I Was Falsely Confessed to and Exposed in Front of Everyone, so I Jumped off the Roof - Chapter 26

The company was doing well. Since I was still underage, I ran it debt-free, so I didn’t make any huge expansions, but even so, it kept growing. New services kept succeeding, and we released new games too. One of them was based on Kagiroi-san’s original work. She loved human-shaped robot anime and, unhappy with this era dominated by Gundam, decided to make a robot game. The title was “Heavenly Legend Collection: Dingil Lil.” I didn’t understand what the title meant, but it was making money, so that was fine.

“You’re way too energetic.”

“Did I overdo it?”

“No, it’s fine. Tomorrow’s a day off.”

A beautiful woman was by my side. Work was going great. I even owned my home. Nothing was missing. There was no reason to dwell on what I had lost. Yet why did I still feel like looking back?

♢ ♢ ♢

I grabbed Sazanka-san.

“What?”

“Please tell me… why do you obey Ruika-chan?”

“…Because it’s beneficial.”

“There’s no way a girl would obey someone she dislikes just because it’s beneficial! Tell me! What happened?”

“Shut up! You like her!? Then isn’t that enough?”

“No! Ruika-chan is suffering! I only know Ruika-chan now! So tell me! Tell me about the Ruika-chan, I don’t know!”

I was already fed up. Ruika-chan was suffering from something. I hated not knowing. I felt lonely. She’s supposed to be my friend, yet she wouldn’t tell me anything.

“You’d be crazy to like her. Just leave her alone.”

“No. I want to know about Ruika-chan. I want to know everything about her and like her even more.”

“You’d better not. You’ll just end up hating her. I mean it.”

Sazanka-san said with a grim look. But I still wanted to know. Why?

“I’ll still like her. I’ve already fallen for her.”

“Ah, fine. Forget it! The reason I obeyed her is that I tried to trap her, but it backfired.”

“That’s so like Ruika-chan.”

“I was really stupid. I thought she had a weakness.”

“A weakness?”

“She. Back in high school, she drove a classmate to attempt suicide.”

My breath caught. Ruika-chan did something like that? I didn’t think it was impossible. Ruika-chan could do something like that. But I didn’t understand why she would suffer over it.

“That’s definitely a past that could make someone dislike her.”

“Yeah. The worst part is, Manwa-san knew about it when she hired her. And because of juvenile law, even if you leak it to the media, it won’t matter. She’s insane.”

“I know. But why?”

“What?”

“Why did she go so far as to push someone to attempt suicide?”

“I don’t know the details. There’s a file; you can read it yourself.”

Sazanka-san took a file out of her bag and handed it to me.

“Do you always carry this around?”

“I’m scared. So I thought, if it came to it, I’d upload it to SNS and take myself down too. Scary… she’s scary.”

Sazanka-san was cornered, too. But probably…

“Ruika-chan is like a mirror.”

“A mirror?”

“A twisted mirror. If you reflect your own shadow, she’ll hit back twice as hard. Sazanka-san was mean to her. You got what you deserved.”

I bowed slightly and stepped away from her. Ruika-chan had a dark past. I knew it wasn’t something I could fix. But even so, I wanted to know more. Because I liked her. I liked her so much it hurt.

♢ ♢ ♢

[Unicorn Ranch] Watching over Ruika Thread 3419 [Growing]

: A new gravure series came out! A girlfriend’s point of view photo book with Sumire-chan! There’s a video too!

: A DVD included? Not sure about that these days, but I bought it! Ugh!

: Sumire-chan in a girlfriend POV style is so cute (*´Д｀)

: The beach scenes… seriously, insane.

: This is basically AV lol

: Huh? You don’t get it at all!!

: There are no virgins in AV, right? Are you stupid?

: That’s common in AV! The POV style! Nothing unusual about it!!

: Ah, poor thing.

: I pity you.

: Did NTR break your brain? Go watch Ruika and revive your brain cells.

: It’s not like anyone’s happy about a virgin idol they can’t actually be with lol

: This young one is bouncing back well.

: True.

: They just like virgins because they can’t actually get them!!

: ↑ Divine statement

: ↑ That’s a quote for the ages

: This is historic

: What’s up with this unity in the thread!!

: We Unicorns don’t care if a girl is a virgin just to sleep with her!!

: We Unicorns have transcended lust!

: We’ve never even thought about sleeping with idols!! If a girl can’t be gotten, being a virgin makes sense!!

