Mahiro and the Debt

~~~PART 1~~~

"I'll be waiting for you."

I'll be waiting for you

I'll be waiting for you

I'll be waiting for you

I'll be waiting—

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH I can't get it out of my head!

Throughout the entire time in class, I couldn't focus on the chalkboard at all. My body was functioning mostly on autopilot and so was my mind. It wasn't like I was going to take class seriously anyway, but at least I was planning on reading the chalkboard just a bit so as to not get a bad score like my test last year.

Whether it actually had an effect on my knowledge or not was something I'd never proven to be correct, but there's no harm in doing it anyway right?

What does he want, what does he want?

One thing is for sure, no, it's not what I initially thought it was. There's no way in hell it's that anyway. That would be the last thing that would ever happen. No way, not in a million years.

So just exactly was it?

Coming off from the tip of my tongue I couldn't think of any other reason. This led to my odd behavior in school where I spaced out a lot as I kept thinking what exactly it was. Classes felt especially short today because of it.

This morning I vaguely remember wanting to talk with him about something, but due to current events unfolding I had completely forgotten about it.

And eventually, without noticing, after school had begun and the promise I made with him had to be dealt with.

"That's the bell everyone. Have a safe trip home and see you tomorrow."

The teacher announced the end of class as everyone packed their bags to leave for the day.

Usually I would be ecstatic to hear those words but right now it has a negative implication.

"Mahiro-chan, you're shaking up quite a bit. Are you okay?"

Momiji was the first person to approach me in this sorry state. I couldn't help being shivery which made her even more worried.

"Yo, wassup Mahiron! Ah, you're shaking like crazy!"

Next came in the always energetic Asahi, who's as direct as ever. She doesn't hold back when it comes to her own thoughts, so whatever it was that first appeared on her mind she wouldn't hesitate to spill it all out.

"H-h-hi guy-s-s… Don't–mind me-e!"

I had only twisted my body a bit to see them, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Shinohara by the door with his eyes falling onto me and his back facing towards me.

He nodded slightly by the door and disappeared into the crowd within the hallway. That silent gesture was most likely an indicator for me to go follow him which left me with no choice but to do so.

"Ahahaha! Mahiron's doing a funny face!"

She really never filters her words and gestures. She's even laughing and pointing at me without restraint.

"Mahiro-chan, are you sure you're okay?"

And then comes Miyo-chan, the girl with good looks and manners. But don't let her outside appearance fool you as she has a certain hobby that normal people wouldn't call well mannered.

"I'm f-fine, really! I just need uh… I need to go to the bathroom. Ah, don't follow me! You guys can just go home by yourselves… L-later!"

I tattled my way out of that one smoothly. Unfortunately I can't run as fast due to my marathon yesterday, but I managed to get out in time before anyone could potentially follow me.

"I sure hope Mahiro-chan is okay…"

"Ah, it's about that thing with that scary guy this morning right? Mahiron's gonna die!"

I could hear them as I walked out of the classroom and into the hallway.

Whatever it is Shinohara has in store for me I have to deal with it quickly otherwise I'll make my friends worry again.

Outside of the classroom door I saw Shinohara heading towards the stairs downwards. He hadn't told me where to meet up exactly, so I assumed he was going to either the gate outside or someplace hidden where no one would bother us. If it turns out to be the latter then I wish Mihari would respect my last wish and quickly destroy my pc along with all the data inside it.

Shinohara, and subsequently me, quickly went out of the main school building and into the great outdoors of the chilly autumn winds. I was following him, but we had a huge gap between us so to anyone unaware it didn't seem like I was tailing him.

But what people do see me as right now was that I looked like a zombie with my weird walking strides. But it's fine, I'm used to people giving me weird looks and whispering behind my back.

But for me, walking like this is uncomfortable. I wish Shinohara could just hurry up and pick a location for us to talk already. I mean come on, he passed the benches, behind the school building, over the gymnasium, and now he's… Passing the school gate.

Uh, what!?

We're meeting outside of school!?

This wasn't looking good.

No matter how hard I try to keep up my legs would always deny my request with a sting in my muscles. The kind of feeling that would make you feel hopeless and wanting to amputate it.

My mouth wasn't any better at cooperating. Even if I wanted to scream at him, the amount of people around us would make my loud shouting into a very embarrassing memory.

That leaves me with no option other than to hopelessly follow him.

Best case scenario he wanted to talk in a restaurant or somewhere public. If that's the case then I can keep my mind at ease and I was panicking over nothing. Please be right.

To my dear friend, reality, might you be interested in not messing up my life for a minute? It's already going down the drain as we speak and it is in my utmost best interest to not make it any worse.

Your most hated subject, Mahiro.

