Chapter 83: Boyfriend's Decline [side Mishima Satsuki]
That night, the news revealed cheating by that major used car dealership. A nationally famous company.
Used car dealership... I think of my boyfriend Masaki's family business.
Because what if? What if we get married in the future? It's not someone else's problem, right...?
Well, it's another company's issue, right? It shouldn't affect Masaki's family business, which is a major player in the prefecture, should it?
Or so I thought, but the next day, Masaki muttered that it had unexpectedly spread to them.
I didn't understand what he meant,
"But it's another company, right? Just because it's the same business, does it have to be a negative? Well, maybe someone might sarcastically say, 'Your place is probably making fraudulent claims too, huh?' or something like that, but?"
Oh, Masaki's face turned pale...?
Looking around, Masaki said in a small voice,
Masaki "Absolutely don't tell anyone, our place is doing similar things...!"
That's the worst!
Masaki "Our place, they're pretty strict about this kind of thing, you know? Like, 'Let's create work from scratch!' or 'Since insurance will cover it, let's just fix it up!' kind of thing? Our family takes quite a bit in executive compensation... and I've been using that money for various things too..."
Huh? But it's the scandal with Big○Motor, right? It's not directly related, is it?
Masaki "Our company is..."
Masaki started to explain.
My family runs one of the leading used car dealerships in the prefecture...
It's a big company that operates about 10 stores in the prefecture, you know?
Do you know the company name?
It's called Pig Motor.
Yeah, not Bi○g, but Pig. Pig Motor.
Even the logo
BI○→PIG, they made it look similar, you know?
At a glance, it looks like Big, they rigged it that way... they never thought something like this would happen!
And so, the business practices were also modeled after that Bi○ company, you know?
Forcing repair quotas on the stores?
Inflating repair costs?
Charging for free estimates?
Making scratches bigger or adding more to increase labor costs?
Since the company logo and business practices were modeled after Bi○g, all sorts of things got exposed!
My father too,
Father "If such a big company is making this much profit, we should adopt it too!"
He copied them, and the company made huge profits, expanded the stores, and then yesterday's incident happened...
Huh? They didn't get caught, you're asking?
We have a whistleblower policy in place, so if anyone speaks out about the company, it's immediate demotion, pay cuts, unpaid overtime, and mandatory work on days off as punishment, so even if someone wanted to report it, they couldn't...
Countermeasures? My father said we should plant trees in front of the stores, but... that's not the issue, right? But there's no way we can return the money. What should we do? Hey, Satsuki...
Satsuki? Satsuki?
Masaki's family business is seriously messed up.
There's no way their lavish lifestyle isn't funded by money from Pig Motor (lol)!
Even a high schooler like me can tell.
This is bad. If they investigate the money trail, it'll probably reach Masaki, and maybe even me?
Well, it's just stuff like being treated to things or getting gifts, but it's still scary!
It's scary, the future looks bleak, and it's clearly a crisis for my boyfriend with a pitch-black outlook, but...
...Pig Motor... pfft!
What a cheap, knockoff-sounding name with such a perfect low-budget vibe!
Just try saying Pig Motor out loud, trust me? Doesn't it make you smirk a little?
The next day.
When I got to school, it was a bit noisy. Looks like Masaki didn't come?
Osada "Satsuki-chan, you're pretty calm, huh?"
Osada spoke to me, but I'll just ignore her.
Osada "Don't ignore me, okay? Seriously, Pig Motor is in deep trouble, you know? Quite a few people at this school know about it, so be careful. Pfft w"
Even Osada is laughing about Pig Motor. It irritates me when others laugh about it.
I thought I might become the president's wife someday, so it pisses me off when anyone other than me laughs!
When I checked on my phone... it seems Pig Motor really got exposed and is in huge trouble.
As bad as Bi○g, or even worse in terms of maliciousness!
A management team as greedy as pigs!
Abuse of power and extravagant lifestyle by the founding family!
Articles like that are all over the place.
I moved to the special classroom building where no one was around to look at my phone, walking while investigating in detail, and someone came from around the corner!
...Kousuke...
Kousuke, as usual, had a blank expression, and despite how anxious I am about the Pig Motor incident, he was annoyingly calm, which irritated me.
Kousuke "...Satsuki... both Yamamoto and you are pretty noticeable at this school. I think it's better if you don't come to school until things calm down..."
I got irritated by Kousuke's genuinely concerned demeanor.
"It's not like I did anything wrong, okay! I don't get why you're butting in."
At my tone, Kousuke, with a blank expression,
Kousuke "...Whatever. If you listen to my advice, things won't leave a bad taste. If you don't, I can at least say I did my part by warning you, and if you go through a rough time, I've been through worse, so I'll just think that."
Kousuke passed by me as if he wasn't even himself, walking away.
It felt like Kousuke had no interest in me at all. Even though he looked expressionless, he used to have emotions...
After school, as I left the gate, I was surrounded by the media!
"Ah! This girl is the girlfriend of the Pig Motor president's son!"
It seems someone sold me out.
☆ ☆ ☆
Today's Yukari
The Pig Motor scandal is being featured on TV?!
This is Yamamoto's family business, right? Mishima Satsuki's boyfriend's?!
Yukari "Pfft♪ Mishima Satsuki must be in trouble right now! This gets me hyped! I could eat three bowls of dinner with this news!"
She really went for it!
※ Unlocked: Delicious meals from others' misfortune. Weight gain.