That evening, Tennoji Kaede arrived near the Digital Store at Keyaki Mall, as promised.
After switching into his "Slaanesh" form in an instant, Kaede waited for a moment when no one was around and entered the store.
"Yo~ Otaku Brother, I'm here to pick up my stuff, just like I promised. You didn't let me down, did you?"
A sharp glint flashed in the Stalker Clerk's eyes, but he bowed and scraped as he replied, "Of course, of course! The recording pen just had a few loose internal components that had shifted out of place. I've fixed it completely. It's guaranteed to work!"
Kaede nodded in satisfaction, picked up the recording pen, and hurried to leave.
"Um! Have you forgotten to pay the repair points...?"
The pleading voice behind Kaede gradually faded until it was barely audible.
He turned around, thoroughly annoyed, and said with a swagger, "Huh? Otaku Brother, you're saying you want to charge me? I let you do some work and now you think you can push me around!?"
"Go on, say that one more time!!"
"N-no, no need to pay! I fixed it for Mr. Ishizaki of my own free will. Just consider it a friendly favor, hehe..."
"Tch, what a pain."
As if he'd just thought of something, Kaede forced the Stalker Clerk to charge him an "astronomical" repair fee of 100 points, then paid it with obvious reluctance.
"Don't think I'm making you work for free. Got it?"
"Yes, yes..." He seethed inwardly.
A lousy 100 points? Even beggars got more than that. You stingy deadbeat! Just you wait!
Kaede snorted twice. As he neared the store entrance, he answered another call.
Kaede's attitude changed in an instant. "Haha, sure! Little Shizuku, I'm on my way..."
The Stalker Clerk overheard him and grew as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.
She's mine!!!
I can't... I can't let her be taken by a person like that...
The Otaku Brother's face twisted with malice. He pulled a special display device from the counter drawer.
Its screen looked like a tracker...
After weaving back and forth through Keyaki Mall, Kaede arrived at the secluded, camera-free path where he had privately met Horikita Manabu last time.
Along the way, Kaede had already used various counter-surveillance techniques to confirm the identity of the person secretly following him from a short distance behind.
The sky was ablaze with evening clouds, and night was about to fall.
In the Stalker Clerk—Kamiki Ansei's eyes, the alley "Ishizaki Daichi" had entered looked pitch-black.
There was no one around at all. Kamiki made a mental note of that.
There don't seem to be any cameras here?
He was both surprised and delighted.
Before coming here, he'd been nervous, with no idea what he should do.
Time had been tight, after all, and the repairs and modifications had taken quite a while.
He'd also been immersed in the pain of being brutally "betrayed" by the person he loved...
But now, things were looking up. He felt he still had a chance!
Kamiki hid around the corner at one end of the dim passage.
He could just make out the silhouettes of a man and a woman moving in a dead end farther down the passage.
"Stop! Let go of me! Let go..."
Kamiki was certain. That was Sakura's scream!
He heard it clearly!
No one wanted to hear that sound more than he did!
Damn you, Ishizaki...
"Crash!"
Suddenly, it sounded as if a bottle had shattered.
"Ah! You little b— You..."
Kamiki hadn't expected things to take such a sudden turn after only a few minutes.
No more sounds?
No, he could still hear Shizuku sobbing softly...
What about Ishizaki?
Could it be...
A scene he'd often seen in anime came to mind, and an evil desire surged through him!
Kamiki's heart pounded. After checking once more that no one was around, he steeled himself and crept inside.
At that moment, his mind was filled with the sound of Shizuku's sobs, growing closer and closer...
Closer. So close...
In front of Kamiki, he could vaguely make out a man lying against the wall and a woman sprawled on the ground, her clothes in disarray.
Still afraid to turn on his terminal's backlight, he shakily pointed its dim screen at "Ishizaki Daichi."
Thud, thud, thud!
He staggered backward several steps in fright, and Shizuku's sobs grew much quieter.
Blood!
There was blood on the man's head!
That damned "Ishizaki Daichi"... He really had been knocked out!
Unable to contain his delight, Kamiki took out the camera he'd brought and snapped a picture of "Ishizaki Daichi" in his pitiful state as evidence of the crime.
Then he turned his predatory gaze toward Little Shizuku, lying on the ground.
That tousled pink hair, those womanly curves, and the moving sobs from before...
There was no mistaking her!
He leaned forward slightly and slowly approached, his voice burning with excitement. "S-Sakura, I'm here to save you... I'm your devoted fan! You haven't forgotten me, have you!?"
Sakura Airi seemed terrified. She covered her face with one hand and her chest with the other, curled up her legs, and scrambled backward across the ground like a startled beauty snake.
"Heh... I... I love you, Airi! I went to all this trouble to save you... It's not too much to ask for a little reward, is it?"
With that, he lunged at Sakura, who was lying on the ground, amid a flash of light.
"Then take this!!!"
"Sakura" kicked hard, striking the otaku right in the chest!
"Waaaah!"
As Kamiki sailed through the air, another foot suddenly shot in from the left and violently kicked him flying again!!
"Aaaah—!!"
Like a ball being passed in a relay, Kaede's kick slammed into Kamiki's belly, leaving him unable to make another sound.
Kamiki Ansei tumbled all the way to the grass by the wall, looking utterly miserable. Along the way, he got a hearty mouthful of natural soil.
"What a disgusting creep... This is the kind of person who's been pestering Airi all this time? Unforgivable!"
After removing the pink wig and a few special props, Ibuki Mio angrily walked over to the prone otaku and kicked him hard in the groin several times.
"Ahhh!!!"
Kaede wiped the red paint off his face and said, "Stop kicking him. Let's get him up first. I still have some questions for him."
With "blood" on his forehead and a fierce aura, the Tennoji Kaede of this moment looked just like a pure-blooded Class C student.
Ibuki was small but strong. She lifted Otaku Brother straight off the ground.
Kaede patted his face with familiar ease, then searched him and took his terminal, camera, and a special device.
Kaede transferred all the Private Points Kamiki had from his terminal.
"You're not badly paid." Kaede nodded. Another million points in the bag.
"You... Ishizaki..."
The clerk's face was full of terror. He could see now that he'd been set up.
Kaede sneered. "Mr. Kamiki Ansei, first you attacked me with a bottle, then you tried to assault the young lady here, Miss Ibuki..."
"You're talking nonsense! I didn't do that!"
Kaede took out the miniature camera he'd confiscated from Kushida last time and showed him the photo of his bloodied head.
"Look at this. The evidence is right there!"
Kaede continued, "And those Harassment Letters you left at Sakura Airi's dormitory—did you really think I hadn't gotten video evidence? You work in this field, yet you didn't even check which parts of the dorm had cameras?"
"I... I never left any letters! You're framing me!"
He screamed wildly, as if he'd lost his mind.
"Even though this school is completely enclosed, those threatening comments you left on 'Shizuku's' Twitter are probably linked to your IP address, aren't they?
"My accomplice is at your store right now, gathering evidence. I wonder what he'll find?"
Kaede tore down his psychological defenses, one step at a time.
Kamiki's legs began to tremble violently...
"Heh." Finally, Kaede smirked and slowly pulled the repaired recording pen from his pocket.
Kamiki stared blankly, gazing at the arrival of his judgment...
Kaede looked down at him and declared, "You secretly installed a tracker inside this, didn't you?"
"Kamiki, your life is over."
Kamiki dropped to his knees.
Checkmate!
Before you continue