"So it was because of that..."
Yoshinori Ara murmured to himself, unable to hide the dejection on his face.
Although Tsutomu Nishiyama, lying in the ICU, was the group's primary administrator, Yoshinori Ara had willingly offered up his villa for online friends to gather in free of charge. He had even hired help, spent time preparing food and drinks, and clearly shouldered some of the group's management duties as one of its old-timers.
Now that Kikue Tanaka had personally admitted that her murderous intent stemmed from discussions in the group, and that Kazumasa Harusumi's unexpected sudden return had been for the same reason, his feelings were exceptionally complicated.
"I can't help feeling that we really ought to bear some responsibility for this." He shook his head, looking inexplicably dispirited.
Having been active in this group for so many years, the online discussion group had become part of his life. Now that such a serious conflict had occurred, he felt deeply disheartened.
This was not how he had imagined the group would develop.
"Come on, Mr. Ara, you still love looking for fault in yourself." Naoko Kuroda, having recovered her senses, gave his back a firm pat. "There were indeed a lot of unpleasant things, but nothing truly irreversible happened in the end. Isn't that a good thing?"
Kazumasa Harusumi—formerly Fraudulent Boy—was the one who truly could not come back.
Like the rest of them, he had been an online friend they had known for a long time.
She sighed inwardly and looked toward Kikue Tanaka, who was surrounded by Saguru Hakuba, Tooru Amuro, and the others, but ultimately did not voice that sorrowful thought.
No wonder everyone had assumed Fraudulent Boy's image was more like that of an elderly man. When they saw Tanaka, they had even marveled at how