An Adult Sneaking Mission
Slender bodies and beautiful tits!
Such were the vulgar words that dipped and swayed before Chidori Kaname’s eyes as she took her morning train to school. For once, she’d managed to get a seat, but a man was standing in front of her with a tabloid in hand. It was open so that the page of male-oriented sex ads was facing her.
Don’t miss — Male Paradise!
Cheating wives made to pay!
Maids to send you to heaven!
Admission free — 800 yen for 1 hour!
Steamy hot asses!
Kana-chan’s secret technique!
It wasn’t just the words. There were pictures as well. They featured girls not much older than her in various compromising positions... Turning red as a beet, Kaname looked down at her knees. “Sheesh, at least read that stuff in private...” she whispered to herself.
The phrase ‘Kana-chan’s secret technique’ upset her most of all. It featured a picture of a girl in lingerie labeled ‘Kana-chan (Junior College, age 19),’ plump, with tanned skin and dyed hair. She looked nothing at all like Kaname herself, but that didn’t mean she liked seeing it. Incidentally, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of killing move this ‘secret technique’ might consist of.
It’s basically sexual harassment, thought Kaname. This was why she hated taking packed trains. There were gropers on them, too. She wished that during rush hours, they would split the trains into men’s and women’s cars. Wasn’t there something fundamentally flawed about a transportation system that forced her to press her body against the bodies of strange old men?
As she was thinking about that, the train grew suddenly more crowded. As more standing riders forced their way in, the density of passengers grew. The tabloid, with all its ads, pushed closer to her face until it was all that she could see.
You won’t believe what this sexy actress does when the cameras are off!
The beautiful captain’s full-body breathing technique!
Korean sex industry takes to the front lines!
Her only choice now was to close her eyes. She did so and waited a while until the train finally reached the stop closest to her school, Sengawa Station.
Oh, darn it! To get out of the unpleasant situation as quickly as possible, Kaname shoved the tabloid out of the way and stood up. As she did, a familiar face appeared in front of her.
A sullen expression and tight frown framed by unkempt black hair— It was Sagara Sousuke. In his right hand, he held the tabloid in question. In his left, the pistol he’d been using it to hide, complete with silencer. He clearly hadn’t been reading the articles at all.
“Chidori. What a coincidence,” Sousuke said lightly.
After a moment’s glare, Kaname silently grabbed Sousuke’s arm and pulled him through the crush and off the train. As they hit the platform, she snatched the paper from his hands.
“Ahh—”
She rolled it up, raised it high, and... Whap! brought it down on Sousuke’s head.
Sousuke rubbed his head concernedly. “Might I ask why you did that?”
“Shut up!” Kaname yelled, then unrolled the newspaper again and forced it back into his hands. “You can’t just shove this crap in someone’s face first thing in the morning! I’m not even gonna get into the gun-smuggling thing right now, just have a little self-awareness for once!”
“Is there an issue with this newspaper?” he asked.
“A huge issue! Just look at it!”
Sousuke began to leaf through the pages. “Hmm... IWGP heavyweight Tenryu vs. Sasaki for the championship?”
“That’s pro wrestling!”
“T. Komuro enters Hawaii alone for unknown reasons?”
“That’s entertainment!”
Here, Sousuke stopped reading the articles and scowled. “I don’t understand. The articles appear to be without issue. And my primary concern was simply to have an unobtrusive paper behind which I could hide my weapon.”
“Yeah, right!” Kaname said scornfully. “You did it intentionally, didn’t you?!”
“Did what intentionally?”
Their fruitless argument on the crowded platform continued, until...
“Excuse me, you two,” someone called to them.
Sousuke and Kaname glared at the other person simultaneously.
“What?”
“What do you want?!”
Their aggressive tone sent a shiver through the person in question. He was a middle-aged man in a suit, on the scrawny side, with thinning hair and a hunched posture that gave him an overall cringing, cowardly appearance. Kaname idly thought he was exactly the type of man who would be groping women on a crowded train.
“I just... are you sure you should be arguing about these sorts of things in public?” he said, timidly.
Kaname just stared at him incredulously, while Sousuke barked, “Identify yourself.”
