Chapter 34 – Gambling Truly Begins When You Touch Money You Shouldn't

Reading Settings

With nobody else to really talk to about it, I half-reluctantly unloaded the whole thing onto Temari.

“Haa… so that's what happened, huh? Honestly, I really hope this knocks some sense into Mami. I've tried talking to her a few times, but she never listens. What the hell am I even supposed to do?”

She sighed, the exasperation in her voice making the hassle of this whole situation feel that much more real.

“Yeah, this definitely isn't the kind of problem that's gonna fix itself just by waiting around.”

“Exactly. But even if I keep telling her the same thing over and over, I don't see her actually listening. At this point, it’s like she's brainwashed or something.”

Hard to argue with that.
If Temari’s attempts to talk her down didn't work, it's not like anything was ever going to. A girl who gets hooked that deep wasn't on the fence to begin with.

“Hmm. What if we just abduct Mami, lock her up, and play that Ai-no-chan impersonation on loop right in her ear? Like, just keep whispering ‘Tokachi-gāsu-ki~!' endlessly until we overwrite the brainwash.”

“Yeah, no. She'd lose her mind long before any new brainwashing takes hold. And even if it did work, what if she came out of it obsessed with yogurt or something, like s******g her guts out over some probiotic fad?”

“That's healthy, though. Gut flora gets better, no more constipation. Win-win.”

“Talking to you is constipating my brain…”

“What, Temari? You got crap stuck in that head of yours? That explains why you're repeating a year. Want me to help relieve that brain constipation with a nice little enema?”

“…One day, I'm gonna slap the s**t out of you.”

“Just saying, constipation leads to bad body odor and breakouts. Ain't nothing good about it.”

“Shut up! I'll take care of it myself without your nasty hands anywhere near my a*s!”

“Oh? So Temari's method of relieving constipation is self-administered enemas? Kinky.”

“…You're the worst.”

Temari might be stressing out, but I was honestly chilling.
If the fallout didn't land on me, I couldn't care less what happened to Mami. She was just a dumpster fire on the other side of the river. Of course I'd be cracking jokes.

“Anyway, I get why you're conflicted, but I still think you should cut ties with her. That girl's gonna drag you down into some serious s**t.”

“I know… but just ditching her like that doesn't sit right with me, you know? She's still my friend. Once she snaps out of it, I think she'll regret everything. Probably.”

“Compassionate, aren't you?”

“You helped Mahiro too when she was spiraling. This is no different.”

Was it, though?
I guess technically, yeah, I ended up helping. But that was never about Mahiro. It was about Chihiro-san, or more selfishly, making sure I didn't get caught in the crossfire.

Still, Temari really was a soft-hearted idiot. That's just the kind of person she was. And I couldn't help but grin a little.

“…Well, I don't hate that about you. Mami can go f**k herself for all I care, but if you end up getting dragged into her s**t, that's a problem. So if it looks like it’s headed that way, tell me. I'll back you up.”

“Th-Thanks… Not really the kind of line I wanna hear from a guy who already has a girlfriend, but, well… I appreciate it. I'll do what I can.”

“…Yeah. Do your best.”

Come to think of it, I never actually told Temari that the whole “having a girlfriend” thing was a blink-and-you-missed-it situation. Meh. Not like it matters.

I'm not lifting a finger for that b***h Mami, but if Temari's dumbass kindness ends up backfiring, I'm not letting that slide. That much, I'll make sure of.

――――――

About three weeks after Mahiro's whole soapland incident, right before one of our university lectures, something weird happened.

I was doing a quick check, noticing again that Nishida and Naegi weren't in class today either, when a background NPC, D-dude, dropped a bomb on me.

“Hey Nakanishi, is it true Nishida's drowning in debt?”

“…The f**k?”

Nishida hasn't even been coming to school. How the hell does this guy know?

“Got it from Ōhara. Apparently, Nishida ditched classes and got addicted to the slots. Rumor has it he’s so deep in debt he can’t crawl out.”

Ōhara? Who? And what the hell is “a certain group of people”?
Sounds shady as s**t, but honestly, those details didn't matter.

What really mattered was just how utterly useless Nishida turned out to be.
Dude's a broke-a*s student with no income, diving headfirst into gambling? Might as well reserve his spot on the kidney donor list now.

“I hadn't heard anything about debt… but why the hell are you telling me?”

“Well, you used to be tight with Nishida, right? Figured you might know what he's up to. He hasn't been showing up at all lately.”

“I haven't talked to that loser in ages. You want details, ask Naegi.”

“Oh, right… My bad. Though come to think of it, I haven't seen Naegi around either lately. Something's definitely up.”

“……”

Getting pitied by an NPC. It's very humiliating.
Goddammit, is everyone seriously aware I got dumped?

And the way this guy said it, it was like something definitely went down.
Can't believe this low-tier side character has more insight than me.

Still, the fact those two have completely ghosted school lately… it does bug me.

Not like I'm planning to force them back, but c'mon. Flunking out your first year? That's just pathetic. What was the point of even getting in here?

……

If they're still just holed up in their apartment, banging like rabbits, I guess that's a peaceful outcome.

But as long as nobody close to me gets dragged in, I'll stay out of it.
The girl who dumped me is now a stranger, and the dude who took her is another stranger. Let ’em rub grime or crotch cheese or whatever the heck they want all over each other and call it love.

……

Nope. Something tells me this is going down a way darker path.

Damn it. I just jinxed the whole thing.