~~~PART 2~~~

To my dear little sister, Mihari, I recommend using the bathtub to get rid of my hard drives. It's simple to do and very effective. You don't even need special equipment for it, you can even do it inside the house! So please, hurry up.

Your useless older brother, Mahiro.

Now that my will is complete, I can go back to what I was doing

Where was I again?

Oh right,

"Oi brat! You think you can get away easily huh?! Get down on your knees right now!"

"I'm so sorry for existing!"

I was in the middle of begging for my life.

The outside world is such a scary place, I don't know how people can go about it everyday. They just go outside and walk around everywhere like it's normal. What if someone robs or threatens you?! I've never had those experiences personally but imagining the unknown was enough to put me to shivers.

I was starting to open up to the outside world a year ago but this guy made me reset my progress all of a sudden and my year's worth of character development was thrown into the drain. Maybe it might not be that dramatic but I am definitely rethinking about the outside world again.

I mean, a middle schooler was enough to make me tremble in fear, so thinking about someone twice as tall and restraining me asking for money would be like witnessing a horror unfold.

But enough about potential crime scenes and ghosts, right now Shinohara and I are stuck in an alley with the 3 people from yesterday who went to school to challenge this guy standing to my right. Out of the three, the one person I bothered to remember was Blondie, who was the guy ordering me to kneel in front of him right now.

"Damn rascal you ruined my fight yesterday… I was gonna finish him off! How are ya gonna make up for this huh?!"

"I'll gladly commit seppuku if I have to!"

"Wait, don't do that."

Shinohara stepped in to prevent what I was doing. Unlike me, he wasn't ordered to kneel down. During this entire time he only stood beside me without saying much. I feel relieved knowing I have someone watching my back with this encounter, or else I might really have committed the unthinkable.

"...Okay, I won't do that…Sorry…"

"Hey come on girlie I wasn't being serious, take the piss won't ya?"

"Kujo, you really didn't mean that do you?"

"Nope."

Today I have learned two new things. One, his name is Kujo. And two, he's a sadist.

"I should've known you bastard…!"

"Hey come on Shitnohara! I called you two out here today cuz she ruined the party yesterday and now we're deciding compensation for it. If she really did that I'd be satisfied, you know?"

"I wouldn't"

"And who's asking for your opinion?"

It doesn't seem like the situation from these two are getting any better. The more they talk the more likely they will make the other cover in red. Then after that someone will call the police on us and I would be an eye witness and then they would take me to a private room where they'll ask me all sorts of questions and I'll be there alone and then they're gonna yell at me and be mad at me and then my family is gonna get called and then Mihari is gonna get involved somehow and then I would be the one responsible for all of this and then and then and then—

Nooooooooo! I don't want that to happen!

I can't let a crime scene take place here! I don't want to talk to random police strangers!

"Erm, Hey! M-Maybe—"

Out of desperation, I did my best to cool down the two delinquents…

"What?"

"Eep!"

But to no avail.

Oh right, I forgot why I was so willing to kneel on the ground in the first place.

This guy is scary.

Even for a child his face was marked into the back of my mind. He's the type of person you would not forget for the rest of your life. I'm sure if I was just another middle school girl and not someone who's secretly an adult, I would be the protagonist of some shoujo tragedy manga that would have a poor live action remake that no one cares about.

It doesn't matter if his hands are empty or not. With or without firearms his words and actions alone were enough to spread fear unto one's body.

"Kujo, cut it out. You're scaring her."

"My my what's this? Does the little princess here need her precious bodyguard?"

"I said cut it out!"

Blondie's mockery got through Shinohara which made him raise his voice slightly. And when I said slightly I meant slightly. His overall voice only raises a couple pitches higher, yet despite almost sounding like a whisper, it sounds strangely energetic. As if his words had the impact of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But Blondie only smirked in response.

