IGTL Chapter 68

Chapter 68 – Dear Shithead Brother, Get Your Ass to Work. No, Seriously.  ③

The daily ATM withdrawal limit for a Mizuho Bank cash card was one million yen.

After withdrawing a whole million yen, I smiled at the remaining balance in my account, which still exceeded a hundred million yen, and placed the million yen into an envelope.

Then I headed straight to Shimbashi Station and took the inner loop of the Yamanote Line toward Ikebukuro Station, where my shithead brother was waiting.

There was one Contract I had prepared at the library.

I planned to have my shithead brother and his girlfriend sign the Contract jointly.

The violation clauses I had written into the Contract were two millimeters per character.

Since I was going through the trouble, I decided to set separate clauses for my shithead brother and his girlfriend.

Both sets of clauses were designed on the assumption that they would be broken.

Hell, there was even a chance they would activate the moment they signed.

“They’re not here yet…”

When I checked the time on my smartphone, it was 10 AM. Since I had been writing the Contract, I had ended up cutting it close.

I waited for an hour at the lottery booth by Ikebukuro Station’s east exit.

Just after 11 AM, the two of them came jogging over with expressions that practically screamed, “We came as fast as we could!”

“Man, sorry, sorry! We’re a little late.”

“I’m sorry. Thank you for waiting.”

At last, the two targets had appeared.

“No, I only just arrived myself, so don’t worry about it…”

While internally thinking, You’re late, idiot, I put on a friendly smile and waved. My shithead brother and his girlfriend came closer.

“See, I told you, right? It would’ve been fine even if we were a little later. Miki-chan, you worry too much.”

“Oh, Yoichi, saying things like that. You said you were introducing me to your little brother, so of course I hurried. It would be rude to keep someone giving us money waiting too long.”

No, I had waited plenty.

Within seconds of meeting her, my impression of her was already the worst.

Honestly, I had no idea how many times I had thought about leaving.

But I didn’t.

Why?

To bind the shithead brother and this woman standing before me with a Contract.

◇◆◇

My name was Fukuda Miki, 23 years old.

After graduating from university, I had not taken a steady job. Instead, I worked in a field that made maximum use of my face, figure, and conversational skills.

The reason was simple. It was easier to make money that way.

Working every day for a monthly income of two hundred thousand yen? What a joke.

It was honestly easier and more profitable to make men who came to matchmaking parties hoping to get married fall in love with me, build a relationship of trust, and then say things like, “I want to save up for our wedding,” or “Let’s get married once the wedding funds are gathered in a joint account under my name,” and receive money from them.

Of course, once the amount approached my target, I planned to disappear.

I liked men who came to matchmaking parties because they were truly easy to deceive.

A man named Takahashi Yoichi, whom I met last time at a matchmaking party limited to high-status men earning over ten million yen a year, was a typical example.

Earning over ten million yen a year at the young age of 27 was impressive, but he had a strong “I’m the man” vibe, and honestly, I did not like him much.

However, the fact that he earned over ten million yen a year was not just for show. Every time we met once a week, he treated me to delicious food and bought me whatever I wanted.

And a high-status man earning over ten million yen a year also had a high-status younger brother.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Yoichi. Is it true that your little brother is giving us one million yen as a wedding gift?”

And in advance, no less. He was quite generous.

I had already saved the amount of money I expected, so I would disappear as soon as I received the wedding gift.

“Yeah, it’s true. Apparently, he’s giving us a million yen in advance as a wedding gift.”

“I’m so happy… Once we receive that money, let’s deposit it into the joint account right away, okay? It’s a wedding gift, so we have to use it carefully.”

Yes. That money would be my living expenses and play money.

Three million yen for only one month of dating this man. It was an incredibly easy business.

“Yeah, it’s money we’re saving for our future together. Once I get the money from my little brother, we’ll deposit it into the joint account right away!”

“Really? Thank you, Yoichi!”

When I hugged his arm, Yoichi’s lecherous gaze shot straight toward my chest.

Yes, it was definitely time.

That look…

It would not be strange if he demanded a physical relationship at any moment.

I was pretending to be pure and saying we couldn’t until marriage, but it was already at the limit. The dam was about to burst.

“But will this be all right? We’re an hour late for the meeting…”

It was currently just before eleven in the morning. The meeting with Yoichi’s younger brother was supposed to be at ten.

The reason we were this late was that Yoichi had contacted me out of nowhere.

It took time for a girl to get ready.

Because of that, we ended up being an hour late.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I was playing pachinko until just now anyway!”

No, that was not fine at all.

What were you doing while keeping your little brother waiting?

I didn’t know his little brother’s contact information, but instead of playing pachinko, you should have contacted him and told him we would be about an hour late.

“…Besides, he was the one who told me to introduce my future wife to him. I make him wait all the time, so it can’t be helped. Come on, let’s go in with confidence.”

“Y-Yes…”

Would this really be all right?

Normally, if someone waited for an hour with no contact at all, no one could complain if they got angry and left…

When I climbed the stairs leading to the lottery booth at Ikebukuro Station’s east exit together with Yoichi, I saw someone who looked exactly like Yoichi staring down his smartphone screen.

