Chapter 68: Regret
Translator: Soafp
Maya and I ran desperately toward the source of the noise. When we reached what seemed to be a second-floor apartment room, we found Katsuragi standing there with his fists clenched, while a man—presumably Naoki—was sprawled on the floor.
“Stop!!”
I shouted, more for Katsuragi's sake than anyone else's.
“Kazunari… why are you here?”
Katsuragi, clearly filled with rage, turned to me and responded.
Though the anger wasn't directed at me, I felt a chill from Katsuragi's intimidating presence.
“Don't do it, Katsuragi! You can't let yourself be burdened with this guy's sins!”
“…Too late. I've already hit him.”
“Even so!!”
I clung to Katsuragi's body desperately. I was weak, and if Katsuragi truly wanted, he could have easily shaken me off. But he didn't.
“What the hell is with you people? You barge in here and start throwing punches…”
Naoki, trying to get up, spotted a familiar face and trailed off.
“…Maya?”
Hearing her name, Maya turned her face away from Naoki. Swearing internally, I stepped forward to block Naoki's view.
“So you're Naoki. Thanks for all you've done for Maya.”
“You must be kidding.”
“I'm legally still Maya's husband.”
“Hah. So what does the husband Maya cheated on want? Here to claim damages?”
“Yeah. I'm here to deal with you for what you did to Maya and Mizuki.”
“!!”
Naoki seemed to realize why Katsuragi had punched him. Honestly, I also wanted to beat him to a pulp. I didn't care about compensation; I wanted to strangle him. But I knew I had to keep Katsuragi from getting involved in a crime, and that awareness kept me grounded.
“So this guy who punched me is Mizuki's… current boyfriend?”
“…”
“So that's it… Mizuki was so desperate to break things off because of him, huh? She lied about not seeing anyone. Said she wasn't dating anyone.”
“…Shut up.”
Katsuragi's voice was low and menacing, and he tensed, almost pulling me with him.
“Alright, alright. Mizuki must be lucky to have found someone who would come to beat up her affair partner. For someone so easily swayed and indecisive…”
“Shut your mouth. Don't talk like you know Konno.”
Indecisive? The term didn't fit Mizuki at all. She was always direct and straightforward. Did Naoki know a different side of her?
No… did he know the real Mizuki?
“You think you know, huh? Mizuki, she’s indecisive and easily influenced by others, that’s her nature from the start. No matter how hard she tried to change and pretend to be strong, you can’t easily change your true essence as a human being. And you, pretending to be her boyfriend and coming here to beat someone up without knowing all that!”
“Shut up!!”
“Ugh!!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Katsuragi extended his leg toward the still-downed Naoki.
“You trampled on someone who wanted to change! Someone who was trying to change! Why do you feel entitled to do that?! Because of you, she was pushed to the point where she had no choice but to choose death!! Can you take responsibility for that?! You act on your desires without being able to take any responsibility!”
Geshi, geshi.
As if pounding his own frustration, Katsuragi kicked Naoki. He kicked him several times.
Though Naoki tried to guard himself desperately.
“What did you say…?”
Before I knew it, the defiant smile had vanished from his face.
Katsuragi seemed to notice it and suddenly halted the movement of his kicking foot.
“Is it true!? Did Mizuki really choose death!?”
“Why are you asking now!? You’ve been using women like disposable objects all this time! There might have been someone among the discarded women who took such action, but why only care about Nakano now?!”
“No, I…oi, oi!! What happened to Mizuki!? What happened to Mizuki!?”
Naoki’s behavior was strange.
As if trying to prove that Mizuki alone was special.
“Mizuki isn’t just some woman! She isn’t just any other woman!! Tell me, what happened to Mizuki!?”
What’s with Naoki’s behavior? It was a development that was hard to understand.
Was he clinging to Katsuragi’s leg, who had been kicking him, asking such things, or did he suffer a concussion from being kicked too much? Katsuragi seemed bewildered too.
But at that moment.
“…What are you all making a commotion about in someone else’s house?”
A young woman’s voice came from behind.
Involuntarily, the three of them turned around, and there…
What should I say, a woman with a hairstyle that vaguely reminded me of Mizuki was standing expressionlessly.
“Mari!?” (Not Katsuragi’s sister)
Immediately, Naoki raised a voice that sounded surprised.
Looking closely, the room’s interior had a feminine atmosphere, from the curtain colors and small items. Perhaps she was a woman cohabiting with Naoki.
Except for Naoki, everyone seemed to have judged that. Simultaneously, the three moved aside as if to make way.
So, the woman called Mari took a step toward Naoki.
Even after passing in front, we were attracted to that woman–everyone was surprised right away.
“…I thought you’d never come back. Where have you been all this time?”
On the other hand, Naoki’s expression softened, perhaps because his ally appeared.
However, the woman who approached Naoki without making a sound…
“…You forgot something.”
She said, and with those words, she thrust a deba knife she had hidden behind her back into Naoki’s belly.
The dull sound of the knife sinking into his abdomen reverberated strangely loudly in my mind.
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6 Comments
Author tries to make all these girls seem sophisticated when they all fell for this 1 dimensional guy who probably only has his looks going on for him. I can understand MC's wife because it shows she's stupid. But when it's these 2 girls, who kept trying to sound profound whenever interacted with the mc in the past chapters, falling Naoki, after reading about his inner monologue that shows how much of a delusional loser he is, these girls don't have a right to preach stuff towards mc.
Just like Mozuki, Mari also chose death, but there's nuance!
damn that was really good scene. he got what he effin deserve.