I Got Cheated On, so I Thought I’d Cheat Back and Went to a Group Date, I Ran Into a Classmate Who Used to Boss Me Around and Now We’re Living Together

“Hey, Nene-san… have you thought about changing jobs?”

“You mean to get away from that stalker office guy?”

“Yeah.”

This was after we got home from the business card mission.

We’d already taken our baths and were winding down for the night, sitting side by side on the sofa while checking tomorrow’s weather on TV.

At my question, Nene-san shook her head.

“That’s not an option. No way. Quitting a good workplace because of a creep like him? That’s totally impossible.”

So it seemed she really liked her job at Maltvono.

“Well… everyone there seemed nice, starting with the chef-owner, Katorou-san.”

“And the pay’s good too, you know? Plus, the manager’s a real Italian, so it’s the perfect place to learn Italian cooking. Quitting because of some gross office guy? That’d be like admitting defeat.”

Admitting defeat.

She was right, though. Giving up such a good place because of him would be stupid.

Which meant we had to deal with Iijima Ikuo, the stalker office guy, and Rinne’s affair partner properly.

“…Now that we know who he is, the question is how to move next.”

“You filmed me getting his card earlier, right? What if we use that video to threaten him?”

“Hm, that’s one option, but I think we’d better not.”

“Why not?”

“Because it could backfire on us. We might get charged with blackmail.”

The truth was, he hadn’t done anything that counted as solid, undeniable damage yet. If we tried threatening him now, we could be the ones facing criminal charges or even defamation. If that happened, it would ruin our lives. That was the last thing I wanted.

“Ah, I see… So then what should we do…”

“Probably… we don’t have enough evidence yet.”

That’s what it came down to.

We didn’t have enough weapons to fight him.

We needed more.

“Then… should I play bait again and try to get a better video?”

“I told you that’s too dangerous.”

Even having her take his business card was risky. I couldn’t let her do anything more than that.

“Then maybe… we just watch him carefully and wait for him to slip up?”

“That’s the safest approach. But it’ll probably drag on, and that’s the problem.”

The longer it dragged out, the longer Nene-san would have to put up with his harassment. That wasn’t acceptable either.

“Then… how about this.”

Nene-san paused and then,

“What if there are other people he’s been bothering, too?”

She said.

“Huh?”

“If I’m not the only one he’s been bothering, then we could make a little group of victims together. We could go to the police or even to his company. If we all speak out at once, we could really bring him down, right?”

“I see… like a mass complaint.”

That could actually work. If the victims banded together, it would make the guy’s cruelty stand out more, and people or organizations would be more likely to help deal with him.

“But the problem is obvious, if there aren’t any other victims, then it won’t go anywhere.”

“Right… and finding other girls like me would be pretty tough.”

“Well, if we don’t limit it to just the same kind of harassment, it might actually work.”

As long as he was the one causing harm, that should be enough to unite people. In fact, having different kinds of complaints might make his wrongdoings look even worse.

“He’s an editor, right? Maybe there are manga artists who’ve been pushed around by him.”

I’d heard that editors hold a lot of power. They decide whether a draft gets submitted to the editorial board or not, and they influence all kinds of things.

If an author is popular, the author has the upper hand.

But for rookies, or those whose works aren’t selling, the editor holds all the cards.

That’s why some editors get cocky. Throwing their weight around and saying things like “If you don’t listen to me, I won’t even submit your draft.”

“And if he’s the type to creep on young women, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s also been abusing power over manga artists.”

“Yeah… but how do we even find those manga artists?”

“Through Umi.”

“…Huh? You mean Tokitou-san?”

“Yeah. Between us, she’s aiming to become a manga artist herself.”

“Eh… really?”

“Yeah. She even took her manuscript to Iijima’s publishing house once.”

That was during spring break, if I remembered right.

It didn’t lead to anything, but she made a connection with a female editor there. They still keep in touch privately.