Minoru stood in front of Yuuto's door.
His hand hovered, hesitating just before knocking.
'…'
===== EARLIER — AFTER YUUTO KILLED ALL THE BLACK LETTER MEMBERS =====
"...Best if you don't see him, Minoru," Seichiro's voice echoed, calm but distant as he took another puff from his cigarette. "Your father agrees with me. Listen to us adults."
"Why's that...? He's... he's my senpai." Minoru wheezed, half-conscious, bloodied, slumped in the passenger seat of Seichiro's car.
"...I tried talking to him myself," Seichiro muttered. "He's... messed up in the head."
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Sakura..." Minoru gulped. "She's a smart... girl..." he gasped, "...She wouldn't have—"
Seichiro said nothing. Just took another drag as Minoru struggled to speak.
"...opened up to him if he was unwell." Minoru finished, voice rasping. "I trust her judgment... even if she's impulsive... sometimes..."
"I get it," Seichiro said. "Still—don't go near him."
A long silence filled the car. The soft hum of the engine. The faint sound of rain tapping the roof.
Seichiro exhaled and looked out the window.
"The reason I put him in INK..." he began.
Minoru, barely conscious, blinked and glanced toward him.
"...is because it's a place full of misfits. Outcasts. It was also a friend's school—someone I trust. Someone who recently reformed it."
His grip on the wheel trembled.
He stopped talking. Minoru waited. It felt like a lesson was coming.
But it didn't.
Just a gulp.
"...I didn't think I'd ever get the chance," Seichiro whispered. "I thought he'd stay in that state forever. That hollow, broken thing I left behind."
A faint sniffle escaped him.
"I should be grateful he's walking. Talking. Even our doctors said that kind of recovery was impossible. No one knows how the hell he came back from that."
His voice cracked. "My boy's actually alive. He's here. But..."
Minoru tried to shift—tried to see his face. But his vision was too blurred.
"...But he's someone else now." Another sniffle. Seichiro cleared his throat.
"He doesn't know who I am."
Then, quietly—firmly:
"Just... don't, Minoru. Watch over your sister. Even with your father there, you're her last line of defense."
"Keep her safe."
===== BACK TO THE PRESENT =====
Minoru looked down."...Alright."
He sighed, returned home, and sat at his desk. His fingers moved on muscle memory, opening a browser and logging into a doujin website.
His account: Artist. He navigated to the moderator list.
There it was. "NotYuuto."
He clicked the name, entering the private chatroom.
MINOMINO (Minoru): [Hey. You... run that Anti-NTR website, right?]
ENTER.
A reply came almost immediately.
[Oh? I thought it was stupid and retarded?] NotYuuto replied.
[Don't get smart with me,] MINOMINO shot back. [Or I'll revoke your admin privileges.]
[…Sorry. What do you want?]
[A commission,] Minoru typed. [Anti-NTR themed. What's your rate again?]
[10,000 yen per case.]
[You won't have to pay me for a month if you take this one.] MINOMINO wrote.
There was a pause.
[…Alright. What do you need?]
[A friend of a friend of a friend. INK Public School. I think she's being drugged... That's near your area, right?]
[Name?] came Yuuto's reply — quick, clean, detached.
Minoru smirked faintly.
'You really became Yuuto, huh?'
[Kiriko Ayano. Second-year.]
[Alright. Job accepted.]
------------- NOTE -------------
At the beginning of the story, Yuuto mentioned he had paid an artist on a doujin website in exchange for admin privileges—just in case someone ever stumbled upon his scenario pages.
------------------------------
Yuuto sighed deeply.
'Kiriko...? She's the one I saved a while back... I see. So she's being targeted again.'
He exhaled as he stood up.
'Well. Afosterdamus always said that stretching an injured body makes it heal faster.'
Author's Note:NO SUCH PERSON EXISTS! AND NO ONE SAID ANYTHING LIKE THAT! Don't take Yuuto's advice!
"Oh, shut the fuck up," he smirked.
"Let's get to work."
-----------------------
A bit later…
Sato walked down the hallway, headed toward the clubroom, when Sendo came running up behind him.
"Senpai! Senpai!"
"Ah, Sendo-kun! What's up?" Sato turned with a smile.
"I... I did what ya said..." Sendo huffed, catching his breath. "Told Mina I won't be doing Kendo as much anymore. And she was cool with it! We're back together!"
He scratched the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly.
"Sounds like you have every reason to be happy, Sendo-kun. That's great."
Sato reached up and gave his tall kouhai a pat on the shoulder.
"I'm proud of you."
"Y-yeah. Thanks, senpai!" Sendo stuttered, then ran off.
Sato watched him go.
'See? Sacrificing parts of yourself… that's how love works.'
His hand twitched slightly.
'That's just how it works…'
"...Shizume-senpai?" Chiyoko called out gently.
Sato sat at his desk, spaced out, eyes unfocused.
Chiyoko tilted her head in curiosity.
"Shizume-senpai—" she tried again.
But a hand lightly gripped her shoulder.
It was Shun.
"Let's leave him be, Chiyoko-chan," he said softly, his gaze lingering on Sato with unexpected tenderness.
"Hiyori-san just left, and—"
"Ah, what are you saying, Shun-senpai!" Sato suddenly called out, cheerful and loud, wearing a too-wide smile.
"Hiyori—Hikki-senpai just realized she didn't like the club! That's all! It's fine, really. It's not like I'm forcing any of you to stay here!"
He let out a forced chuckle as he stood up from his seat.
"A-anyway, what did you need? A review? I could totally review your decorations!"
He brushed past them toward the decorations, inspecting them with exaggerated focus.
Chiyoko and Shun exchanged a quiet, confused glance.
"Ah... Sato-kun, you don't have to push yourself," Shun said gently.
