Fallen from the Top Group Due to Cheating and False Accusations. The Only One Who Stood by Me Was My Little Sister’s Best Friend, Who Had Always Adored Me.

Chapter 15: Endless Endurance and the Homeroom Teacher’s Resolve.

The class felt unbearably long.

While enduring the cold, hostile stares coming at me from every direction, my spirit was steadily being worn down.

Whispers just quiet enough that the teacher writing on the blackboard couldn’t quite hear them flew around the room—“Die,” “Scum,” “Violence is wrong~”—all laced with venom. Because I was deliberately avoiding eye contact, I couldn’t accurately tell who was saying what anymore. The only thing I knew for certain was the sickening fact that this relentless, one-sided hatred was aimed entirely at me.

Even so, not everyone in the classroom had become my enemy.

Most of my classmates had chosen to remain silent under the guise of non-interference, or they had completely shut themselves off from both me and the group spreading the rumors. I couldn’t blame them. Any normal person living an ordinary high school life would want to stay as far away from a mess like this as possible. If our positions were reversed, I probably wouldn’t want to get involved either. So I didn’t think it was particularly cruel of them.

When I organized my thoughts, it became clear that the ones directly attacking me were, without a doubt, Karen’s entourage—the group I used to belong to.

Knowing that didn’t improve the situation right now, but later, when everything inevitably flipped upside down, the way I would have to deal with those who had openly shown hostility versus those who hadn’t would be very different. I needed to remember their faces and names as best as I could.

I didn’t have the luxury of looking back right now, but I quietly made up my mind to clearly identify them when the timing was right.

That decision made, I immediately slumped forward onto my desk and covered my ears. The volume of the whispering had grown just a little louder. My body tensed up reflexively.

At this rate, I might be the first one to reach my limit.

I waited desperately for the bell that would signal the end of class, counting the seconds. Honestly, my mind had already hit its breaking point sometime during the morning. I was running on nothing but sheer willpower by the time fifth period English rolled around.

Still, after a short break, I only had to survive sixth period Modern Japanese. Once that was over, Yuuka would come to pick me up.

Even my homeroom teacher, Inagaki-sensei, had disappeared after morning homeroom, claiming he had urgent business. That was proof that Yuuka was handling things well.

Hope was finally within reach—

Repeating that to myself like a mantra, I lifted my head and forced my gaze back to the blackboard.

***

Reception Room – Yuuka’s POV.

More than five hours had already passed since Inagaki Junichi, the teacher who claimed to be Arata-senpai’s homeroom teacher, had joined the discussion.

So far, the conversation had covered:

- A detailed timeline of events

- The identity of the mastermind

- Specific dates and locations

- Arata’s expulsion from the soccer club

- The truth behind the circulated video

- Who he had consulted with so far (just me)

- His current mental state

After a one-hour lunch break, we had finally reached the stage of summarizing today’s report and deciding on future actions.

Once I finished speaking, the man sitting beside me—Inagaki Junichi—cleared his throat with a loud “Ahem.”

He was visibly young. Having only recently joined the school, his fresh, almost college-student-like appearance made him look refreshingly youthful. All three of us turned our eyes toward him at once.

Perhaps feeling the pressure, he quickly shook his head, as if to emphasize that he held no hostility toward us.

“You’re right. First of all, Tozawa-san… It might be presumptuous for someone as inexperienced as me to say this, but there’s one thing I want to tell you. Even though you’ve known him for a long time and must have many complicated feelings about this, you still found the courage to come here today. Thank you. Truly.”

“Eh…”

He bowed his head deeply, exposing the crown of his head to us.

“Something so despicable happened inside the class I’m supposed to be managing, and I failed to notice it. As a homeroom teacher, I am utterly unqualified. That’s why, once we confirm Rindou’s own wishes, I intend to pour everything I have into resolving this incident.”

He then turned squarely toward the vice-principal, his eyes filled with sincere determination.

“Once everything is peacefully resolved, please give me the appropriate punishment.”

“——!?”

Both the soccer club coach and I gasped at the young teacher’s sudden willingness to accept punishment.

The vice-principal also looked stunned, seemingly unable to process the abrupt declaration.

Still, I felt a small wave of relief. Finally, a decent teacher had appeared.

“Of course, we haven’t finished verifying all the facts yet, so I can’t carelessly punish Kayama and Matsunami just because Tozawa-san claims they are the masterminds. However… if Matsunami was truly suffering daily DV from Rindou, yet never once consulted any of the teachers—and on top of that, orchestrated such a malicious video smear campaign… then I can only conclude that her character is rotten to the core…!”

He turned sharply toward the soccer coach.

“Don’t you agree, Sakagami-sensei!?”

“…Huh? Me!? Well… I guess you have a point? I don’t really know though.”

The soccer club coach, who had been sitting beside the vice-principal all morning with a bored expression, gave a reluctant, half-hearted reply.

I felt blood rushing to my head.

What the hell was that? That vague, noncommittal answer was unacceptable coming from a teacher. And he said “you have a point”? Don’t mess with me.

His wording practically sounded like he was defending the perpetrators.

Anyone who would side with the person who posted such obviously maliciously filmed video was either the same as the culprit or even worse scum.

My intuition was screaming at me. This man’s eyes belonged to someone on the side of trash.

I tightened the reins on my caution once again.

At that moment, I became deeply convinced that the real battle had only just begun.