Peter Pan - 9: The Runaway's Bitter Call
On the second day, I waited by the phone all day long. On the third day, I tried to chase after her the moment I woke up, but the road was completely blocked.
"No way, does it make sense to seal off the entrance entirely? And there's no detour?"
"We're sorry. A rebel alert has been issued for that area, so male civilians are restricted from entering."
"Does that even make sense?"
Right next to me, other cars were zooming by without issue, but they were holding just me back with that excuse. It pissed me off.
"What about that truck?"
"Terror groups don't harm people indiscriminately. They usually kidnap men for money or to satisfy their lust."
"What about that bus just now? There was a guy on it, right?"
"That individual presented a certificate proving they have sufficient escorts for protection, along with a pledge stating they won't make any demands of the government in case of death or kidnapping."
Both buses that looked similar were packed with armed guards. Everything suddenly made sense.
Yukiko tugged lightly at my clothes, calming me down.
"There's no need to rush, Master. For today, perhaps it's best to head back..."
She was right, even if I hated to admit it. There was no real reason for me to urgently go searching for Mikoto right now.
"Armed groups don't scare me at all, but this is frustrating."
"There was a murder nearby just recently. It's best not to let your guard down."
"So, when will the road reopen?"
"It's unusual for an entire area to be sealed off like this from the start... At the latest, it should open again tomorrow."
We turned back, climbing into the rental car we'd gotten locally. Yukiko gripped the wheel and turned the car around toward where we'd come from, without even glancing back.
"No matter how I think about it, she ran away."
My expression twisted slowly, but Yukiko was too focused on driving to notice my face.
"Maybe."
Even though Mikoto hadn't answered her phone, the eavesdropping app was still running. I'd listened for hours, but there was nothing—no sounds at all.
"It's certain."
On the first day she didn't pick up, it had been normal background noise, nothing out of the ordinary. From the second day on, only dead silence.
No sounds of kidnapping or violence.
"If she did run away, what will you do?"
Even now, part of me wondered if she'd just lost her phone somewhere.
"If my slave just didn't want to do it anymore, I'd let her go... Did I ever say that to Mikoto?"
"Not to my knowledge, Master."
She always smiled so brightly whenever I saw her, so there was never an opening to bring up something that heavy.
When Yukiko and I had our misunderstandings piling up, she'd told me how "you can go back" could sound like "you're not needed, so get lost." I'd been trying to be more careful with my words since then.
"What do you plan to do?"
"If she wants out, I should let her go."
"It's outright betrayal. Mikoto didn't just slack on her contract—she blatantly broke it."
Japan's landscape was incredibly uneven, full of stark contrasts. Urban areas or complexes would stretch for a few meters, then suddenly give way to ruins where buildings hadn't even been properly cleared, followed by a tiny field, then more ruins.
My phone rang. Unknown number.
I figured it was probably voice phishing or spam, but just in case that official from earlier had lifted the restrictions, I answered.
"Hello."
"It's me. Mikoto."
Since the phone was linked to the car, Mikoto's voice boomed through the large speakers, filling the entire vehicle. Yukiko's eyes widened in surprise.
"Uh, uh! Mikoto! I called you so many times. I was worried, but thank goodness. Did everything work out okay? You stopped answering right after that night, so I thought something happened..."
"Cut the gross act. I'll make this short."
"Huh?"
"What, does it feel weird hearing me talk like this?"
It was a voice so calm I could hardly believe it was Mikoto.
"Did you really think someone would talk like that? You little brat? Yeah, I was a voice actress, but acting all cutesy in front of you got old. You looked like the type who'd fall for it, so I just 'performed'."
"I see. Sorry about that. Let's meet up and talk first..."
Before I could even apologize properly, Mikoto came at me hard. Every word stabbed like a knife.
"I ran because I hate you. The money? I'll wire it back to your account. I didn't need it from the start anyway."
"More than that, let's talk. Why?"
"Why what? I only needed that one order from the beginning. She wasn't much of a criminal... but she kept groveling to me, so I framed her and kicked her out. Happy now? Satisfied with the reason?"
Ruins flashed by outside the window. The paint on a half-collapsed building was peeling off in patches.
"And it pissed me off! Pissed me off, I said! I'm older than you! Just because I'm a little short, calling you 'oppa' and pulling that fake tsundere crap—it pissed me off!"
