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What happened after that?
Seiji didn’t know.
After all, he left together with Mika and Chiaki.
Hoshi stayed behind.
It was now after school. Seiji had to stay behind and write a self-reflection piece as punishment for skipping classes with no apparent reason.
Mika and Chiaki naturally accompanied him, and both were given the same punishment.
While writing, the two girls secretly snuck looks at Seiji and discovered that he was merely staring out the window in a daze, his pen motionless in his hand.
What a memorable scene of this melancholic, handsome youth… Forget it; just take a picture!
“Chiaki!” Mika scolded her friend when she saw Chiaki taking her cell phone out to snap a picture.
“Sorry, it was just such a nice scene. I couldn’t help it…” Chiaki scratched her head. “Would you like one?”
Mika’s face reddened slightly as she nodded.
“What… do you think he’s thinking?” Mika asked after she received a copy of the picture.
“He’s probably still thinking about what just happened.”
“Mm, I think so as well, since… Seiji is a gentle person.”
“Mm, yeah.” Chiaki’s eyes flashed as she glanced between the boy and Mika. “How much of what happened in the dojo did you understand?”
Mika blinked as she displayed a thoughtful expression. “I can’t really say… I just felt like everything Seiji did was for their sake…”
“I knew you wouldn’t understand, so allow me to explain for you, Uehara-san!” Chiaki faked a coughing fit and posed, acting as if she were a teacher about to give a lecture. “What you probably care about the most was the second to last scene, where Seiji seemed to turn into a much darker person.”
“That Seiji seemed rather scary, but thinking about it, he was quite cool as well~” Chiaki licked her lips in excitement. “Let’s just call him ‘Dark Seiji!’”
“Why are you even making up a special nickname!?” Mika questioned forcefully. “The way he was… I cared a lot about it, because I didn’t like it, but… that was necessary, right?”
“Seiji must have considered it necessary, and I think he didn’t make any mistakes, because I can’t think of anything better,” Chiaki explained. “In my opinion, Seiji turned into ‘Dark Seiji’ for three purposes!”
“First, to give the twin sisters a huge impact! Second, to act the part of the villain and awaken Hoshi Amami’s inherent goodness! The above two were fairly easy to understand, but as for the third… I bet you didn’t even think of it.” Chiaki chuckled playfully.
“So you’re saying I’m stupid…” Mika pouted.
“You just didn’t think too deeply into it; you could have perceived it if you considered it a little more.” Chiaki pretended to crack a whip before she continued, “His third goal probably aimed to make the karate club members pity the twins and leave them with a sympathetic impression. If the club members regard the twins as people deserving pity, they’re less likely to bully them in the aftermath.”
“After all, those sisters lost their blackmail material, so it’s likely there are many people who seek to take revenge on the twins and bully them. However, after such a performance by Seiji, this possibility was greatly reduced.”
“Oh…” Mika nodded in understanding. “That sounds… right.”
“Now, if those twin sisters stay at this school, at the very least… they won’t be as bad off as they could have been.”
“So Seiji took that much into consideration…”
“Yeah, but in the very end, his third goal was just tacked on. The main ones were the first and second goals: to cause the sisters to fall into the depths of despair, before letting Hoshi, the person who cares about them the most, come and save them.” Chiaki pretended to crack a whip once more. “This was the most vicious method at Seiji’s disposal; he was forced to use it after the twins refused adhere to their end of the deal.”
Mika nodded in understanding again. “I think… that he was probably successful, or else Seiji wouldn’t have left like that.”
“Acting the part of someone so terrible… he probably felt the worst about it.”
“Yeah, but he still did it because he’s a gentle idiot.” Chiaki smiled gently.
While the girls were discussing their thoughts with each other, the boy was pondering over his own actions.
‘Whoa, I almost couldn’t act the part out entirely… Man, I can only do something humiliating for so long.’ Seiji sighed. ‘It’s not easy playing your part at all, Lelouch of the Rebellion!’
His plan could have fallen apart in so many places.
The most obvious one was the location of Rion and Kotomi’s blackmail material. If they stored other copies outside of their room… It would be easy enough to search their house, but if there were more stashed away at a location only they knew, the situation could have turned sour.
But apparently that wasn’t the case.
The twins put slightly too much trust in their room’s defense… Or perhaps they didn’t feel safe hiding the blackmail material outside… Would they feel insecure about it? Was it too bothersome? Or did they feel assured as they had already saved the information on the internet as well, so they didn’t need to put effort into making physical copies?
Or did they unconsciously hope in their inner hearts that someone would…
No matter which it was, the twins were rather naïve about this… If they hadn’t been, Seiji could have taken care of it as well, but it would have been more troublesome.
