It was the day after I had heard the full story from Sara and the others.
I decided it would be best to investigate as much as I could on my own before speaking to Father, so I reached out to a Secretary I knew personally. We often discussed private matters, and since she was well aware of my loathing for Yamasaki, she was an easy person to consult.
When I told her I had heard some troubling rumors from an acquaintance, she agreed to reach out to the staff members who had dealings with Yamasaki's Company.
Just two days later, I received a report from the Secretary.
"A mixer?" I asked.
"Yes. It seems one of our new employees was invited to a Social Gathering by a friend at Yamasaki-san's Company. The Son apparently organizes them... but between us, it seems the Son doesn't really remember the faces of the participants. He even allows a few outsiders to join in. The events are essentially mixers where no actual business is discussed, which makes it even harder for the company to track who is there."
I couldn't fathom what he hoped to achieve with such a scheme. Allowing company employees to participate without even knowing their faces—that company wasn't long for this world regardless.
"There was one detail in the report that concerned me," the Secretary continued. "Aside from the possibility of minors being present... Eri-san, well, do you understand what is meant by 'Taking Home'?"
Taking Home?
If she were talking about leftovers or souvenirs, I would understand, but she wouldn't be hesitating like this if that were the case. She was clearly struggling to find the words. Taking home... a mixer... taking someone back with you? Wait...
"Do you mean... women?"
At my question, the Secretary gave a heavy nod. I had guessed correctly.
"The Son doesn't seem to force anything himself, but if a certain atmosphere develops between participants, he condones it... or rather, he essentially gives his permission to the men attending. It appears the Son is the one responsible for gathering the women as well."
In other words, he was using women as bait for some ulterior motive.
"...That absolute scumbag. Oh, dear, Eri, mind your language."
"They don't seem to be taking money, so on the surface, they maintain the facade that everything is done of the participants' own free will," the Secretary added. "However, if there is an implicit understanding behind the scenes, it could be considered a gray-zone prostitution brokerage..."
"Thank you, that's quite enough. Just hearing about it makes my skin crawl."
I shuddered to think that I had been courted by such a worthless piece of trash, even if I hadn't known his true nature at the time.
Now that it had come to this, I wanted to discover his true objective and how he was recruiting these women. No matter if he was the Son of the President, I found it hard to believe a high school student could gather that many women on his own.
That meant someone was supporting him from the shadows.
The most likely candidate was his father. And if it was indeed his father, it meant he was either condoning or actively encouraging this behavior.
"Could you ask if that new employee can participate one more time?" I asked. "Perhaps we can frame it as a secret internal investigation of a Client Company. Of course, please ensure he knows not to push himself."
"Understood. I will sound him out along those lines. If we treat it as an investigation, we might uncover his purpose or other details. Should I provide him with a Voice Recorder or a Filming Camera as well?"
"Yes, please."
All that was left was to hope for the best. Things were starting to smell far more dangerous than what I had originally heard from Sara and the others.
Whether it was good timing or simply fate, another event was held almost immediately. It didn't take long for the next report to arrive.
And when I saw the results, "dangerous" didn't even begin to cover it.
The TV screen in front of me showed a rowdy mixer that was a Social Gathering in name only. While the ultimate goal remained somewhat murky, there was no question that the participants were all associates of Yamasaki's Company—and they were all young.
On this particular night, someone from a Client company had been in attendance, and the footage showed Yamasaki playing the host for them.
"If there’s a girl you like, feel free to take her home—as long as it’s not forced, of course," Yamasaki's voice rang out from the recording. "Actually, I’ve gathered girls who are easy targets, so please, do as you please."
"Well now," I muttered. "That is quite the significant statement."
I wasn't going to let him talk his way out of this one.
Essentially, this was "entertainment" for a Client. One could use polite terms to describe it, but it was nothing short of illicit.
The audio from the Voice Recorder also captured conversations with the female participants. Several remarks indirectly hinted at the mediation of Yamasaki's Father. This confirmed that Kazuma Yamasaki was operating under his father's instructions—or at the very least, with his full recommendation and support.
The employee had even managed to hear about the sexual assault incident. As expected, Yamasaki hadn't been directly involved in the act, but it was certain that he had introduced the victim to the culprit.
But the biggest shock was the discovery of high school students among the women.
There was clear, recorded testimony from them stating they had been invited by Kazuma Yamasaki. They had apparently been invited under the guise of a normal mixer, but I wondered if they realized that Yamasaki was actively encouraging the Male Officers to consider them targets for Taking Home.
I didn't know how they were connected, but if they were merely being exploited by Yamasaki, I wanted to save them.
"Thank you," I said to the Secretary. "I want to give the employee who accomplished this a Special Bonus. Oh, and I assume he didn't partake in any 'Taking Home' himself?"
"He's perfectly fine. He got into a pickup car halfway through the night and went straight home. I'll arrange his bonus on this end."
"Good." I sighed. It was time to report this to everyone.
I would have to tell Father as well, though explaining the source of the information would be tricky. I decided to consult the others about that during our meeting.
Naturally, I intended to go in person this time. I wanted to see Sara and the others again, but more than that, they sounded like they were having so much fun over the phone.
I refused to be the only one left out.
"Kazunari-san, I heard from Eri," Sara-san called out. "It seems she’s discovered quite a bit, and she wants us to gather as soon as possible. What should we do?"
A RAIN Message Notification had sounded just as Sara-san was cleaning up the Kitchen. Dinner had just finished, and I was in the middle of clearing the table.
"Ah, Kazunari-san... haven't I told you time and again that I will take care of that?"
Sara-san turned toward me, her voice raised in a gentle but firm scolding.
Even so, I felt awkward just standing around, and I didn't think it was right to leave every single chore to her. I figured that if I just kept stubbornly helping, she would eventually get used to it and let me share the burden.
Regardless, the fact that Eri had found "various things" meant she likely had the ammunition we needed to corner Yamasaki. It was time to decide how to use that information and make our move.
Fortunately, the weekend was starting tomorrow.
"It's the weekend, so let's check everyone's schedule," I said. "If possible, Sunday would be best so we can have the whole day to ourselves."
"Understood. I will check with Natsumi and Eri."
Now then, I needed to get in touch with Yuji, and then Hayato and Todo-san... I'd have to ask Todo-san to reach out to Hanako-san and Tachikawa-san as well.