Lucky Mutual Aid Society

"Matsui, you bastard!" Some of the more fanatical members couldn't take it anymore. Believing Matsui was insulting the chairman they respected, they jumped to their feet and cursed him out. Some even tried to charge the stage and beat him up, but several security guards blocked them.

"Bastard! What do you think you're doing? Sit down!"

"Looking to get beaten?"

The security guards glared menacingly. One listen to their authentic streetwise rolling R's was enough to tell they were thugs, which cooled the fanatical members down a little.

Up onstage, when Harada Taro heard what Matsui had said, he felt ice run through his body. Cold sweat broke out across his skin. This was his biggest secret, and he swore he'd never told Matsui about it! But he could still recover the situation. Forcing himself to stay calm, he acted as if he'd been insulted and asked, "Matsui, what exactly are you talking about? Are you insulting me?"

A smile appeared on Matsui's face again for an instant, but he suppressed it the next second. "Everyone, please don't get upset. I'm not insulting the chairman; I'm simply describing the facts... During the chairman's long thirty-year career as a shut-in, his parents sent him to a psychiatric hospital for treatment several times. What I'm saying is true. Isn't that right, Chairman?"

Harada Taro argued, "That was the price of awakening my talent. I was young then, and I didn't understand or know how to control this newly awakened ability. So my behavior seemed extremely strange to other people, and they mistook me for a mental patient and sent me to the hospital. But now, I can see through fate with ease and help others! What you described is merely the least noteworthy experience of my long life. Those experiences made me who I am and inspired me to establish the mutual aid society and help others."

"So that's what happened! I knew the chairman couldn't possibly be mentally ill! Damn you, Matsui, for slandering the chairman!" The members below were convinced. Harada Taro's explanation suited his image perfectly: a genius with a gift the world didn't understand! And despite everything, he'd never forgotten his original purpose. He was truly admirable.

Matsui nodded, then took out a medical record and opened it. "Exactly. Strange behavior can certainly be explained away like that. I got the chairman's records from that psychiatric hospital. His most recent stay was five years ago, and the diagnosis says schizophrenia. It describes his symptoms in detail, such as hallucinations... But it also says he suffers from severe paranoia. Whenever he feels unsafe, he thinks someone is trying to hurt him and suffers a mental breakdown. I think the chairman's illness must have relapsed, which is why he's so suspicious and accused me of stealing the donations..."

"You bastard! What are you talking about?" When Harada Taro saw that Matsui had actually produced his medical records, he panicked. At last, he couldn't keep up his composure. He shouted furiously, "Paranoia? You know perfectly well that something really is trying to hurt me... Oh no!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Matsui asked mockingly. "Then tell us, Chairman, who exactly is trying to hurt you?"

As soon as he said it, Harada realized he'd misspoken. He hurriedly tried to explain, "That's not what I meant. I was wrong! Nobody's trying to hurt me..."

But once words were spoken, they couldn't be taken back. Suspicion returned to the members' faces. They whispered among themselves, and their disordered chatter pricked at Harada like a series of needles, making him feel as if the whole world were closing in on him. It grew harder and harder to breathe. Memories of his thirty years as a shut-in flooded back. His withdrawn, introverted nature shattered all the effort he'd put in over the past year, and he became once again the useless, reclusive otaku, Harada Taro.

Suddenly, Harada's eyes sharpened. No, it's not over yet. I still have their respect. I can still talk my way out of this! This is nothing. I just have to incite my followers to attack that bastard Matsui again and brand him a threat to their luck! Those brainless idiots will believe it. They'll do anything to change their fate! At last, Harada Taro's fighting spirit rekindled. He wanted to make it through this threat just as he had before. This was a trial sent by heaven. If he could overcome it, he was sure to rise to the top and see a different world!

Just as he was about to summon his courage and launch one final counterattack, he suddenly saw the infant crawling out of Matsui's collar. Its swollen, deathly white body was threaded with countless black veins, and it grinned at him, its mouth full of sharp teeth and its eyes filled with hatred. The little ghost crawled down Matsui's body and onto the floor, making excited "ah-ah" noises as it headed toward Harada.

Harada looked around and realized it wasn't the only one. The little ghosts on the senior members below were closing in too, like a school of sharks that had caught the scent of blood! In the more than a year since founding the Lucky Mutual Aid Society, he'd performed dozens of "purification rituals." That meant he'd struck these little creatures with willow switches hundreds of times! The later the rituals went on, the more strikes he'd needed, so he could only imagine how much the little ghosts hated him.

As the little ghosts appeared, Harada felt the temperature around him plummet. His teeth began to chatter, his lips turned blue, and his face grew deathly pale. He looked down at the members. Dozens of eyes stared back at him, bewildered and confused. They had no idea what was happening. Only a genuine medium like him could sense the danger posed by these little ghosts. Being a medium was a gift, but also a curse: while he could sense them, they could affect him too.

"D-don't... don't come any closer..." Harada said shakily, his body trembling as though he'd fallen into icy water and been pulled back out. Even facing a single little ghost during the purification rituals had nearly been too much for him. Now, a whole group had appeared at once. If not for the faint, warm feeling in his arms, he would have already broken down.

"The chairman... He doesn't look quite right."

"What happened? He seems to be in a lot of pain."

The members below had no idea what was going on. Just then, Matsui shouted, "This is bad! The chairman's under too much pressure. His illness really has relapsed! Get an ambulance ready! Nobody else touch him—we don't want to overstimulate the patient!"

"What? The chairman really is..."

"Forget that for now! Call an ambulance! Can't you see how much pain he's in?"

"Doctor! Is there a doctor here?!"

The hall descended into chaos. Everyone watched the scene onstage, panicked and at a loss.

"So this is your trump card, Matsui!" Harada Taro glared at Matsui furiously and thought, You found my medical records, labeled me paranoid, and then used little ghosts to kill me in front of everyone. You want me to die in the most humiliating way possible, disgraced and exposed as mentally ill, so you can conveniently prop up the next puppet and put him in power!

"I won't let you get away with this, Matsui!" Harada roared.