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 End of Revenge and a New Request
The October morning light was quiet, as if yesterday's cultural festival frenzy had been a lie.
Narumi Kaito passed through the main gate of Meikyou Academy. His deep brown eyes behind black-rimmed glasses narrowed slightly against the glare. His carelessly grown black hair swayed in the lukewarm breeze. His uniform collar was, as always, slightly disheveled.
*(Nothing has changed.)*
He muttered that in his heart.
Yesterday, the footage of Kurokawa Tatsuya's cheating had played on the giant screen in the gymnasium. Tanabe Kenta's shoplifting had been exposed. The lackeys' secret accounts and compensated dating suspicions had been laid bare. And even the evidence of PTA accounting embezzlement by Kurokawa's father, Kurokawa Seiichirou, had been displayed before the eyes of the entire student body and their parents.
Only one day had passed since then.
He walked along the zelkova-lined path leading to the school building. The October zelkova trees were still thick with green. The rustling of leaves melted into the morning air. Listening to that sound, Kaito replayed yesterday's chaos in his mind.
*(What happened to Kurokawa?)*
*(What about Tanabe?)*
*(What about the lackeys?)*
Questions with no answers swirled endlessly in the depths of his chest.
He climbed to the second floor of the main building where his classroom was. In the hallway, students who had begun cleaning up after the cultural festival were visible here and there. A female student carrying cardboard boxes. A male student hauling a stepladder. Everyone looked somewhat exhausted.
When Kaito stood before his classroom, voices could be heard from inside.
"Hey, do you think Kurokawa-kun's absent again today?"
"Well, obviously. After all that, there's no way he could come to school."
"I heard they can't reach Tanabe-kun either."
"Seriously? Those guys are done for."
Kaito opened the classroom door.
With a rattle, the atmosphere inside the classroom changed in an instant.
The classmates who had been whispering rumors moments ago all fell silent at once. Their gazes converged on Kaito simultaneously.
No one spoke to him.
They simply stared at Kaito.
In those gazes, there was none of the mockery from yesterday. Instead, there was bewilderment, fear, and just a little curiosity.
*(I see.)*
*(So you all just stare at me, knowing nothing.)*
Kaito walked through the classroom with an expressionless face.
His seat was the last row by the window.
He approached and stopped.
There was no graffiti on his desk.
The words "disgusting," "disappear," "die"—written by someone almost daily until yesterday—had been cleanly erased. Or rather, not so much erased as there were traces of someone having carefully wiped them away.
*(Who?)*
*(Who did this?)*
Kaito touched the surface of the desk with his fingertips.
It was cold.
He glanced toward the lockers. His own locker, second from the end, positioned where things could easily be dropped into the gap with the wall. He quietly opened its door.
It was empty inside.
The locker that had been stuffed with garbage and scraps until yesterday now contained nothing.
*(...I see.)*
Kaito let out a small breath.
He had won.
The revenge had succeeded perfectly.
Kurokawa could no longer come to school, and Tanabe had vanished. The lackeys surely had no room left to bully Kaito anymore. The atmosphere of the classroom had changed overnight.
*(With this, I...)*
*(Should be free.)*
Even as he thought that, the depths of his chest were astonishingly cold.
Kaito sat down at his desk.
He took his textbooks and notebook out of his bag. The usual motions. The usual morning.
But something was different.
*(What's different?)*
*(I don't know.)*
*(I don't know, but something is definitely different.)*
He looked out the window. The October sky was a cloudless blue.
The school broadcast announcing the cultural festival cleanup could be heard from afar.
"Today, we will be cleaning up the equipment used in yesterday's Kyouka Festival. Students in charge, please assemble at your designated locations."
Listening to that voice, Kaito closed his eyes.
*(It's over.)*
*(It's really over.)*
He repeated that in his heart.
Lunch break.
Kaito headed to the cafeteria "Mirage."
The dining hall adjacent to the first floor of the main building. As always, the daily set meal menu was posted at the serving counter. Today's special was fried chicken set meal. Four hundred eighty yen.
The cafeteria was bustling with students tired from the cultural festival cleanup.
Kaito sat at a corner seat near the entrance.
His usual seat. A single-person table against the wall where no one would bother him.
*(This is my place.)*
Thinking that, he felt a little calmer.
The surrounding students noticed Kaito. A few gave him slight nods. People who had ignored Kaito's existence until yesterday.
*(...What a pain.)*
Kaito didn't return the nods.
He decided to ignore them and headed to the serving counter with his tray.
"Oh, Kaito-kun. The daily special again today?"
From behind the counter, Inaba Setsuko called out to him. A veteran staff member in her sixties. Wearing a white apron, she smiled warmly. Having worked in this cafeteria for twenty years, she was the backbone of Meikyou Academy's kitchen.
"...Yeah."
Kaito gave a small nod.
Inaba loaded the fried chicken set meal onto Kaito's tray.
And then, she did what she absolutely never did for other students—she did it again today.
One piece of fried chicken. Two. Three.
Secretly, she piled on extra.
"A little extra service today."
Inaba winked mischievously.
Kaito silently gave a small nod.
*(She's the only one.)*
*(The only one who treats me normally.)*
The depths of his chest warmed just a little.
"...Thank you."
That was all he managed to say aloud.
But it seemed to have been more than enough for Inaba.
"It's fine. You make sure you eat properly. Haven't you gotten thinner lately?"
Kaito didn't answer Inaba's words.
He simply took his tray and returned to his seat.