"We all know you and Hiyori-san were close."
Sato flinched.
His fingers tightened around a plastic ornament, cracking it in his grip.
Chiyoko flinched at the sound. So did Shun.
"Aha... Again, what do you mean, were?" Sato laughed, voice tight. "You're making too big of a deal out of this! Let it go already! We've got a festival to prepare!"
He turned to them with that same smile.
"You know," he added, walking back toward them, "I've been practicing my singing too. I'm going to perform with Hyakkimaru and the others!"
"O-oh... that sounds really cool, Shizume-senpai..." Chiyoko forced a smile.
"As for this decoration..." Sato looked at the cracked ornament in his hand.
"It's broken. I'll replace it in a jiffy! But you did a great job, Chiyoko. I'm proud of you."
Chiyoko glanced at the floor, frowning faintly. "T-thanks..."
Sato's eye twitched.
"REALLY, KNOCK IT OFF!" he suddenly yelled—still smiling, still forcing it.
The outburst startled both of them. Chiyoko instinctively leaned closer to Shun.
"YES! Hikki is in a relationship now! Yes, it's—haha—a little fast for my taste, but that's my taste! Not hers!"
His breathing grew shallow as he clutched the ornament and walked it to the box of broken decorations.
"She only knows him for, like... what, a few days? She'll figure it out soon. She's Hikki, after all. Girls fall for that kind of guy. That's just how it is, right? If I were a girl, I'd probably fall for Shiyon's bastard piece-of-shit brother too, because that's just—"
He slipped.
Crashing into a table.
Blood burst from his nose.
"SHIZUME-SENPAI!" Chiyoko cried out, reaching for him.
But Sato shot up quickly, raising his hand to stop her.
"I'm fine...!" he said, smiling.
"I'm fine. Really... Just..."
His smile remained, even as blood dripped from his nose.
He looked down at it.
"Take five. I'll clean this up."
He staggered toward the supply closet.
"We can't leave like that!" Shun whispered.
"Come on, Chiyoko-chan. Grab that mop and let's—"
"I SAID FUCK OFF!!" Sato roared, trembling. "BOTH OF YOU!!"
His voice echoed through the room.
He didn't lift his head.
Shun stood still. Then gently placed a hand on Chiyoko's shoulder.
He looked at Sato for a long moment.
'...I get it. If I hadn't gotten Riko back... I'd probably be a more pathetic version of you, Sato-kun.'
He whispered to Chiyoko to leave, and the two of them quietly exited the room. Chiyoko looked back at Sato one last time, worry written all over her face.
And before long...
Sato was alone in the clubroom.
'Hahaha... look at me. Yelling at my club members. Really—what's become of me?'
'If she were here, she'd be disappointed...'
But she wasn't coming back.
'Haha... really. I need to apologize to them.'
'What'll I do once she finds out I yelled at them? She'll KICK my ass! Hahaha...'
He laughed softly to himself as he grabbed a mop and began wiping the blood.
But instead of cleaning, he only smeared it wider—he'd forgotten to wet the floor first.
'Jesus Christ, STOP.'
'For the love of God, stop acting like a maniac. I'm... I'm Sato Shizume. I'm your flower... No.'
He took a deep breath. Steadier. Sharper.
'No. I will sing that song for you. I'll still confess.'
'Yes... that's it. That's the only reason you refused me—because I confessed too early. Like a goddamn idiot. I wasn't patient enough...'
He remembered her voice:
"Or... do you need me to stay?"
And his own:
"The club does."
He shook his head violently, as if trying to erase it.
'There's no other reason. I was just... impatient.'
Another memory struck.
"Why didn't you want to come to my house after the onsen?"
Her voice. Hesitant.
"What are you talking about? Haha, it was late!"
His reply. Weak. Cowardly.
Then he saw his sister's face.
What she did to him.
How she rode him like he was nothing but an object.
'BECAUSE FUCKING YOU LIKE A WHORE—YOU DON'T DESERVE THAT, DON'T YOU GET IT!? CONFESS PREMATURELY!? WANTING TO KISS HER, TO FUCK—'
His breath caught in his throat.
For a moment, just a flicker—he saw Hiyori instead of his sister.
Her lips. Her warmth. Her trust.
He gulped.
Then immediately shook his head, violently, as if trying to rip the image out.
You could've had her between your arms...
Came the echo.
"NO!!!" he screamed, voice cracking, hands trembling.
'It'll work.'
He let out a small laugh as he continued wiping the smeared blood, even as his nose continued to bleed.
'I'll confess again... with this song. Only I know about it, after all. And it will work. It has to.'
==============
"Oh, hello," a voice called out as Kenichi stepped out of his classroom.
He turned his head and saw Yuuno standing there.
"Kenichi-kun, right?" Yuuno murmured.
"Y-yeah... Yuuno-senpai, right? Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Kenichi replied, his stare blank, tone flat.
Yuuno chuckled softly, glancing down at his fingers as he absentmindedly toyed with them.
"I heard about Hina—your childhood friend. I'm sorry. That must feel awful."
Kenichi looked away, lips tightening.
"...It's cool. T-thanks. Who told you abou—"
"My little brother was the one she dated, right?" Yuuno interrupted casually.
Kenichi stiffened.
His breath hitched.
"You see, my brother's... impulsive," Yuuno sighed, voice light. "Rude. Inconsiderate."
Then, he looked Kenichi directly in the eyes — and something behind his gaze burned.
"Would you help me teach him a lesson?" he asked.
"A certain type of lesson... one that might benefit you, too."
His tone sharpened, calculated.
"Especially when it comes to your little... childhood friend."
Kenichi's fists clenched.
"...What do you need from me?"
Yuuno's grin widened.
"Nothing too complicated..."
[IMAGE]