“Fukuda-san! Rin Fukuda-san! Please come into the studio!”
“Hyah, hyiii!”
A staff member shouted from the dressing room door, outside of which Fukuda-chi, next to me, jumped.
“I’ll tell you again…… if you tell even one lie, you’re done. I’ll be keeping an eye on you during the recording.”
“I-I know….”
Fukuda-chi looked pale and nodded her head.
We were inside the dressing room of a local station.
Fukuda-chi and I came here directly from the airport this afternoon.
After throwing Fukuda-chi backstage, I had a meeting with the director and producer of [Fukuda-chi’s apology program] along with the staff of the advertising agency owned by my stepfather.
However, this [Fukuda-chi’s apology program] was put on hold.
This was because, in the middle of the meeting, new information about the kidnapping case kept popping up one after another. After all, this was a TV news station. The information that came in was incredibly fast. And as I listened to each piece of information that came in, I almost had a stroke.
That Anna-senpai was arrested. As one of the criminals in the kidnapping case.
I didn’t know how to describe how I felt at this moment.
Could I describe it as a dark pleasure? It was the kind of feeling that made my cheeks unintentionally loose.
An anti-social group – in short, a boy raided a yakuza’s office alone, followed by the police who received the report. In doing so, they found the girls in the office, who had been kidnapped by chance.
Was such a coincidence really possible?
The name of the girl who was found was also in the information. No matter how I thought about it, all the information seemed to be coming from inside the police force. Among them, I found the names of Misuzu and Masaki-chi, and I felt relieved and patted my chest.
But what surprised me more than anything else was the name of the boy who had raided the office.
──Fumio Kijima.
“Fuーmin!? What is he doing!?”
I jumped up unintentionally, the directors around the table turned their eyes to me.
At any rate, while I was relieved to confirm that Fuーmin was safe, the questions grew bigger this time.
Why did Fuーmin have to go into Anna-senpai’s…… yakuza’s office all by himself?
I didn’t know how it happened along the way. But the reason was clear.
Because the other party was Anna-senpai. No matter how I thought about it, it was for my sake, wasn’t it?
‘Yaah!……Aashi, he loves me so much. My boyfriend loves me too much. I mean, I love him too! I want to make out with Fu–min right now. I want to hold him, I want to hold him.’
[TL: Fujiwara uses Aashi albeit different from Kurosawa referring herself using atashi instead the causal Watashi]
Unexpectedly, my head went into a thermal runaway.
However, a casual remark by the director threw cold water on my head.
“It’s interesting, but this boy will probably be detained. If he’s not careful, he’ll probably be prosecuted. He’s got a criminal record at his age – that’s amazing in a way.”
‘That’s a good joke. I’m not letting that happen!’
So, I ran out of the meeting room and tapped my phone.
As soon as the phone was connected, I gasped for air and pleaded.
“Stepfather, I have a favor……”
×××
“Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm ♪”
I hummed as I took off my uniform and turned on the TV with the remote control.
I was in a good mood. Today, I ate lunch with Junichi-sama while comforting him.
I put on a sober face and said, [Don’t worry, cheer up! Kurosawa-san will be back soon] but in my heart I chuckled, [There’s no way she’ll be back].
Now that Kurosawa was gone, the girl who was closest to Junichi-sama was, by all accounts, me – Hikari Teruya.
Our love that was born from continually consoling the heartbroken Junichi-sama. I was sure that Junichi-sama would soon fall in love with me. It was smooth sailing, I’d say.
After school, I went to the club activities……but Ninagawa and I only had a brief track time together. Then we went back to the dorm, had dinner in the cafeteria, and just got back to my room.
Tonight, I had a series of dramas to look forward to. Today was the last episode, and I definitely didn’t want to miss it.
I put my uniform on a hanger and slipped on a T-shirt. As soon as I pulled up my shorts and switched on the TV, the sound of an emergency alert echoed through the air, and a message began to appear in white letters on the screen.
