41: The Game is Over
As she stood there in a daze, Kouki turned his smartphone screen towards her.
It showed Ryugo sticking out his tongue provocatively.
‘Yay! Enka-chan, are you watching~?’
His voice, filled with mockery, echoed through the smartphone.
‘The evidence that Enka-chan worked so hard to get… I’m going to use it~!’
“When!? How…?”
‘Misato told me.’
“W-what!?”
‘Unbelievable, right? I knew you were threatening her with not returning my memories if she cooperated with me. But if that problem was solved, Misato would be free.’
“Could it be… the penalty?”
That was the only possibility.
Ryugo clasped his hands together to form the shape of a mountain and chuckled.
‘YES! I applied the one remaining penalty of Mr. Double Suit. I couldn’t restore my memories, but the authority to recover them was transferred to me. Misato has no reason to obey you anymore! hahahahaha. Oh, and I’ ‘ll tell you this in advance, this isn’t hypnosis, it’s a release, so it’s possible even for the holder.’
“W-wait! How are you going to solve the problem with just a photo!?”
‘It’s simple. I know that those two are in a physical relationship, and there’s also a conversation on the smartphone where Aira asks the idol to bring her into the entertainment industry. Even a monkey could figure it out with this much information. The mother is trying to use Aira to please the idol, and the idol is using the mother to get close to Aira. Otherwise, there’s no reason why a young, handsome man would be so eager to have a relationship with a woman in her forties, no matter how beautiful she is.’
“Damn… uuugh…”
He was right about everything.
『I should have ordered Miri to keep her mouth shut. Why didn’t I? Well, even if I had, there would have been another way.』
“…That doesn’t matter.”
Enka gasped, a mixture of resignation and irritation churning in her stomach.
It was a defeat that was meant to happen.
Even though the penalty was caused by Double Suit, it was also her fault for allowing it. She was the one who created the opening.
And it was also her fault for not being able to foresee this outcome.
“…It’s a shame.”
From the beginning to the end, I was the one holding the losing hand.
◇
Currently, Aira was in the middle of a heated argument with her parents over the phone.
The evidence and information were sufficient.
Ryugo watched the shouting match with amusement, sipping on a delicious orange juice as he enjoyed the spectacle.
“Hmm, it’s the best to watch these brats fight from the sidelines.”
An hour later.
Enka, Miri, and Koki returned home and sat down on the living room chairs with sullen faces, not uttering a word.
“Welcome back. You were perfect.”
Ryugo praised them, and Koki collapsed in exhaustion.
“Even though Miri helped me sneak in, it was nerve-wracking…”
“It’s a good thing it’s the middle of summer.”
“Should I make you lose your nerve?”
Those words sent a chill down his spine.
“…Now that everyone is here.”
Ryugo crossed his legs and chuckled.
“Let’s get to the conclusion. I win. Aira and her mother’s relationship is beyond repair! That mother won’t be able to talk about the entertainment industry ever again after being shown such evidence. I won’t say for sure, though. “
“Tanuki-kun.”
Enka’s shoulders slumped, and her back was hunched. Her usual sharp demeanor was gone, and she looked as if she had aged a decade.
“So this is the end.”
“You’re not satisfied? That’s natural. Even if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t be satisfied.”
“No, this is fine. It happened for a reason.”
“There’s nothing we could do about the penalty. Both times, it happened because I saved you. Even though Double Suit had his own motives.”
“That’s right. If he hadn’t saved me from that man… I probably wouldn’t be here.”
“Well, the second time happened because you underestimated me, so reflect on that.”
“Yes…”
“So, do you intend to keep your promise?”
Enka smiled at Ryugo’s question.
“…Yes. I admit defeat and will delete the app.”
“That’s just a verbal promise. Isn’t there a chance you’ll break it all here and run away?”
“That’s fine, but… I probably won’t reach my ideal that way.”
“You’re not thinking of keeping a copy of the app or deleting a dummy app to deceive us, are you?”
“A copy is useless. You can’t transfer the real thing to another device, and apparently it doesn’t work if it’s a copy. Well, that’s obvious, otherwise it wouldn’t be a game.
“So, a dummy app, huh? I was determined to win. Can I make one in an hour? If you don’t trust me, you can tie me up and search me.”
“That will suffice. Now, hand over your phone. Let’s end this battle.”
“…Okay.”
I looked at her downcast face as I took the smartphone she offered me.
“Then, let’s really become friends this time.”
“…Huh?”
“I don’t know if I can forgive you for what you did, but I want to think positively about this situation.”
Our meeting was unfortunate from the start.
A few months ago, Madoka was mentally unstable. Yet she gained godlike powers and was swept away by the appearance of an ideal being.
