I pulled my phone out and went into my settings to uninstall
the app. As long as it wasn't on my phone, it wouldn't be able to
make me play the game.
However, when I went into the settings, the NTL app had no
option to uninstall. Was this a bug? My phone wasn't the issue.
There were other apps that I could uninstall, but no matter where I
searched, I couldn't remove the damn app.
I needed to calm down. Panicking in the middle of the city was
going to draw attention. I didn't realize I'd been hyperventilating,
almost like a panting dog after running a marathon.
By the time I got my breathing under control, I became
lightheaded and had to lean against the side of a building. People
passing by gave me weird looks, but I tried to make myself small toavoid contact. As long as no one helped me, there was no fear of
having to play a game.
As I lumbered out of the alleyway, a salaryman on his way
home stopped to ask if I was okay.
"No, stay back!" I shouted, taking a step back into the alley.
"Alright, fine. I was just trying to be nice," he grumbled, then
walked away.
I felt terrible turning away a good samaritan. He acted out of
the kindness of his heart, but he had no clue what I was going
through. The last thing I needed right now was to end up having sex
with someone because the NTL app gave me no other option.
Even as I resented the stupid game, these last few days were
nothing short of exciting. I hated that I felt this way. Felt that this was
fun.
I thought of Souji. His touch, his kiss, the smooth skin of his
face because he couldn't grow facial hair at all. A few minutes
thinking about him calmed me down.
"Yep. I do love that man," I whispered to myself.
The smell of chinese lamb skewers snapped me from my
reverie, making my mouth water and reminding me of how little I had
to eat today. Kanako ate a larger portion of the Korean barbecue and
left little to me. The bottomless pit that was her stomach was
something to behold.
A young gentleman was the sole cook of the food cart he
cooked on. Every set of half dozen skewers he finished at a time
were quickly bought out by passersby. Street food was by no means
healthy, but a little indulging couldn't hurt.
I ordered three skewers. The soy sauce and cumin smelled
heavenly, and they tasted even better. I scarfed down two skewers,
but on my third one, someone bumped into me and knocked it out of
my hand.
"Oh…" I muttered, glancing down at the spilled food.
"I'm so sorry about that— er, Mrs. Ninomae?" The man I
bumped into turned out to be none other than Mr. Tanaka.
It took a lot of refusing until my neighbor relented from buying
a skewer to make up for the one I dropped. He was especiallyinsistent because of the sad expression I had initially. A simple
skewer didn't mean much to me in terms of financial decisions, but it
was another story for him.
"For all the food you make for me, it just feels wrong that I
knocked the one thing you were eating out of your hands!" he
chuckled, scratching his belly.
Mr. Tanaka wasn't dressed in his usual sleazy outfit. He had
on a nice collared shirt with a jacket, and a pair of khaki pants. Even
his hair appeared to have seen some shampoo and conditioning
tonight.
"Really, it's nothing! If anything, you've just defended my
figure," I joked.
He insisted on at least walking me to the end of the block.
Apparently he made plans tonight. I wondered if it was with that call
girl? I was hesitant to speak to him at first, with the fear of the NTL
app in the back of my mind, and what I did when he was drunk.
However, the casualness of our conversation made me forget my
worry.
"Aha… Well, I'm glad I was of some help," he said.
"If you don't mind me asking, where are you headed?" I
asked.
Mr. Tanaka was reluctant to answer. We stopped at a
crosswalk where we were set to part ways.
"The truth is, I spoke to my wife. She agreed to meet with me
tonight, so I hope everything goes well!" It was— should be happy
news, but he didn't look convinced of himself.
Nevertheless, I acted the part of the congratulatory neighbor.
"That's great!" I exclaimed. "I'm sure Maki will come around
once you two get to talk."
"I hope so, too. Anyway, better get going before she has
second thoughts. Have a good night," he said.
Once he left, I was relieved that my concerns were just a
result of overthinking things. It was good that Mr. Tanaka was trying
to make amends with his wife. Now it was my turn to hopefully enjoy
the rest of my night with Souji—
Bzzt.I checked my phone to find a set of options involving Mr.
Tanaka disappearing. My heart dropped. At what point did my phone
send me a notification? The whole walk here I didn't get a notification
or buzz to alert me to the app.
Unless… it was the moment I bumped into Mr. Tanaka.
"Shit," I muttered under my breath.
My phone rang. It wasn't the app, but a call from Souji.
"Hey, Souji. I'm heading home now—" The rest of my
sentence was cut off by another man's frantic speech.
"Mrs. Ninomae! This is Miyata. Senpai and I are heading to
the hospital right now, he had a bad fall coming down the pedestrian
bridge."
The blood in my veins froze. My whole world seemed a lot
darker. I stared at my phone as Miyata continued to call my name
since I'd gone silent.
Before I knew it, I was in the hospital lobby. My legs pulsed in
pain, and I was sucking up all the oxygen in the room. The
receptionist went wide-eyed as I got to the front counter.
"Ninomae. Souji Ninomae. I'm his wife! Is he okay?" I shouted
at the woman.
"Uh…" Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed out
his name. "Yes, he is. In fact, he should be—"
"Yuina?"
I whipped around to Souji emerging from the large double
doors. My arms were already clutching him. I tackled him so hard he
almost fell over if it weren't for Miyata coming up behind to keep him
standing.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I thought you were hurt bad!" I yelled at him. Tears welled
around my eyes but he didn't share the same concern. Now that I
had a good look at him, Souji looked fine.
He threw Miyata a glare. "I thought I told you to just tell her I
had a concussion."
"I did! But your wife suddenly went quiet," he said, putting his
hands in the air."It was just a concussion?" I asked.
Souji wiped the tears from my eyes and kissed me on the
forehead. He held me there for a few seconds, not minding how
embarrassing it was that onlookers in the lobby stared.
"I hit my head tripping down the stairs. Nothing too bad," Souji
assured me.
"You say that, Senpai. But the nurse said you were lucky. If
you fell at a bad angle, that could have broken your neck," Miyata
said, shaking his head.
"I know, I know— ow, wait… Yuina— owowowow!" Souji took
all my frustration, anger, and worry as I pinched his cheeks with all
the strength I could muster.
"I swear, we only had one drink. I'm not
even drunk! The step must have been wet or something."
I glanced at Miyata for confirmation. He nodded and said, "We
only had one beer over the course of two hours. The rest was just
scarfing down a dozen different flavors of chicken wings."
Neither of them looked particularly tipsy let alone drunk
enough to be slipping on stairs. Satisfied with both of their answers, I
mercifully let go of Souji's cheeks.
Deep down, I suspected why this happened. Perhaps, even
knew why. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. When the
NTL app options expired, Souji had that terrible accident.
First, it targeted his reputation and work. Now it was after his
life. I had become a hostage to the app, and there was nothing I
could do about it.