As soon as I saw it, I stood there stunned, my hand still holding the remote control.
“A,Aneki got caught!? Mass abduction of schoolgirls……The girls were released safely? What…… what’s going on?”
I was not joking. My love story with Junichi-sama was just getting started….No, it was not a situation where you could call it a love story.
If my own sister kidnapped one of our students, of course I would be suspected, and I would have no place at school.
In the first place, my school fees and living expenses were all paid for by my sister. If my sister was arrested, all of that would stop. If that happened, I didn’t even know how to live anymore.
“It’s a lie! This is all a lie! This is bullshit!”
The track and field club girls’ kidnapping was not my sister’s doing. My sister would never lie to me. If she said she didn’t do it, then she really didn’t do it.
There must be some mistake – I changed the channels one after another with a clinging feeling.
I hoped that somewhere, it would be reported as a mistake.
Then, I stopped changing the channel as I saw a special news programme. The programme title was 『Massive Kidnapping – What Happened to the Girls』 .
×××
After arriving home from the police station, my mother fell ill and went to bed.
“Fumio, I believe in you. But……don’t let your mother worry about you.”
My dad just said that and retired to the bedroom with mother.
I took a cup of ramen out of the kitchen cupboard and poured hot water into it.
“Ooo, Is this another lonely dinner Devi?”
Lili, who was floating in the air, said teasingly, and I twitched my lips in annoyance then said, [Shut up].
I held the lid of the cup of ramen with my chopsticks and turned on the TV in the living room.
It felt like it had been a long time since I’ve watched television. Well, that was probably true. I had been spending most nights with the girls for a while now.
As I carelessly changed channels, the screen showed a 『Special News Report』and the title of the programme, 『Massive Kidnapping – What Happened to the Girls』, appeared on the screen, and that was when I stopped holding the remote control.
I wondered what kind of news they were reporting.
“『Today, we’re going to change the schedule to the large-scale kidnapping of a young girl that has caused a stir in the public over the past few weeks. It seems to be called ‘the case of the godforsaken’ on the internet and elsewhere, but I’d like to thoroughly examine this case.』”
Several figures were seated at a semi-circular table with the presenter and female announcer, which was familiar from the noon information programmes, in the middle.
“『These are today’s commentators. First is Professor Hiroya Tanaka, a professor at the University of Law and Economics and an expert in social pathology. Next, Yoshitake……a researcher at Tokyo Metropolitan University who is an expert in criminal psychology.』”
The guests were introduced in order.
For me, it was strange that these types of information programmes always included comedians and idols.
I understood that it was necessary to have the public’s point of view, but the subtly off-the-wall 『public』 comments of TV celebrities who were used to television tended to dominate the programme.
After three minutes of thinking about this, I opened the lid of my ramen and slurped the noodles. Yes, it tasted good sometimes. The seafood flavour was particularly special.
As I continued to stare blankly at the screen…
“『Lastly, on behalf of the students of the school where this incident took place, we have first-year student Fukuda Rin-san here with us.』”
“P… Please take care of me…….”
“Buhuhuuuuu!”
Rin Fukuda, looking like she was about to die, was on the big screen and I spewed a big bowl of ramen.
“Gohoo, Gohoo, w-w-w-what is she doing there!?”
“FumiFumi! Look! You’re going to spill the soup on the carpet, Devi? Is that okay, Devi?”
“Oh, that’s not good.”
I rushed to the kitchen to get a rag and wiped up the ramen soup that had been smeared on the low table. Of course, all the while, my eyes were glued to the TV.
“『Now, let’s look back at the incident.』”
The screen switched to an illustration and narration explaining the circumstances of the incident, with frightening music in the background
“『The incident began when a third-year girl, K-san, went missing. This was followed a few days later by the disappearance of K-san’s best friend, H-san, from her room in the middle of the night.』”
K was Kurosawa-san, and H was probably Haneda…… Masaki.
