Free Web NovelChapter 109: Burdens
Once they were out in the open, Hajime could clearly pinpoint the uneasiness that he felt creeping up on the group. The aquarium was a bit crowded, and sensing someone’s directed gaze proved to be difficult. But now that they were outside, it was way easier for Hajime to see who was following them.
"I knew it. So we were really being followed," Hajime muttered to himself, stealing a glance at the three men using his peripheral vision. "But why? Who are they?"
The first man was thin as a stick, with the other two on the muscular side. Hajime was bewildered. This was the first time he saw the man so he knew that they didn’t hold a grudge against him... or maybe they were sent by the debt collectors to harass him for the second time— sort of like a level up from what they did to him at the park. Nevertheless, Hajime could tell that they were amateurs when it comes to stalking. It’s like they were being conspicuous that they were following the group, Hajime found it a tad bit hilarious.
Still, a nagging feeling overcame Hajime. He knew he couldn’t handle those three guys alone when it comes down to it. And if they were smart enough to hold one of the group members a hostage, then Hajime would have an even more difficult time.
Throughout the past year, the only reason why Hajime survived this long was that he was good at running away. But now, there’s a risk to everyone in the group, and his client was in the group to boot. As a man, as a bodyguard, and as the self-proclaimed strongest guy in the group, there was no way he could back down now.
’For now, they weren’t doing anything aside from following us, but who knows what they’ll do later on.’ Hajime said to himself, contemplating whether he should tell everyone about the three men or not.
In the end, Hajime decided to warn everyone about them.
"We’re being followed." Hajime didn’t dilly-dally with the announcement. Out of nowhere, he just spoke up and brought up the topic. This made everyone turn around and wonder what he was talking about.
"What do you mean?" Megumi asked, thinking that Hajime was just kidding. Keiichi had the same sentiment.
"Us? Followed? No way, we’re not important people." Keiichi shrugged, full of confidence that Hajime was just saying that to garner attention.
Natsumi’s reaction was quite different, however, since she fully trusted Hajime ever since that incident with the college students. Her body moved on its own, instinctively sticking close to Hajime as she observed her surroundings. freёwebnovel.com
In that few seconds when Hajime detached his attention from the three men, they sneaked up on the group, grabbing Keiichi by the shoulders and quietly dragging him away so as not to attract unwanted attention from the crowd. Hajime was the only one who reacted just in time, grabbing one of the men by the shoulders as well without thinking twice. He knew just why they dragged Keiichi away from them, and that’s to lead everyone to a narrow alleyway wherein no one would see them when they get harassed.
That’s the last thing that Hajime wanted to do, and that’s why Hajime moved into action. Meanwhile, the muscular man who grabbed Keiichi by the shoulders already gripped Keiichi by the jaw, silencing him in a forceful manner.
Everything was so sudden, so instantaneous that Keiichi’s mind stopped functioning as soon as he was swept away by the three men. Before he knew it, his eyes were starting to water, tears forming on the edges of his eyes’ lower lips as he groaned from the hand that silenced his mouth. He started helplessly flailing, but the muscular man kept him in check.
"What do you think you’re doing?!" Hajime screamed at the top of his lungs, attracting a number of passers-by so that the three men wouldn’t be able to escape if they wanted to.
"Oi oi, you really want to do that right now?" The muscular man said, unclenching his sizeable hands from Keiichi’s mouth. "We just wanted to borrow your friend for a little bit, we don’t want any trouble." The man said, licking his lips. "You’d go with us, right?" He then turned his gaze towards the quivering Keiichi, indirectly threatening him with his words.
"How much do you want?!" Keiichi gritted his teeth, mustering all his courage. That didn’t stop his legs from turning into jelly though as he locked gazes with the man who could break his neck at any second.
"Come on, we’re not savages, we only wanted a little bit of money." The man continued, acting all chummy with Keiichi despite his threats. Ruffling Keiichi’s hair, the muscular man continued his harassment. "How’s fifty million yen sound?"
Keiichi’s lips trembled. Fifty million yen is a huge amount of money, and even though he’s got shares in the Mizunari Company, there’s no way he could spend that much money just to get out of the situation. For the second time, he tried to stand up against the kidnappers. "I don’t have that much." He responded, acting all tough.
Meanwhile, Hajime finally got his wits together, turning to Megumi and the others. "All four of you, get out of here, if possible, and go to the nearest police station," Hajime whispered. He was perfectly aware that he couldn’t protect all of them at once. At the very least, he should get them out of there while he tried to rescue Keiichi from the three men who were causing a ruckus in the middle of the busy street.
Megumi didn’t bother arguing with Hajime. At this rate, they’d be getting in the way and would just be a burden to Hajime and Keiichi.
"We have to go." Megumi urged, even though Natsumi had all the reason to stay. She didn’t want to drag Hajime and the others down, but she also didn’t want to turn a blind eye to what was happening and leave Hajime behind. She couldn’t care less when it came to Keiichi, but Hajime was a different case.
Left with no choice, Megumi grabbed Natsumi by the hand, pulling her out of there as they ran straight to the nearest police station.
