I Joined the Agency as a Manager to Support a Vtuber, but Somehow I Ended up Becoming the Face of the Company as an Official Staff Member? - 15

Chapter 15: Long Story Short, I Got Into a Fight at Work. I’ll Write a Report Later.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“I had heard from Ōno-senpai that there hadn’t been any particularly problematic behavior from you, Gomi-senpai, but I guess that wasn’t the case after all. Despite knowing that Aihara-san is uncomfortable around men, you still went and sexually harassed her, didn’t you?”

“Hey, hey, what are you saying, barging in all of a sudden like that? It was just a little joke, a joke.”

“It might have seemed like a light joke to you, but objectively speaking, you were completely out of line. In this industry, what you were doing is considered as sexual harassment.”

“Alright, alright, my bad. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Gomi-senpai gave a superficial apology with a flippant smile. He bowed his head, but the atmosphere around him was steeped in anger.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. There won’t be a next time for you.”

“…Huh?”

“You still haven’t realized it, have you? That flippant conversation you had with Aihara-san was being streamed on Vitter’s Space. It’s already gone viral and blown up.”

“Huh!?”

Gomi-senpai’s face finally paled as he realized the situation he was in.

“Also, I’ve got a clip of the sexual harassment you sent her via chat a few days ago. And while it might be weak as evidence, I also managed to talk to a woman from your university days—someone who said you raped her and paid her off to keep quiet.”

There wasn’t a huge amount of evidence gathered in just a few days, but there were many others who might come forward as victims.

“It’s really over for you. Socially.”

Gomi-senpai’s face shifted from pale to a furious red, like he’d caught fire.

“You bastard…! You’re always in my damn way! Do you hate me that much!?”

He slammed his fist on the conference table, glaring at me with eyes filled with hatred and rage. Then he erupted again.

“You’re always like this! Back in university, you kept ruining my perfect plans, and in the end, I couldn’t even sleep with the girl I was after! Hey, was that fun for you!? You stormed into that abandoned building in that ridiculous camo gear, didn’t you!? If things had gone as planned, I would’ve swept in like a hero and taken her straight to the finish line! But that wasn’t enough for you, you had to show up and screw it up again!”

“…If I noticed it, then it was already a flawed plan from the start, wasn’t it? And did you really need to go that far just to get with one girl? You could’ve just made a normal move and let her know how you felt.”

“You! Every time I tried to approach someone, you were always in the way! Every time I was about to talk to a girl, you were already chatting with her, and if I tried to invite her out, you’d already beaten me to it!”

“Huh? Back in university, I never once went out with a girl.”

I asked back without thinking, surprised at what he was saying.

“Don’t lie! Tons of girls mentioned your name!”

Even so, I’d never gone out with a girl—not in university, and especially not back then, when I was even worse with women than I was now.

“…Ahh, maybe they used me as a shield because they didn’t want to go out with you, Gomi-senpai. I’m just guessing, though.”

“That was a life-or-death matter for me!”

“All of your brain cells going to your second brain, huh? Seriously, your thoughts are filled with nothing but sex.”

I unconsciously stepped in front of Aihara-san, lowering my center of gravity.

“Hah, whatever. My dad just has to say a word, and this’ll get spun into you and that girl staging everything. And that other woman would’ve stayed quiet too if I’d paid more. But after you’ve screwed with me for three years, I’ve got every right to punch you, don’t I?”

With that, Gomi-senpai lowered his stance and took up a boxing pose.

“Then I’ll join in too. You harmed one of our talents. Don’t complain if you get kicked.”

“…H-Hiori-san? Are you okay?”

“Aihara-san, please stand back. It’s dangerous.”

“I’ve never looked forward to hitting someone this much. Right, Ren?”

“I’ve always wanted to land at least one solid kick on you.”

“Die!”

Without any feints or tricks, Gomi-senpai charged in and threw a straight punch. Without losing balance, he launched a combination of jabs, body shots, and hooks. I didn’t know if he’d kept up with boxing since college, but his form was sharp. Clearly, his fighting instincts hadn’t dulled.

Still—I had faced boxers plenty of times back in university.

“Come on, now! Talking about all that big game and you can’t even throw a punch!?”

It seemed my reaction speed was still sharp too. I could see all of Gomi-senpai’s punches clearly. Well, I’d been through a lot during overseas assignments too.

Oops, while I was distracted, there was a full-powered straight punch right in front of me—

“Too slow!”

I swayed to dodge and took some distance from him.

“Haha!”

Seeing that, Gomi-senpai grinned unpleasantly and suddenly lunged toward Aihara-san. So that was the plan from the start? Fear overtook Aihara-san’s initial panic.

“Hey!”

Before I realized it, I’d grabbed Gomi’s outstretched arm and drove a knee into it.

Crack

“…Huh?”

His arm hung limp, bent at a completely unnatural angle.

“GYAAAAAAA!! MY ARM! AAAAAHHH! MY ARM!!!”

He was screaming something, but it sounded like an obnoxious noise to me. I kicked Gomi in the torso, and he went flying like a soccer ball, crashing into a chair with a loud bang.

“Aihara-san. Are you hurt?”

“I-I’m okay…”

“Thank goodness…”

I couldn’t help but pat her on the head. I was truly relieved. That nothing happened to her…

“Ah…”

“You’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you anymore—and even if someone tries, I’ll protect you.”

“…”

“…Damn it… Wait a second… Don’t act like you’ve won…”

Gomi-senpai started to stand, using a fallen chair for support.

“…You’re still getting up? Even though I kicked you with everything I had…”

“I still haven’t… Landed even one hit on you…”

“Don’t talk anymore, Gomi-san. You’re making me sick.”

This man hurt someone I promised to protect. Or tried to. A person like that had no right to speak. I walked up to the staggering Gomi and aimed a high kick at his temple—

“Ren! Stop!”

“…Ōno-senpai… And even Kurama-san?”

Just before my kick landed, I turned toward the voice. Ōno-senpai and Kurama-san had burst into the conference room.

“Ren, that’s enough. If you go any further, you’ll kill him.”

Ōno-senpai said in a deliberately calm voice to stop me.

“…Whew, yeah. You’re right. Sorry, Gomi-senpai…”

I lowered my leg and looked at Gomi-senpai.

“…H-He’s unconscious…”

There he was, passed out with his eyes rolled back.

“…Tch.”

I took a deep breath, bracing myself.

“I guess… I’m gonna get suspended, huh?”

“U-Uh, well… You did it to protect Aoi, so that’s something…”

“For now, I’ll write up a report and a statement of reflection…”

I’d let my anger take over and do something crazy… I might get fired for this…

When I glanced at Aihara-san’s face, it looked like she was gazing at me absentmindedly.

Well, I protected her, so whatever. Getting fired isn’t the worst thing that could happen to me.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー