Chapter 330. Troubling Developments: Giving my Co-worker a Ride. (3/3)
She snapped her fingers and one of her lackeys hugged her arm while pulling up the leader's skirt a bit to reveal her leg.
She pointed down with her index finger and said, “Dumbass, look down.” It seemed that was how she referred to the guy in front of Yuna.
When his gaze landed on the bare skin of her thigh beneath her half-raised-up skirt, the bulge in his pants grew more prominent.
“See, Yuna? This is all men amount to? That boyfriend of yours isn’t any different, so dispose of him. He’s unnecessary.”
“It’s my choice who I date. Whether they’re trash or not, I’ll decide for myself.”
“Then, it can’t be helped. I guess you’ll have to experience something a bit bad before you see men for what they are. Dumbass, go ahead. You can use her a bit, but don’t even think about going too far.”
“Heheheh, sure, sure. Whatever you say.”
The four girls formed a wall around them to obstruct anyone who might enter the hallway from seeing. Before Yuna could call out for help, her mouth was forcibly covered by the man in front of her.
Huh? What the hell? Shit, seriously? Just like that? I hadn’t seriously expected it to proceed this way at all. Based on the direction of their conversation, I initially thought he was just here to scare or intimidate her a little. But shit had suddenly hit the fan without warning. I’d never seen this sort of thing happen in real life. I knew stuff like this happened in the real world, but it always felt like something completely foreign and unrelated to me.
Was it just because I never looked for it, always had my head down, and averted my eyes away to avoid seeing it happen? If it was a stranger in this situation, I wouldn’t give a damn and I’d just ignore it. It wasn’t my problem and I wasn’t some sort of superhero with superhuman strength who’d show up to save the day. I doubt I’d be able to do anything about that guy using force.
Logically, getting the cops involved would be the right call here, but by then it’d be too late. Even if I called them as soon as I came across this, nothing had actually happened yet. There wasn’t much time.
What do I do then?
What can I really do?
I’m not some assassin like Rosa or Wisteria.
I’m just a little author working part-time at a convenience store without any sort of magical hand-waving powers.
What am I good at?
There’s really only one thing.
Running, right?
But even if I step out there right now to intervene, all that will happen is me getting a can of whoop-ass. They’d snatch my phone and break it. If I uploaded the video somewhere secure online, they might beat the shit out of me until I delete it. Hell, worst case they may just outright kill me. I couldn’t be sure the extent to which these girls would go. Their hatred of men, just from what I heard, sounded like the real deal. To a psychotic degree even.
Seriously, what the hell does someone go through to have such a deep hatred?
No, forget that… there’s no time to think about it. Either I intervene or I sit back, watch from a distance, record everything in secret, and hand it over to the authorities after the fact. Yuna might have to suffer through something unpleasant, but her problem could at least be resolved this way. That would be the best outcome for her. Yes… that is… no doubt... the best solution. Doing nothing.
Despite knowing it was the best solution, it left a sour taste in my mouth. Bitterness toward how weak and powerless I was.
I shouldn’t do anything irrational. My little thoughtless action from earlier today was what resulted in this situation. I was plagued by guilt. How could I know something that seemed so minor would be such a big deal?
Is there… anything? Anything at all? Anything I can use to help her escape right now?
I finally turned my attention to my surroundings. My eyes darted about rapidly at what was close by when my eyes suddenly froze in place.
That’s it! Of course that would be here by the stairs.
A fire hydrant and the fire alarm were right next to each other. I picked up the fire extinguisher and hit the fire alarm. The second it went off, I blasted the fire extinguisher waving it up and down as it rounded the corner and headed for the group in the hallway.
“What the hell is going on?” The leader in their group freaked out and asked.
Chaos. Pure unbridled chaos was the answer. Within the chaos, there would be an opening to escape. That was the solution I came up with at the last minute.
The group was completely shocked when the alarm went off. They were dumbstruck and caught off guard by the white smoke quickly filling up their vision and the entirety of the hallway as it closed in on them. Because of all the smoke, they didn’t even see me coming.
I had my helmet on still so the smoke didn’t affect me at all. But it did affect them. When I arrived in front of them, I sprayed it directly in their faces. The guy backed up and released Yuna as he shielded his eyes with his right arm and blocked his mouth with his left arm as he coughed into it.
I took the chance to grab Yuna’s wrist and ran back down the hall.
“Run.” One word. It was enough for Yuna to understand.
They didn’t see me. No, they couldn’t see me. Even without the smoke, they wouldn’t know who showed up because of the helmet I had on. But the smoke was required to act as a deterrent and put distance between us in the confusion.
As I pulled Yuna along, the doors to other units started opening up as people exited their units. I dropped and hid the fire hydrant amidst the smoke that remained. Thankfully, there wouldn’t be any fingerprints left behind since I still had my motorcycle gloves on.