“『Thirteen days later, K-san was found in front of the main gate of the school in the same clothes she was wearing when she went missing, and she testified that she had no memory of the time she was missing. A few days later, another incident occurred, this time 18 of the 20 members of the girls’ track and field club went missing altogether after school.』”
In truth, Ryoko and Kyoko were also locked up during that time, but since they were not discovered by the public, it was not surprising that they were not included in this story.
“『And furthermore, a first-year girl, F-san, goes missing.』”
I almost spewed my ramen again, but I stopped myself.
‘Yeah, I should probably stop eating it now.’
‘Because……that F-san is in the studio right now, right? That’s F-san who looks like she’s about to die at the edge of the screen, isn’t it?’
“『F-san disappeared after writing that a third-year boy called K-san was the culprit, and this K student was attacked and injured by someone on his way home.』”
‘Sorry, no more food to spew anymore..that K-san is definitely me, for all intents and purposes. I mean, how, how does the media know about that!?’
I looked at Lili and she shook her head, [It’s not Lili, Devi].
“『Actually, this F-san had asked K-san for a relationship but was turned down, so she staged her own kidnapping in order to give K-san the stigma of being a kidnapper.』”
‘They’re too detailed about the circumstances…’
“『And yesterday, this Boy K returned home together with K-san, the schoolgirl. This K-san is the third-year schoolgirl who was kidnapped first. And she was forcibly kidnapped again in a black van while she was on her way home with this Boy K.』”
‘Aside from the fact that Kasuya-kun is not in the story, the information is far too detailed. Where on earth do they get this story from?…’
“『But here the incident takes an unexpected turn. The following day, K-san, a male student, went alone into the offices of the yakuza organisation. It is not known at this stage why he did this, but when the police raided the office after receiving a report of a fight between yakuza organisations, they found K-san confronting the members and the abducted schoolgirls!』”
There, the screen switched to show footage of me coming out of the yakuza office.
Me and the girls coming out with blankets over our heads. The atmosphere was noisy, but fortunately none of our faces were shown.
The screen then switched back to the host.
“『So it looks like the culprit has been arrested and the case has been sorted out, but there are still some schoolgirls who haven’t been found, right?』”
“『Yes, four first-year students from the women’s track and field club have yet to be found, and the police are going to pursue this matter closely.』”
The host turned to the commentator as the analyst responded.
“『Tanaka-sensei, what do you think about this case? 』”
“『Yes. It’s a large-scale kidnapping that is unprecedented in Japan’s criminal history, but it’s hard to imagine the scale of the yakuza that was caught this time. I think that perhaps a larger criminal organisation is involved behind it.』”
“『I see.』”
There, the comedian interjected.
“『This F girl is a horrible person. She has nothing to do with the kidnapping itself, right? In my opinion, she’s the most unforgivable.』”
Immediately, Rin Fukuda, at the edge of the screen, jumped.
“『That’s right. Using other people’s misfortune to take revenge on the man who rejected her, she is a lousy girl, isn’t she? You are from the same school, aren’t you? Do you know her? What kind of girl is she?』”
The Enka singer spoke to Rin Fukuda.
[TL: Enka,traditional Japanese music]
“『Aa,ahaha……she’s,well, a normal girl, you know.』”
Rin Fukuda answered with her eyes swimming wildly.
If I were asked to comment on myself, well, that would be the answer.
But then…
“Nishish, this is interesting Devi! From Lili’s point of view, I’d like to make it a bit more interesting, Devi…”
Saying this, Lili suddenly disappeared.
The sight of Rin Fukuda on TV was too much to bear.
But suddenly she stared around the side of the camera and her cheeks twitched.
Perhaps someone was watching her. After a pause for breath, she opened her mouth again, looking like she was about to cry.
