I, Who Acquired the Ability to Read Memories, Am Being Swallowed by Darkness - While I Should Be Protecting Beautiful Girls, I Am Being Drawn into Darkness Each Time I Use My Power, Yet for Some Reason, My Harem of Beautiful Girls Keeps Growing - Chapter 49: Meeting with Sagara and the others.

Chapter 49: Meeting with Sagara and the others.

At the twilight park, the faint scent of osmanthus lingered in the air.

Under a sky dyed red, the shadows of the playground equipment stretched long.

The usual monthly meeting spot.

Here, I face my former tormentors.

Around five o’clock, I spotted Sagara and the others.

Once, they would have approached with intimidating swagger, but now they came with hunched shoulders, their steps timid and fearful.

“S-Sorry to keep you waiting… Satou-san.”

Sagara’s voice trembled. There was no trace of the man who once wrought evil.

Kawachi and Kizaki, too, shrank as if their bodies had grown smaller the moment they saw me, hunching their backs.

“Sit down.”

I pointed to the bench.

A secluded spot at the edge of the park, where no one would disturb us.

I had no intention of cornering them today, yet that single word made them visibly more tense.

“I heard.”

I began quietly.

“You finished all the apologies.”

“Y-Yes!”

Sagara answered hurriedly.

His trembling hand wiped away sweat.

“To every victim… one by one… properly…”

“We apologized for everything we did.”

Kizaki, sitting beside him, continued.

“Some… well… retaliated against us…”

“But we didn’t give up.”

Kawachi added.

“Even when we were hit or kicked, we kept bowing until the end.”

The faces of the former perpetrators showed genuine remorse.

“Let me see your smartphones.”

At my words, all three complied without hesitation.

Records they would never have shown willingly before.

First, Sagara’s smartphone.

The moment I touched it, past memories played out.

…After school, in a park.

Sagara was on his knees before a female student.

“I’m truly sorry. Back then, I did terrible things to you, Misa-san…”

Suddenly, the girl kicked Sagara.

“You think an apology makes it okay?”

But Sagara didn’t run.

He just kept apologizing earnestly.

Kizaki and Kawachi were bowing in the same way.

Next, Kizaki’s smartphone.

…Behind the gym.

Former victims surrounded Kizaki.

“Do you remember? How much you made us suffer?”

Kizaki was punched and kicked.

But he didn’t fight back.

He only repeated, “I’m sorry.”

Finally, Kawachi’s smartphone.

…Sincere apologies.

Genuine remorse.

No matter which memory I saw, there was no trace of acting or deceit.

Images kept flooding in.

Bowing deeply in a hallway.

Kneeling in a park.

Continuing to apologize even while being attacked.

And the moments when victims, in tears, finally forgave them.

There was no lie. This was a true record of atonement.

“…It’s real.”

I returned the smartphones to the three.

They had truly changed.

Sagara and the others’ transformation might be the proudest achievement of the past six months.

The rehabilitation program that began with my threats was undeniably bearing fruit.

“Well done.”

I said quietly.

At those words, all three let out a sigh of relief.

But the real topic started now.

“By the way.”

I shifted the subject.

“Anyone around you acting strange lately?”

Sagara and the others exchanged glances.

Their faces, lit by the sunset, showed no trace of their former menace.

“Strange… like what?”

Sagara tilted his head.

His neatly tied school tie still felt a bit out of place.

“Like, someone whose personality changed suddenly.”

I chose my words carefully.

“Or they took a week off and came back different.”

“Oh.”

Kawachi said, as if recalling something.

“At our school… now that you mention it, no one like that.”

“You still keep in touch with guys from other schools, right?”

“Yeah, well.”

Sagara answered.

His old delinquent connections.

“But I haven’t heard anything like that. Everyone’s just… normal.”

Kizaki pulled out his phone and started checking messages.

“Should I check anyway?”

“Please.”

Watching the three of them operate their smartphones, I let my thoughts wander.

Yamashita’s ability seems to be used only within our school.

“Satou-san.”

Suddenly, Sagara spoke up with a serious expression.

“Is something going on?”

His gaze still held a trace of its former sharpness.

Even after their rehabilitation, their perceptiveness hadn’t dulled.

“Yeah.”

I hesitated for a moment but decided to answer honestly.

“There might be a new kind of bullying happening. But it’s not your typical bullying.”

“If there’s anything we can do…”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“This is something I’ll handle. You guys focus on your rehabilitation.”

As the curtain of night slowly descended, streetlights began to flicker on, one by one.

“But.”

Sagara stood up.

“If you need our strength…”

“I know.”

I smiled.

“But it’s fine. Violence doesn’t suit you guys anymore.”

Sagara’s eyes welled up with tears.

His comrades nodded.

Their true strength now lay in the hearts that had abandoned violence.

“Sagara.”

As I stood, I declared my resolve.

“We might not need these monthly meetings anymore.”

The three of them looked anxious and surprised.

The streetlights softly illuminated their expressions.

“Wha… does that mean…”

Sagara’s voice trembled.

“Are we… doing something wrong again…”

“No.”

I smiled gently.

“I think you guys are okay now. Once every six months should be enough.”

Sighs of relief melted into the night breeze.

A faint glimmer of tears shone in Kizaki’s eyes.

“You’ve done well these past six months.”

I continued.

“You completed all the apologies to the victims. In all my time watching, I’ve never seen anyone reform as sincerely as you guys.”

“Satou-san…”

Kawachi murmured in a choked voice.

“But.”

I tightened my expression.

“If anything happens again…”

“It won’t!”

The three said in unison.

Their response brought an involuntary smile to my face.

“I know. I trust you.”

The sound of insects began to fill the night park.

Proof that the former perpetrators had truly reformed.

“Satou-san.”

Sagara stepped forward.

“We’ll keep walking the path of rehabilitation, straight and true.”

“Yeah.”

“But.”

Sagara’s voice grew more serious.

“About that new bullying you mentioned. If you really need our help…”

“Don’t worry.”

I said quietly.

“This is my fight. You guys have a more important role.”

“A more important… role?”

“Yeah. To be role models for the younger students as reformed seniors.”

The three’s eyes shone with the color of resolve.

I could see their own new form of justice taking shape.

As we parted, Sagara said one last thing.

“Satou-san, come see our progress again in six months.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Leaving the illuminated park behind, I swore to myself.

Now, the battle to take back the souls stolen by Yamashita.

I’ll save Misaki and the other victims, no matter what.

The monthly meetings with Sagara and the others were over.

But the new battle had only just begun.

I recalled the scene I saw on Misaki’s smartphone.

Ginta’s unnaturally glowing eyes.

His low, calm voice.

And Misaki, under his control.

“Yamashita…”

I clenched my fists.

I’ll uncover the truth, no matter what.

And I’ll free Misaki, and the school, from this madness.

As the curtain of night fell, the shadows of the classroom grew deeper.

As if foreshadowing the dark events to come.