He sat down and picked up his chopsticks.
He put a piece of fried chicken in his mouth.
Hot.
The coating was crispy, and juices burst from within.
*(Delicious.)*
*(As always, delicious.)*
Kaito continued eating in silence.
The gazes around him were still fixed on Kaito. But they no longer bothered him.
He just ate.
The fried chicken. The rice. The miso soup.
*(Even though the revenge is over.)*
*(I'm eating such an ordinary meal.)*
That felt strange.
There was no sense of triumph.
No sense of accomplishment.
There was only an indescribable emptiness.
*(I won.)*
*(I won, so why...)*
Kaito set down his chopsticks.
He looked out the window. From the cafeteria window, the white wall of the gymnasium was visible.
Yesterday, in that gymnasium, everything had changed.
*(What did I gain?)*
*(What did I lose?)*
No answer came.
After school.
Kaito headed to the Second Reference Room on the fourth floor of the main building.
The school was still bustling with cultural festival cleanup. The voices of students walking through the hallways could be heard from afar.
But the fourth floor was quiet.
This floor, lined with special classrooms, saw almost no foot traffic after school. The Second Reference Room was at the far end.
Kaito took a spare key from his pocket.
He inserted it into the old-style cylinder lock.
Click.
With a small sound, the door opened.
Inside, it was dim.
Six old bookshelves, about two hundred dusty encyclopedias. One disused old-model projector sat in the corner of the room.
The operational headquarters of "Hen."
Kaito reached behind the bookshelf.
A secondary smartphone, a compact laptop, a mobile battery, several USB drives. They were hidden behind the dust-covered encyclopedias.
He took out the secondary smartphone and turned it on.
The screen lit up.
He tapped the Veil icon.
The encrypted messaging app "Veil." Equipped with end-to-end encryption and an automatic message deletion function after a set time, it was the lifeline of the information broker "Hen."
The transmission history appeared on the screen.
After broadcasting the footage at yesterday's cultural festival opening ceremony, Kaito had replied to several requests.
"I saw the video of Kurokawa's cheating. That was amazing."
"Hen-san, how did you get that footage?"
"I have something I'd like to ask of you next time."
Messages like these kept arriving.
*(It caused a commotion, after all.)*
*(Hen's name has spread even further.)*
Kaito scrolled through the screen expressionlessly.
At that moment, he heard the sound of the door lock turning.
Click.
Kaito reflexively hid the secondary smartphone behind the bookshelf.
The door opened.
"...I knew you'd be here."
The person who entered was Majima Riku.
A boy with long, straight white hair tied back, and sharp gray-blue eyes. He wore the Meikyou Academy uniform sloppily. His features were refined, but he gave off a cool impression, rarely showing emotion. A junior who knew Kaito's true identity.
His only accomplice.
"You're still using that spare key."
Riku said as he pocketed the key in his hand.
"...So are you."
Kaito retrieved the secondary smartphone from behind the bookshelf.
"Are you still using that?"
Riku pointed at the secondary smartphone.
"Obviously."
Kaito pocketed the secondary smartphone.
Riku walked to the center of the room and sat down on an old chair.
The chair creaked.
"I've got information on the Kurokawa family case."
Riku's voice was as flat as ever.
"...Tell me."
Kaito stood by the window.
From the window, the gymnasium was visible. Students could be seen carrying out equipment for the cultural festival cleanup.
"First, the police seized the PTA accounting ledgers."
Riku raised one finger.
"Kurokawa Seiichirou was brought in for voluntary questioning. He hasn't been arrested yet. But I think it's only a matter of time."
Kaito listened silently.
"Also, the former administrator who handled the Nikaidou incident. He's already been transferred. There are almost no teachers left at the current school who know the details of that case."
At Riku's words, Kaito's eyebrows twitched slightly.
*(The Nikaidou incident.)*
Four years ago. A bullying cover-up incident at Meikyou Academy's middle school that occurred when Kaito was in his first year.
A student named Nikaidou, then a third-year middle schooler, had reported bullying to the school. But the school, citing pressure from the PTA, buried the investigation, and Nikaidou was forced to transfer. Officially, it was processed as a "transfer due to family circumstances," and no trace of the bullying remained in the records.
Kaito had witnessed that incident up close.
*(That incident is my origin.)*
*(I learned back then that seeking help from the school is useless.)*
"...I see."
Kaito answered curtly.
Outside the window, students were carrying equipment out of the gymnasium.
Riku was silent for a while.
Then, he slowly opened his mouth.
"Hey, Narumi-senpai."
Riku turned toward Kaito.
His gray-blue eyes stared straight at Kaito.
"Will you tell me why you chose the cultural festival stage?"
Kaito remained silent for a while, still gazing out the window.
The white wall of the gymnasium.
That stage.
That 150-inch screen.
*(Should I tell him?)*
*(No, even if I don't, this guy probably already knows.)*
Kaito slowly exhaled.
"...I spent half a year gathering evidence."
He let the words spill out quietly.
"Kurokawa's cheating. Tanabe's shoplifting. The lackeys' secret accounts. The compensated dating suspicions. I investigated all of it alone."
Riku listened silently.
"At first, it was just spite."
Kaito's voice was quiet.
"I was bullied, I was frustrated, but I didn't have the power to fight back. So I thought, at the very least, I'd get dirt on those bastards."
*(That's right.)*
*(At first, it really was just spite.)*
"But as I investigated, I came to understand."
Ka
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