In the corner of the classroom, Kaito Narumi's desk gets kicked again. His textbooks hidden, his indoor shoes thrown away, and the usual words: "Read the room, loser." At Meikyo Academy, a prestigious private high school in Tokyo, Kaito is invisible. Nobody cares. Nobody helps. He's just the bullied kid.
But nobody knows the truth. After school, in the empty classroom, Kaito's phone buzzes nonstop. "Amane-san, do you have the past midterm papers?" "How much for dirt on that teacher?" "Can you i
Laughing Behind the Scenes - Accomplice — The Cool Junior's Secret
Saturday after school.
The school building was so quiet, it was hard to believe the weekday chaos had ever existed. The only sound was the sharp click of my own footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Narumi Kaito climbed the deserted stairs of the main building, one step at a time.
Inside his pocket, the duplicate key felt cold against his fingers. The Second Reference Room—that dusty room where no one ever came—was his only sanctuary now.
He reached the fourth floor.
He stopped in front of the old door at the end of the hallway. The grimy plate reading "Second Reference Room" hung crookedly, as always. He inserted the key and turned it.
*Click.*
A light sound, and the door opened.
As he stepped inside, the smell of old books and dust filled his nostrils. It was the only scent that brought him any comfort. He took off his black-rimmed glasses and placed them on the old bookshelf he used as a desk. His vision cleared.
Right, then.
He retrieved his secondary smartphone from behind the bookshelf and powered it on. The screen of "Veil," an encrypted messaging app, glowed faintly in the dim room. Three unread messages.
*"Amane-san, do you have any way to avoid failing classics?"*
*"I'd like the previous video in higher quality."*
*"Can you get evidence of power harassment by the club advisor?"*
He typed his replies without emotion.
"Avoiding failure: 8,000 yen. High-quality video: plus 3,000 yen. Power harassment evidence: one-week investigation, 20,000 yen."
Over the past six months, he had handled nearly forty requests like this. From past exam papers to teachers' weaknesses, to classmates' scandals. An anonymous information broker who would tell you anything for money—everyone called him "Amane."
Of course, no one knew he was actually the plain, bullied Narumi Kaito from their class.
He scrolled through the screen, reviewing the evidence files on the Kurokawa group. Cheating videos, shoplifting footage, secret account logs. If he unleashed these onto the cultural festival screen, those bastards would be finished in one blow.
But—one problem remained.
He still hadn't found a way to access the AV equipment room in the gymnasium. The only people with keys were the vice principal and the student council officer, Shiraishi Rinka. Neither of them was someone he could easily approach.
" What should I do...?"
That was when it happened.
*Creeeak.*
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening.
His body jolted. His hand, instinctively trying to hide the secondary smartphone, bumped against the spines of some books, making a clattering noise.
Someone was entering this room where no one was ever supposed to come.
" You're Amane, aren't you?"
A quiet voice.
He looked up to see someone standing in the doorway. White hair tied back into a single ponytail, narrow gray-blue eyes looking at him with a detached expression. A well-proportioned face, but utterly unreadable.
Judging by the uniform, the color of his tie marked him as a first-year. He was a bit taller than Kaito, maybe around 175 centimeters.
But—who the hell was this guy?
" ...Who are you?"
He spoke bluntly. The weak tone he used in the classroom was gone. This was his castle; there was no need to put on an act.
" Majima Riku. Student council officer, and I manage the key to the gymnasium's AV equipment room."
Saying that, the guy—Riku—pulled a small bundle of keys from his uniform pocket. The clinking of metal echoed unnervingly loud in the quiet room.
" ...What's your angle?"
" Angle? Well, it just seemed interesting, so I thought I'd lend a hand."
Riku spoke as if bored and started walking through the room uninvited. He passed between the bookshelves, glancing briefly at the old projector by the window. He acted like he owned the place.
" Wait. Don't tell anyone."
Kaito took a step closer to Riku.
Even though the other guy was taller, Kaito didn't flinch. He was a completely different person from the one who cowered before Kurokawa in the classroom.
" If I was going to tell, I would have already."
Riku turned around and looked at him again with those cold eyes.
" I've known you were Amane for three months. I just traced the access patterns of information trading on Veil, and it led to your phone. And I can mostly guess you're planning something for the cultural festival, just by looking at the list of equipment you bought."
This guy—just how much had he investigated?
Kaito clicked his tongue. The very existence of someone like this was beyond his expectations.
" So why help me?"
" Crushing the school's rotten power structure sounds interesting, doesn't it?"
Riku's mouth twisted ever so slightly. Maybe it was a smile.
" If you use the gymnasium's video system, you can do what you want. But it's impossible without the equipment room's PIN code and knowledge of the physical wiring. Plus, looking at your ledger—"
With that, Riku casually opened Kaito's small laptop.
" Hey!"
Before Kaito could reach out, a list of files from a USB drive appeared on the screen. Six months of transaction records and a ledger showing 500,000 yen in sales.
" 500,000 yen in six months. But most of that has been eaten up by equipment and VPN communication costs. Alone, you must be reaching your limit just rigging the projector's input system."
He had no comeback.
Riku was right. Kaito hadn't been able to deal with the gymnasium equipment. He lacked both the budget and the knowledge. That was exactly why he needed the key to the AV equipment room, but he hadn't been able to crack it.
" I'm in charge of managing the video equipment, and I've also been assigned to run the program on the day of the cultural festival. I can operate the system from the inside. It's possible to remotely transmit video from your secondary phone and connect it to the terminal in the equipment room."