: ↑ Bold and honest trash talk lol

: Honestly, in real love, we don’t care about virgins. Do you think real women could perform miracles like Ruika? No way. We’re not arrogant enough to demand sacred virginity from normal women.

: You guys… are insane…

: Bring it on! The way of the Unicorn! The path of a death-crazed samurai!

: Like Don Quixote, we strike down windmills no one else can!

: (‘Д’)＜Proud Unicorns are realists! That’s why we love Ruika’s miracles! That’s why we respect her virginity!!

: Honestly, people obsessed with non-virgins just say that to try to get women lol

: And do they even enjoy being with ugly girls? Haha, non-virgin fans, say something!!

: Being obsessed with virgins means awakening to true love. You could say it’s living on the next stage of human civilization.

: Even the main character’s mom in the world’s best-selling light novel was a virgin! We’re children of God!!

: Today, the Unicorn’s horse sashimi is fresh as always (´ω｀) Let’s have a drink here.

: But back to the main topic. Ruika’s next gravure photo book! It’s release day already!! Let’s all review it!!

: Phew.

: Nfuh.

: Ahfuh.

: Ooh.

: Squid and chestnuts in white sauce lol

: Ruika’s done another miracle! I love her already!

: Long review, sorry! This is the third in the girlfriend POV series! Everyone’s been waiting for Ruika-chan! Of course, I had high expectations! All the lovey-dovey parts! But the moment I saw the cover, my excitement turned to awe. Ruika’s shy, downward glance held some kind of shadow. I flipped the pages. Ruika, waiting for our meeting, looked so fragile. I almost cried, but I held it back. On the next page, she gave a gentle smile. Papa, can I…? Not yet. Not yet. I was focused on her shadow. At the café, her eyes looked empty yet shining, and I felt my face reflected in them. I can’t let her have that expression! Walking through the city, her back seemed lonely. I wanted to hug her tight from behind! Papa, can we…? Not yet! It’s not over! At the beach, in her swimsuit, her body looked as beautiful as always. But why… why is there this shadow?! I wanted to crush it, hold her tight, whisper It’s okay, it’s okay! Why didn’t I?! I wanted to jump into the book! But Ruika is in the real world, and I can’t get inside the book! Flipping the pages furiously, her lap pillow angle… her lower chest made me grin, but her face! She was smiling, yet crying inside! Papa, I can’t take it!! My heart went wild. I gave it my all, but I still couldn’t touch Ruika’s shadow! Going back a page, I wrapped it with tape and reset myself. I paused. She’s beside me, yet she’s sad. Am I not enough?! But I love her! I love her so much! I realized I’d only taken the first step of this grand path. Looking back, Ruika was always smiling. But expecting her to always smile was my arrogance. I wanted to find the one who made her cry, tear them apart! But then I realized… Ruika was sad because of my own rage. I’m sorry, Ruika. We’ll stay together forever. The kiss through the wrap smelled like squid.

: Long review, sorry! This gravure… Well, don’t buy it! It’s a failure! I thought Ruika was only mine. But this book exposed that arrogance as a kind of pleasure. If it were philosophy, maybe Nietzsche… Ruika was endlessly repeating herself, evolving in a spiral at the “edge.” This is the edge of the universe. I am the universe. Ruika is the universe. No, Ruika is the mother of the universe. Mom! Mom!

—Our universe had already been destroyed.

—This is a future long past.

We’re confronted with it:. We’re just dust, caught between the Virgin Mary, the saint, and the sinful maiden. But we can still feel it! Ruika is here. Let’s end today knowing that.

: Long review, sorry! ★★★★★★! But wait… the sixth star won’t go through on the site. Must be a bug. So I’ll remove one star ★5.

: Long review, sorry! This gravure was the most beautiful failure since the art of gravure began. Ruika’s sadness was noise. That noise made me crazy! I can’t forget it! She even appeared in my dreams! So… so good!

: Long review, sorry! Just look at it!

: ↑ Write a long review yourself

♢ ♢ ♢

I just happened to see it at the company. One of the employees had Shibuki-san’s photo book. He was reading it in the break room. I thought it might be sexual harassment, but I didn’t care, so I left it alone. Still, I was curious. I secretly made an account and bought it without telling Kagiroi-san. And then I saw it.

“Why are you crying?”

There were no photos of her crying. But her face looked exactly like the crying face I had seen that day.