episode_0135

Having safely concluded the deal (?) with the yakuza, I headed home feeling at ease…

‘Ugh, damn cigarette smell.’

…Or rather, I couldn’t.

That’s because I hadn’t dealt with Momiji’s father and mother yet.

Well, it wasn’t going to take long.

[Head to the address written here.]

First, I’d retrieve the man who was Momiji’s father (I didn’t feel the need to remember his name) from the pachinko parlor he frequented, then use hypnosis to make him go to the yakuza’s office.

Of course.

[Your consciousness will return just before your organs are removed, but you won’t be able to speak or move. Furthermore, fainting or passing out is not permitted.]

After stuffing him with the consequences of selling his child, like a heaping bowl of rice, through hypnosis.

By the way, the money obtained from removing that man’s organs, excluding what I requested for my work and fees, I intend to give to the people he borrowed money from.

One might ask if it’s a waste, but it’d be troublesome if they contacted me later to collect the money.

So, Momiji’s father was dealt with, and as for her mother…

“Hmm, she’s quite pretty.”

I hesitated a little.

Originally, I had planned to turn her into a drug addict and make her suffer, trapped by the impulses for drugs.

But looking at her face, it seemed like she could be used for other purposes.

Mainly in a sexual sense.

Hearing that, one might think I was feeling pity for the woman who sold her child.

Of course, I didn’t feel an ounce of pity.

How could I pity a woman who, by her own admission, preferred host clubs over her daughter?

So, the option of turning her into a drug addict hasn’t disappeared.

It’s just that I felt drug addiction alone might not be enough.

‘If it’s just drug addiction, it feels like this woman would enjoy it too much.’

That wouldn’t be a punishment.

Hmm, what would be good…?

After a moment of thought, a good idea struck me.

‘Using her as a hypnosis test subject would be perfect.’

Specifically, using this woman as a subject for hypnosis experiments.

Haven’t I experimented enough, you ask?

Well, you’re not wrong. I certainly did enough experiments. Only up to the level I considered ethical by my standards, that is.

One might say experiments involving defiling women aren’t ethical, but by my standards, they’re somewhat ethical.

Of course, I’m still trash. It’s just ethical in the sense that I didn’t physically harm anyone.

Anyway, I intend to use Momiji’s mother as a subject for unethical hypnosis experiments, things one absolutely shouldn’t do.

To give an example, turning her into a semen addict, or hypnotizing her so she has to masturbate ten times a day for the urges to disappear.

One might say those are too common, but that’s what someone who’s read too much manga or has a mental illness would say.

What I’m doing is taking a normal person…

‘Come to think of it, a drug addict isn’t exactly a normal person.’

Well, it probably doesn’t matter.

Anyway, I’m thinking of experimenting by inducing a type of mental illness in a normal person and then removing it again.

I’ll probably get useful data.

Takuya thought that to himself, then made a decision.

‘Yes, let’s use her as a test subject. As for the results… I’ll show them to Momiji later.’

He decided to use this wretched woman as a hypnosis experiment subject.

Having decided that, Takuya hypnotized Momiji’s mother (who, likewise, wasn’t worth remembering by name).

[Quit your job within this month, and when you quit, contact the number written on the paper. Until then, stay at home and do nothing.]

Having dealt with Momiji’s mother as well, I was now completely finished with my tasks… or rather, not quite.

There was still somewhere I needed to go.

‘Momiji is probably still in her room, right?’

Specifically, in the room where Momiji was holed up in the corner of the house where I live.

***

In fact, for the past few days, Momiji, who had been staying at my house, had been holed up in her room.

Well, I understood.

Having been abandoned by her parents and dropped into an unfamiliar environment, it would have been stranger for her to just be nonchalant.

Didn’t she seem fine during the rescue, you ask?

At that time, I was there, and things were so chaotic. She didn’t have time to think about anything else.

Perhaps, once she arrived in a safe place, the sense of relief and reality hit Momiji hard.

The human mind is inherently unstable.

For instance, a timid soldier might have been fine killing dozens of people on a chaotic battlefield, but upon returning to the barracks, he’d act more exaggeratedly than usual. Then suddenly, a gunshot would be heard in the early morning, and that soldier would be found dead, or some soldiers, seeing him, would make a greater resolve.