"I thought you didn't hate it... We played games together and..."
"I hate it! I hate it! Do I have to keep cosplaying in front of you for a week—no, a year, ten years, even longer?"
Mikoto sounded genuinely furious, her voice almost breaking into sobs as she yelled.
"Back then, it'd be characters from anime ten, seventeen years old, with some sleazy hentai on screen next to me while I act all aegyo?!"
I couldn't say a word, reduced to just listening to Mikoto vent.
"I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. All you need is a 1:1 ratio talking figure, right? I'd rather die than live like that. Curse me out as a bitch if you want. I'm never coming back."
I'd always smiled at Mikoto without much thought. But looking back now, what had I even seen her as?
"And you can't catch me in Japan anyway, so don't bother looking."
Did I like Mikoto? Or had I just treated her like some novelty anime figure?
Even after the call ended, I couldn't bring myself to be sure. I regretted not grabbing hold of her one more time.
I sat there in the passenger seat, dazed like I'd been punched a few times, when Yukiko spoke softly.
"Shall I kill her, Master?"
"No... I just feel like I need to reflect on myself a bit. She was always smiling on the surface... I should've been more careful."
"You're looking for fault in yourself in this situation? What that woman is doing is nothing but vile self-justification."
Taking responsibility for someone—I'd thought about it too lightly.
The odds of someone like Yukiko, who truly liked me, were astronomically low. A reaction like Mikoto's was probably the norm.
"Regrettably, what she said about not being able to catch her is half-true. If she openly launders her identity, the police won't even pretend to look."
"I see..."
"But the police being passive also means that even if we track her down and kill her, they won't intervene. Even if there's trouble, showing she's a runaway slave will make them acknowledge it."
"I said I'm not killing her."
"Then, Master, do you intend to just let Mikoto go like this?"
I sank into thought, dazed.
Mikoto had left of her own accord. By my logic, I should let her.
"She didn't meet the standards I had for a slave. I thought she didn't need to do anything. Meals, cleaning, even serving with her body—it could all be optional."
A hint of anger crept into Yukiko's cold voice. Her grip tightened on the wheel.
"Just taking Master's mercy like a pig, chanting 'Thank you! Thank you!' endlessly—that should've been enough! Master gets pleasure from the good deed, and she just enjoys the mercy... She couldn't even manage that one thing!"
Yukiko was like me. They say you come to resemble the one you love, but we were similar on a more fundamental level.
And Yukiko thought from my side. She reacted more sensitively than I did when I got heated, valuing my happiness more than I did myself.
Through her, like a mirror, I could see my own faults.
I knew what I wanted to do.
"Thanks, Yukiko. You've helped me make up my mind."
"I'm glad you've finally decided, even if it's late. We don't have to kill her outright, but at minimum, we should find that bitch and turn her into Master's onahole somehow..."
"I need to see Mikoto."
"Pardon?"
"I don't mind if we break up. Even if she quits being my slave because she finds me repulsive. Still, I've done my part too. At the very least, we should meet one last time, apologize to each other properly, say our goodbyes face-to-face. I think we at least deserve that much."
In the end, it was fine if Mikoto wasn't by my side anymore. But we couldn't leave things this messy.
I definitely needed to apologize to Mikoto.
Mikoto definitely needed to apologize to me.
She shouldn't have to hide her identity in fear of me chasing her someday.
Some half-assed slave status shouldn't block her path forward.
"Let's find Mikoto somehow. I'm clueless about this stuff, so I'll end up relying on you... but I really want to find her. It's shameless of me, but can you help?"
Yukiko was suppressing a massive rage for entirely different reasons.
"You truly are a madman."
She let out a deep sigh, as if sweeping away the frustration bottled up inside. I smiled awkwardly.
"I don't know. Do as you wish, Master."
The mood wasn't great, but at least she'd agreed with me. That was a relief.
"Thanks, Yukiko."
"No need to thank a slave, but thinking there's a slave who committed such wickedness and still receives Master's apology... it makes me arrogant enough to accept some gratitude myself."
"Yukiko deserves it all—love, thanks, apologies, everything."
Yukiko blushed slightly, embarrassed.
"The Mikoto on that call was definitely a side I didn't know. But is that her true self, with nothing hidden? No way. Let's start from there."
If you've made a mistake, own up to it and start over from the beginning. As long as you don't give up, there'll be a chance to make it right.