“What? I... well...”
“We were debating a matter of security as it relates to our school commute,” Sousuke told him reprovingly. “Do not interrupt us.”
“Ah... of course. Goodbye, then...” The man smiled at them weakly before departing.
As she watched him slink away, Kaname suddenly clapped her hands together. “Oh, I just remembered!”
“What is it?”
“That guy’s a teacher at our school,” she said. “Ethics or something... I think his name is Usui.”
“Really?” said Sousuke. “I don’t remember him.”
“Yeah. He really tends to blend into the background.”
And indeed, the unremarkable middle-aged teacher had already vanished into the crowd.
That day, during lunch...
Kaname was in the classroom, discussing the morning’s affair with Tokiwa Kyoko and Inaba Mizuki. The affair in question wasn’t Mr. Usui, of course, but Sousuke’s tabloid.
Kyoko was Kaname’s classmate, a petite girl with coke-bottle glasses who wore her hair in braids. The other girl, Mizuki, was from another class, but lately she’d been coming by to hang out at class 4-2. She had semi-long hair and a perpetually willful expression.
“So, anyway, it was super annoying,” Kaname said irritably before taking a bite of her plain roll and slurping at her can of coffee. “I don’t know what possesses someone to have articles like that on full display first thing in the morning. What was he thinking?”
Kyoko poked at her little packed lunch, smiling with a wince. “Well... it doesn’t seem like he meant any harm, right?”
“I know that, okay? My real issue is those in-your-face articles, and that... that indecent line of work taking place right under our noses! And how fascinated grown men seem to be with it! It’s just pathetic.” She was talking about sex-related occupations, such as pornography. As a 16-year-old girl, Kaname simply couldn’t wrap her mind around what men liked about it so much. She wouldn’t say she found it disgusting, exactly. But she definitely thought it was pathetic.
“Yeah, it is pretty bad,” Kyoko agreed with her breezily. “I have a hard time walking past the magazine rack with all that stuff when I’m in a convenience store. And when I see videos like that in my brother’s room, sometimes I think about throwing them out.”
“I say do it,” Kaname told her. “Don’t tolerate that crap under your roof.”
As Kaname and Kyoko nodded to each other, Mizuki, who had been silent so far, looked at them with an expression close to shock. “You know...” she said with a sigh.
The girls looked over at her, questioningly.
“I figured Kyoko would be like this, but not you, Kaname. It’s kind of a surprise.”
“What do you mean?”
Mizuki sighed again, then launched into a rant. “You guys just don’t know anything about male biology. Men are wolves, okay? Every single one of them. Their heads are full of the most unspeakably pervy stuff you can imagine. If an innocent girl like me shows one single moment’s weakness, they’ll throw themselves at us, exploding with black-hearted, forbidden life force.”
“‘Black-hearted, forbidden life force’?” asked Kaname.
“Yes! Men are wicked, super energy beings created through dark alchemy,” Mizuki declared. “They change into beast mode.”
“R-Really?” Kaname and Kyoko had never had a boyfriend between them in their respective sixteen years, while Mizuki was freshly single, so they had no choice but to take her words as gospel.
“The purpose of that line of work is to channel that dark power in harmless ways,” Mizuki explained. “It’s not a matter of morality, but of necessity. Your attitude is like saying we should get rid of nuclear waste processing facilities. You know?”
“Yes, ma’am...” Kaname and Kyoko responded, despite feeling unhappy about it.
“Although... I think that high school girls who take part-time work like compensated dating are pretty out there,” Kaname added.
At this, Mizuki laughed haughtily. “Yes, they certainly go above and beyond. I would never do it, myself, but I think that the women who perform a service to benefit society are worthy of our respect.”
“Mizuki-chan... that doesn’t quite seem right...” Kyoko muttered.
It was then that Sousuke entered the room. He marched up to Kaname and said, “Chidori, the president is calling. We have to go to the student council room.”
The three girls remained silent, staring carefully into Sousuke’s face.
A wolf. A wicked energy being. Can such words really apply to Sousuke? they wondered. Might he really not be an exception in that regard? He certainly seemed to be, but... but... but...
