Leave a comment

The end of this nonsense is nearing. I can probably leave the rest of the rogues’ den idiots to the suppression team. With Nako’s surrender, I managed to gain a lot of information too. I didn’t expect Ran to do such a bold move.

“All that’s left is to wait for the vehicle in front to halt.”
“All preparations done. Time to say your prayers.”

Hadzuki’s car is already right behind the kidnappers. As one could expect, we can’t make a move until the car in front stops. I’ll just get run over if I carelessly jump right in front of them.

“Are you really using that?”
“I can’t shy away from using slightly rougher methods now.”
“Can that really be considered slight?”

In my hand right now is a hammer, the type that’s used to break a car’s window in case of emergencies. With this, I can stop the car from going and forcefully remove the locks. And since this is an emergency, I’m really using it the wrong way.

“It’s a red light.”
“I’ll be off then.”
“Good luck.”

I look around and check if there are any cars coming from behind. It’d be so stupid if I got run over while trying to be a hero. I won’t make that mistake. Confirming the road’s safety, I leave the car and approach the target car at full speed.

“Hello~”

I knock on the window just to be sure that I have their attention. I’m going to use a destructive method, so I have to make the people on the other side be aware or they’ll get hurt. Upon seeing Ayaka’s shocked face staring my way, I was also shocked and slammed the hammer on her face. Of course, with the window between us.

“Don’t f̲u̲c̲k̲ with me!”

Unlocking the door with rage, I drag Ayaka outside the car. Pushing to the ground face down to avoid seeing her face, I successfully secured her. With this, it’s hard to tell who’s the bad buy here.

“Why the hell did you choose that face!”

Ayaka’s face was that of the previous Kotone. In other words, the one with make-up so thick you can’t see any trace of the original features. This is a dark past for Kotone, something I never wanted to see ever again. To think that I’d see this from another person’s face.

“Nono, there’s actually a proper reason for this.”
“What?”
“It’s easier to imitate this face than your untouched face.”

I thought so. Kotone’s make-up is beyond the level of normal make-up. If someone calls it SFX makeup, I really can’t disagree. Imitating my regular face would have a greater risk of getting caught. Still, there’s something I can’t agree with.

“Why the hell did they mistake this for me!?”
“B̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲, who are you!?”
“What the hell is wrong with you people!?”

The security personnel yelled nonsense as they rushed out of their car, so I yelled right back at them. This absurd situation is going to make me cry. Not only am I faced with my dark history, they’re even treating me as an impostor.

“Release lady Kotone!”
“I’m the real Kisaragi Kotone!”
“Stop with your lies!”
“Are your eyes just decorations!”

What are we even doing in the middle of a public road? They aren’t approaching us, is it because I have Ayaka on the ground and they think I’m taking Kotone as a hostage? This situation is getting complicated.

“We have been provided with the lady’s photo personally by the Kisaragi family head.”
“That’s my first year enrollment photo.”

It’s the photo taken for my student ID. Depicted there is the thick make-up Kotone, who barely has any similarities with my current appearance. My current ID actually has a retaken photo of me replacing that.

“What the hell? Was it just a string of coincidences that started this?”

This incident might have not happened if Ayaka didn’t disguise herself as the old Kotone. Actually, I might not have needed to disguise myself in the first place. Though they’d probably put the two and two together if they had seen me leave my apartment room.

“Idiot father, doesn’t he know what his own daughter looks like now?”
“What are you blabbering about, release lady Kotone now.”
“No, you are the ones mistaken here.”

They probably won’t listen to anything I say. In the middle of this, Hadzuki got out of his car and came before us, but they didn’t seem to recognize him at all. At least memorize the faces of high profile individuals. There’s no telling when you’ll get a job from other people, you know?

“Is this company going to be alright?”
“Probably not?”

Do their people just not do enough real-time information gathering? I don’t know if that’s their company policy or something, but I wouldn’t think of hiring them if I was a potential client. There’s a huge risk that they’d act inappropriately at important times.

“Leader. Might he be possibly the Hadzuki’s…”

So there is someone decent among them. I’ll reconsider my judgment just a bit. The said leader showed a surprised expression, and then stared at me in shock. It must be because of how different I was in the photo. Or maybe it’s because of how I was speaking?

“Please forgive me for my rudeness!”

He lowered his head to Hadzuki, but what about me? I just remembered, this leader guy was the one who laughed and looked down at me while I was pinned to the ground. This guy is an enemy for sure, but his fate is already sealed, so I don’t feel the need to do anything further.