She was not at fault for what happened between the beginning and the start of the game.
“I can’t be the hero you want me to be. If I saw a child about to be crushed under a collapsing building, I would look the other way to save my own skin.”
“…”
“The person you dreamed of…is just an ordinary person.”
“…Okay.”
“As for your mother, I’ll use the app to help her. But if this is the only way to bring her back to her senses, take her to the hospital soon. And you too.”
“…Okay.”
I don’t know if she really understood, but Madoka nodded.
Ryugo chose to uninstall the hypnosis app, and it disappeared with a tiny electronic sound, all too abruptly.
“Is it over…?”
“Yes.”
Koki also stood by to confirm.
There is no copy or dummy of it now.
It’s over.
The battle of one summer ended like this. Thinking back, many things happened in just one month since I got the app.
“This is a happy ending.”
Then, Misato asked.
“What are you going to do with the app?”
“I’ll delete it once I get my memories back.”
“What? Why….”
“What good is it? All I can think of is using it for crimes.”
“You don’t have to delete it. You can just keep it. It will still be there even if you change your phone, right?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s true.”
“Keep it in case you need it.”
“Hmm…Well, okay.”
“That’s a good idea. You’re always getting into trouble anyway–“
“–How boring….”
A voice from behind…Ryugo, Koki, and Misato all stood up with a shudder at the whisper that sent shivers down their spines as if a centipede had crawled into their ears.
Goosebumps covered their bodies, and their tongues went dry.
“Double Suit……!”
The man responsible glared at them with a pale face full of resentment.
At some point…
“How boring…”
And from the depths of that darkness, a murky anger began to boil to the surface.
“Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring…”
“Do you think repeating the same word over and over makes you sound crazy?”
“I can’t accept an ending like this… Can you? Huh? To settle things with the guy who you backed into a corner with such a boring duel? For the conflict to end so easily? Where’s the entertainment in that? That’s third-rate writing at best!”
“If you don’t shut up soon, I’m going to kill you.”
“You too. Why aren’t you struggling? Heroes are supposed to be interesting because they’re pushed down, pushed down, pushed down, and then they bounce back. But you’re making judgments too quickly.”
BAM
Ryugo took a nearby chair and swung it with full force at the Double Suit’s head.
But he only shook from the impact and didn’t fall down.
Ryugo had hit him with considerable force, but there wasn’t a scratch on him. In fact, he didn’t even show any sign of being in pain.
“Guess hitting you doesn’t work, huh?”
“That’s it… That strange quick judgment of yours. Rational behavior that doesn’t hesitate to harm the opponent if necessary…”
BAM
“I told you to shut up.”
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM
With each blow to the Double Suit’s head, the chair let out a sickening crack as it disintegrated.
“Hey! Don’t break Ira’s chairs!”
Ryugo ignored Ira’s yelling.
As he continued to beat him, Koki said worriedly from behind him, “Tanuki, you’re really starting to lose it.”
In fact, after being made fun of so much, Ryugo’s frustration had reached its limit.
“…This ends the game. Hurry up and go back to your own world.”
As Ryugo said this, breathing heavily, the Double Suit chuckled, his hair in disarray.
“…You’re right. The game is over.”
He was clearly suspicious.
He looked at his own hands, his face filled with a kind of ecstasy.
“hehehe… hehehe…”
What the heck? He lost, so why is he laughing so gleefully?
“I’m going to be busy, so I’m going to go ahead and leave.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“You… You’re still planning something, aren’t you?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Suddenly, a black hole appeared behind the Double Suit, and he disappeared into it as if being sucked in.
Everyone there stared at the empty space with faces like they had just swallowed a bug.
“……”
“You’re paying for that chair, Tanuki.”
“I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“Myyyy chaaair!”
“But what else are we supposed to do? Are you going to add more opponents?”
“Chair! Chair! Chair!”
“Aira, go play over there!”
Aira made a face of resentment, clicked her tongue, and went upstairs.
“Hey, Tanuki,”
While I was thinking, Misato spoke with a look of concern.
“…I’m sorry for everything until now.”
“What for?”
“Even though it was to help you, I made you feel bad.”
“Don’t worry about it! Looking back on it now, your actions were useless anyway! Hunya!?”
She pinched my cheek, and I made a strange sound.
“It’s true though…It’s true! Just try to understand my feelings a little!”
“But! I can’t help it! I tried to think about it to find something good, but I couldn’t think of anything!”
“–That’s not true.”
Kouki objected.
“Maybe, while she was following Enka, she was acting to keep Tanuki out of harm’s way.”
“What do you mean…”
“Think back to Enka’s words and actions.”
“Her words and actions?”