The three of them were staring at him so intently that he was forced to take a step back. “What is it?” he asked defensively.
“Oh, nothing!” they responded in chorus, voices as indifferent as could be.
“Now, then. Sagara-kun, Chidori-kun. Your mission this time is...” Student council president Hayashimizu Atsunobu addressed them in the student council room. As ever, he was a young man—tall, pale, with a calm and collected air about him.
“Um... why are you calling this stuff ‘missions’ now?” Kaname asked, shoulders slumping.
Hayashimizu opened up a fan with the word ‘Peace’ written on it, smiling elegantly. “I thought it might be motivating. Was I wrong?”
Before Kaname could say ‘very wrong,’ Sousuke spoke up. “Not at all, Mr. President. Chidori and I are grateful for your consideration.”
“Hey,” Kaname objected.
“Excellent. Now, your mission this time is... well, look at this,” Hayashimizu said casually, holding up a flier.
Kaname picked it up curiously and started reading.
Gentleman’s Image Club — ‘C&J’
Grand opening campaign — Give us a try!
▼Admission fee: 30,000 Yen
▼Role-play fee: 8000 yen for one hour
▼Sample fee: 4000 yen for 30 minutes
Although you’re exhausted from work, you possess secret desires.
Yes... every man is born with those desires, and we know you’re no exception. Maybe you have a job, family, and a position in society. Or maybe you’re just too shy to explore them. Either way, you probably see those desires as an impossible dream.
But here’s where we come in — We’ll satisfy those secret desires! With a wide variety of situations, detailed costumes, and high-quality companions available, we’ll give you just what you’ve been longing for! Don’t delay, try today! Our cast is waiting for you!
Join us in a world of dreams!
*Currently recruiting companions. Girls 16 to 20 years old are in particular demand!
After the pitch, it listed the facility’s address and phone number beside a map of the location.
Kaname shoved the flier at Sousuke and turned her eyes down, her fists clenched and trembling.
“What’s the matter, Chidori-kun?” Hayashimizu asked airily.
“It just... It just seems like it never ends today. I keep on having these disgusting things forced on me, you know?” She glared up at the president.
Hayashimizu returned her gaze, nonplussed. “Hmm. I can’t testify as to what’s going on in your life today, but... Well, regarding that flier. As you can see in the listed address, it is located in the 1st Maruyama building just outside of the Sengawa shopping district. The same neighborhood as our school,” he pointed out.
“So? Can’t we just leave this gross club to its own gross devices?” It might be troublesome for the nearby shop owners, but Kaname didn’t see how that was their business.
“I’m afraid not.” Hayashimizu slowly shook his head. “I’ve received intelligence that several people associated with our school have been seen coming and going from the establishment—female students. We believe they may be employed there.”
“In... that role-play club?” Kaname asked.
“Almost certainly.”
“Seriously? Yech, that’s the worst...”
“It’s not a matter of ethics, but of economy, Chidori-kun. As long as there is demand, the supply will appear. I personally don’t believe that we can stop all students from pursuing such employment, but... we can’t have it coming to light,” Hayashimizu concluded. “If the teachers learn of it, they will act to undermine the independence of the student council in the name of ‘public accountability.’ We must therefore take measures before that happens.”
“I see.” Kaname was starting to catch on: Hayashimizu was going to tell them to persuade the girls in question to quit.
“I understand, Mr. President. We’ll deal with the problem. Don’t worry.” Sousuke said confidently.
Kaname, beside him, frowned. “Hey, Sousuke. Are you sure you understand?”
“Of course. I’m not that stupid.”
“You mind if I ask how you plan to ‘deal with it’?” she asked.
It appeared that Sousuke was, indeed, just that stupid. Sniffing haughtily, he said, “Isn’t it clear? The president wants us to kill the students who are damaging the school’s image and make it look like an accident.”
Kaname immediately wrangled him into a sleeper hold. “Why would he want us to kill them?!” she howled.
“Erk... hnngh...”
“Sheesh! Say something to him, Senpai!”
“Hmm?” said Hayashimizu. “That would certainly be a novel way of handling it...”