“『Oh, um, …… ugh, I didn’t mean to lie, but …… I’m really self-conscious a-and, I’m the type of person who doesn’t like it when I’m not at the centre of the conversation. I’m the type of person who needs to be pampered…… or I’m the type of person who wants to look good even if it means bringing others down,…… and that’s the type of person I am..』”
It seemed that the instruction was to answer the question properly. My impression was that she was surprisingly good at self-analysis.
However, the professor’s relentless pursuit of her comments.
“『Excessive self-love and excessive self-pity. This is the so-called monster child. In Europe and the United States, this kind of behavior is corrected from an early age through counseling, but Japan lags behind in this field. Japanese people called them in funny way as 『Kamatte-chan』 and let them go unchecked. They are just plain sociopaths. I think they should be locked up in an institution of some kind.』”
[TL: Credits to TinyTL: Kamatte-chan (構ってちゃん) is a terms for someone who is an attention-seeker]
“『Society…… Unsuitable……』”
“『Fukuda-san, you should probably stay away from that girl.』”
“『A…… ahaha……』”
I had never heard such a lacklustre [ahaha] before.
From there, commentators made a series of bludgeoning comments about the schoolgirl F.
Rin Fukuda no longer had any life left in her. She was not breathing. At the edge of the screen, she was dropping so low that her whiskers were reflected in the screen. For those of us who know that Girl F was Rin Fukuda, it was a public execution with no mercy.
After the schoolgirl F-bashing had died down for a moment she must have tried to change the subject. But the researcher, who was an expert in criminal psychology, opened his mouth.
“『If I may. I think this Boy K is the problem. He pretends to be a hero. It’s insane that he rushed into the office of a gang. It is these out-of-control civilians that complicate the investigation……』”
However, when he had said that much, the host interrupted the conversation and the programme abruptly went to commercial. When the commercial break was over, the researcher in question was nowhere to be seen, and there was a huge stuffed bear on the seat where he was sitting, which was extremely unnatural. Biased reporting, at its finest.
‘It’s messed up…’
As I was twitching my cheeks, Lili reappeared.
“I’m home, Devi.”
“Where have you been?”
“To make this show more interesting, I gave them an anonymous tip, Devi.”
“Anonymous tip?”
Almost as soon as I involuntarily tilted my head, the host hurriedly opened his mouth.
“『Er, during the commercial, a viewer provided information. Our staff have checked it out and it seems to be quite conclusive evidence. It’s audio only, so please listen first.』”
The screen showed the serious expressions of the commentators in turn. Rin Fukuda was the only one with a questioning face.
Then, the conversation between Kasuya-kun and his juniors began to flow.
The commentary about Kurosawa was cut out, and the names of people were covered with a ‘beep’, but anyone listening would easily be able to tell who was talking to whom.
I gave Lili a jittery look.
“You’re really the Devil.”
“Indeed, Devi.”
“Yeah.”
After exchanging such a conversation that had become a promise, I let out a sigh.
For me, I was going to end my revenge against Kasuya-kun with the next move, but if Lili had put out this audio, it would be overkill.
“『This is the conversation between the students who were seduced by F-san and attacked K-san…..』”
As the host opened his mouth, the Enka singer looked as if she had smelled a pest, and muttered, 『It sounds like a school with a lot of problems』.
The atmosphere in the studio must be terrible. But then the comedian suddenly made his move.
“『I get it now. This K boy must have been really cornered and had no choice but to go into the yakuza office. When he found out that these yakuza people had kidnapped the girls, he thought he had to do something about it, so he went in. I think he’s very brave…….』”
“『That’s right. This case was almost solved thanks to this boy.』”
Finally, I felt I understood why comedians and TV personalities were placed on these programmes as commentators. They were the adjuster of the atmosphere.
The flow of the programme gradually tilted towards celebrating schoolboy K as the hero who had solved this case. And all the way to the end of the programme, Rin Fukuda just kept on exposing her whiskers to the general audience without any relation to it.