"Hah! Getting angry are we? We can settle this right here right now mister. This can also be compensation..."

"...Bring it."

And just like that, both of them took their stances.

I'm no martial artist, and I have no knowledge behind the concepts of footwork or body language either. But from what I've seen in anime and games, when people have poses like they're mimicking a predator, that's when you know things are about to get real.

And that was my queue to step in and do something.

Do something to prevent a nation-wide disaster.

I said yesterday I didn't want Shinohara to have this kind of lifestyle.

The kind of life no one would be happy with, not even your future self.

But despite my cowardliness, I cannot go against my word from yesterday.

But what is it that I can do, I wonder.

I already tried 10 seconds ago and it clearly did not work.

So what are my other options?

What am I good at?

Well, if I have lived these past few years heavily relying on my little sister, there is indeed something I excel at.

"P-please stop fighting!"

Begging.

Begging and being annoying to others is what I'm good at.

And with those words I headed towards Shinohara with his back facing me and I went head first unto his back.

"Whoa!"

His stance was perfect so it only made him lean forward a little, but that was fine. Beating him wasn't what I intended.

"Please please don't fight him Shinohara, I don't want you to get hurt!"

Holding on to his jacket, pulling them down to get attention.

Even if it means sacrificing my dignity, even if it made me look like a pathetic little girl, as long as it worked then it doesn't matter.

"P-please… Don't do it…"

I tried my best to fake cry to make it look a bit more convincing, and his response was what I hoped for.

His mouth doesn't say anything, he only lets his face react. And the face he was making was one that of annoyance. Like billionaires looking down on poor people. He clearly does not like what I was doing, but as long as I can keep doing this he should eventually give up.

But he was not the only person annoyed.

"Hey brat! Don't ruin it again for the second time! Urg! Why did I even bring you here!?"

Blondie was furious.

"Alright you know what, I don't care. C'mere Shinohara, prepare yourself for a strikeout!"

And Shinohara… Stayed quiet.

"Hey come on! Are you scared now that you know you're gonna lose? Hahaha, pathetic!"

He remained silent. He remained silent and looked at my childish face with that weird off-putting look. It was totally different from what he had on his face seconds ago. Before, he had the eyes of a killer. Ready to put down any opponent thrown his way.

But my beginning had worked and ruined the mood completely for him. Now his eyes were saying 'Can you get off of me I want to go home'.

"Kujo… There must be some other way we can compensate for this."

And I was right.

"Wha— Seriously!? I cannot believe this! Hey, you two, take her away!"

""Right on it, boss!""

Blondie called to his lackeys to take me away from the alleyway so there would be no more interruptions. These guys are equally as terrifying as Blondie, but my grip and persistence over holding Shinohara's messy jacket kept them from taking me away.

I kept holding his jacket for a solid 15 seconds before Shinohara got annoyed again at something different and chased them out of his jacket.

"Oi Kujo, if you don't get your buddies off of my jacket then 2 new patients are gonna end up in the hospital."

"Tch, asshole. You two can stop now. I have plenty of ways to deal with rich boy over here."

!!!... Does this count as a victory on my end?!

With that out of the way, I let go of my grip from Shinohara's jacket and wiped my face from near-crying.

"Here, use this."

"Eh? Ah, thanks."

Shinohara noticed my dirty face and unexpectedly offered me his handkerchief.

"Ah, thank you…"

"Cute girls shouldn't be ruining their faces over this."

"Pffffft—!"

And unexpectedly, he called me cute.

"What's wrong?"

"N-n-no! It's nothing! Hehe…"

Someone other than Mihari called me cute.

Someone other than my friends called me cute…

…hehehe… No wait, that's wrong! I'm a guy too! Why should I get happy over this!

Remember your old days! Remember the burning fire in your heart over tits!

I have to get it together!

I was busy with myself over the thought of happiness over being cute, meanwhile, Shinohara reached out to Blondie about his proposal.

"Kujo, what do you want?"

"Hm… Let's see… Since a certain someone is here, let's do this another way."

"Name it. I'll give you anything."

"Anything eh? Ahahaha! Then are you prepared for my answer…?"

An imaginary sweat formed on Shinohara as I can tell even he was hesitant on what Blondie really wants. He had said he'll give him anything he wants, but he hasn't considered how broad a term anything is.

