Netori: I Shall Steal All Of My Enemies' Women For Revenge!-Chapter 261: Rumor
Kazuha started to tremble, sweat rolling down his face. "M-my mother said it," he stammered.
"Not just her. Everyone in this village knows. I thought you already knew why you got close to her back then."
He swallowed hard, words spilling out in panic. "I was just messing with you, okay? But the rumor... it’s true."
Haruto’s gaze sharpened as he studied the trembling man in front of him. Kazuha looked pathetic, terrified, and most importantly, sincere.
After a long moment, Haruto loosened his grip and released his collar.
This was a village where people had too much time and too little to do. Gossip was entertainment here.
A rumor like that could spread easily, especially when Ayaka and Haruto shared similar hair and eye color.
Still, rumors rarely existed without something to fuel them.
Maybe his father really had been close to Ayaka’s mother. But cheating? That felt wrong.
His father had loved his mother obsessively. After her death, he had fallen apart completely, drowning himself in alcohol and gambling.
’I need to look into this,’ Haruto decided.
They sat back down, the silence heavier than before. Kazuha fidgeted like a startled deer, unable to relax.
Haruto inhaled slowly. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that." He cleared his throat. "I told you already, didn’t I? I forgot a lot of things from this place."
"Yeah..." Kazuha adjusted his collar, forcing a breath. "I’m fine. Just surprised."
He hesitated, then awkwardly added, "Well, I guess there’s nothing else to talk about, so—"
"No."
Kazuha flinched at the flat reply.
"You said this village is creepy," Haruto continued calmly. "Why?"
Kazuha stiffened. His casual tone vanished as he hesitated, clearly weighing every word now. Haruto watched closely, satisfied. Fear makes people honest.
"There’s a rumor," Kazuha finally said. "About a sect."
Haruto said nothing, letting the silence press him.
"You know the shrine near the forest? The big one with ninety nine stairs?" Kazuha continued. "My mother said some villagers gather there at night. That’s all I know."
Haruto rubbed his chin. "A sect, huh."
His thoughts drifted to Ayaka’s locked room, filled with statues and candles. She lived here. She had to know something.
’But if she closed it off so firmly,’ he thought, ’she probably didn’t want me involved.’
Kazuha stood abruptly. "You’re done asking, right? I have work to do."
He reached for the beer, but Haruto placed his hand over it first.
"Leave it."
"Okay!" Kazuha said quickly, backing off.
A moment later, he was already walking away. Then jogging. Then outright fleeing.
Haruto watched him go, unimpressed.
He did not even want the beer. Kazuha just irritated him. Maybe because he acted like they had been close. Maybe because he reminded him of what he used to be.
"What am I thinking," Haruto muttered.
He stood up, his gaze drifting toward the forest. From here, the outline of the shrine was faintly visible through the trees.
He already knew where he was going next.
But before anything else, Haruto needed to return and make sure Ayaka ate.
When he finally got back to the house, he felt a small sense of relief seeing that she was still asleep.
Quietly, he placed the bentos, snacks, shampoo, and other necessities on the dining table. He ate one meal himself, quickly and without much thought, then picked up his car keys.
The temple was not close. After going to that place, he had planned to visit his grandfather first, then ask around the village about the rumors.
As he turned toward the door, he stopped.
"If she has a room for offerings at her aunt’s house," he murmured, turning back, "then there should be one here too."
He moved through the first floor quietly but quickly. The rooms there were ordinary. A large bed. An open window. Nothing out of place.
He headed upstairs.
There were only three rooms. One was the bedroom where Ayaka was sleeping. Behind it was her childhood room. That left only the room directly across the hall.
When he tried the handle, it did not budge.
He groaned softly, then began searching the house, checking drawers and shelves until he found a single key resting alone on the key holder in the living room.
"This has to be it."
He returned upstairs and slid the key into the lock. It turned easily.
The door opened to reveal a small, dusty library. It looked untouched, as if no one had stepped inside for years.
Despite its size, sunlight poured in from a window connected to the balcony, giving the room a strangely warm feeling.
From the doorway, he could see a desk set up like a private office.
Haruto stepped inside, passing rows of bookshelves until he reached the table. Dust coated everything. It was almost empty, except for a single book resting at the center.
He picked it up and brushed away the dust. The cover was pink, with a name written neatly on it.
Ayaka Yoshida.
"Huh," he muttered with a quiet chuckle. "A diary?"
When he opened it, he was right.
The early pages were filled with childish handwriting and doodles. He smiled as he read. It recorded simple things. Foods she liked. Things she hated. Little moments from her days.
Then his smile faded. His brows slowly knit together as he kept reading.
"What the hell..."
---
6 April, Year XXXX
Daddy and Mommy are fighting again. I can hear things breaking in the living room. I can only hug Rabbit-chan and hope it stops.
---
10 April, Year XXXX
They are still fighting and not talking anymore. What should I do, Rabbit-chan? What if they separate?
---
13 April, Year XXXX
At night Daddy told me to come to his office. He said he would do something good and that I need to be a good girl.
---
Haruto closed the diary slowly and took a deep breath.
He knew what had happened in this room. He knew why it had been abandoned.
Rage swelled in his chest, tight and suffocating, like something about to burst.
"What a piece of trash," he muttered through clenched teeth. "I didn’t think there was a father worse than mine."
His jaw tightened. More than anything, he wanted to hold Ayaka.