‘Though there are also oddballs who, seeing that sight, resolve to definitely return alive.’

Anyway, knowing Momiji’s unstable mental state, I allowed her to stay holed up in the house.

They say it’s important to have someone by your side in such times, but on the other hand, she also needed time alone.

That’s why I decided to give Momiji time to think.

‘Well, actually, I was going to give her mental care first, but she holed herself up in the room first, so…’

Anyway, I think I’ve given her enough time alone.

One might say it’s too short, but if I gave her any more time, she might turn into a shut-in.

I don’t have a hobby of raising parasites.

Takuya thought that and knocked on the curtained window at the back of the house.

By the way, the reason for knocking on the window from outside was that if I went through the house, the mothers might make another fuss.

-Knock knock.

Thinking that, I knocked on the window for a moment.

-Rustle.

With the sound of the curtain being drawn back, Momiji’s figure began to appear.

Her face, which I hadn’t even seen, let alone heard her voice, for several days, was surprisingly normal.

It seemed she had already made up her mind a while ago.

Of course, apart from that, her eyes were somehow scary, which was a little off-putting.

While Takuya was thinking that, the sound of Momiji opening the window was heard.

─Slide.

From the opened window, Momiji poked her head out.

“Hello, Takuya…”

And she greeted me in her usual timid voice.

Takuya was relieved by Momiji’s greeting and returned it.

“Hello, it’s been a while.”

At my greeting, Momiji shyly nodded and we exchanged pleasantries.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Takuya got to the point.

And naturally, the point was:

“Momiji, I met both of your parents today.”

“Okay.”

“They didn’t feel any guilt.”

“…Okay.”

It was about her parents.

Or more precisely:

“So… I’m going to do this, is that okay?”

It was about the punishments I would impose on Momiji’s parents.

At my words, Momiji replied with a slightly trembling voice.

“Yes, please do that.”

Her voice contained a mix of emptiness, despair, and also anger and resentment.

It seemed Momiji hadn’t given up the “what if?” thought until the very end.

I had also experienced such feelings before, so Momiji’s emotions resonated even more deeply with me.

Momiji silently didn’t shed tears, but trembled for a moment, letting her emotions settle.

Takuya looked at Momiji, then opened his mouth.

“Momiji, don’t think too deeply about your parents.”

I didn’t know if it would be a comfort.

“It’s natural to feel anger and resentment. I have no intention of telling you not to feel those emotions.”

Consolation wasn’t my specialty, and what happened to Momiji was too difficult and bleak a story to be resolved with mere words.

“On the contrary, feel free to be as angry and resentful as you want.”

But at the very least, I hoped she wouldn’t break down here.

“But isn’t it too much of a waste for your future to become unhappy because you break down or can’t do what you want, all because of people like them?”

“But don’t let those people ruin your life. You haven’t even properly started living, isn’t it too much of a waste for your life to become unhappy from the very beginning because of people like them?”

I didn’t want Momiji to become someone who only looked at the past, not the future, because of such wretched people.

“I want you to not lose the potential you have. I want you to become someone who enjoys a proud and vibrant life.”

I wanted her to become someone who, more than anyone else, would be so proud that she could look at the faces of the parents who abandoned her with a look of ‘serves you right’.

Therefore, I spoke to Momiji sincerely.

“So, lift your head. What a waste it is to keep such a pretty face bowed down.”

At my words, Momiji replied in a choked-up voice.

“…*Sniffle*, okay, I understand.”

But even as she said that, she didn’t lift her head all the way.

If I thought negatively, she hadn’t accepted her past self yet. If I thought positively, she was just embarrassed to show me her crying face.

‘It seems she’s embarrassed to show me her crying face.’

Since I was thinking about it anyway, I decided to think positively.

Thinking positively didn’t cost anything, and besides…

“Takuya, when you’re discharged, let’s definitely play together…”

Momiji was answering like that, wasn’t she?

I replied with a smile.

“Of course.”

Having finished everything concerning Momiji, I secretly slipped out of the house again and headed for the hospital.

No. I *was* going to head there.

“What is this?”

The moment I entered the alley, which was a shortcut to the hospital, the scenery in front of me suddenly changed completely, and at the same time…

“This rotten brat! Why didn’t he come!!”

…until I was scolded by an old man with a monocle fixed in his eye.