The security footage was the only problem, but at least my face wasn’t caught on camera. As long as Yuna didn’t sell me out and explained what happened here, I should be able to stay out of this and avoid cops hounding me over this little incident.
Well, that was probably wishful thinking. People related to her, including coworkers, might be questioned or looked into to find the one responsible for this little incident. I really didn’t want to get fined for pulling it. There was no fire and even if it was to help someone, breaking a law was still breaking a law. I was no lawyer though.
The two of us ran down the stairs at full speed when Yuna finally voiced her complaints, “You’re crazy! Have you lost your mind? What are you even doing here, are you stalking me or something?”
“Are you dumb? I just had a gut feeling that something was amiss, that’s all. This was purely by chance.”
“Well, I’ll thank you I guess. But this was completely unnecessary.”
“What? You were fine with that guy doing whatever he wanted to you? If it was my misunderstanding and you were actually enjoying that situation just now because you have some weird fetish and want to go back there, you’re free to do so.”
Her hand as I dragged her along trembled a bit.
“What? Scared?”
“I’m not scared.”
“Why’s your hand trembling then?”
“It’s not. It’s your imagination. Please don’t make unpleasant assumptions.”
“You’re not cute at all.”
We stopped talking when people began to enter from other floors on our way down.
Once we reached ground level, we made a run for my motorcycle. I tossed the passenger helmet over to her, hopped onto the seat, put the key in the ignition, and revved the engine as she climbed on the back.
“Block the plate while we’re driving.”
“How?”
“With one hand behind you, I guess.”
“There’s no way I can do that.”
“Do it or I’ll just ditch you here.”
“Ugh. Okay, I get it. I get it. I just need to block it. I’ll try.”
She wrapped her left arm around my waist and sat down sideways behind me. She was able to hold onto the bottom of the license plate in this position and block most of it by holding her handbag between her right arm and the license plate.
“I’ll haunt you if I fall off and die, you better drive carefully and be gentle.”
“Gentle? I’m not the type to be gentle though. I’m much more of an asshole than a gentleman.”
“Just shut up and drive.”
“Haaaah. You sure are demanding.”
I slowly picked up speed and drove off. As we started to move I glanced to the side and noticed the group we’d fled from outside. The girl who’d been calling the shots was in front of the door. Despite having my helmet on and her being unable to see my facial features, our eyes coincidentally locked for a brief moment.
She was furious. That much I could tell. She naturally didn’t fail to notice Yuna on the back of my motorcycle facing her. There was no need to question whether Yuna saw her. She definitely did.
Chapter 330. Troubling Developments: Giving my Co-worker a Ride. (3/3)
She snapped her fingers and one of her lackeys hugged her arm while pulling up the leader's skirt a bit to reveal her leg.
She pointed down with her index finger and said, “Dumbass, look down.” It seemed that was how she referred to the guy in front of Yuna.
When his gaze landed on the bare skin of her thigh beneath her half-raised-up skirt, the bulge in his pants grew more prominent.
“See, Yuna? This is all men amount to? That boyfriend of yours isn’t any different, so dispose of him. He’s unnecessary.”
“It’s my choice who I date. Whether they’re trash or not, I’ll decide for myself.”
“Then, it can’t be helped. I guess you’ll have to experience something a bit bad before you see men for what they are. Dumbass, go ahead. You can use her a bit, but don’t even think about going too far.”
“Heheheh, sure, sure. Whatever you say.”
The four girls formed a wall around them to obstruct anyone who might enter the hallway from seeing. Before Yuna could call out for help, her mouth was forcibly covered by the man in front of her.
Huh? What the hell? Shit, seriously? Just like that? I hadn’t seriously expected it to proceed this way at all. Based on the direction of their conversation, I initially thought he was just here to scare or intimidate her a little. But shit had suddenly hit the fan without warning. I’d never seen this sort of thing happen in real life. I knew stuff like this happened in the real world, but it always felt like something completely foreign and unrelated to me.
Was it just because I never looked for it, always had my head down, and averted my eyes away to avoid seeing it happen? If it was a stranger in this situation, I wouldn’t give a damn and I’d just ignore it. It wasn’t my problem and I wasn’t some sort of superhero with superhuman strength who’d show up to save the day. I doubt I’d be able to do anything about that guy using force.
Logically, getting the cops involved would be the right call here, but by then it’d be too late. Even if I called them as soon as I came across this, nothing had actually happened yet. There wasn’t much time.
What do I do then?
What can I really do?
I’m not some assassin like Rosa or Wisteria.
I’m just a little author working part-time at a convenience store without any sort of magical hand-waving powers.
What am I good at?
There’s really only one thing.
Running, right?
But even if I step out there right now to intervene, all that will happen is me getting a can of whoop-ass. They’d snatch my phone and break it. If I uploaded the video somewhere secure online, they might beat the shit out of me until I delete it. Hell, worst case they may just outright kill me. I couldn’t be sure the extent to which these girls would go. Their hatred of men, just from what I heard, sounded like the real deal. To a psychotic degree even.
