Punishing the Perverted Store Clerk

After school.

At noon, Chihaya Rei had already explained the situation to Sakura Airi.

He told her he had also asked Matsushita Chiaki to help her deal with the store clerk.

So now, the three of them were walking together toward Keyaki Mall.

Each of them had different things on their mind.

Chihaya Rei was thinking that once they found the evidence, he would have to go all out torturing the perverted store clerk and earn as many Torture Points as possible.

The system's torture progress bar had reached 85% after he finished torturing Kushida Kikyo and Sudo. It was just one step away from 100%.

It was impossible for him not to look forward to it.

Sakura Airi, meanwhile, was thinking that what had been a date for two had turned into an outing for three.

But when she thought about having someone with her to keep that frightening store clerk in check, Sakura Airi decided it was actually pretty nice.

As for Matsushita Chiaki...

She wondered if Karuizawa Kei had seen her going to the mall with Chihaya Rei.

She had deliberately gone out into the hallway to meet up with Chihaya Rei and Sakura Airi.

But... why was she feeling guilty?

Chihaya Rei had asked her to help. She hadn't gone looking for him herself.

So this shouldn't count as betraying her best friend.

The two girls' wandering thoughts didn't last long before Chihaya Rei's voice interrupted them.

He first explained the situation to Matsushita Chiaki, then discussed what they should do.

Soon, with Sakura Airi leading the way, the three of them arrived near the shop where she had bought her camera.

Chihaya Rei went inside first.

This wasn't the same shop where he had bought his digital camera before.

He saw a short-haired man in a suit sitting behind the counter, browsing on a computer.

He looked like a middle-aged geezer. He was dressed decently enough, but in private he was a repulsive obsessive fan.

When the clerk noticed a customer entering, he instinctively asked, "What are you looking to buy, student?"

"I'll just have a look around first."

Chihaya Rei replied expressionlessly, but he didn't go far. He stayed by a shelf near the counter, pretending to examine the products.

Seeing that, the male clerk said nothing more.

Some customers liked to browse on their own and didn't need a store clerk hovering nearby to explain things. They were quite common.

Two minutes later, Matsushita Chiaki came in with Sakura Airi. They pretended not to know Chihaya Rei.

Naturally, the clerk saw the internet idol he had been longing to see, Miss "Shizuku," come in again. Sakura Airi had returned.

And she'd brought a friend with her.

He really was fated to meet Shizuku!

A grin spread across his face. He came out from behind the counter, rubbing his hands together as he greeted them warmly—a completely different attitude from the one he'd shown Chihaya Rei.

"Hey, young lady, we meet again. What are you looking to buy this time?"

"...My friend is the one who wants to buy something."

Sakura Airi kept her distance and replied naturally.

Matsushita Chiaki took the opportunity to speak up openly.

"I want to buy a camera, and a tripod to hold it. Could you show me where they are?"

The three of them had agreed on this plan on the way over. While he was showing her the tripods, Chihaya Rei would see if he could find any evidence.

The clerk didn't suspect anything about Matsushita Chiaki's request.

"Of course. This way, please."

He grinned broadly, looking rather pleased with himself.

"My shop has the widest selection of cameras in Keyaki Mall."

"You can't go wrong shopping here."

"You two lovely students should add me as a contact. If you want to buy anything in the future, you can just message me. We can chat anytime, too."

The clerk spoke with excessive enthusiasm, his gaze roaming over the two girls without the slightest attempt to hide it.

Matsushita Chiaki also felt there was something seriously wrong with him. What he was saying went far beyond the bounds of a normal salesperson, and his gaze made her uncomfortable.

But to keep him occupied, Matsushita and Sakura followed him to another section.

Chihaya Rei glanced over and saw that the clerk had his back to him.

He went straight behind the counter and found the computer still logged in with a webpage open.

But first, he opened several cabinets in a row and checked inside.

There were several disassembled phones and cameras that hadn't been put back together yet.

Chihaya Rei couldn't help suspecting that the clerk used those devices to take covert photos.

What's more, in one of the cabinets, he also found several letters. They were exactly like the ones Sakura Airi had shown him that morning.

They were covered in dense writing.

Comparing the handwriting on these letters with that on the letters Sakura Airi had received would be enough to confirm that the clerk had been harassing her.

Chihaya Rei gathered up the evidence of the crime.

Then he turned to the laptop on the desk and checked the browser history.

He quickly found Sakura Airi's podcast page, along with the clerk's disgusting comments.

He even found pictures of students who had visited the shop, taken without their knowledge, on the computer.

After seeing all that, Chihaya Rei decided there was no need to use his phone to photograph the evidence.

He unplugged the laptop, planning to hand it over to the Student Council. Everything on it was evidence.

Even after he had done all that, the clerk didn't look back once. He had no idea his crimes had been discovered.

Chihaya Rei took out his phone and told Horikita Manabu that he'd found a peeping tom at Keyaki Mall and had already secured evidence. He told him to send someone over to deal with it right away.

Horikita Manabu told Chihaya Rei not to do anything for now and said he would be there soon with the security team.

