Parameter Supremacy: The Man Who Seizes a Harem Through Sheer Effort. - Chapter 46.

Episode 46: The Price of a Promise.

Kayano Shiina’s POV.

Haa… haa… haa… haa…

I ran full-out, shoulders heaving with every desperate breath. Ryuuji-kun had overtaken me in an instant, vanishing ahead toward Moe. Her scream still rang in my ears, scrambling my thoughts into chaos. Nothing would settle.

Minato-kun—who knew what had happened—was slumped against the wall, knees drawn up, crying quietly. Muttering to himself in broken fragments. I had to pull his attention back to me somehow.

“Mi-Minato-kun… Are you okay?”

“What happened…?”

He stared blankly downward, lost in a daze.

I crouched beside him and gently rubbed his back, trying to coax words out. I needed to hear it from him first. Without understanding the situation, I couldn’t even explain it to the police.

***

More than ten minutes had already passed since I started trying to talk to him.

“Minato-kun, calm down. Please tell me what happened.”

He slowly turned his tear-streaked, wrecked face toward me, but no sound came.

“Please, Minato-kun. Just tell me.”

After a long, shuddering breath, he finally spoke—voice thick with sobs.

“Hic… guh… After we split from you and Shiina… it was just me and Moe walking home…”

“Mm.”

“Then… that guy showed up. The one who tried to hit on Moe at the arcade before… hic…”

“And I—I tried to protect her… hic… said I was her boyfriend… and then he punched me…”

“I panicked… grabbed her hand to run… hic… but then Moe was gone… ugh…”

Tears and snot streamed down his face as he forced the words out. I pieced it together quickly. I had to decide what to do next.

“Are that man and Moe still together?”

“Hic… I don’t know. I definitely grabbed her arm… but then she wasn’t there… hic…”

“Okay. Minato-kun, call the police. Can you handle that? I’m going after Ryuuji-kun. Tell me where Moe is!”

“Hic… Eh…? You’re going too?! No!!”

“Please. You don’t have to come. Just tell me.”

“No!! You’ll get hurt too! I won’t let that happen!”

“R-right, let’s run away together! That’s the safest—”

“Minato-kun… please. Tell me.”

“No no no no no!! Moe’s already done for! Sagara too!!”

“Shiina, I—I like you. I can’t let you get hurt—”

“Calm down.”

Slap.

“Eh?”

Before I realized it, my hand had struck his cheek. He’d confessed too, probably. But right now none of that mattered. I had to get to Ryuuji-kun and Moe.

“Sh-Shiina…?”

“I’m sorry, Minato-kun. I like Ryuuji-kun.”

“And Moe is important to me too. With both of them in danger, I can’t just stay here.”

“Ah…”

After that, Minato-kun dropped his head like a marionette with its strings cut. I had no choice but to search on my own.

“No… nooooo!!”

A piercing scream tore through the quiet residential streets. Without hesitation, I bolted toward the sound. Breath ragged, heart ready to burst. I knew exactly where it came from—that dark, narrow shortcut to Moe’s house, squeezed between the fields.

***

Isshiki Moe’s POV.

Sirens approached from somewhere. At first faint and distant, now they stabbed deep into my ears, growing deafening. Reality crashed over me like a wave.

“Hic… hic… Sagara-kun… please… open your eyes… no… please…!”

I clutched his blood-soaked body tightly in my arms, throat raw from screaming. My whole body shook; the warmth in him seemed to slip further away with every passing second.

—Why did it come to this?

He’d only wanted to protect me. Yet even after being beaten, kicked, stabbed—covered in blood—he never once raised his own fist against that man.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… It’s all my fault… Sagara-kun ended up like this because of me…”

My words dissolved into sobs. Because of that stupid promise I’d forced on him. I’d taken away his right to defend himself—all because of my childish selfishness.

—This is all my doing.

If I hadn’t made him promise that, none of this would have happened.

“Hic… please… Sagara-kun, no… open your eyes…!”

