Volume 1 - CH 4

The feeling of relief was only temporary as my face tensed up again.

“I have another suggestion. Would you mind hearing it?”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the obsessions of someone who commits domestic violence.”

Well, the point is… so far, Hayashi’s boyfriend has shown considerable possessiveness towards her, and it’s obvious what he would think if she suddenly disappeared from his sight.

“I think there’s a possibility that your boyfriend may resent you and take retaliatory actions.”

In the first place, it’s hard to believe that just saying “let’s break up” would make the other person agree. As soon as she starts saying something like that, it’s not hard to imagine him resorting to force again. I don’t want her to spend the rest of her life running away from her boyfriend.

“…I see.”

“So, I have a proposal. The goal is to make your boyfriend think that he no longer wants to be involved with you.”

“What? Are you suggesting we lynch him or something? I don’t mind.”

Perhaps it was personal resentment, but Hayashi blurted out something outrageous at the end. It seemed like the high school version of her was coming back a little. However, I decided to ignore that for now.

“There’s a place I want to go.”

“Where?”

“The hospital and the police station.”

“The police?”

Hayashi’s eyes widened. So, lynching was okay, but not the police? I don’t understand that sense.

“Let’s file a criminal complaint against your boyfriend. Even he, once under police surveillance and with a criminal record, won’t be able to approach you anymore.”

“W-wait a minute. Do we really need to go that far?”

Hayashi seemed a bit troubled, as she had considered lynching but not involving the police.

“…You’ve been battered all over your body, had your means of communication with friends severed, and even made the cause of being disowned by your parents. He made you lonely, taking away your escape. …After all that, you’re saying it’s not a police matter?”

When I told her each of these things one by one, Hayashi’s face clouded over in an easy-to-understand manner. She probably agreed.

“…I understand. Let’s go.”

“Haste makes waste. Let’s go to the hospital first. If we can get a medical certificate there, the chances of our complaint being accepted will be much higher.”

“Understood.”

“By the way, where’s your house? I don’t want to run into him.”

“It’s fine. It’s about three stations away from here.”

“Three stations?”

If it’s three stations away, that’s quite a distance from the convenience store we stopped at this morning. Why did Hayashi stop at that convenience store?

“…Honestly, I didn’t want to go back. To that house.”

Being beaten and kicked, her body covered in bruises… her spirit was probably at its limit under such mental control.

“But it’s weird, isn’t it? I almost became stubborn when you told me the truth about various things.”

“…The most important thing is not the content but the result. If it leads to the desired outcome, it doesn’t matter what path we take, does it?”

“…Yeah.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

And so, we left the house.

We mainly used the train to get around, but fortunately, we didn’t run into Hayashi’s boyfriend.

Hayashi had been away from her boyfriend’s home for about half a day. I hadn’t told her, but her boyfriend was probably searching for her frantically by now.

If he found her along the way… there’s no telling what he would do to her.

Being extra cautious, we went to the hospital and safely obtained a medical certificate. Hayashi had not only bruises all over her body, but her pale wrists were also suffering from an avulsion fracture.

She laughed. I think she had no choice but to laugh. I didn’t feel angry, maybe because my relationship with Hayashi wasn’t that deep… but I wondered why she had to go through all of this.

We headed to the police station.

Even there, we didn’t encounter that brutal man on the way, and Hayashi walked around the station alone to file a complaint.

“You must be tired. How did it go?”

I had been waiting for her, who didn’t have a smartphone, in a chair on the first floor of the station.

She returned in about thirty minutes, her hand wrapped in a bandage from the hospital.

“They accepted the complaint. I’m relieved.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

“Yeah… really, thank you for everything this time.”

Hayashi deeply bowed her head to me.

“It’s fine. Like I said, I didn’t take action for your sake. It was all for myself. So don’t worry about it.”

“… Yeah. Thank you.”

“Did the police say anything?”

“… Yeah, um…”

“What did they say?”

“… There’s one thing I want to consult with you about.”

“A consultation?”

“Yeah… First, I told the police everything about my situation. That my boyfriend has been violent towards me. That he’s cut off contact with my friends. And that I’m living with him.”

Hayashi seemed to have a hidden meaning when she mentioned living together. I realized just now that she couldn’t go home as long as her boyfriend was there. How long would it take from the acceptance of the complaint to the notification of the perpetrator? Damn, I should have researched that thoroughly.

“So, I don’t have a place to live, right?”

“That’s true.”

“The police gave me two suggestions.”

“Two, huh?”

“One is to consult with the police or a spousal violence consultation support center. If I consult with such places, they’ll protect me.”

“What’s the other one?”

“To rely on friends or family.”

“Friends, huh?”

“Hey, Yamamoto.”

“Yeah?”

“I have a favour to ask.”

“… No, that’s not a good idea.”

I knew what Hayashi wanted to say without asking. She probably wanted me to hide her for a while. After all, her parents had disowned her, and her friends’ contact had been cut off. In reality, the only person she could rely on was me.

“…Wait, don’t look at me like that. It’s scary.”

Hayashi used a glare. My defence was lowered. This was no time for jokes.

“You wouldn’t like it either, would you?”

“What?”

“…Being treated so horribly by your lover. I bet you’d have trust issues with men.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you shouldn’t be.”

“…Actually, I want to be with you right now.”

For a moment, my heart skipped a beat.

“You were the one I could rely on the most during this whole ordeal. Not the police, not my family, not my friends… it was you.”

“…So that’s why.”

“I don’t mind if it’s selfish.”

Being told that first, I lost my words. As it turns out, I’m weak at ad-libbing.

“…Selfish or not, it’s a fact that you protected me. When you told me to come to your place at the convenience store… I was actually really happy inside. I thought I might be freed from h**l.”

Then why didn’t you listen to me in the first place? Why did you resist? I don’t understand a woman’s heart.

“But still…”

“I’ll do anything, okay?”

Do anything. What an alluring sound that is.

“You don’t need to do anything. As long as you’re okay, that’s all I care about.”

“Then isn’t it certain that you’ll protect me?”

“Indeed.”

No, that’s not it. I inadvertently agreed.

…What should I do? If things continue like this, Hayashi will end up living at my place. I invited her to my home to help her temporarily, but that was just for the time being. I didn’t want anything more than temporary, so I let her stay at my place for a while. Even so, ultimately, protecting her at home would be a temporary solution until her boyfriend is caught or she gets her parents to lift the disownment.

Why didn’t I want to invite her to my home in the first place? Because she had trust issues with men? But even after telling her that, she says she’s fine.

Ah, I’m so confused. I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore! Damn it…

…It’s starting to feel like a hassle.

“I get it. I get it…”

“Really?”

“Alright, but just temporarily. Just for a short while… I’ll let you stay at my place.”

“Thank you, Yamamoto!”

Within several hours of our reunion.

Hayashi showed her biggest smile, and I let out a sigh of exasperation instead of smiling back.

And so, after a dramatic episode, a peculiar lodger arrived at my home.