“So, Ayaka. Why did you do this kind of stunt? Don’t raise your head. I loathe that face.”
“Hm… Why indeed? It’s true that Satoru invited me to join this interesting event, but…”

Honestly, being shown on TV with this face would probably put a crack in Ayaka’s acting career. Not that I care enough to back her up. Don’t risk your future for something this stupid.

“There has to be a reason why you would run away from your bodyguards, right? You don’t do things that would cause trouble to people without any meaning, after all.”

Why does everyone who knows me all tend to overestimate me? I too can get selfish and go berserk when I can no longer keep it together. I just take the more peaceful route whenever possible. And I’m holding back right now, since the previous Kotone caused so many problems.

“Maybe you had some sort of past with them, or something happened that made you unable to bear it anymore. In that case, don’t you think our actions worked out as a good distraction?”
“It’s a nuisance.”
“Koto-chan, your enemy is our enemy. It would have been the best if we could fight alongside you, but I’m sure you absolutely won’t accept that.”
“You guys would just ruin any plan I’d make.”
“Everyone does as they please, after all. Anyway, can I take this off now? It really feels weird, you see.”
“Do it already.”

I don’t know if it’s a mask or what, but I guess she doesn’t actually have that make-up applied directly to her face. I can already imagine her pulling off the mask the moment she reaches the Kisaragi residence to surprise everyone. I’m really glad I prevented that.

“Ah~ that feels better. Now, can you let go of me now?”
“Absolutely make sure to act.”

The news helicopter is still flying in the sky. Her talking to me with a smile would completely ruin everything. While things can be edited out in post, taking other things in consideration, it might be better to have a set scenario. For the sake of our reputations, as well.

“You wore an SFX make up to surprise a friend, but was kidnapped on your way by mistake. You were so afraid that you could neither speak up nor resist.”
“And so my dear friend Koto-chan went to rescue me, right? Understood.”

Acting as though she was released from a fearful experience, we hugged each other and talked in a whisper. She’s not showing a big grin, is she? Is this really going to be fine? Now that I think about it, if this is broadcasted, my face is going to be on TV again, right? That’s crazy.

“There, your babysitter is here.”
“Uwah, she’s super angry.”
“Obviously, you fool.”

Ran has a smile on her face, but it’s clear that she’s boiling with rage on the inside. After all, her cheeks keep on twitching. She’s really forcing that smile, isn’t she? Well, with Ayaka causing a mess like this without prior consultation, of course she’d be like that.

“Satoru. Tell them that the game’s over. This is the end of this mess.”
“Roger that. Man, it was quite chaotic.”
“I’ll leave the rest to you. Tie up the remaining loose ends. Keep the damage to me to a minimum.”

If I don’t give a proper warning, he’ll get me involved as much as he can. As long as he’s still sane, Satoru should be aware of the power and influence of the twelve families. If he still plans on doing something stupid anyway, I won’t hesitate to crush him.

“That didn’t go as bad as it could’ve gone. Well then, I’ll write up a script without messing around. ”
“Do it properly, man.”

I don’t have the energy to probe each of their intentions. I’m sure messing around to relieve stress is a big part of it, but maybe the people who know my true identity wanted to help me out somehow. And then the others quickly hopped on the bandwagon.

“Now, lady Kotone. We will commit our duty and send you safely back home.”
“You lot will be heading to the police station for questioning. Have some awareness of what you have just done.”

The leader guy shamelessly tried to act as if nothing happened at all, so I made sure to hammer it home. While I was the one who set up the first trap, they still have to take responsibility for everything afterwards. They were really lacking in the information gathering department, for example.

“The clean up for this is going to be troublesome.”
“I’ll help out with that. You’ve given me so much fun so early this year, after all.”

I looked at Hadzuki with suspicion and he only responded with a smile. I’m honestly conflicted on whether I can trust him on this, but it’s not like I have any other choice. I hope this paid a part of my debt regarding the past documents.

“Kotone, I got the thing you asked for.”
“Thank you very much, Mizuki. I appreciate it.”
“I personally appreciate not getting dragged into the chaos. Akira and Kyousuke are still out cold.”

Let’s just think of that as a necessary sacrifice. I’m aware that I’ve caused them trouble, of course. What I asked Mizuki to get was the smartphone I left with Kaori. Kaori wouldn’t hand it over to people that she doesn’t know, after all.

“Now then, please escort me home.”
“Leave it to us.”

I’ll leave the rogue den’s punishment to Isami’s old man. Naturally, I’ve already sent him the details. A two-day one-night stay at the security firm’s detention rooms with only a bed and nothing else. That’s the most effective way to make them suffer.

“Time to tie the loose end, as well.”

My one goal for the New Year, to punch Kotone’s father. I’m sure he’s in a very bad mood with this incident. I’ll punch him no matter what, and that’s never going to change.