You Came with the First Spring Breeze... - Episode 4: Side - Tomoya: Goodbye, Nao

Episode 4: Side – Tomoya: Goodbye, Nao

After listening to some of Mita’s wrongdoings, I heard a low, growling voice from him.

“Hey, Mita-kun. Long time no see. Thanks for the phone call the other day. You even kindly sent me the recorded data via email. I just noticed it. Did you think I’d be writhing in agony and covering my ears while listening to it? You know, iPhones don’t allow call recording, right? I was struggling because I didn’t have any evidence, so this worked out perfectly. I’m planning to head to the police tomorrow with this.”

I sat in my room, which I hadn’t been in for three days, fiddling with the note from Nao, while I casually spoke.

The audio file Mita sent came to my Gmail account, one I hadn’t accessed much from my previous job. Based on the time, it was just when I was desperately running for a taxi.

“You’re going to regret this if you keep this up,” Mita threatened.

Then, Nao’s high-pitched voice echoed through the phone: “What the hell is going on? Explain it!”

I smirked.

“Mita-kun, care to explain? The day Nao left, you tried to call my girlfriend to your room, right? When she refused, you showed up at her house and raped her. You even harassed me by making me listen to that voice on the phone. Or did you forget about that?”

“That’s horrible…” Nao whispered.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot. When the police came after my report, you made her lie, saying it was all consensual. You even threatened to leak her past AV films if she told the truth.”

“No, I didn’t say that!” Mita interrupted.

“Really? What exactly did you say?”

“I said I’d send it to you, Ikeda.”

Perfect! He fell right into the trap.

“Ah, I see. That’s clear extortion. By the way, I forgot to mention that I’ve been streaming this call to an IC recorder via Bluetooth. I’ve got enough evidence to charge you with rape. Thanks for that. I’m sure the police will be knocking on your door tomorrow, so try to sleep with that in mind.”

“Wait, wait!!” Nao’s voice broke as she almost cried.

“I’m the one at fault. I wasn’t feeling well that day, and I couldn’t accept Mita like I usually do. It’s all my fault, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry…”

Did she start crying? Maybe I pushed it a bit too far.

“I see. Well then, Nao will have to atone for her sins too. Are you willing to follow my instructions?”

“I understand.”

“First, I need the passcodes for Mita’s phone and his private computer. Unlock them for me.”

“Give me the phone!” Nao’s voice rang out, and I could almost picture her glaring at Mita, holding her palm out toward his face.

Mita grumbled, “Stop being ridiculous. There’s no way I’ll give it to you.”

“Mita-kun, don’t misunderstand. What I just said is only the tip of the iceberg. I could reveal a lot more in front of your precious girlfriend, but do you really want that?”

“Shit,” Mita cursed, and after a few seconds, Nao spoke again.

“I unlocked the phone with facial recognition.”

“Okay, now open the video folder.”

“I opened it.”

“Lots of naughty videos saved there, right?”

“Yeah, a ton of them.”

“Delete them all.”

“Got it. Should I do the same for the computer?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Give me the passcode for the computer!” Nao demanded from Mita. She was being strong.

“While you’re doing that, I need to have a little chat with Mita. Switch to normal voice call and hand him the phone.”

“Okay,” Nao responded, and I heard Mita pick up the phone in a weakened tone.

“By the way, I’ve done some digging on your company. You’re working with Tōzai Security, the company that forced Aki to appear in AV films, right? I wonder what would happen if I leaked that information to the bank. Your company won’t be able to get loans anymore. That’ll be the end of your company.”

“Ikeda…” Mita whispered, his voice barely audible.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, please, forgive me.”

“I don’t care if you apologize now. The person you really need to apologize to isn’t me, is it?”

“What should I do?”

“I’ll give you a week. You need to send Aki a written apology. And you need to promise you’ll never contact her again, not by phone, email, or even social media.”

“Understood. I promise.”

“If the video shows up online, I’ll know it was you and I’ll take action.”

“That’s… no… I swear I won’t do it.”

“Well, this whole mess started because you forced Aki into doing it, right? You better clean up after yourself.”

“I understand. If it gets out, I’ll make sure to request it be taken down through my contacts.”

“Make sure you send me a signed document as proof of that.”

“Got it.”

“Once I see that you’ve done it, I’ll hold off on reporting it to the police. If you can get Jules to delete all the videos of Aki, I’ll overlook your connections with the underworld. I won’t say a word, and we can keep this quiet.”

“Understood. I’ll contact Jules tomorrow and say I’ll buy the data to have it deleted. Is that okay?”

His voice seemed sincere.

“Yes, and you’ll destroy all the data in front of Nao. Once that’s done, contact me again, and we’ll consider this resolved.”

“Thank you, Ikeda.”

His voice relaxed, and I felt the tension ease in my own shoulders as well.

“Hello?” Nao’s voice came through the phone.

“Did you do it?”

“Yes, everything is deleted, and I emptied the trash.”

“Thanks. Now the rest is up to you two. You should talk things through.”

“Okay.”

“If you decide to break up, at least make sure Mita arranges a place for you to stay. If you want to stay together, don’t let him control you. He loves you, so he might buy you anything you want and have you work like a mule for the rest of your life.”

As a man, there’s no more humiliating relationship than being controlled by a woman who holds all your weaknesses in her hands, with a collar around your neck.

Mita will never have the upper hand with Nao again.

“Yeah, we’ll talk about it, and I’ll think it over carefully.”

If they can get through this, their love will be real. I could never forgive Nao from the bottom of my heart, but I also couldn’t bear to be close to her anymore.

Now, it’s her turn to feel that way.

This is the last goodbye. Nao…

I whispered to myself, ending the call.