Are You Going to Kill Me?

"Are you going to kill me? Are you serious?" (Kato Satsu)

Hearing the clerk's thoughts, Satsu felt his heart skip a beat. He couldn't help taking another look at the sleazy middle-aged man in front of him.

The man's reason had clearly been completely overtaken by anger. His mind held nothing but the thought of killing Satsu.

"He's actually having such a reckless idea, no matter the cost? Well, he did rape a female student, so maybe I pushed him too far?"

"Come to think of it, he does have to give up half his salary every month. And who knows? Three years from now, the other guy might report him before he leaves."

"It's just a shame about those guaranteed points every month. Gone."

Satsu felt no fear at all about being targeted. All he could think about was the disappointment and regret of losing his ATM.

After leaving the electronics store, Satsu couldn't stop thinking about how to handle the clerk's imminent revenge.

He could report the clerk's actions right now, but he had just been credited with three hundred thousand points. Sure, he had an excuse for the transaction.

But everyone knew those pieces of junk weren't worth three hundred thousand.

Reporting him too soon would make Satsu look guilty. Still, since the other man had decided to kill him, as long as Satsu's self-defense claim held up, he couldn't be blamed for what happened to the clerk.

Just as he was about to leave the mall, three familiar faces caught Satsu's eye: Yamauchi and his two companions.

The three were browsing a high-end men's clothing store. A mountain of clothes had already piled up beside Yamauchi, but he was still urging the clerk to bring him more.

Then, in an instant, Yamauchi's eyes lit up. He snatched the suit from the clerk's hands and, spouting a string of words, prepared to pay.

"Twenty thousand points! A suit costs that much?" (Haruki Yamauchi)

Though Satsu couldn't hear what the three were saying inside the store, he was thoroughly enjoying reading the thoughts of the man beside him.

After all, the other guy was planning to come and cause trouble tonight. The more Satsu knew about what was going through his head, the better prepared he'd be.

Despite Ike and Sudo's attempts to dissuade him, Yamauchi insisted on buying the suit. He held it in his hands, gazing at it fervently as if it were some secret weapon that would guarantee victory.

"So what if he's handsome! Kato Satsu, tonight I'll make you cry in perfect rhythm." (Haruki Yamauchi)

"Just say what you're going to do already!"

Satsu was about to lose his mind, crouched behind a potted plant. He'd been sneaking around watching for so long that anyone who knew what he was doing would know he was spying, while anyone who didn't would think he was begging for money!

"Wait! Neither of those things is anything to be proud of."

After briefly getting sidetracked, Satsu came back to his senses and fixed his gaze on Yamauchi. The latter's mind wasn't quite a complete blank, but it was still a total mess.

"Whatever. I get a hundred thousand every month. What's this amount matter?" (Haruki Yamauchi)

"Tonight, if little Kikyo apologizes to me properly and sincerely begs me to go out with her, I might even show her some mercy." (Haruki Yamauchi)

"Then I'll hold little Kikyo in one arm while watching Satsu kneel on the ground and beg me to teach him how to chase girls." (Haruki Yamauchi)

Satsu nearly threw up when he read that. He shook his head, trying to fling those thoughts out of his mind.

"Can someone speak up for me? Uchiyama should pay me for having to read his thoughts." (Kato Satsu)

Seeing that he wasn't going to learn anything useful, Satsu simply closed his eyes and let the world grow quiet for a while.

"Some of this is my own fault, but school's only been in session for a few days, and I'm already swamped every day."

Satsu lightly brushed his hair, then stood up and left the mall.

The afternoon passed quickly. After classes, Satsu hurried back to the dormitory.

He had a fairly important gathering that evening, after all. He had to take it seriously and put his best foot forward.

"Take a shower! Change into something nice!" (Kato Satsu)

As soon as he reached the fourth floor, Satsu ran into Hasebe, who was opening her door.

"Classmate Hasebe, you're back this early?" Satsu spoke first.

"What a coincidence, Classmate Kato!"

Hasebe smiled as she replied, "I wanted to try cooking for myself, so I came back a little early."

"Why don't you let me try your cooking? It'd be a nice way to return the favor. Though I didn't prepare any ingredients in particular today." (Haruka Hasebe)

"Oh, you haven't eaten yet? I'm taking Kikyo and the others out for dinner tonight. Want to join us?"

Just as Hasebe hesitated, Satsu spoke up first. Since he knew what she was thinking, he couldn't leave her hanging.

He had plenty of money now, anyway. If he was already treating a few people, why not invite her too?

"Can I?" Hasebe asked, delighted.

"Of course. Let's exchange contact info, and I'll send you the location in a bit."

"Then I'll take you up on that, Classmate Kato." As she spoke, Hasebe took out her phone.

"Just call me Satsu."

After getting ready, Satsu thoughtfully waited at home for a while. Once Hasebe was ready too, they headed out together.

But the moment they stepped outside the dormitory, Satsu spotted the electronics store clerk hiding in the bushes.

Satsu was shaken. He'd never expected the other man's revenge to come so quickly.

"That bastard sure is popular with the girls! He deserves to die!" (Sleazy Middle-Aged Man)

"But... that girl is really something, huh~" (Sleazy Middle-Aged Man)

"He exposed himself while following me just to get a few more looks at a woman. If I keep dealing with opponents like this, it'll make me look like an amateur." (Kato Satsu)

Satsu was speechless, but the man had come right to his door. He had to deal with him.

He turned to Hasebe and said softly, "Classmate Hasebe, sorry! I just remembered I have something to take care of. Go on ahead!"

Without waiting for Hasebe to respond, Satsu took off running.

Once he confirmed the clerk was quietly following him, Satsu turned and entered a narrow alley.

He'd been in too much of a hurry to prepare anything beforehand. Now, if he wanted his self-defense claim to hold up, his only option was to record everything on his phone.

He started recording and slipped the phone into his breast pocket, with the camera facing outward.

"I have to make every word I say and every move I make look like I had no idea what was coming. I have to be a victim who accidentally went too far in self-defense."

Satsu kept glancing back at the clerk, repeatedly reminding himself.

If the video didn't unfold the way he wanted and the school grew suspicious and investigated, the three hundred thousand points could come to light, and he might end up playing with fire and getting burned.

After confirming there were no cameras in the alley and few people ever passed through, the clerk finally pulled a fruit knife from his clothes.

Feeling the clerk's heart pounding wildly, Satsu was infected by the man's emotions and began to grow excited himself.

He stopped and slowly raised his head to look at the setting sun.

"What a beautiful sunset!"

"Because... it always makes the blood sparkle!"

As Satsu murmured to himself, the clerk charged at him from behind, shouting as he swung the knife down!