Riku stated this flatly and closed the laptop screen.
" ...Why go that far?"
" Like I said, it seems interesting. That's all."
He clearly had no intention of revealing his real reason. But—it was undeniable that Kaito needed him.
" ...Fine."
He let out a sigh.
" A wise decision."
Riku nodded slightly and started walking toward the door.
" Let's go to the gymnasium. We should check the equipment. There are only 14 days left until the main event."
Kaito shoved his secondary phone into his pocket and put his glasses back on.
—An accomplice.
It was too early to call him that, but this was definitely more progress than working alone. Believing that, Kaito followed after Riku.
***
The gymnasium was empty.
In the dim space with its shutters closed, the sound of two pairs of footsteps echoed. The waxed wooden floor gave off a faint, sharp smell.
On the stage was a giant 150-inch screen. This would be his ultimate weapon.
" This way."
Riku used his bundle of keys to open the door to the AV equipment room in the wings of the stage.
Inside was a cramped room, about six tatami mats in size. One wall was lined with equipment racks: a projector control panel, an audio mixer, a video input terminal, a lighting controller—the room still smelled of new equipment.
" It's surprisingly well-equipped."
" The whole set was updated last year with a donation from the PTA. Apparently, Kurokawa Tatsuya's father covered about half of it."
Kaito couldn't help but let out a derisive snort.
The equipment bought with that bastard's father's money would become the stage for his own son's funeral. What irony.
" So, how do we do this?"
" First, we pair your secondary phone to this input terminal via Bluetooth. On the day, I'll operate the terminal here in the equipment room and remotely transmit the video from your phone to the projector. The problem is that the projector's input system needs to be rigged in advance. That will take at least ten days."
Riku pulled out a wiring diagram and pointed to a bundle of cables on the wall.
" We'll insert a split here and configure it to give your video signal top priority. So no one in the audience can tell what's being shown on the screen. But we'll have to do it late at night or early in the morning—times when no one's around, or it'll be too risky."
" Can you do that alone?"
" Probably, more or less."
"Probably, more or less" wasn't exactly reassuring—but for now, he had no choice but to bet on this guy.
Kaito took out his secondary phone and handed it to Riku.
" Let's run a connection test now."
Riku nodded and powered on the terminal. The LCD screen glowed pale blue. He deftly plugged in the cables and got the phone recognized.
A few minutes later.
" ...Connected."
The words "Connection Successful" appeared on the screen.
Kaito let out a breath of relief. With this, they had at least overcome the technical hurdle.
" Are you planning to end everything at the cultural festival?"
Riku suddenly asked that question.
" Yeah."
Kaito answered shortly.
" And will that satisfy you?"
Silence flowed between them.
Only the low hum of the equipment fans filled the small room. Riku's gray-blue eyes remained cold, but they seemed to be searching for something as they looked at him.
Kaito didn't answer.
He couldn't answer.
" ...Well, whatever. Let's call it a day for now."
Riku said that and turned off the equipment.
***
By the time they left the gymnasium, it was nearly evening.
The sky was beginning to turn orange. Autumn days were short. The tree-lined path along Keyaki Hill was still too early for autumn colors, but every time the wind blew, the rustling of leaves echoed noisily.
" They really don't know anything, do they?"
Riku suddenly murmured.
What was he talking about—Kaito thought, and looked up.
From ahead, a familiar laughing voice was approaching.
" Hey guys, starting tomorrow, that guy's desk is in the hallway!"
A huge frame. Brown hair with a center part. Upturned eyes glared at him as if spotting prey.
It was Kurokawa Tatsuya.
Behind him were his usual three hangers-on. Among them was Tanabe Kenta. The moment Tanabe's eyes met Kaito's, he quickly averted his gaze.
" Oh, speak of the devil, it's Narumi. Your desk is moving to the hallway tomorrow. We're not letting you keep it in the classroom."
Kurokawa stopped in front of Kaito and laughed down at him. His massive 185-centimeter body cast a black shadow against the setting sun.
" H-hey, cut it out, Kurokawa..."
Tanabe spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. But Kurokawa immediately turned around—
" Huh? Shut up, this has nothing to do with you."
—and brushed him off with a single word.
Tanabe shut his mouth and hung his head. His face looked pale.
Expressionless, Kaito walked past Kurokawa. He had no intention of fighting or talking back. This was just business as usual.
Walking beside him, Riku glanced at Kurokawa and the others with cold eyes.
" They're lucky, in a way, just not knowing anything."
At those words, Tanabe turned around for just a moment.
He opened his mouth as if to say something—but then Kurokawa called out to him, and he hurriedly ran off.
" Tanabe! What are you dawdling for!"
" Ah, sorry, I'm coming!"
Tanabe's back retreated down Keyaki Hill, dyed in the sunset.
He was probably being crushed by guilt inside. But he couldn't show it. Because if he did, he'd be the one to suffer. That was how this school's hierarchy worked.
" Let's go."
Kaito called out to Riku and started walking back toward the Second Reference Room.
***
Back in the reference room, they sat facing each other across the bookshelf that served as a desk.
Kaito inserted the USB drive into the laptop. The evidence against the Kurokawa group was lined up by filename.
* K_cheating_01.mp4 (Kurokawa's cheating video)
* T_shoplifting_cam.mp4 (Tanabe's shoplifting footage)
* ura_account_log.txt (Kurokawa's secret account, suspected sugar daddy activity)
* group_slander_log.txt (Records of the entire group's slander and harassment)
" This much should be enough."
Riku
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