Luckily, things didn’t go that way, and nothing he worried about ended up happening, so it counted as his success.
As for the effect… it was alright.
Seiji was certain he finally witnessed true regret displayed on Rion and Kotomi’s faces… it was the expression of people who had had finally realized their wrongs!
They would probably change for the better now.
The current problem was their father… and mother.
Of course, the best result was the twins sincerely admitting their mistakes, their parents forgiving them, Hoshi becoming overjoyed, and their family returning to a happy life.
But that was basically impossible.
The relationships within that family had already been completely broken down.
Going back to a normal family… it wasn’t absolutely impossible, but it definitely wouldn’t happen overnight. There needed to be an external factor!
Seiji played his final trump card which he’d saved for last here.
Rika Amami—his boss, Hoshi and the twins’ aunt, and their father’s younger sister!
After leaving the scene, he borrowed Chiaki’s cell phone to call Rika and gave her a basic explanation of the situation.
He also sent a message to Hoshi’s cell phone telling him to go find his aunt and ask for her help as well as personally inform her of everything that had happened.
This was all he could do.
Seiji didn’t know how the Amami family would be like tonight, nor did he know what the future would hold for them.
He could only trust in the heart of his cards… whoops, Rika Amami, his strict boss.
Ahh… he felt a sense of pressure. Seiji was overcome by a sudden feeling of helplessness.
Beside him, Mika and Chiaki seemed to be chatting about something.
‘They probably felt like I did a really bad job, so although they want to discuss it, they’re kind enough to talk in low voices in order to spare my feelings… how considerate of them.’
Seiji was touched by what he perceived as the girls’ gentleness.
…
Later that night.
Seiji went out by himself to a commercial street and walked into an exquisitely decorated bar.
The interior was decorated by a mixture of traditional and modern furnishings. This made the bar seem fairly upper-class, and there were many white-collar workers of both genders drinking and chatting happily.
Seiji walked upstairs to the second floor, catching sight of the person he came to meet sitting by a window.
“Hey, Harano-kun!” The person waved at him.
It was Hisashi Juumonji.
The mafia boss Michirou Juumonji’s younger son, and a true otaku.
He was wearing a cotton shirt and long pants. His hair remained messy, and there were still dark circles under his eyes, indicating he lacked sleep. As usual, his appearance was wretched.
Just by judging from his appearance, it would be difficult for anyone to think that he was also a highly skilled investor and hacker and that he possessed such high ability in two different areas. He could probably rise up to the position of a top-level executive in any major company.
Seiji flashed a smile as he sat down across from Hisashi.
“You’re rather early, Juumonji-kun.”
“I didn’t have anything to do, so I came early.” Hisashi casually extended his hands and placed a menu in front of Seiji.
Seiji took a look at the menu, asked Hisashi what he had already ordered, and chose two appetizers and a fruit juice.
“Thanks for all your help this time.”
After the server took his order, Seiji expressed his gratitude once more in person.
“I even told you it wasn’t necessary to thank me like this… but I’ll accept it.” Hisashi smiled. “I did a good job acting on the phone, didn’t I?”
“A brilliant job!” Seiji praised him generously.
The two of them exchanged smiles as they both felt like they were talking with someone who truly understood the other.
“This is the data that might come in useful for you.” Hisashi took a USB drive out of his shirt pocket. “This is the only copy I made, and there are no backups… By the way, I might as well mention that I didn’t check the contents.”
He placed the USB drive on the table.
Seiji looked at it for several seconds.
“You can take it back and delete all the information on it, as it won’t be necessary.” He fixed his gaze on Hisashi as he spoke.
“You’re certain?” Hisashi adjusted his glasses.
“Honestly, no, but… I don’t want to make use of something like this.” Seiji smiled thinly.
Hisashi took a long, deep look at Seiji.
“Alright, I’ll take this and get rid of the information.” He retrieved the USB drive.
They both remained silent for a few moments.
Hisashi broke the silence. “Even though I heard some things from you, and I can guess at the rest, I still don’t know everything about this incident. Could you please inform me of the entire story?”
“Of course.” Seiji smiled. “Once I tell you… it’s actually not that big of a deal, to someone from your world.”
At this moment, their order and drinks arrived for them.
Hisashi raised his beer and nodded at Seiji.
Seiji raised his fruit juice and reached out towards Hisashi, glass in hand.
There was a slight ‘clink’ as the two glasses came together.
Seiji felt satisfied as he gulped down the tasty fruit juice.
He then thought about how to begin the story. “This incident… was about a pair of idiotic twin sisters, and their even stupider younger brother… it’s a story filled with clumsy foolishness.”