“Oh, for the love of...” Tossing away Sousuke, who was by now slouched limply in her arms, Kaname collapsed to her knees on the floor.
Hayashimizu patiently waited for the both of them to recover, then said, “In fact, what I am asking for is neither to convince them to quit, nor to assassinate them. I simply want a trump card in the event that these things do come to light.”
“A... A what?”
“It appears that some instructors from our school have also been attending the establishment in question,” he explained. “If you can secure proof of their patronage, I can use it as a bargaining chip against the principal.”
“Oh, boy. Sheesh. Are you kidding me?” Kaname asked.
“That is where you come in,” Hayashimizu told her. “I want you to infiltrate the club in question and find proof of their attendance there. The flier says they’re hiring companions, and Chidori-kun, I believe that your physical appearance will allow you immediate ingress in that regard.”
“Uh?”
“And Sagara-kun, I’d like you to accompany her. To pull her out in case something goes wrong. Would you?”
“Yes, sir.” Sousuke saluted him.
Kaname just sat there, dumbstruck, until... “Why should I do that?!” she said, finally getting as angry as the situation deserved.
“You don’t wish to?”
“I do not! I vehemently do not!”
“You leave me no choice, then. Mikihara-kun?” Hayashimizu now addressed Mikihara Ren, who was doing secretarial work nearby. She was a classic-style beauty with long, sleek black hair.
“Yes?” Ren tilted her head slightly.
“I have a job for you. As Chidori-kun has refused, I would like you to—”
“Hey!” Kaname furiously interrupted. Allowing poor, naive ‘O-Ren-san’ into that establishment was like throwing fresh Matsuzaka beef into a lake of hungry piranhas.
“What is it, Chidori-kun?”
“I... I’ll do it, okay?!” Kaname shouted desperately.
The shopping district near Sengawa’s local station was an unremarkable town on the outskirts of Tokyo. If one was forced to name a particular defining characteristic of the area, it would be a propensity towards eateries aimed at young people, due to the relatively high concentration of high schoolers and attendees to the women’s colleges and junior colleges in the vicinity. As far as Kaname knew, it had never been host to a single place like the establishment described in the flier.
They found the place at issue, C&J, a mere five minute walk from the school, on the uppermost floor of a four-story building just off of the main street there. The sun was down by this point, and it was dark all around.
“I recalled there being a cram school on that floor. I can’t believe it’s now a terrorist training camp,” Sousuke said, looking up at the building.
Kaname glanced at him sidelong. “You weren’t listening to what Senpai said at all, were you?”
“Hmm? The flier seemed to suggest it was a place for men feeling dissatisfied with their place in society to meet up and polish their killing techniques.”
“You have some pretty impressive interpretive abilities— Huh?” Kaname called out in confusion as Sousuke suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a nearby sign. “Wh-What is it?”
“Quiet,” he ordered her. “Look.”
A girl was walking into the building. She wore a Jindai High uniform and had chestnut hair done in a wavy, layered cut. She was on the slender side, but she also had significant curves.
Oh. That’s... Kaname knew her: Saeki Ena. She was in class 2-1, and Kaname was also pretty sure she was the president of the drama club. The girl had sent Sousuke a love letter once, but had dropped her infatuation quickly after learning about his personality.
Saeki Ena hugged her bag to her chest and, after having ensured that nobody around her was watching, swiftly disappeared into the building’s elevator. Then, from what they could make out from the elevator’s display, she had gotten off at the fourth floor—the location of the club in question.
Kaname was stunned. Of all people...! “I can’t believe it. What in the world...”
“I always knew she was a terrorist in the making,” Sousuke muttered.
Yeesh, he really can be a creep, Kaname thought. She let out a sigh and, choosing not to comment out loud on that one, went over the plan one more time with Sousuke. “Well, I’m going in. You wait here, okay?”
“Understood.”
“If I press the button on the transmitter, come to save me right away, okay?”
“Understood.”
“And by the same token,” she insisted, “don’t come in if I don’t press it, okay?”
“Understood. Now, go on. Good luck.” Sousuke gave her a firm salute. He didn’t ask if she was all right or tell her to take care.