Not do anything?

As if.

Chihaya Rei had no intention of being that obedient.

It would take Horikita Manabu more than ten minutes to get there with the others. That gave him plenty of time to act.

"That's enough, Matsushita, Airi. You can stop pretending. Come over here."

He strode forward and called to Matsushita Chiaki and Sakura Airi, placing himself in front of them.

The two girls heard him and quickly moved away from the clerk.

The clerk stared at the three of them, completely bewildered, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"What are you doing?"

He asked instinctively.

"Did you find the evidence?" Matsushita Chiaki asked quietly.

"Of course."

Chihaya Rei nodded seriously, then told Sakura Airi:

"Airi, this is the person who followed you and left those harassing letters in your mailbox."

Sakura Airi couldn't help widening her eyes.

"Then now..."

She'd wanted to demand that the clerk explain why he had done something so horrible.

But if she did, her identity as the internet idol would be revealed to Chihaya Rei and Matsushita Chiaki.

Fortunately, Chihaya Rei didn't seem to care. Instead, he fixed the perverted clerk with a sharp look and sneered:

"You perverted peeping tom. Everything you did at Advanced Nurturing High School has been exposed. Get ready to go to prison."

"You?!"

The perverted clerk was clearly taken aback. When he realized what Chihaya Rei had said, his expression instantly turned vicious, and he shouted angrily:

"What are you talking about? What did I do? Don't go around slandering me!"

"Then what's this?"

Chihaya Rei pulled out the harassing letters he'd just found. "And that's not all. Everything on your computer is evidence. I've seen it all."

The perverted clerk clearly panicked as soon as he saw the letters in Chihaya Rei's hand. Alarm flashed in his widened eyes as he pointed at him in a fury.

"Who said you could touch my things? Give them back!"

"Hand them over!"

A fierce look crossed the fat man's face. He realized he had to get the letters back.

As long as there was no evidence, he could keep denying everything, and they wouldn't be able to do anything to him.

Besides, they were just a few students. He didn't believe they could do anything to him.

So he charged at Chihaya Rei and reached out with his thick arms to snatch the harassing letters back.

Chihaya Rei didn't even blink.

He just thought that people were always trying to take things from him, the drummer.

If someone really managed to snatch something from him, it'd be as humiliating as a drummer losing his drumsticks.

But... he'd been waiting for the clerk to make the first move.

Otherwise, he'd be missing a legitimate reason to act in self-defense.

In an instant, he reached out with a powerful hand and clamped down on the perverted clerk's wrist, then twisted his forearm in the opposite direction.

"Ah, ah, it hurts! Let go of me... Ah..."

The clerk broke into a sweat from the pain, screaming as he struggled desperately with both hands.

At the same time, Chihaya Rei kicked the back of his knee hard, making him drop onto one knee.

The clerk twisted his face into a snarl and tried to slam into him. Chihaya Rei smirked, then kicked him straight in the groin.

The kick sent the clerk tumbling backward, his back slamming into the floor.

He couldn't even get up. He clutched his crotch with both hands and howled in pain, his face twisted in agony.

"Don't, don't hit me again! I was wrong, I... I'll turn myself in!"

When he saw Chihaya Rei's leg move again, the clerk thought he was about to get kicked and cried out in terror.

Matsushita Chiaki and Sakura Airi watched in stunned silence.

"This isn't turning yourself in. You just failed to fight back."

Chihaya Rei had no sympathy for him. People like this deserved to be dealt with forcefully.

So he kicked the clerk in the leg again, then looked down at him and criticized him from on high:

"You're just an ordinary store clerk. Instead of running your business properly, what gave you the nerve to pull this illegal crap at a school?"

Only after he'd said all that did Chihaya Rei turn to the two girls and ask calmly:

"Do you want to come over and kick him a few times to get it out of your system?"

This was the first time he'd resorted to violence to solve a problem since coming to Advanced Nurturing High School. He had to admit, not having to think things through felt pretty satisfying.

"..."

Matsushita Chiaki and Sakura Airi exchanged glances. Neither of them seemed interested, so they shook their heads in unison.

"I think I'll pass..."

Matsushita Chiaki said awkwardly. The clerk's face had already gone pale with pain.

Matsushita Chiaki was afraid that if she kicked him too, he might pass out on the spot.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't get a chance to lay a hand on you."

Chihaya Rei thought the two of them had some reservations, so he added that.

But the two girls still shook their heads. They really didn't want to get any closer to a disgusting store clerk like him.

"Then never mind."

Seeing that, Chihaya Rei looked a little disappointed.

He should've brought Karuizawa Kei along to kick him. Karuizawa Kei would definitely have followed his instructions and given him a few hard kicks.

It would also have given Karuizawa Kei a chance to practice fighting in a real situation.

"What should we do now? Should we call the police?"

Matsushita Chiaki couldn't help asking.

Although students at Advanced Nurturing weren't allowed to contact people outside the school, they could still call the police from within the school.

"I've notified the Student Council. They should be here soon."

Chihaya Rei replied. He knew Horikita Manabu was quite efficient.