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 - Chapter 34

And so, Saturday arrived.

For now, Iijima’s obsessive behavior toward Nene-san hadn’t gotten worse. Still, he hadn’t stopped either, and Nene-san was clearly bothered by it.

That’s why we needed a breakthrough to hit Iijima with some kind of social punishment. The key to that was Rogiku-san, a female editor Umi knew.

She worked with Iijima, and today’s goal was to get information from her about his power harassment. If we could get even more useful details, that would be perfect.

“—Ah, are you two Shiroki-kun and Machida-san?”

That afternoon, Nene-san and I arrived at a café where we were supposed to meet. A beautiful woman with black-framed glasses and long braided hair noticed us and called out.

I bowed lightly.

“Rogiku-san, is it?”

“Yes, I am. So you two are the university students who arranged this through Umi-chan, right?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded, and we quickly sat down together. Umi wasn’t here today. She was too busy with her manga work.

“So then…  looks like our Iijima has been causing you a lot of trouble…”

After we ordered drinks, Rogiku-san was the first to break the ice.

“Umi-chan already filled me in on the situation… but is it true he’s been stalking you?”

“…It’s probably too soon to call it stalking, but he’s definitely been clinging to me.”

Nene-san pulled out Iijima’s business card.

“This is proof that he’s been approaching me…”

“Ah… It’s real. He’s been showing up at your part-time job, right?”

“That’s right… I even told him once, ‘Please stop,’ but he brushed me off, saying I didn’t have the authority to tell him that and he wouldn’t listen…”

“What the hell is that guy thinking…”

Rogiku-san was clearly fed up.

“So, you two… you’re looking for info about Iijima’s power harassment because you want to bring him down. Is that right?”

“That’s right.”

I answered with a nod.

“Okay. I’ll definitely help. There was this rookie, he practically crushed with his harassment… I regret not stepping in as her editor myself. If I had, maybe she wouldn’t have gone under…”

So it was true… There really were victims of Iijima’s power harassment.

“…But remember, there’s no real proof. Using that as a weapon might be difficult. It’s just something I personally suspect… and I’ve been too busy to actually look into it myself…”

“Even just the possibility is enough. If you could tell us who that manga artist might be, we’ll investigate from there.”

“Got it… But if you only want to stop Iijima’s harassment, wouldn’t it be simpler to just tell his wife? That might put an end to it. Or is that too blunt?”

“―H-he’s married!?”

I couldn’t help but jump on that new piece of information.

“Yeah. He’s my junior at work, but he got married pretty early after joining. I think he even has a kid in kindergarten… I don’t know the details, though. We’re not close outside of work.”

Hold on, seriously… He’s got a wife and a kid?

That opened up another way to go after him…

If he had a family, then his clinging to Nene-san would already be cheating. And if his past with Rinne ever came to light, his wife would see that as an affair too.

If we reported that truth to her, there was a good chance his obsessive behavior would stop. The only issue was that it could shatter his whole household and hurt both his wife and child in the process.

But then again… trying to expose his power harassment to ruin him socially would also end up damaging his family. Either way, they wouldn’t come out untouched.

I wasn’t some hero of justice. I was only Nene-san’s ally.

If there was a way to stop this harassment, I intended to use it. I couldn’t afford to worry about Iijima’s family.

“…Rogiku-san, do you happen to know Iijima-san’s address?”

“No. Like I said, I don’t know anything about his private life.”

In that case… the quickest way might be to tail him after he left Maltvono.

It felt like I was the one turning into a stalker, but there wasn’t much choice.

With those thoughts in mind, we also asked Rogiku-san for details about the rookie manga artist who might have been crushed under Iijima’s harassment. After that, we parted ways with her.

“…So this is the person? The rookie who might have been ruined.”

Even after Rogiku-san left, Nene-san and I stayed in the café, going over the information we’d just gotten. She had given us the manga artist’s SNS account, so we were checking it on my phone.

—Mishiro Mia.

According to Rogiku-san, she’s a college student, though her exact age is unclear. Her account had completely stopped updating around mid-May, two months ago. Before that, she had been posting original illustrations pretty often. Something must have happened around that time… maybe something involving Iijima.

“She’s really good… if she really gave up drawing, that’s such a waste…”

Nene-san said that while peeking over at my phone.

“So… which way do you think is better to go after Iijima…”

Then, she looked thoughtful and murmured,

“…We’ve got two choices. We could tell his wife, or we could try to get Mishiro-san on our side. Which one does Sousuke think we should make the top priority?”

“Well… if we’re talking about speed, I think telling his wife would be more effective.”

If we told his wife, Iijima’s family would probably blow up that same day. And if that happened, he wouldn’t have the time or energy to keep harassing Nene-san anymore. Of course, it’s also possible his wife might cover for him or pretend not to see or hear anything for the kids’ sake. If that happened, nothing would change.

“Hey, Sousuke… Isn’t it kind of cowardly to drag… his wife into this?”

“I’ve thought about that too. But leaving Nene-san to suffer just so we can be fair. That’s not right either.”

There are some things in this world that can’t be solved with clean and pretty words.

…If his family doesn’t realize what he’s doing, then someone has to tell them.

“For now… I’d like to tell his wife our first move. I think speed matters most here.”

“…Got it.”

“Nene-san has got work after this, right?”

“Ah, yeah…”

“Then Iijima will probably show up. After he leaves, I’ll follow him and find out where he lives. Then, I’ll go to his wife on another day. That’s our plan.”

“…Isn’t following him dangerous?”

“Even if it is, I have to do it. Otherwise, you’ll stay in danger.”

“…Why is Sousuke going so far for me?”

Nene-san stared at me with a puzzled look.

“That… I get that you’ve got a grudge against Iijima because of Rinne. But this current problem… doesn’t it really hurt you directly?”

“It does hurt me. Because when Nene-san’s in danger, it feels like my everyday life is being violated.”

To me, Nene-san had already become part of my everyday life. So if someone was upsetting her, it only made sense that I’d want to remove the cause.

“That’s why you don’t need to worry. Nene-san’s problem is my problem too.”

“…What’s with that? Acting all cool like that.”

For some reason, her face turned bright red, and she quickly looked away.

What emotion was that supposed to be?

Did I say it too arrogantly and make her mad…?

“I’m sorry, Nene-san…”

“…You don’t need to apologize.”

“Oh, yeah… Anyway, just leave it to me…”

“…Yeah. Thank you.”

Since she thanked me, she probably wasn’t angry after all…

…Good.

Anyway… whatever happens, I’ll just do what I can.

◇

That night, I followed Iijima after he left Maltvono.

He switched trains a couple of times, but in the end, I caught sight of him entering a house in a quiet residential area. A standalone home. As expected of an editor from a big publishing company, he already owned a house.

…Anyway, with this, I now knew Iijima’s address.

The next step was to visit his wife another day and tell her the truth about his cheating.

With that plan in mind, I headed home.

When I walked into the living room, I saw Nene-san restlessly pacing back and forth.

“I’m back… what’s wrong?”

“―Ah, welcome back… And don’t be like that.”

Nene-san came over with a sulky look on her face.

“You told me to go home first, so of course I was worried…”

“Ah… I’m sorry. But as you can see, nothing happened.”

“Even so, as punishment for making me worry…”

“Eh?”

“Let me do that… again later…”

…At first, I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. But the moment she followed me into the bathroom, I had a pretty good idea.

While she washed my back and let her fingers wander in places I won’t mention… I couldn’t help but think to myself that this wasn’t a punishment at all. It was more like a reward.