“You could at least pretend to be concerned about me...” Kaname grumbled, heading for the fourth floor establishment. Her objective was to find proof of instructors messing around there, but her actual intention was to find Saeki Ena and convince her to ditch this awful job.
The dicey establishment in question—the gentlemen’s image club C&J—looked pretty unremarkable on the inside at first blush. The waiting room was all white, with understated gray sofas and glass tables. On the wall was the famous painting Liberty Leading the People—a nude, but a tasteful one. It looked more like the waiting room of a dentist’s or chiropractor’s office than an adult entertainment venue. Kaname had really been steeling herself on the way up, so it kind of felt anticlimactic, in a way.
Still... don’t let appearances fool you, she told herself as she timidly approached the reception desk. “Excuse me.”
“Yes?” The desk was attended by a large man with short hair. He had large ears and thin, monolid eyes. His appearance was a bit funny, but his voice was properly somber.
“I saw your flier,” she told him. “It said you’re recruiting companions.”
“Oh! Wonderful. Welcome, come right this way.” The man nodded firmly and led Kaname inside to a narrow office. “Go on, sit down. This is perfect timing. We really need more girls like you. Would you like some tea? Sweets?”
“N-No... thank you.” Even if they’d had her favorites, Kaname doubted she’d be able to muster an appetite in this setting.
“Oh, I see. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the manager here, Gotou Shouji. A pleasure to meet you, Miss...?”
“Ah... Hidori. Hidori Kana.” Kaname came up with a rather sloppy alias, hoping to preserve her reputation later.
“Hidori-san, then? Right. That’s a Jindai High uniform, isn’t it?”
“Ah... yes.”
“We have quite a few Jindai girls working here. They’re all very good with our guests. They’re pretty and the clients really rave about them. Ha ha ha.” Gotou Shouji pulled out a cigarette and fired it up as he said this.
Kaname cleared her throat uncomfortably.
“Ah, heaven,” he said as he took a deep puff. “Now, Hidori-san, do you know what we do here?”
“Not... exactly,” Kaname hedged.
“Right. Put simply, we do a little role-playing with men exhausted from their professional lives,” Gotou explained. “We take this task very seriously, with numerous uniforms and sets prepared. Of course, this costs quite a lot of money, and it’s difficult to manage it all.”
“I see...”
“Our clientele is primarily made up of workaholics between thirty and fifty years of age. Lots of people with high positions in society: doctors, lawyers, government officials, policemen... and schoolteachers.”
Yeah, guess it really is one of those creepy sex role-play clubs, thought Kaname, wanting to walk right out immediately. Utterly pathetic. All these men with big, important jobs, dressing up and playing silly games!
While Kaname was ranting to herself, the reception desk’s bell rang.
“Oh, just a moment. We have a guest,” said Gotou, leaving the office. Soon after, she could hear laughter from him and his customer.
Eh? That voice... Kaname sneaked up to the door and peeked back into the waiting room. Ah...
The ‘guest’ was the teacher she’d met on the station platform, Mr. Usui. She recognized him for sure. That spineless, almost invisible teacher, visiting a place like this?! Kaname quickly pulled out the pocket camera the student council had supplied her out of her uniform pocket. She shut off the flash and took one picture, then another.
Wow... this is pretty thrilling! I feel like I’m in Mission: Impossible! Kaname was suddenly enjoying the taste of being part of a spy mission.
Gotou picked up the internal phone and made a call, most likely to the employees’ green room. “Saeki-san? You have a guest. Yes, room three. Take it away!”
Saeki—he was referring to Saeki Ena. That girl. Is she about to do... her job? Kaname wondered. With Mr. Usui?! Saeki-san, who took second place in last year’s Miss Jindai Contest at the culture festival? Who ranked in the top five in every year’s final exams? Saeki-san, who devoted herself to the drama club? Oh, God! What has become of this world?! ‘Stunned’ didn’t even cover the level of shock Kaname felt in that moment. She could hear, tangibly, the sounds of the world she once believed in crumbling all around her.
Gotou was heading back to the office. Kaname, still shaken, quickly returned to her seat and forced herself to assume a neutral expression.
The big man arrived a moment later. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he told her. “We’re quite busy at this time of day.”
