The Hidden Client (4)

"I have something else to take care of, so I won't walk you out."

"No... I shouldn't trouble you any further. Thank you for what you did today... Shinjo."

"It was no big deal. Don't worry about it."

Shinjo waved as he left. Sakura watched him disappear from sight, then suddenly remembered something very important.

She was just about to take out her phone and send a text when a powerful hand clamped over her mouth. All she could manage was a muffled "Mmmph!"

Then she felt herself being dragged in some direction. There was no one around, and she couldn't make a sound.

She tried to struggle, but how could someone with such slender arms and legs break free of a restraint as tight as shackles?

"Stop struggling, my 'Shizuku'! You belong to me... You belong to me!!"

The moment she heard the voice, Sakura realized what was happening. That perverted fan was kidnapping her!

Already timid by nature, she was now so terrified that she burst into tears.

The man pinned Sakura firmly to the ground and took out a towel he had prepared in advance, stuffing it into her mouth to stop her from making a sound.

"Hehehehe... Do you know how much I love you?! You're everything to me. I'd give up everything for you, even my life! But... one day, out of nowhere, you started playing that awful game of hide-and-seek with me!"

"From that day on, I was plunged into despair. Do you know... do you know what I've been going through all this time?!!"

The man's expression grew more and more twisted.

"But at last, I've found you... This has to be fate, right?! Little 'Shizuku'! You were always meant to be mine! Every part of you is mine!! Come on... Let me get a good look at you... These clothes are such a nuisance!"

Just as he was about to pull open Sakura's uniform, a figure appeared behind him in an instant and sent him flying with a powerful roundhouse kick.

"I'm afraid your good times are over."

The man rolled twice across the ground, then rubbed his eyes. The one who had kicked him was none other than that meddlesome kid from earlier. He scrambled to his feet, panting.

"You!!!!"

"Sh... Shinjo!"

Sakura sat up in tears and tried to get to her feet, but her legs had no strength at all. What had just happened must have been far too much for her.

Shinjo looked at the man before him without a trace of emotion. People like him weren't exactly rare. They were vile and despicable, but there was no end to them.

"Are you going to walk into prison quietly... or..."

Or should I just send you off to be reborn? Though, to be honest, I really don't want someone like you getting reincarnated.

The man laughed in fury.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Who do you think you are, some kind of hero? Do you even know what you just did? You used violence against a school custodian! Do you know what happens to a student who uses violence?!"

"Ha ha ha! So that's the angle you're taking! It's an old trick of mine, but I have to admit, it can work pretty well sometimes. I'd say that if the school punishes me for using force to protect a female classmate from being molested by a guy like you, then I'd have to wonder if the school's administrators have some kind of antisocial disorder."

Seeing that his threat wasn't working, the man changed his tone.

"Kid. You think I'm joking? You say I molested the girl beside you. Heh. What proof do you have?"

"Well... I actually have plenty of evidence, but the simplest would probably be an eyewitness, right?"

"What?! That's all you've got? An eyewitness? You mean this girl beside you? She's your classmate, so of course she'll testify for you..."

Before he could finish, an angry voice came from behind him.

"What about me?!"

At the sound of it, the man tried to turn around, but a heavy iron fist was waiting for him.

"Drop dead, you scum!!"

The man took a devastating blow to the face and was knocked flat on the ground. The owner of the voice was the top salesperson who had disappeared into the store earlier.

Shinjo took out his phone, walked over, and opened the camera.

"Give me a hand."

The top salesperson understood and grabbed the man by the hair with one hand, lifting his head.

"Your head's in the frame... Look here, say cheese..."

Shinjo took a picture and sent it to Horikita Manabu.

"Caught molesting a female classmate. One eyewitness present: an employee of the electronics store."

"Understood."

Horikita Manabu replied with just two words, then promptly led the Disciplinary Committee over. Unlike the police in TV dramas, the Student Council was pretty quick to act.

After hearing what had happened, the teachers and security guards who had come with them handcuffed the man.

"Remember to come to the Student Council tomorrow to give a statement."

With that, Horikita Manabu led the group away.

He handled things without dragging his feet. No wonder Horikita-senpai was considered one of the most outstanding students at the school.

After resting for a while, Sakura had recovered as well.

"Hey, let me ask you something. You're the one who wrote the request letter, right?"

The top salesperson smiled without denying it, which was as good as confirming it.

"Then you know about her... about 'Shizuku,' too?"

Sakura was startled. She hadn't expected anyone at this school to know who she was. Although he had just saved her, she was genuinely starting to develop a bit of a fan-induced panic.

"Yes, I wrote the request. You must be the Yorozuya, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ha ha, and here I thought I'd done a good job keeping it a secret. The truth is, I've been a fan of little 'Shizuku' for a long time. I might even have been one of her first fans. My father died in a car accident when I was young. My grandparents didn't like my mother and me. They thought we'd caused my father's death."

"My maternal grandparents had died early, too, so my mother was the only family I had. But when I was in college, terrible news came from home: my mother had suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage... To be honest, I thought about killing myself during that time. After all, being alive had lost all meaning to me."

"Then I came to know little 'Shizuku.' Maybe because some part of me still couldn't let go of the world, I shared my thoughts and story on a social media forum. But... to my surprise, little 'Shizuku' and her fans all came to urge me to live on in my parents' place."

"For some reason, I suddenly wondered: if everyone in the world forgot about a person, would that mean they were truly dead? So, with everyone's encouragement and support, I finally emerged from the darkness."

Is this the power of an idol?

Just then, Sakura came over too. She remembered him quite well, but at the time, she hadn't realized how serious things were. She had simply felt, out of politeness and habit, that a person shouldn't be so negative, so she'd put herself in his shoes and encouraged him.

"After that, I started living properly again. I came to work at this school because I didn't have any family I needed to look after. In fact, I recognized Sakura the first time she came to buy a camera."

What happened after that was simple enough. He had wanted to protect the idol he was a fan of, but he never expected that a man he worked with would set his sights on her.

To protect Sakura's privacy, and because he had no solid evidence to use against that guy, he had anonymously submitted a request to the Yorozuya.