Chapter 12: Hi Dad, I’m Gedo, just passing by.

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Translator: Soafp

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“Hello. I'm nobody worth introducing myself as… though I suppose that would be inappropriate in this situation. I attend the same school as your daughter.”

“…That's rather sudden, isn't it?”

There was a slight pause before he answered, but his expression did not change.

It was late in the evening, so the area was dark. It was rude to say so, but combined with the impression that he might be someone prone to violence, he was a little intimidating.

“Sorry to approach you out of nowhere, but you hit your daughter, don't you?”

I started with a light jab.

His eyebrow twitched, but he put on a playful smile as he denied it.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? There's no way I would hit my own daughter. Did that girl tell you?”

The instant he said, “Did that girl tell you?” I felt that he had visibly become irritated.

Dealing with a person like this was still scary, but the only reason I could stand here so confidently was thanks to the hypnosis app.

“Yes, she told me directly. She also showed me the bruises on her body. It seems you've made her suffer for quite a long time. What kind of parent does that make you, huh?”

My wording came out a little provocative.

Maybe possessing an impossible power made me act cocky. Was that because I was a bad person, or simply because I was human? Well, either way, it did not matter.

At my question, he visibly furrowed his brow and thrust his arm toward me.

“Whoa—”

“Shut up, you little brat.”

Avoiding the arm he threw out was easy enough.

The blank expression he had worn until moments ago vanished, and he opened his mouth while glaring at me.

“What I do to my own daughter is my business. Don't stick your nose into things that don't concern you—or I'll kill you, you little b*****d.”

“…”

There was something deeply sad about seeing someone who had lived longer than me say something like that.

Agatsuma was far more timid than I was, and she was a girl on top of that. Thinking of how long she had endured the selfishness of a parent like this made me genuinely feel sorry for her.

“There's nobody I can rely on. Nobody will help me.”

I had no intention of becoming some hero of justice. Without the hypnosis app, I would never have stood confidently in front of this man.

No matter what, I was still a coward—a despicable scumbag who could only do things to girls without any will of their own.

But if even someone like me could help another person, perhaps that was not such a bad thing.

“Well, discussing this any further is a pain, so let's get it over with.”

“What are you—”

I activated the hypnosis app and put him under hypnosis.

The atmosphere from moments ago disappeared. After confirming that he had become a doll that would only obey my words, I operated my phone again and pressed the record button.

“You have abused your daughter by physically assaulting her. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you do it?”

“She had become a burden. She's in high school now, and she costs more and more money. What else am I supposed to think of that but as a burden?”

“…”

I had thought perhaps there was some hidden reason buried in his heart, but it was nothing more than selfish convenience.

Certainly, raising a child became more expensive as they got older. Maybe he had worries that only a parent could have.

“But that has nothing to do with her. All this time, she has endured your violence… all this time, she has wondered what value she has as a person.”

“Does that thing have any value? Her body is impressive enough. Maybe I should take her and make her realize the only value she has is as a woman.”

I found myself at a loss for words.

I was hardly in a position to criticize anyone, but this man might have been an even worse piece of trash than I had imagined.

No—he was unquestionably trash.

“Seeing you makes me realize something all over again. I'm blessed with my family. I'm truly happy.”

“What are you talking about? Any parent would see their child as a burden if they cost enough money.”

“Hah. Maybe you do, but I can say for certain that my family isn't like that.”

I never expected our values to be this different.

“Does your wife feel the same way?”

“How should I know? We haven't properly spoken in years.”

All right. Family completely broken, confirmed.

No miracle could make Agatsuma happy in this family. Her wounded heart would never heal here.

If I had noticed her only a little later, then maybe something irreversible might have happened.

“Well, I'll ask you various other questions. Answer them properly.”

After that, I made sure the recording was working and left the area.

He might notice that Agatsuma was not home and try calling her. But I had told Aisaka not to let her go home no matter what happened, so I was sure she would handle it.

“…It would be easier in situations like this if I knew how to contact her. I wonder if Aisaka would give me her contact details if I asked.”

Thinking that, I walked away from Agatsuma's house.

I did not know what Agatsuma was doing at Aisaka's house at that moment.

If I could wish for one thing, it was that being away from her father would give her at least a brief moment of peace.

---

That night, after Kai had finished his work, Mari sat facing Saika, whose expression was still slightly stiff.

“Um… thank you so much, Aisaka-san.”

“It's really nothing. But I'm sorry for inviting you so suddenly too, okay?”

“No, I was really happy. No one has ever invited me somewhere like this before, and besides…”

As Saika struggled to continue, Mari gently stroked her head to help calm her down, remembering what had happened earlier.

“Agatsuma-san, would you like to come to my house from now on?”

It was an extremely direct invitation, but Saika had followed her without refusing.

They had never really talked before, so Saika must have felt suspicious in some way. Yet from her expression, Mari sensed that she wanted to be away from her family.

“…Hey, Agatsuma-san. Is it okay if I call you Saika?”

“Y-Yeah… that's fine.”

“Then, in exchange, call me by my first name too.”

Mari Aisaka—also known as a social-skills monster—could easily make her way into another girl's heart.

Letting a girl she had only just talked to stay overnight at her house was admittedly an extreme thing to do. But there were circumstances, and more than anything, it was Kai's request.

“Mari-san… I don't want to go home.”

“It's abuse… isn't it?”

Saika gave a small nod.

Kai had told Mari that Saika was being abused. And because they had bathed together, Mari had already noticed the bruises on her body.

“It'll be okay. There's someone moving right now to save you, Saika.”

“…Who is it?”

Mari thought it would be all right to say this much.

She did not know exactly how he would resolve the situation, but because it was Kai who was taking action, Mari trusted him in her heart.

Why did she trust a boy she had only recently started talking to?

One reason was that she thought it was admirable that he could act for someone else's sake. But another major reason was that his voice resembled the voice she frequently heard in her dreams lately.

(It really does make me feel safe. He might think I'm saying something ridiculous, but his voice truly reassures me.)

Sometimes, when she was absent-minded, she dreamed. The dream was vague, but it had been etched into her memory.

A voice had lifted up Mari when she was troubled by her childhood friend and family issues. She was happy that, even afterward, the voice would casually ask whether she was all right.

(…Is it because I'm s*xually frustrated that I do s*xual things afterward? Or is it because, deep down, I want something more from him?)

At that point, Mari shook her head.

Saika looked surprised by the gesture, but when Mari told her not to worry about it, she gave a faint smile and nodded.

“…Can I talk a little?”

“Of course.”

“I thought I had no value. Until yesterday, I kept wondering what reason I had to keep living.”

Then Mari heard about the strange thing that had happened to Saika.

It resembled Mari's own experience, and it made her feel even closer to Saika.

The two of them talked warmly, almost as if their former worries had faded away.

However… Mari had something she was hiding.

(I still can't throw away the blade I used to hurt my body. If a day comes when I can't hear that voice—the voice that sounds like Masaki-kun—I end up picking it up. When I can't hear that voice, my feelings sink…)

Fortunately, she had not harmed herself since then.

But it was undeniable that Mari had fallen into a somewhat troubling state.

And if Mari was like this, what would happen to Saika, whose mental state had been even worse?

No one yet knew.