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 - The exposure doesn't stop. Secrets of the members are leaked one after another. The audience's gaze changes completely. The enraged Kurokawa grabs Kaito, but a teacher rushes over. The tables turn.
The air in the gymnasium was still in turmoil.
On the massive 150-inch screen, the footage of Tanabe Kenta shoplifting was being displayed at that very moment. It was him, on that day, captured by the convenience store's security camera. His figure, repeatedly pressing down his brown, wavy hair with his hand while glancing nervously around. The moment his trembling hand shoved a bag of snacks into his uniform pocket.
"Th-That's Tanabe... That's really Tanabe, right?"
"Whoa, that guy was shoplifting? Even though he's always so quiet."
Whispers erupted from all over the audience seats. Those voices spread like waves, eventually reaching the seat where Tanabe Kenta sat.
Tanabe had made himself small in his seat. His narrow eyes were wide open, and his pale face was losing even more color. His lips trembled uncontrollably, and both hands shook minutely on his knees.
"N-No... I... that was..."
His voice reached no one. The students around him pulled away, as if distancing themselves from him. The student in the next seat blatantly turned their body the other way.
(*This is your sin.*)
Narumi Kaito watched Tanabe's trembling back from the wall at the very back row. His deep brown eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses were cold and frozen.
(*You chose to follow Kurokawa and hurt me. Now you're paying the price, right here.*)
The image on the screen switched again.
This time, it was screenshots from social media. The secret accounts of two of Kurokawa's group's hangers-on. Lined up there were numerous slanderous posts about their classmates.
"That guy is seriously annoying. I wish he'd just disappear."
"Today was the worst again because of him. I wish he'd just die."
Voices resembling screams rose from the audience. In the parents' section, several adults furrowed their brows and glared at the screen.
"What is this...? Those kids have been writing things like that all along?"
"Isn't that a kid from my child's class? I can't believe it."
And finally, what was displayed was a social media screenshot suggesting compensated dating. A photo of one of the hangers-on having dinner with an older man. Next to it, message exchanges with what appeared to be amounts of money written.
"Wait, seriously? That girl's doing compensated dating?"
"That's disgusting... They always acted so high and mighty."
The atmosphere in the audience seats changed completely.
The curious gazes that had been directed at Kurokawa's group until then now turned into clear contempt and disgust. The two hangers-on had gone pale in their seats. One was clutching their head, and the other was biting their lip with teary eyes.
"Stop... please stop..."
"No, this is... someone's impersonating me..."
But no one believed their words. The evidence displayed on the screen was too vivid, too specific.
(*Serves you right.*)
Kaito muttered coldly in his heart.
(*I'm returning everything you did to me, right now.*)
Anger surged up from the pit of his stomach. The back of his throat burned hot. Yet his face didn't move. Don't let emotion show on your face. Kaito told himself.
—That was when it happened.
"Who did this?! Who the hell did this?!"
Kurokawa shouted on stage, clawing at his head. The microphone had already fallen to the floor. His voice echoed through the gymnasium as a raw scream.
"It's you, isn't it! Narumi! It's you, right?!"
Kurokawa's finger pointed straight at the very back row of the audience.
Every gaze in the venue instantly focused on Kaito.
Over seven hundred eyes stared at Kaito's face.
Kaito didn't move.
He stared back at Kurokawa with a cold gaze.
(*Yeah, that's right.*)
(*It was me.*)
He answered quietly in his heart.
Kurokawa jumped down from the stage.
A heavy landing sound. Students in the audience screamed and cleared a path. Kurokawa weaved through the gap and ran down the aisle.
"Move! Get out of my way!"
His eyes were completely bloodshot. His brown center-parted hair was disheveled, and the piercing in his left ear swung violently. The mask of the honor student had completely fallen away.
"Kurokawa, wait! Calm down!"
Miyazono, the homeroom teacher, chased after Kurokawa. But Kurokawa's feet didn't stop.
"Shut up! This is my problem!"
Kurokawa stood in front of Kaito.
His large 185-centimeter frame loomed over Kaito. His sharp, dark brown eyes burned with anger and hatred.
"It was you, wasn't it, Narumi! You did this!"
Kurokawa's right hand grabbed Kaito by the collar and lifted.
He was hoisted up. The uniform collar dug into his neck. Kaito's body floated slightly.
"Answer me! You did it, didn't you! You piece of trash!"
Kurokawa's face was right in front of him. A face twisted with rage. The sound of grinding teeth. Rough breathing.
(*Yeah, that's right.*)
(*I did it.*)
(*I returned everything you did to me, all of it.*)
Kaito answered quietly in his heart. But his mouth didn't open.
"Say something! You damn loner! Always with that gloomy face!"
Kurokawa's fist rose.
—But that fist never came down.
"Kurokawa! Stop this!"
The vice principal's shout echoed through the gymnasium.
Teachers who had rushed over grabbed Kurokawa's arms and pulled him away. Miyazono also held down Kurokawa's shoulders.
"Let go! Let go of me! He did it! He did!"