It could end his own life, or it could end mine. Either way it could end in a horrific result for the both of us.

"Just so we're clear. If I give you this thing that you want, then you will stop bothering me, right?"

"Yeah I don't want to see your face ever again."

"Alright, so what do you want?"

I gulped out of nervousness.

Whatever the answer was, I have to help Shinohara achieve it or else I wouldn't achieve my own goal of him being free from this cruel underground world.

"Then… What I want is money."

Money?

"Money? That's it?"

Shinohara what do you mean that's it!? I've never worked a day in my life but I know how hard it is to get one! They don't grow on trees you know?!

"Yes, money. Is there a problem?"

"That's a little too eas—"

"Nope! No problems! We're fine with that request…! Haha…"

Did this kid really just think money would grow on trees or something? The only source of income I had was the money my parents sent Mihari from their work, with which she would send some to me. And begging her for more was the real hard part.

I had to use several tactics to convince her of giving me money. My knowledge of those tactics were manifested after years of countless research into my little sister's behavior and how to best exploit it.

But if it took that long and hard to get money from someone you know, how would we acquire more money from strangers?! There is a limit as to how much I can get Mihari, and I don't think the amount she would give to me is enough to satisfy Blondie anyway.

"So uh… Exactly how much money do you want…?"

"500.000 yen."

"Guk—!"

That much…? 500.000 entire yen? I was right about my initial judgment. Even if I started to beg Mihari for 10 years it wouldn't suffice to his demands.

So if begging was out of the options, then what were we to do with it?

"Pst, hey Shinohara… What do we do? You seem confident earlier but I don't know what you're thinking so fill me in."

"...? I can just take money from my parent's bank account."

"Don't do that!"

Begging is one thing, but if you're just going to take it all away without informing them then it's another issue!

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Eh? Uh… We can look for a part-time job…?"

Being a former neet, I have little to no understanding of how the world works. Will anyone be willing to hire middle schoolers was my biggest concern. And if we can't find anyone that would hire us, then what else can we do about it?

"Hey hey what are you two whispering about? speak up."

"Ah-yes! We were just— we were just considering taking part-time jobs…"

"Work huh… That's fine, I'm willing to wait how many years it would take. Our business here is now done, go away."

Shinohara and his lackeys made their way for us out of the alley and back into the public eye. I have never felt any more relief than this moment of freedom. Reality has answered my prayers and I'm glad my will was not taken into action just yet.

~~~PART 3~~~

"Sigh… I wonder if we'll ever be able to reach the 500k goal."

The walk back to school felt a little tiring. The very thought of work was weighing down my shoulders which made them slump. But I was the only one feeling worried. Shinohara stayed the same as ever, his gestures and facial expression showing no concern over this matter.

That's right, his mansion was really big and Blondie called him rich boy, so that means he has no worry over financial matters huh? No wonder why he isn't panicking over it, rich people have lost their perception of the value of money.

At least on the bright side we have someone who isn't mentally drained. It's gonna be a real help when we're actually working later.

During the walk, we didn't say anything to each other and the journey was painfully quiet. We were essentially sharing the same problem, but knowing I was the only one between us that was concerned over it felt a little off-putting even though it was technically an advantage. Nevertheless, we finally made it to our classroom where a surprise awaited me.

"Good afternoon Mahiron!"

"Mahiro-chan, welcome back."

"Ah, Mahiro-chan, we were worried about you!

It seems that my friends had stayed in class to wait for me

"Eh, what are you guys still doing here?!"

Shinohara quickly grabbed his bag and left quietly without saying a word. I really think I should at least say something to him but my trauma from earlier was still fresh in my mind.

"Mahiron, you're not dead!"

Having friends is so nice, they will even confirm your death for you just in case you were murdered in a back alley.

It wasn't as if I can just rely on them with the money situation, but having emotional support is more than enough to keep me going.

But speaking of the money problem, how will they react when I tell them I'm 500k yen in debt?

I have no doubt they would want to help me in some way due to their personalities, but I don't think I want to burden them with this much work. They're still school kids, they should enjoy the school life that they're having right now.

Well I guess that also applies to me, but I've experienced middle school once already so it's fine this time.

And, because of my desire to get home as quickly as possible, our time in afterclass was cut short and we all went home together.