“I... I see.”
“Right. I came into some easy money, so I decided to start up this business on a whim. It’s been... much more lucrative than I imagined.”
“I see...”
“This is my pet theory: Every entry in the species known as man carries these desires inside of them. The knowledge that they can never have them leads to suffering, but our little club gives them the illusion of fulfillment. It’s a sign of the sickness that pervades our society.” Gotou explained, nodding wisely in agreement with himself. “Now... what were we talking about? That’s right, the job. Well, you’ll start out as an apprentice, learning what you need to know to please our guests. You’ll need a bit of basic talent, and some performance ability. And... you’ll need to lose your self-consciousness. This is very important.”
“My... self-consciousness?” Kaname echoed.
“Yes. Many of the men who come here are very shy. You need to be able to take the lead with them, so that they don’t feel embarrassed,” he explained. “Do you understand?”
“Geh...” Kaname was starting to feel sick.
The expression on her face inspired a suspicious glare from Gotou. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
“I... er... Do you mind if I wash my hands?” Kaname asked weakly.
“Not at all. The bathroom is in the back... would you like me to show you?”
“N-No. I can find it... by myself.” Kaname stood up and moved unsteadily towards the back of the shop.
Kaname splashed her face with water from the sink. She had never felt so out of place in her life. The manager, Gotou, was friendly, and the shop didn’t seem particularly seedy. There was no need for her to call for Sousuke’s help just yet. And yet...
I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to, she told herself. I have to get out of here! That’s the most important thing. But one picture of a teacher talking to someone at reception... that was far from the conclusive proof they needed. She had to get something more concrete.
He said they were going to room number three, right? Which meant Saeki Ena and Mr. Usui would be in that room. Could she bust in and take pictures like a member of the paparazzi? Maybe. Kaname left the bathroom, weighing her options.
The shop’s interior was laid out much like a karaoke parlor, narrow passageways lined on either side by doors leading to small rooms. Rooms numbered one, two, three, five, six, seven, eight...
The room in question, room three, was right next to the bathroom Kaname had just come out of. It couldn’t be seen from reception or from the waiting room. As she was just about to pass it, she stopped. Moving on instinct, she tried the doorknob. Shockingly, it wasn’t locked.
Th-This is...
Kaname, feeling her heart beating rapidly, opened the door a silent crack. There was no reaction from the people inside. Quieting her nagging conscience, she crouched down and peeked inside.
The room was set up like the classroom of a cram school, complete with blackboard and row of desks. From the speaker in the wall, sounds she knew well—the sounds of a quiet classroom after-hours—echoed out. Saeki Ena and Mr. Usui were there, standing some distance away from each other. While Usui was staring right at Ena, Ena was looking away. They didn’t seem to notice that Kaname was there.
“How long... How long are you going to keep doing this to yourself, Saeki-kun?” Mr. Usui said.
Ena responded indifferently. “That’s... That’s none of your business. Life is all pointless, anyway. Why don’t you stop pretending to care about me, Mr. Usui?”
“I can’t do that! You’re my student! And when one of my students is taking a step down a wrong path, it’s my duty to help, somehow!” he told her in a strangely impassioned voice.
But Ena nevertheless smirked at him. “Hah... You’re so stupid. Everything you adults say is a lie. You’re really just here for my body, aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about? I’m concerned about your—”
“Oh, let it go,” Ena told him scornfully. “Let’s just... forget who we are, and have a little fun... right, teacher?”
Ena giggled seductively and smiled bewitchingly. Even Kaname, a fellow girl, couldn’t help but feel her heart skip a beat at the sight. Ah... Saeki-san... are you serious about this? Feeling her stomach churn with bile, Kaname remained rooted to the spot.
“She’s been gone a long time,” Sousuke observed from where he was hiding behind an electric pole across the street, and glared at his wristwatch. In Sousuke’s estimation, Kaname should have put out the call for aid not long after entering the building. But he waited and waited, and said call never came.
It must be... Perhaps she had been captured by a terrorist and was currently being subjected to terrible torture? That had to be the case, he figured. They’d snatched away her transmitter before she could trigger the signal.
