Chapter 23

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TL: Single TL Translations

Chapter 23

“Stop it!!!!”

I opened my eyes to the scream-like, piercing cry. The man stopped moving. The voice is from Aoi who I had run away. Doubt and impatience arise. Why is she here? When I turned around, Aoi was holding the stun gun I had given her with both hands, trembling.

“G-Get away… f-from Yuki!!”

“What’s the matter, Aoi? Even though I’m so close to killing this scum. You won’t be brainwashed anymore, okay?”

The man spoke calmly, a complete change from just now. Aoi is frightened.

“W-what are you… saying?”

The man smiled at Aoi’s question—an expression so different from before you couldn’t even believe it.

“You’re getting confused I see. You’re cute like that, Aoi. Don’t worry. I’ll make you understand. …Oh yeah, that’s right! You know, sometimes a strong stimulus can make you remember things or undo the brainwashing? That’s why I’m going to beat her up before killing her. Watch me carefully, okay?”

The man told Aoi gently and then glared at me with a look that could kill me. He won’t even kill me easily—he really thinks I’m an evil person. When he throws the knife somewhere, he punches me in the face again. With a dull sound, a strong impact and pain hit me once more.

“Give Aoi back!! You!! It’s all your fault!! You made Aoi crazy!! I won’t forgive you…! I’ll never forgive you!”

The strong impact and pain made me resist by protecting my face with my arms, but I was still hit, making it pointless. I was really going to be beaten to death. I couldn’t even raise my voice. I was really about to lose consciousness by the man repeatedly hitting me while yelling. I couldn’t open my eyes as if blood was trickling from it. While like that, the man grabbed me by my hair.

“Hey! What are you doing closing your eyes!! Wake up! Is that it? I’m not gonna kill you that easily. Hey! Are you listening!! Hey!!”

A voice echoes in my head. My brain is shaken, and I fall into a feeling of dizziness. I can’t anymore. Even though I was being violently shaken, I just resigned myself.

“Hey? Are you listening? Don’t ignore me!! Someone like you…!”

“Just stop it!!! Don’t hit her anymore!! …She’s really going to die!!!”

Aoi yelled while crying. The man stopped and turned his face towards Aoi. Thanks to him moving his hands away from me, I was finally released form the pain, but my consciousness was still blurred.

“Aoi? Are you crying? Don’t cry, Aoi.”

The man, perhaps out of concern, backed away from me and tried to get closer to Aoi. You can’t. Aoi will be in danger. I tried to get up while enduring the pain, but I couldn’t get up smoothly. Aoi is holding the stun gun towards the man. Her face is filled with fear and anxiety, and she can’t stop crying.

“Just stop already!!”

“I understand. Aoi, calm down, okay? Don’t cry. I’ll protect you. Put that away. It’s dangerous.”

The man stopped and said with a reassuring smile. He’s insane. I really thought so. He really believes he understands Aoi and is doing it for her sake—his distorted thoughts made me feel fear and anger.

“Don’t…do horrible things to Yuki!”

“Like I said, Aoi, you’re being brainwashed. It won’t be undone unless she disappears.”

“Don’t say things I don’t understand!!”

Aoi said in a trembling voice as if she were shouting and grasped the stun gun, approaching me while looking at the man. The man is looking at Aoi without moving. Aoi came up to me who couldn’t get up and after quickly confirming me with her eyes, she went forward as if to protect me. To think that I’m being protected even though I was trying to protect—I felt pathetic not being able to get up.

“That’s enough already. “

“What’s the matter with you. You’ve been angry since earlier, you’re not like yourself.”

“There’s no way you… can understand me!”

The man’s complexion changed drastically at those words.

“Huh? …haha, what are you saying. I know Aoi better than anyone else. Look, I sent you pictures, didn’t I? I’m the one who’s watching you the most.”

The man was extremely flustered by Aoi’s words and made excuses in a panic. There’s no way this man’s feelings would be reciprocated—how pitiful.

“Stuff like that… is just creepy! Following me… and those… letters too. It’s really… disgusting…”

“What, do… you mean…”

He looks as if he’s in despair and his expression freezes as Aoi says it. I have a bad feeling. He might go into a frenzy again. I was dripping with cold sweat. I finally managed to, while wobbling, hastily get up.