“Oh, there he is. All right, let’s run. Acting like we rushed here is important. I’ll throw you a few lines, so improvise for me!”

“Y-Yes…”

No, if that was your plan, you should have contacted him.

I thought that, but I did not say it aloud.

Because I knew there was no point expecting something like that from this man.

And so, together with Yoichi, I put on a cheap little act and greeted his younger brother.

◇◆◇

“Huh? Did you shrink or something? Don’t you look younger?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Fukuda Miki. You’re so young. You have such a baby face♪”

“Ah, Ms. Fukuda Miki, right? Nice to meet you. My name is Takahashi Kakeru. Thank you for taking care of my shithead bro… I mean, my older brother Yoichi.”

Ignoring my shithead brother, who was basically vermin plaguing society, I greeted Fukuda Miki, the woman who was parasitizing him.

So this was the parasite nesting inside my shithead brother…

Yeah, no wonder my shithead brother got deceived. This woman was exactly his type.

I didn’t know how much he had spent on her, but don’t screw with me.

Well, fine. First…

“For now, shall we change locations? Where would be good? Considering the thing I’ll be handing over, I’d prefer somewhere with a private room…”

When I muttered that, my shithead brother reacted.

“Hm? Then let’s go to Karaoke Kan. That place has private rooms, so it should be good, right?”

“Yes, that sounds good. Considering what it is, we can’t receive it here or at a café…”

My shithead brother’s woman was also interested.

The wedding gift was one million yen. Handing it over in a café would be risky.

Also, I needed them to sign the Contract.

I would be in trouble if my shithead brother turned into a non-performing asset, you know…

“Yes. Then let’s go.”

Hiding those inner thoughts behind a smile, I headed to Karaoke Kan with the two of them.

Karaoke Kan was located a short walk from the east exit.

After arriving at Karaoke Kan, we booked a private room for about an hour and moved inside.

“Now then, please fill this out.”

Once we entered the room and sat on the sofa, I placed the Contract, disguised as a receipt, and a pen in front of the two of them.

Generally speaking, a contract referred to a document proving that an agreement had been concluded.

This took the form of a receipt, but it was also a proper type of contract…

“Hm? What’s this?”

Faced with the receipt placed before them, the two of them grew wary.

When I showed the wary pair the envelope containing one million yen, their expressions instantly changed.

They were so transparently greedy.

A bundle-of-cash punch had outstanding effectiveness against two people who were weak to money.

With the money called a wedding gift in front of them, their wariness dispersed like mist.

“Since I’m giving you the wedding gift before the wedding, I’ll need you to write at least a receipt. I’ve made it joint, so please write both of your names on this receipt. Once you do, I’ll give this wedding gift to the two of you.”

Naturally, this was a wedding gift.

If you accepted it, you would properly get married, all right?

To this shithead brother of mine…

Huh, thinking about it that way, maybe I was like Cupid for my shithead brother…

I was starting to feel sick.

While I was at it, if they broke the clauses written on the receipt, I would impose penalties, so regretting it after they signed would be too late.

“Huh? What about my hundred thousand yen?”

Haaah?

Your hundred thousand yen?

Ah, right, there was that…

…Well, whatever. While I was at it, I would give it to him.

Either way, he was going to become a decent human being…

I took one hundred thousand yen from Item Storage where my shithead brother couldn’t see it, then placed it directly in front of him.

No promissory note.

When I thought about the life my shithead brother was about to live, I started to feel kind of sorry for him…

Though it was self-inflicted…

“Ooh, thanks!”

When the shitty woman saw my shithead brother thanking me, a dubious expression appeared on her face.

The instant that happened, my shithead brother stopped kissing the bills and tucked them into his pocket.

“…Ahem. I have indeed received back the hundred thousand yen I lent you.”

Haaah?

He had received back the hundred thousand yen he lent me?

From my shithead brother’s desperate wink, I realized the situation he was in.

Don’t tell me this guy…

Despite being unemployed, he lied about his annual income and attended a matchmaking party?

I see. I understood now.

So that was what happened…

In other words, my shithead brother used borrowed money as his source of funds and spent lavishly in front of this shitty woman. As a result, the shitty woman thought of my shithead brother as the perfect sucker, leading to the current situation.

…Huh? Thinking about it that way, was this shitty woman also a victim in a certain sense?

Crap. Did I mess up?

W-Well, whatever…

Either way, this woman’s true feelings would be exposed soon.

If she accepted this one million yen and then disappeared from my shithead brother’s life, she was guilty.

If not, she was innocent.

On the one-in-a-hundred-million chance that she truly loved my hopeless, stupid, debt-ridden shithead brother, and was the sort of unfortunate woman who could only love social garbage and still wanted to be with a scumbag like him, I would release only this woman from the Contract.

The meaning would be something like, This scumbag is scheduled to become normal thanks to the Contract, so if you love scum that much, go pick some other scum.

But shithead brother, I’m telling you right now, you’re not getting off the hook.

I smiled from ear to ear while watching my shithead brother obediently take the pen and sign.