided, Emily hung her head, her face red.
"...Nakamoto-san's... fetishes are... honestly, a shock. I'd always imagined you as a kind older brother."
"You don't need to believe Rio's words!"
"...Um..."
Emily spoke with a look of determination.
"...If it's just tying me up... I'd be okay with that."
【Party Member Emily's Affection Level has increased by 100】
Having said just that, the girl who had misunderstood everything from start to finish scurried off back toward the dressing room.