Chidori! Sousuke made his decision and sprang into action. He didn’t bother waiting for the elevator, but dashed up the stairs like a whirlwind. He arrived at the establishment on the fourth floor, C&J, and stepped in without hesitation.
“Excuse me, can I help—” the large man at the reception desk frowned at him as he approached. Sousuke grabbed the man’s arm, twisted it, then pressed the pistol drawn from his back holster to the man’s head.
“Wait! What are you doing?” the man protested. “Hey!”
“Where are you hiding Chidori Kaname? Tell me, or I’ll kill you!” Sousuke hissed, merciless.
“What? Who is that?”
“Don’t play dumb with me!”
“I don’t know her, I swear! Please, calm down!”
Sousuke blinked, questioningly.
“Are... Are you talking about Hidori-san, perhaps? She went to the bathroom. She said she wasn’t feeling well. But I assume she’ll be back any minute now!”
As soon as he heard this, Sousuke cast a glance around the room. The middle-aged men sitting nearby looked at him nervously. They were a largely docile, spineless-looking bunch, who certainly didn’t look like the kind of people to be engaging in terrorist activities.
“Is he right about that?” Sousuke asked.
The other men nodded.
A few moments later, Sousuke removed the gun from the man’s head. “I see,” he observed. “This place certainly doesn’t look like a terrorist training camp...”
“Why would it?! Listen, sir, this place is...!” The man stood back up and explained to Sousuke what the establishment was all about.
Sousuke was immediately abashed. “I’m very sorry,” he said genuinely.
“I’m glad to hear that. Now... as long as you’re here, would you like to partake in one of our... scenarios?”
“Scenarios?”
“Yes. You’ll enjoy it, I guarantee.” Gotou grinned.
Kaname continued to watch the forbidden class proceed. In the simulated, empty classroom, Mr. Usui continued to resist Ena’s come-ons. “Don’t... Don’t be ridiculous! I’m your teacher!”
“Oh, you.” She giggled again. “That’s why I said we should forget who we are and enjoy ourselves. Don’t you think so... teacher?”
“S-Saeki-kun!”
“Come on, teacher... Come right here.” Ena sat down on the desk and beckoned Mr. Usui towards her.
Ah, it begins... Despite her anxiety about what was unfolding, Kaname couldn’t take her eyes off of them. But then...
“You... You idiot!” All of a sudden, Usui pulled out a paper fan and slapped it down hard on Ena’s head.
“Eek!” Ena stumbled.
Kaname’s jaw dropped in confusion.
“Listen to me! You have to have more respect for yourself! The future that lies before you is infinite! Even if you might think there’s no purpose in living, someday, you will see the beautiful light of the sun! It will be like a rainbow, and you’ll shed tears in your heart! Don’t you see that, Saeki-kun? I’ll be so sad if you can’t!” Usui barked at her, nostrils flaring.
“T-Teacher...”
“Don’t say such awful things, like that adults always lie,” Usui admonished her. “You can always start over. When I think about all your potential, I... I...” Tears flooded his eyes.
Perhaps in response, Ena, too, started choking up. “Oh, teacher... I’ve been so wrong!”
“Yes, yes...”
“I... I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how hard this was for you,” she apologized. “I’ve been so selfish. I really...”
“Wonderful!” Usui beamed. “You finally see?”
“Yes!”
“I’m glad. Now, your parents are surely worried for you. Go, race off into the setting sun!” He told her, reciting a line from an emotional scene in an old school drama.
Uh? Kaname was trying to process what she’d just seen, when she realized similar voices were coming from the room next door. She poked her head in, curiously...
Two middle-aged men stood together in room five, which was set up to look like a high-quality lounge. There were no young girls in sight.
“This is ridiculous. What you’re doing is against the law!” one of the men said, firmly.
“C’mon, Mr. Policeman. Let it slide, just this once.” The darker-skinned man of the pair placed a thick manila envelope on top of the table.
“What is this?”
“Just a little thank-you gift... Go on, take it.”
“What?!”
“C’mon, ain’t like it’s blood money,” the darker man urged the other. “Go on. Just one hit won’t hurt you.”
Furious, the other man threw the envelope back in his face. “Stop this nonsense!”
