A one-sided beating with no hope of even fighting back. That’s what happened for the next few minutes.

Although I had already more or less calmed down a little when I saw Saki’s concerned face close-up, I still have to finish the job of keeping the guy away from her. Or them.

Reporting him as a stalker and letting the authority deal with him could be the best solution. However, it would be troublesome not just to me but also to everyone involved. And since today is Saki’s birthday, I don’t want to make her memory of this to be entirely about how I dealt with the guy.

That’s why I was choosing the method I often used as ‘Ghost’. Instilling fear in his mind to the point that he would never be able to defy me anymore.

In hindsight, the guy had never caused real harm to Saki... yet. All he did was follow her but never approached her directly apart from trying to talk to her through messaging apps.

He was weirdly aware of his boundary. At least, until recently.

If he didn’t follow us in here and only waited outside, even if I would still be going to confront him, using his face as a punching bag might not happen.

But the moment he showed up here during what’s supposed to be a private moment for us, he crossed that boundary that he set up for himself.

Whatever the reason, that spells the start of him breaking that ‘yet’. If I let him be, it would only be a matter of time before his stalking escalates from only watching Saki from afar to approaching her with the intention to get her to be interested in him.

I mean, as someone who often stalked my targets back then and went through the same process, I quite understand what’s going on in this guy’s mind.

He was at the point where he convinced himself that it was enough for him to only admire Saki from a distance regardless of how she was already taken by someone else.

If listening in on us wasn’t a kink for him, then he’s transitioning to the type of stalker who’ll start making advances. Or maybe not since he’s part of the same circle.

In any case, that’s how every known criminal with the same tendency starts. It's a curiosity at first. Then admiration. And when that’s proven not enough with their growing desire, it’ll soon lead to the start of their assault.

Anyway, that’s enough pondering.

At the moment, the guy was slumped down on the covered toilet seat, unconscious.

The face towel that I used earlier to wipe our sweat off was now stained with blood. Not just the guy’s blood but also mine.

The skin on my knuckle ripped when I kept hitting his tough bones. Even with moderate punches, that’s bound to happen.

Next to me, Saki returned but she’s not saying anything. She’s holding up her phone in front of me and on its screen, an ongoing video call with Arisa, Nami, and Shizu was being shown.

Two of them looked like they had just woken up but the urgency on their faces was clearly apparent. The last one was mostly expressionless but the glint in her eyes was enough to tell me that she was standing by my decision to deal with the guy myself.

“Ruki, I won’t blame you... He has it coming if after numerous reminders we’ve given to him, he still chose to continue following Saki-chan. But, hear me out, okay? The consequences of this... If you truly used violence on him... you can be in trouble too.”

That’s Arisa who, as always, wasn’t really showing her bias. She’s leaning more toward thinking about the aftermath of what I did. Well, it already happened, after all. There’s no going back now.

“Mhm. I’m aware of that. Justified or not, it’s a one-sided beating that should’ve stopped after a few punches. But you see, I just can’t stop. If the same thing happened to any of you, I won’t hesitate to do this again. To ensure your safety.”

Arisa bitterly looked down but eventually, she nodded and didn’t say anything more. Her good intention was really out there but at this point, it’s not really needed anymore.

A second later, Nami spoke next. Her face cleared up already and in place of her earlier expression was her usual one. The one that’s befitting of an intelligent main heroine. Despite still wearing her loose nightwear, she crossed her arms and looked at me straight before shooting her question, “Ruu... tell me, do you have a plan on how to resolve this situation?”

“I have some ideas. But Nami, starting today, this guy won’t be coming to the club anymore. I’ll make sure of that. You can disagree with me but I’ll make it happen.”

“I’m not going to disagree, idiot Ruu. He dug his own grave.” Nami puffed her cheeks, looking like I had wronged her for assuming she would. But almost instantly, she sighed and gave me the look, conveying that she trusts my judgement.

After Arisa and Nami, Shizu also said her piece. But first, she asked me to turn the camera to the unconscious guy to check on his condition.

Once that’s done, she maintained her cool and donned the coat of being a person of authority.

“Numbskull, if his injury isn’t that severe, bring him to school. To the infirmary. I’ll call Hayashi-sensei. I’m sure she can help resolve this situation. Whether you decide to get him kicked out or suspended, she can issue that right away. However, you have to make him confess what he did. Otherwise, it will be seen as unjust on your part to simply beat him up. I presume he doesn’t even manage to fight back, does he?”

“I appreciate the suggestion, Shizu. But before that, I’m planning to do something else. I’ll become an object of fear for him.”

“You can do that?”

“Mhm. By any means necessary.”

“I see... You go with what you think is best. You have our support.”

“Thank you and I apologize that this has to happen. Let me borrow your laps later, okay?”

I added that last line to at least partially dispel the downcast mood.

Shizu and Nami from it smiled while Arisa pouted and sighed, before doing the same. “This guy... You did the right thing. We’ll see you later.”

Is it really the right thing though? Well, some would argue that there were other methods. But they’re not the ones in this situation so... I couldn’t care less about that possible argument.

Anyway, after concluding that call, Saki grabbed onto my arm as she also gave an input on what was in her mind.

“This is also because of me not being harsh enough to him, Ruki. I thought if I keep ignoring him, he will grow tired soon, especially since we showed right to his face how intimate we are back then. Don’t shoulder this alone, okay? We’re in this together. I will be upset if you forget that.”

“I know. I won’t ask you to step back this time.” I smiled at the girl and caressed her cheek.

At this point, the guy who got knocked down had started waking up.

His face was already uneven but even so, it’s not to the point that he got cuts on it. The blood that dripped from his nose and mouth had already almost dried up.

Upon raising his head and finding me standing behind him, he shook and tried to open his mouth again.

However, as though remembering what happened earlier, he hurriedly raised his arms to guard himself. He tried looking at Saki but the girl simply stared coldly at him. And that made his heart sink.

That’s good. At least, he finally learned something.

In any case, it’s not like I will repeat what I did.

“Yo. Fancy talking now? If you are. Stand up and follow us out of here. Also, I have your phone here. If you run, you know that whatever you stored in here will be shown to everyone, including your parents. I deleted most of your stolen shots of Saki but I know you have a backup on your cloud storage so... we’ll get to that later. Decide in five seconds or...”

Upon saying all of that, I raised my fist clutching his phone tightly. Perhaps thinking that I was going to use it to punch him, the silent guy reflexively closed his eyes and trembled in fear.