Kurokawa continued to thrash. He twisted his body violently, trying to shake off the teachers' hands.
"Do you know who my father is?! Do you know what happens if you defy me?!"
"Kurokawa, just calm down for now. We'll talk later."
Miyazono's voice was desperate. But Kurokawa wasn't listening.
"Shut up! I'll get all of you fired! I'll tell my father and get every single one of you fired!"
Kurokawa's screams echoed throughout the gymnasium.
Hearing that voice, Kaito quietly exhaled.
He slowly straightened his disheveled collar. He pushed up his black-rimmed glasses with his fingertip.
(*How pathetic, Kurokawa.*)
(*Is your true self really that ugly?*)
Kaito watched Kurokawa's state with an expressionless face.
The teachers were trying to drag the struggling Kurokawa out of the venue. Kurokawa resisted until the very end.
"Remember this, Narumi! I'll never forgive you! Never!"
That voice faded away outside the gymnasium.
—The screen switched again.
This time, it was a completely different kind of footage.
What was displayed were numerous receipts with the name Kurokawa Seiichirou—Kurokawa Tatsuya's father—written on them. Withdrawal records from the Meikyou Academy PTA account. Copies of bankbooks. And detailed documents showing that these were evidence of "embezzlement of funds."
"Wh-What is this...?"
"From the PTA account... embezzlement...? Mr. Kurokawa...?"
Angry shouts rose from the parents' section.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"Are you saying our PTA fees were being embezzled?!"
The vice principal frantically pointed at the screen.
"S-Someone! Stop the equipment! Hurry!"
But everyone in the venue had already witnessed the evidence displayed on the screen. Students were holding up their smartphones and recording the footage.
"This is insane, it's already spreading on social media."
"Kurokawa's dad was embezzling PTA money? That's the worst."
Kaito stared expressionlessly at the footage on the screen.
(*This... wasn't part of my plan.*)
(*Riku... you did this.*)
He muttered quietly in his heart.
(*Without my permission, something like this.*)
A slight anger welled up. But more than that, there was a certain admiration.
(*...Well done.*)
(*With this, the Kurokawas, father and son, are completely finished.*)
Kaito quietly watched the chaos in the gymnasium.
The angry shouts of the parents. The murmuring of the students. The screams of the teachers. Everything felt like a distant event.
(*It's over.*)
(*It's really over now.*)
—By the time the commotion had finally settled down.
Kaito was outside the gymnasium.
Behind the school building. A quiet place with no one around. The October wind blew through, lukewarm.
"...Narumi."
A small voice came from behind.
When he turned around, Tanabe Kenta was standing there. His brown, wavy hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his pale face was twisted as if he was about to cry.
"I'm sorry... I actually... wanted to stop..."
Tanabe's voice was trembling.
"The bullying against you... I actually wanted to stop. But I was scared of Kurokawa... I couldn't defy him..."
Tanabe desperately strung words together, holding back tears.
"So, I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..."
Kaito stared at Tanabe's face expressionlessly.
(*It's too late for that.*)
(*You chose to follow Kurokawa and hurt me.*)
(*That fact won't disappear just because you apologize.*)
"...It's too late for that."
Kaito's voice was cold and low.
Tanabe's body flinched.
"B-But... I..."
"You chose to follow Kurokawa and hurt me. That's your answer, isn't it?"
Kaito looked straight into Tanabe's eyes.
"I don't need your apology. Your words have no value."
Tears spilled from Tanabe's eyes.
"...I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Tanabe stood rooted to the spot, repeating words of apology over and over.
Kaito turned his back on Tanabe.
(*You can face your own sins from now on.*)
(*I won't have anything to do with you anymore.*)
Kaito walked away without looking back.
Tanabe's crying voice could be heard from behind.
—That night.
The second reference room.
An old room at the end of the hallway on the fourth floor of the main building. Kaito was there alone.
The room was dark. Only the moonlight streaming through the window faintly illuminated the old bookshelves and the spines of encyclopedias.
Kaito took out his secondary smartphone from behind the bookshelf.
He opened the screen.
There, countless social media posts about today's commotion were flowing.
"Meikyou Academy goes up in flames at the culture festival."
"Kurokawa was cheating. And on top of that, his parents were embezzling PTA money."
"Serves them right. They were always acting so arrogant."
Kaito scrolled through the numerous posts with an expressionless face.
(*It succeeded.*)
(*My revenge succeeded perfectly.*)
(*Kurokawa is finished. Tanabe too, and the hangers-on, all of them.*)
(*I crushed everyone who hurt me.*)
(*With this, my revenge is complete.*)
He quietly closed the secondary smartphone's screen.
The room was enveloped in darkness again.
—Hmph.
Kaito's mouth twisted slightly.
He was laughing.
Quietly, alone, laughing.
But that smile was not filled with a sense of accomplishment.
It was a complex expression, mixing sorrow for the lost youth and the lost self.
It looked like a crying face.
"...This was the right thing, wasn't it?"
He muttered quietly, to no one in particular.
The voice quietly faded into the dark room.
Only the moonlight coldly illuminated Kaito's twisted smile.
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