“Wh-What are you...?!”
“Shut up! No matter what else I might be, I’m a servant of the law! Your money and threats won’t work on me!”
“Aargh... Y-You sure about this, pal? I’ve got Rep. Kaneyama in my pocket. You’ll be busted back down to beat cop so fast—”
“Do whatever you want! You can’t buy my pride or self-respect!”
“D-Damn you...”
“My job is to keep this city safe! And your evil deeds are at an end!”
“Wh-Whatever...” The dark skinned man was suddenly panicking.
Completely flabbergasted, Kaname checked the next room down, room number six. This one was made out to be a hospital office.
“M-Mr. Director... You can’t possibly...”
“Now, now, Dr. Sasaki. I really want you taking care of Hamamatsu Pharmaceuticals. They always take good care of us, after all... heh heh heh.”
“I won’t do it.”
“What?”
“I said I won’t do it! My job is to save patients’ lives,” the man declared righteously. “I didn’t become a doctor to prop up you and some corrupt pharmaceutical company!”
“What?! You think you can stay at my hospital with an attitude like that?!”
“Shut up! I’d rather live on the streets than sell out my doctor’s soul!”
“Y-You...!”
It went on and on like that. In the next room, and in the one after that. Each one featured a timid-looking customer burning with self-righteous fury at an (extremely well performed) actor, each of whom was playing a villain.
“What are you doing, Hidori-san?” The next thing Kaname knew, the owner, Gotou, was staring at her from the door to the office. She’d gotten so wrapped up in watching, she hadn’t even noticed his presence.
“What? Oh... I was just...”
“You can’t look in on other guests. They’ll be humiliated if they see you. Honestly...” Despite his scolding, he didn’t seem especially angry.
“Excuse me, Gotou-san,” she finally said. “What is all this?”
“I told you: it’s a place for men, exhausted from work, who want to do a little role-playing.”
“But—”
“I think you might have the wrong idea,” Gotou told her. “Our clientele is weak-willed men whose deepest desire is to give self-righteous speeches to others—incidentally, ‘C&J’ stands for ‘courage and justice.’”
“Wuh?” said Kaname.
“You really don’t know? All men want to be superheroes. They want to be strong, they want to be righteous... These are the secret desires they all hold inside them,” Gotou explained. “But when they enter the adult world, things don’t always work out the way they want them to. They can’t actually challenge their superiors, or they run into situations that aren’t so black and white. The real world is complicated. It’s the same whether you are a doctor, a policeman, or a novelist. Yes, yes...” The man nodded to himself, firmly. “Oh, or an editor, a sales rep, a printer, a proofreader, or an illustrator. They all have it equally hard,” Gotou Shouji said with an inexplicable, hasty add-on.
This... This is so stupid. It’s somehow even sadder than a sex club... Kaname found herself flabbergasted by the utter absurdity of it all.
“By the way, your friend is here. He’s in room eight, enjoying a free sample.”
“My friend?” Kaname peeked into the nearby room eight. Gotou didn’t try to stop her.
The interior was dressed up to look like a military headquarters. A forty-year-old actor—a ‘companion’—dressed in a fancy military uniform was laying into Sousuke, who stood at attention before him. “This is unacceptable, Sergeant! I ordered you to slaughter every single person in that village!”
“And I refuse to accept that order, sir!” Sousuke shouted back.
“What was that?!” the actor demanded angrily. “Do as I say or I’ll have you court-martialed! I’ll send you to the firing squad!”
“Do whatever you like!” Sousuke declared. “There were no guerrillas in that village! Your judgment was in error!”
“Y-You...” The faux officer steamed.
“Sousuke?!” As Kaname stepped into the room, the actor and Sousuke both snapped out of character and looked back at her with quizzical expressions.
“Chidori? What is it?”
“Wh-What in the world are you doing? What is all this?!”
“This? Oh...” Sousuke put a hand to his jaw and considered. “Well, it’s actually quite interesting. Would you like to join in?”
Kaname felt herself go limp, collapsed to her knees on the floor, and let out a sigh from the depths of her soul.
〈An Adult Sneaking Mission〉
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