Seriously, what the hell does someone go through to have such a deep hatred?
No, forget that… there’s no time to think about it. Either I intervene or I sit back, watch from a distance, record everything in secret, and hand it over to the authorities after the fact. Yuna might have to suffer through something unpleasant, but her problem could at least be resolved this way. That would be the best outcome for her. Yes… that is… no doubt... the best solution. Doing nothing.
Despite knowing it was the best solution, it left a sour taste in my mouth. Bitterness toward how weak and powerless I was.
I shouldn’t do anything irrational. My little thoughtless action from earlier today was what resulted in this situation. I was plagued by guilt. How could I know something that seemed so minor would be such a big deal?
Is there… anything? Anything at all? Anything I can use to help her escape right now?
I finally turned my attention to my surroundings. My eyes darted about rapidly at what was close by when my eyes suddenly froze in place.
That’s it! Of course that would be here by the stairs.
A fire hydrant and the fire alarm were right next to each other. I picked up the fire extinguisher and hit the fire alarm. The second it went off, I blasted the fire extinguisher waving it up and down as it rounded the corner and headed for the group in the hallway.
“What the hell is going on?” The leader in their group freaked out and asked.
Chaos. Pure unbridled chaos was the answer. Within the chaos, there would be an opening to escape. That was the solution I came up with at the last minute.
The group was completely shocked when the alarm went off. They were dumbstruck and caught off guard by the white smoke quickly filling up their vision and the entirety of the hallway as it closed in on them. Because of all the smoke, they didn’t even see me coming.
I had my helmet on still so the smoke didn’t affect me at all. But it did affect them. When I arrived in front of them, I sprayed it directly in their faces. The guy backed up and released Yuna as he shielded his eyes with his right arm and blocked his mouth with his left arm as he coughed into it.
I took the chance to grab Yuna’s wrist and ran back down the hall.
“Run.” One word. It was enough for Yuna to understand.
They didn’t see me. No, they couldn’t see me. Even without the smoke, they wouldn’t know who showed up because of the helmet I had on. But the smoke was required to act as a deterrent and put distance between us in the confusion.
As I pulled Yuna along, the doors to other units started opening up as people exited their units. I dropped and hid the fire hydrant amidst the smoke that remained. Thankfully, there wouldn’t be any fingerprints left behind since I still had my motorcycle gloves on.
The security footage was the only problem, but at least my face wasn’t caught on camera. As long as Yuna didn’t sell me out and explained what happened here, I should be able to stay out of this and avoid cops hounding me over this little incident.
Well, that was probably wishful thinking. People related to her, including coworkers, might be questioned or looked into to find the one responsible for this little incident. I really didn’t want to get fined for pulling it. There was no fire and even if it was to help someone, breaking a law was still breaking a law. I was no lawyer though.
The two of us ran down the stairs at full speed when Yuna finally voiced her complaints, “You’re crazy! Have you lost your mind? What are you even doing here, are you stalking me or something?”
“Are you dumb? I just had a gut feeling that something was amiss, that’s all. This was purely by chance.”
“Well, I’ll thank you I guess. But this was completely unnecessary.”
“What? You were fine with that guy doing whatever he wanted to you? If it was my misunderstanding and you were actually enjoying that situation just now because you have some weird fetish and want to go back there, you’re free to do so.”
Her hand as I dragged her along trembled a bit.
“What? Scared?”
“I’m not scared.”
“Why’s your hand trembling then?”
“It’s not. It’s your imagination. Please don’t make unpleasant assumptions.”
“You’re not cute at all.”
We stopped talking when people began to enter from other floors on our way down.
Once we reached ground level, we made a run for my motorcycle. I tossed the passenger helmet over to her, hopped onto the seat, put the key in the ignition, and revved the engine as she climbed on the back.
“Block the plate while we’re driving.”
“How?”
“With one hand behind you, I guess.”
“There’s no way I can do that.”
“Do it or I’ll just ditch you here.”
“Ugh. Okay, I get it. I get it. I just need to block it. I’ll try.”
She wrapped her left arm around my waist and sat down sideways behind me. She was able to hold onto the bottom of the license plate in this position and block most of it by holding her handbag between her right arm and the license plate.
“I’ll haunt you if I fall off and die, you better drive carefully and be gentle.”
“Gentle? I’m not the type to be gentle though. I’m much more of an asshole than a gentleman.”
“Just shut up and drive.”
“Haaaah. You sure are demanding.”
I slowly picked up speed and drove off. As we started to move I glanced to the side and noticed the group we’d fled from outside. The girl who’d been calling the shots was in front of the door. Despite having my helmet on and her being unable to see my facial features, our eyes coincidentally locked for a brief moment.
She was furious. That much I could tell. She naturally didn’t fail to notice Yuna on the back of my motorcycle facing her. There was no need to question whether Yuna saw her. She definitely did.
