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 25: Sakagami’s Last-Ditch Struggle and Hayato’s Creeping Impatience (Soccer Club Coach Sakagami’s POV).

Chapter 25: Sakagami’s Last-Ditch Struggle and Hayato’s Creeping Impatience (Soccer Club Coach Sakagami’s POV).

This has turned into a disaster.

The moment the emergency staff meeting ended, I hurried out of the conference room and headed straight for the field where practice was supposed to be taking place.

Dammit…! I was planning to smooth things over and manipulate the other teachers as quietly as possible, but thanks to the Vice-Principal and that Inagaki fellow, this has blown up into a major incident.

At this point, it’s as good as a scandal involving the entire school. To be honest, I no longer care who’s actually at fault. The problem is that the vast majority of those involved are in the soccer club. If the police intervene and the Board of Education starts poking around, the responsibility will ultimately fall on me for failing to manage Rindou and Kayama.

To prevent that, there is only one move left for me to make.

I have to justify the narrative at all costs—the story that Kayama was in the right for protecting Matsunami from domestic violence.

Of course, if Rindou turns out to be innocent, I’ll feel slightly bad for him, but I have no choice. If the fact that Rindou was being unilaterally bullied is confirmed, neither I nor the soccer club will get off scot-free. This is the only way to survive.

Before that nuisance of a homeroom teacher can interview the perpetrators tomorrow, I need to tell them to get their stories straight.

“Hey, Kayama…! Get over here for a second!”

I called out specifically to Kayama, who was practicing with a carefree air. Perhaps because I looked more irritated than usual, he hurried over a bit more frantically than his usual sluggish pace. He was still slower than anyone else, but whatever.

“Listen, Kayama. I’m going to tell you something important. Pay attention.”

***

(Kayama’s POV)

“Something important?”

I tilted my head, feigning total ignorance. Always calling me over with that high-and-mighty attitude… Doesn’t he realize that with Arata gone, the future of the soccer club rests entirely on my shoulders next year? He still doesn’t understand his place. It’s pathetic.

“Yeah. But look, for both our sakes, let’s drop the pointless lies and excuses. I know perfectly well that you’re a sharp guy.”

“Heh. And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t make me spell everything out. An emergency staff meeting was just held with the entire faculty. I assume you have an idea of what the agenda was?”

“…Arata’s situation?”

This guy talks like he already knows I’m the one pulling the strings from the shadows. I don’t like his tone. I had a feeling I’d be called after hearing what happened today from that blonde chick, but let’s see where he’s going with this.

“Exactly. But don’t misunderstand. Frankly, I don’t care if you’re the mastermind who framed him or not. What I want to make clear is that, either way, I’m taking your side.”

Huh? What’s this guy saying all of a sudden? Is it a trap…?

“…Heh, you’re quick to get to the point, Coach. For someone who’s supposed to be a teacher, that’s pretty creepy.”

“I imagine so. So I’ll give it to you straight. For me, it’s much more convenient to justify the story of you protecting Matsunami from domestic violence than to have the truth of this whole affair dragged into the light of day.”

Ho, so that’s it. I wondered why he was suddenly offering to be an ally, but in the end, he’s just like us. Well, it’s true that whether I’m judged or I get away with it, this happened within the soccer club, so his reputation would be ruined either way. Judging by how panicked he is, he’s probably worried about losing his job. Pathetic. Still, he has his uses.

“I see. I get the gist, Coach. Well, given my position, I couldn’t exactly back down now that the word has spread through the staff room anyway. I was planning to push through regardless of what you said. But it’s a relief to have a strong ally.”

“Good. Then let’s call this an alliance. If we sink, we sink together.”

“Understood.”

Honestly, what a convenient sucker, coming right to me on his own. It helps. From here on out, being able to know exactly what’s happening inside the staff room will be a massive advantage.

“Now, just to confirm: I should proceed with the understanding that this whole thing was your scheme, correct?”

“That’s right. Arata saw me walking with Karen, and the idiot was kind enough to lay a hand on her, so I filmed the moment and beat the crap out of him. But honestly, what do you think? Do you think we can win with that excuse if the police get involved later?”

“To be honest, it would be difficult. They’re professionals. They can get access to security cameras installed all over town. After all, Kayama, the places you two were trying to go were… unfortunate.”

Tch, thought so. Of all places, right in front of a love hotel. The moment you try to enter a place like that with a girl who has a boyfriend, it’s going to be seen as cheating. This is getting bad. Dammit, this is annoying.

“You didn’t… actually go into a room, did you?”

“We didn’t… at least, not on that day.”

“You idiot… How many times? How many times have you taken Matsunami to a hotel before now?”

“…About five times, I guess? And maybe twenty times to karaoke.”

“You’re unbelievable… I realize now that the situation is desperate.”

Tch, shut up. Isn’t it your job to figure something out?

“Can security cameras really go back that far?”

“You should assume they keep footage for at least one to three months. How long have you been involved with Matsunami?”

“I think it was a little before we moved up to our second year. Today is April 20th, so about two months ago… late February.”

“Sigh… Five times since then. You’re beyond saving.”

“Don’t say such depressing things. We’re allies, aren’t we?”

“I feel like I’ve chosen the wrong person to team up with, but I’ve already come too far to back out. It’s a desperate mission, but our only winning move now is to keep the police out of it and keep pushing the false charge onto Rindou.”

“Eh? Isn’t that a bit too hopeless?”

“Then we have no choice but to estimate the camera storage at three months and stall as much as possible until then.”

“Ehh…”

This is more of a pinch than I thought. What a pain. I figured I could just use the soccer club guys and Karen to brute-force it with a high number of false testimonies, but maybe I was being too naive. This is bad.

“It can’t be helped. For now, I’ll try to manipulate things in the staff room to keep the police away. You get ready for the questioning starting tomorrow.”

“Questioning?”

“Yeah. That’s why I called you. Starting tomorrow, Rindou’s homeroom teacher is going to hold individual interviews with the three students on the list of potential perpetrators. You need to make sure your stories match with the students I’m about to name.”

“So that’s what’s happening. Dangerous. So, who else besides me?”

“For now, it’s Matsunami and Kawakita Yumi, who’s in the same class as her.”

“I see. That woman has a foul mouth too.”

Well, even so, I heard she got completely intimidated by some first-year brat today, so she’s probably panicking inside right about now.

“Listen. Make sure nobody slips up. You don’t need to say anything extra. Just stick to the story that Rindou was being abusive.”

“Got it. I’ll call them as soon as club is over and knock some sense into them.”

“Yeah. Do that.”

“In that case, I’m heading back to practice.”

“Wait, Kayama. Take this.”

As I turned to wave and leave, the Coach threw a crumpled piece of memo paper at me.

“What’s this?”

“My phone number. Tell me if the situation develops, for better or worse.”

“Ah, I see. Thanks.”

I left with a smirk. The situation is pretty bad, but I’ll manage somehow.

The Coach was babbling about sinking together, but sorry, I have no intention of going down with the ship. When push comes to shove, I’ll discard him for contacting me in secret, discard Karen, the blonde, and those idiots in the soccer club. I’m the only one who’s getting away.

That’s right, the word “defeat” doesn’t exist in my vocabulary… because the one who survives until the end is, just like he said, the sharpest guy in the room.