Akuta Mayor Novel ch.5

(18TRIP)

I took off at a tear on my bike, but when I reached my destination--

"Huh?"

The place I had arrived wasn't Sayo-chan's house at all; it was just an empty lot.

"Whoa, he really showed up!"

"That's crazy, though? He's that much of a nice guy? Wooow~"

"No way, Ukawa! Between your acting and a voice changer, you had Utaka totally fooled!"

"Better apologize to Isotake, huh~"

The people gathered there weren't Sayo-chan; in her place were a few third-rank classmates who I didn't really know that well.

"I... I..."

"Ukawa?"

"I was just doing what everyone was telling me to do...!"

Ukawa looked so small and out of place amongst them, and he was looking at me with a red nose.

"Is Sayo-chan not here?"

"Of course she's not! That was all Ukawa!"

Which was to say, there was no girl named Sayo-chan who was being abused by her stepfather after all.

"Sorry 'bout that! It was just meant to be a little trick, so you'll forgive Ukawa, right?"

"We were just messing around, and we decided we'd play a bit of a prank on you, Isotake, since everyone's been talking about you lately--"

"But you didn't expect it to work that well, right?"

"I just...! I was just doing what everyone was telling me to do..."

"Haaa, hah, is that so?"

I understood that they were all just trying to mess with me.

"..."

For a moment, I felt something I couldn't quite name building up in the pit of my stomach, but it didn't last, and it began to fade away and become a mix of other emotions.
That's just the way I always am. No need to worry about it about it. Nothing bad had actually happened, so why not just call it there? So the next thing I said was:

"You got me!!" It was a very you tricked me good reaction.

"Ahahahaha! Isotake's really simple like that!"

All of my classmates looked like they were having a good time. Out of them, though, Ukawa was the only one he looked upset. He was biting his lip and trembling. So, I wanted to cheer him up. I wanted to make sure he didn't worry about it.

Nothing bad had actually happened, so why not just call it there?

"Ukawa, you gave a great performance! You oughta appear in my next movie."

"--!"

"I'm glad I had the chance to scout you, Ukawa!"

"I'm.... going home." And with that, Ukawa ran away.

I hope he was okay.

My classmates seemed to be satisfied with that, and were talking amongst themselves, saying things like "Damn, I'm really amped up!" and "Ah, I'm tired", and they began to disperse.

"..."

Standing alone in an empty vacant lot, I looked up at the sky above. The sky was overcast and the clouds looked ominous and dark. It reminded me of Ukawa's face just moments before.

And then I thought, "well, at least I was able to write a really good script, so all's well!"

The next day.

I was explaining why I had been in such a rush so late at night, and when I started giving the deets on what had happened...

"Ahahahahahaha! You didn't have a girlfriend and all and it was just a prank... I called it!"

"Kuruma, you don't have... to laugh so much..."

"What's not hilarious about this? This is exactly the kind of blunder that Idiotake would make. I'm almost impressed."

"You say that, U-chan, but your temple is throbbing."

"I'm frustrated, too. You'd been working on your script every day until well into the night. ... But more than that, I'm sorry, Akuta. If I hadn't run around telling everyone about this, you wouldn't have had to go around telling everyone how it tunred out."

"It's fine! I've still got the script. And it was fun holding press conferences."

"There are mean-spirited people everywhere. You can't let them manipulate you. You just have to leave them be."

"Yeah... ... but, Kaguya, where... are you going...?"

"I am sure you already know. I am taking revenge."

"You're not... taking it lying down... huh...?"

Ushio was laughing with sparkling eyes; Kiroku wasn't saying much, but he was frowning and looked upset; Muneuji was plotting vengeance; and Nanaki looked depressed and guilty. Everyone else in HAMA House had been really nice; they folded origami sunflowers, made super tasty dumplings and ramen noodles and steamed buns, and I even got my fortune told to see if I'd meet someone else. I already knew it, but it was a reminder that they were really nice people. I'm a really lucky guy to know them.

Thanks.

"But it was kinda good, wasn't it? When Sayo-chan was crying, he was on it!"

"He just, took off, like a bullet..."

"But I guess it'd be better if Ukawa could have said clearer that he didn't want to go along with something, right~? He looked like he felt super guilty."

"You're... a very kind person."

And that's how the Sudden Girlfriend Scandal.... Incident...? Came to a close!

"... I ate sooo much. I'm so lucky that everyone decided to treat me so much."

I went back to my room, patting my full stomach, and looked back over the script that I had been working on. A lot had happened over the past few days, but... all I can think is something like, "All's well that ends well". Somewhere in the back of my mind, the images of Ukawa's eyes, the scenery of the vacant lot, my classmates' faces, the moon above, and the taunting laughter all flash by... but I can't really remember it all that clearly now.

I don't have to worry about what I was thinking or how I felt at the time.
That's just the way I always am.

Right then, there was a knock at my door. When I answered it, Raito-san was standing there. He looked at me, and he raised his eyebrows in concern.

"I heard. You've been having a rough time of things."

"Ah, everyone's making a big deal of it! I'm not bothered at all, everything's A-okay!"

"You're staying positive. That's a relief. I've also heard you're writing a script; keep up the good work."

"Thaaaanks~! It's still a WIP, but do you wanna read it, Raito-san? I'd love to hear what an adult thinks of it~~~!"

So he graciously agreed to read my script. After he read it, Raito-san looked up and me and gave me a curious look.
"When did you get the idea for this story?"

"Just a little before I joined up with HAMA Tours, I think~"

"Did you base it on any true stories?"

"Nuh-uh, I didn't. Why d'you ask?"

"I see..." Raito-san paused for a moment, as though he were thinking about something, and then he spoke up again. "There's that ongoing serial killer case, isn't there? I was just wondering if that was what inspired you."

"Huh?"

"The first and second victims were men, and the third was a woman; they said on the news that the last of them was kidnapped and then murdered."

"Whoa, really? I didn't know--!"

I'd never heard of that!?

But all of this was just the prologue to a new story... To Be Continued!