I hugged him harder. Tears blurred everything. My chest burned with pain. He’d kept that ridiculous promise—for me—and let himself be destroyed.

I’m an idiot. A complete idiot. I couldn’t even tell the difference between violence and self-defense; I’d lumped them together like a fool.

—Everything is my fault.

I pressed hard against the inside of his elbow, trying to stem the blood pouring from the deep wound in his right arm. My hands trembled violently. My strength was pitiful, useless for real hemostasis, but I pressed with everything I had.

“Sagara-kun… I’m sorry… It’s all my responsibility… Sagara-kun… uwah… wake up…”

My voice cracked into nothing. Tears and blood soaked my hands, my clothes—everything. Somewhere, the sirens grew louder still. The world sounded like it was breaking apart.

“Hic… hic… I’m sorry… ugh… Sagara-kun…”

“Moe!?”

Shii-chan’s voice—sharp, frantic—cut through from behind. I had to turn.

In my arms, Sagara-kun felt lighter by the second.

***

Kayano Shiina’s POV.

The narrow path cutting between the fields. I’d known about it since childhood, but even among childhood friends, almost no one used it. The reason was simple: dark, cramped, carrying an indefinable dread. No one took it unless they absolutely had to.

“Haa… haa… haa… haa…!”

My throat burned; I couldn’t pull in enough air. Sweat streaked my cheeks; my legs felt like lead. Still, I ran toward that path.

The closer I got, the stronger the wrongness became. Neighbors spilled out of houses, staring worriedly toward something. Murmurs rode the wind to my ears.

Sirens wailed in the distance—no, not distant anymore. They were closing fast. A sick premonition swelled in my chest; my heart hammered like it would explode. I shoved through the gathering crowd and plunged into the narrow road.

—There.

A girl crouched in the middle of the path, back trembling. Crying, surely. Familiar clothes. Chestnut hair. An alarm screamed inside my skull.

“Moe!?”

My voice shook as I called. She turned slowly. Blood streaked her face. My breath caught. My chest felt crushed. Driven by panic and terror, I ran to her.

And then I saw.

In Moe’s arms lay Ryuuji-kun—unconscious, blood everywhere.

“Nooooo!! Ryuuji-kun!!!”

My scream ripped the night apart. Legs nearly giving out, I dropped to my knees beside him.

Moe kept whispering “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” over and over, collapsing into sobs.

“Wh-why… why Ryuuji-kun… why!?”

I didn’t care about appearances anymore. Tears streamed down as I called his name.

“Hic… ugh… Ryuuji-kun, please… open your eyes… Ryuuji-kun…!”

Moe was crying too, unable to explain anything—just repeating “I’m sorry” in a trembling voice.

Then sirens shrieked close—police and ambulance arriving at once. Paramedics pushed past Moe and me, swiftly loading Ryuuji-kun onto a stretcher and rushing him away. All I could do was watch in stunned silence.

***

Satou Minato’s POV.

“I like Ryuuji-kun.”

After Shiina said those words, my memory simply stopped. Next thing I knew, I was lying on my bed in pitch-black darkness, staring blankly at the ceiling. My punched cheek throbbed; the taste of blood lingered in my mouth.

—Is Moe okay…?

I ran away. I wanted to protect her, but I left her there with that man. Guilt gnawed slowly at my chest. If anything happened to Moe— Just thinking it nearly drove me insane.

—Damn it, damn it, damn it.

I pressed my right hand over my eyes, trying to force the tears back.

I can’t do anything. I’m just kind—and weak. It’s only natural I couldn’t do anything. Twisted thoughts like that began to swallow my mind whole.

—What about Sagara? He ran toward Moe. I definitely saw him heading that way.

“I like Ryuuji-kun.”

Shiina’s words echoed again, staining every thought pitch black.

Bzz-bzz—

I didn’t even notice my phone vibrating. I just kept sinking.

—Sagara… Ryuuji…