“Aoi, let’s run away. We can escape if it’s right n…”

“…Why? Why? Why? Why!!!”

I was close to finishing, but it was too late and the man’s loud yell startled me and Aoi. The man approached us with a long stride. He was breathing raggedly, and his face was filled with anger.

“Why don’t you understand my feelings! Why?!! Why! I understand you the best!! I’m the only one who understands!! Only I… Only I…!”

I tried to get in front of Aoi, but the man was quicker and grabbed Aoi’s shoulder and yelled at her. Aoi was so terrified that she let go of the stun gun and became completely frightened.

“Why don’t you understand my feelings! I love you the most, watch you the most, and understand you the most! Undeniably!! I undeniably do! You just don’t understand because you’ve been brainwashed!”

“Get away from Aoi already!”

I have to save her. With that feeling, I tried to move the hand that was grabbing her shoulder away. I can’t keep listening to this incomprehensible nonsense.

“Kuh! This is all your fault!!”

“Gu!!”

“Yu…Yuki.”

He kicked me in the leg as hard as he could, and I fell down as if I was slammed into the ground. The pain makes it impossible to get up immediately. Aoi’s face is distorted with fear and uneasiness. The man grabbed Aoi’s shoulder again and spoke as if trying to persuade her.

“It’s all her fault! She’s the one who brainwashed you! She brainwashed Aoi and made her crazy! It’s obvious that you don’t understand my feelings because you’ve gone crazy! …I’ll heal you… yeah, if I heal you then you’ll definitely understand. About how much I think of you and how much I love you. I’ll save you. Don’t worry. I’ll kill her.”

“S…Stop it…”

Even though his eyes were just wide open and angry, at the end, he smiled and said as though excited—I felt nothing but horror. He’s really insane. Anything and everything about him is insane. He took his hands away from Aoi, who couldn’t move due to fear, and looked at me while smiling.

“I’ll kill you for Aoi’s sake. It’s for me and Aoi’s sake, there’s no helping it. I tormented you before, but there’s no meaning to it now, so I’ll kill you right away. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

The next thing I knew, he was staring at me with nothing but murderous intent in his eyes—I was trembling with fear. I’m really going to be killed. A that moment, I saw the stun gun in my field of vision. That’s right, I have this. It’s now or never. I was scared, but if I don’t do it, I’ll be killed. What will happen to Aoi if I’m killed? I swallowed my saliva. If I do it right now, I can catch him off guard. Without taking my eyes off the man, I reached out and grabbed the stun gun and, forgetting the pain, I stood up and pushed the stun gun towards the man with great force. The man couldn’t even resist because of my unexpected behavior.

“Ahhh!!!”

The man screamed and fell down alongside the violent electric crackling noise. The man fell face flat and stopped moving. Did he faint? Is it all right now? I stared at the man for a moment, but he showed no sign of moving. The moment I felt relieved, the pain came back to me. I was so desperate I forgot about the pain.

“…Aoi, call the police. Quickly.”

Aoi, who had been standing still and stunned, came to her senses at the sound of my voice.

“Huh? A…Ahh, I-I did… when I… ran away. They said… they’ll be here soon…”

“I see. That’s great.”

When I heard that, I finally felt relieved and sat on the ground a little away from the man. I felt pain all over my body. The bleeding isn’t stopping, and it feels like my body is getting cold. Aoi approached me in a fluster while like that.

“Y-Yuki?! Yuki!! Ahh. What should I do! What should I do! What should I… what should I… oh yeah, that’s right!! An ambulance! I need to call an ambulance!!”

Aoi seems to be panicking and is extremely dismayed. I smiled weakly to reassure her and called out to the unreliable Aoi, who was crying and repeating ‘ambulance’, taking out her phone with a trembling hand to use it.

“It’s okay, Aoi. Calm down. You won’t be able to talk well like that.”

“Huh? But Yuki is! Yuki is! Covered in blood…”

“I’ll be fine.”

The hand that was weakly holding the phone finally stopped trembling and she seemed to regain some of her composure. I’m glad. I slowly let go of my hand.

“It’s going to be okay—I’ll call an ambulance right away.”

Aoi said calmly albeit crying and called the ambulance. She told them what happened. This made me feel even more relieved. All that’s left is the man who’s collapsed. He’s not moving at all, but I still grab the stun gun I let go of earlier. I remain vigilant.

