Chapter 96: Pig Motor Forced Investigation [side Mishima Satsuki]
I had two failing grades, so I spent the first half of winter break buried in remedial classes.
Even just two is pretty rough.
But Masaki, my boyfriend, had three failing grades and still didn't show up for remedial classes in the end...
I kept calling and texting him on LINE, asking, "Are you really okay?!"
Masaki: "Right now, I seriously don't have time for that."
Or
Masaki: "The school will understand, right? It'd be worse if I went and caused trouble for them..."
That's what he says. Is he really going to be okay?
Before I knew it, remedial classes were over and I felt pretty confident about the makeup tests! Suddenly it was New Year's Eve, then New Year's Day, then the New Year holidays passed, and the new semester started.
Masaki still hasn't come to school.
The awful things Pig Motor has done are being featured in the news every day, and the whole country is turning against them.
It's family-run and they do whatever they want!
Good-for-nothing son! Wild parties at night!
Sexual harassment and power harassment galore toward employees!
Greedy, profit-at-all-costs mentality!
Pig Motor is all over the weekly magazines with stuff like that.
That day, Masaki called me for the first time in a while, so I headed to the karaoke box by the station.
You're alone today...?
Masaki looked worried and said,
Masaki: "Satsuki, I'm making my TV debut tomorrow."
"What?! Are you okay?"
Masaki: "I have to hold a press conference to explain how the company's money was used or something. I have to give an explanation too."
"...You absolutely can't say anything unnecessary, okay?"
Honestly, I can't help but worry.
☆ ☆
The next day, the press conference was broadcast live.
Flash! Flash! The flashes were going off like crazy!
Masaki was wearing his hood pulled low and huge fake glasses, trying to hide his face as much as possible...
The reporters started firing off questions.
"The salaries for executives, the president, and family members are over ten times higher than regular employees—isn't that unbalanced? How do you justify your personnel costs and pay structure?"
"Isn't it unfair that you forced unreasonable demands on employees and always docked their pay by more than any raises?"
"Is it fine as long as you're making money?"
"The inflated and fake invoices add up to a ridiculous amount—was this a company-wide crime?"
Masaki's dad and the lawyer kept dodging the questions...
Like this,
There's no way this will be enough.
The topic shifted to Masaki.
"The president's son is a high school student, but he's being paid as a part-timer even though he's never worked or come to the company! What's going on?!"
"And he's set at five thousand yen an hour, and even though he's never actually worked, you're paying him as if he clocked in for several hours every day? Wherever he goes to play, you're expensing it as training costs, right? What's your explanation for this?"
"You spent all this money just to raise a spoiled idiot of a son, didn't you?"
They're making fun of Masaki! What a nasty reporter!
I was fuming, and Masaki was getting irritated too...
Masaki, you can't! Now's the time to be humble and handle this sincerely...
They pointed the mic at Masaki, but—
Masaki didn't realize it! Is he okay?!
In the press conference room, letting his guard down, Masaki
Masaki: "Tch, shut up already..."
His muttering was picked up by the mic!
"Masaki, the mic! Your mic is on!"
You just said that on TV! The mic picked up your voice!
Masaki was tuning out the reporters' questions...
Even watching it on TV, it was obvious he wasn't sincere, and that he just wanted to get through it somehow.
Masaki: "I'm sooo sorryyy."
This is bad... It's totally hopeless now, right?
After the press conference, Pig Motor and Masaki were completely roasted! The lack of sincerity in the press conference, the apology, and his unwillingness to take responsibility were replayed over and over.
Especially Masaki's "Tch, shut up already..." and "I'm sooo sorryyy!" became running jokes and gave him a weird kind of fame.
And with all the continued cheating and the management style of doing whatever it takes to make money,
Pig Motor finally got raided by the authorities.
☆ ☆ ☆
Masaki: "Man, it was really rough... A forced investigation is really, well, forced, huh...?"
"Well, obviously, right?"
Apparently, Masaki and his dad thought that, no matter what, they'd never really get investigated.
They thought they could refuse the investigation, that their privacy would be respected, that they'd get time to destroy evidence, and that nobody would look that deeply...
Like that would ever happen!
Even I, a high school girl, know that much!
Masaki: "Those guys take everything and go through it, you know? Everything. Even if you tell them to stop, they won't listen. All I did was fudge the books a little, split some extra profits, and treat the company like my personal property, and this is what happens?"
"Isn't that exactly what they're here to investigate?"
Masaki: "Well, that's why there was absolutely no way I could go to remedial classes or makeup tests. I bet the school will take that into consideration."
Maybe the school will be considerate too?
But I'm pretty sure the school's "consideration" is...
Masaki heads to the staff room after finally being called in.
He only answered after repeatedly being summoned by his homeroom teacher.
Homeroom teacher: "So, Yamamoto, of course the school understands what happened, okay?"
Masaki: "Then why? Why?!"
Homeroom teacher: "Because you didn't do the remedial classes or the makeup tests, did you? You can't get credit for that. So, you'll have to do another year..."
Masaki, half out of his mind,
Masaki: "There were reporters everywhere, I could hardly leave the house, and I couldn't make it to school! I had a reason!"
Homeroom teacher: "Yes, I get that. That's why the school is suggesting you repeat the year. You had three failing grades last semester, and there's nothing—no attendance, no remedial classes, no makeup tests, no assignments—that can make up for your lack of credits."
Masaki: "But..."
Homeroom teacher: "School is a place for learning. If there are circumstances, we can show some leniency or overlook a little... But your grades are what they are, and you didn't do the remedial classes or makeup tests. That shows you have no willingness to learn, no effort. So, again, we recommend you repeat the year."
Masaki: "...N-no way... I'm being held back a year..."
"..."
I was asked to go with him to the staff room, but...
He underestimated everything—school, the company, and society.
Masaki looked completely out of it and wandered home in a daze.
☆ ☆ ☆
Masaki Yamamoto will repeat the year.