“They’ll be here soon. It’s okay now.”

“Okay, thanks.”

All we have to do now is wait. I sighed a little and Aoi looked at me really worriedly.

“Yuki, you’re bleeding a lot.”

She put away her phone and took out a towel. Aoi gently wiped the blood from my face with the towel I gave her before. I thanked her and borrowed the towel to place it on my arm where I was stabbed and put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. My face contorted in pain, but it was the correct treatment. I gently called out to Aoi, who had been crying the whole time.

“It’s okay. I’m really okay.”

“Really? …I feel like my heart is about to burst.”

I felt sorry for Aoi whose tears were trickling down. I tried to save her, but she saved me and look at me now. I didn’t die, but it could’ve just been that I was lucky.

“It’s thanks to Aoi that I’m saved.”

“No. …I was scared… I tried to help you, but I couldn’t do anything… I’m sorry.”

“That’s not true. Don’t apologize. You really saved me, so don’t say that, okay?”

“But… you were hit so much… it’s my fault.”

“You’re wrong. Don’t cry anymore.”

I wanted to pat her head or something, but my body was in pain, so I didn’t want to move much. Aoi gently squeezed my hand and I weakly squeezed it back. It’s not Aoi’s fault. It was all this insane man’s fault.

After sitting and waiting for a while, a police car and an ambulance came, and the man was easily caught. I was put into the ambulance, and Aoi, who seemed to want to follow me, was asked to help with the police investigation and so went our separate ways. At the hospital, the wound on my arm wasn’t serious and fortunately it was only a few stitches, but I was told to take a thorough examination on a later day. The place where I was hit was also treated, and by the time I left the hospital after received a blood transfusion and IV drip, it was midnight. I called Aoi, who came to pick me up, and she hugged me when I went outside. She seemed to have been worried about me quite a bit.

“Yuki! Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I was told to have a thorough examination at a later date, but I’m fine.”

“I’m glad. I’m really glad.”

Aoi made a sound of heartfelt relief while hugging me tightly. While gently patting her back, a woman who I’ve never seen approached me. She modestly lowered her head.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Yamashita, Aoi’s manager. You must be Haneyama-san, right? Thank you for protecting Aoi.”

“Ahh, is that so.”

She seems to be a kind and gentle woman. Once Aoi left for a moment, she began to speak.

“Today was cut short with a rough interview, so Aoi and I plan to head to the police station together as they want to hear more about the situation at a later date. I’m sorry to say when injured, but they seem to also want to ask Haneyama-san about the situation as well. So, depending on your physical condition, I would like you to go to the police station too, but…”

“I don’t mind. What happened to that man?”

“He was properly arrested. Though he seems to have been saying incomprehensible things.”

“Is that so. I’m glad.”

I’m really glad. Now I don’t have to worry anymore. I was relieved from the bottom of my heart. The woman suddenly bowed her head.

“Thank you so much. I don’t know want to say to you for saving Aoi. Even though we’re the ones that should’ve protected her…”

“No, it’s fine. Please raise your head.”

Even though I was surprised and flusteredly said so, she discreetly raised her head and continued apologetically.

“I’m sorry, this is also the first time something like this has happened to us. Aoi was also very stumped by this incident, even earlier she seemed restless and said, ‘I’m going to pick up Haneyama-san’ and wouldn’t listen. …Um, could you please stay with Aoi today? We won’t be holding a press conference, but there are a lot of things to deal with. I’m sorry, but…”

I was worried about Aoi as well, so I immediately agreed. I can’t leave her alone after what happened.

“I understand.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Then I’ll ask you to take care of her today. Also, thinking of Aoi’s mental health, I’m thinking of cancelling Aoi’s work for a little while, so, if you can, please care for her. She seems to adore Haneyama-san very much.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Also, I have a business card from the police, and they want you to contact them through here. Here, I’ll pass this to you. Then, I’ll be leaving here. I’ll be picking up Aoi tomorrow morning. I’m sorry and thank you.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

The woman quickly left when I received the business card from her. While there are a lot of things to do, but first, Aoi.

Aoi strongly grabbed my sleeve. With what just happened, it’s enough to leave an emotional scar. I was planning to care for Aoi without her telling me to.

From then we took a taxi and headed towards Aoi’s house.

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