I Was Blackmailed Into Accepting Bullying Using My Childhood Friend as Leverage, But When I Found Out My Friend and Bully Were Together, I Abandoned All Compassion and Swore to Take Revenge with Everything I Had - Chapter 02: Defiled Memories of My Mother

Chapter 02: Defiled Memories of My Mother

When I returned to the classroom to retrieve the diary I had forgotten, I found Iketsuki, who was bullying me, and my childhood friend, Shizuku, there. And in Iketsuki’s hand was my precious diary…

(This is the worst… that Iketsuki found my diary… What should I do…)

I opened the back door of the classroom slightly and peeked inside. Iketsuki was sitting on my desk, and Shizuku was sitting in my chair. They were facing each other and talking. Iketsuki had my diary open in his hand.

“What the hell is this? Haha, is that guy writing a novel or something? So lame.”

“Hey… you shouldn’t look through it without permission. It’s not fair to Ken-chan…”

Ignoring Shizuku’s words, Iketsuki flipped through the pages and then showed one to her with a creepy grin.

“Hey, it looks like that stray dog over there really likes you. The childhood friend in this novel is totally based on you. Uh, let’s see… ‘The one person at school who gently heals my loneliness… before I knew it, I became aware of her…’, huh? Haha, how pathetic.”

“Stop it! Seriously, enough already! Put it back!”

Shizuku reached out, trying to snatch my diary from Iketsuki, but he caught her with his other hand.

“Oh, look at that, our goody-two-shoes class rep has sticky fingers, huh?”

With that, Iketsuki yanked Shizuku’s hand, pulling her closer to him. And then, just like that, they leaned in and kissed.

“Mm… mm… ah… stop it…”

Iketsuki tossed my diary aside as he kissed Shizuku, all the while groping her chest.

“Come on, it’ll feel even better than yesterday, I promise.”

Without waiting for Shizuku’s response, he slid his hand inside her shirt, pulling down her bra as he continued his greedy kisses.

What am I even witnessing right now? What have I been enduring all this humiliation for? Right in front of my eyes, the childhood friend I’ve secretly loved for so long is offering herself to the worst kind of guy, who bullies me for fun, letting out obscene moans.

After being toyed with for a while, Shizuku leaned on my desk, lifting her skirt and pulling aside her underwear to welcome Iketsuki. In the quiet, dusky classroom, the only sounds were Shizuku’s lewd moans and Iketsuki’s heavy breathing.

Their act continued for a while, but when Iketsuki finally finished, it came to an end. Shizuku leaned against my desk, her cheeks flushed, breathing heavily.

“Tch, there’s nothing to wipe up with… huh? This’ll do.”

Saying that, Iketsuki tore a few pages out of my diary and used them to wipe away their fluids. Shizuku, out of breath from what had just happened, could only watch in silence.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, I quietly left the classroom.

On the way home, memories of my childhood friend, who had been with me for years, and the gentle touch of my mother, who had lovingly patted my head and given me that diary, flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.

“Ken-kun.” “Ken-chan.” “Ken-kun.” “Ken-chan.” … My name, called so many times…

Before I realized it, I had arrived home. Without saying a word, I opened the door and went straight to my room. 

On the way, I crossed paths with my stepsister, Kotone, but she just glanced at me with the same disgusted look she always had and went downstairs without a word.

Kotone is a first-year student at the same school. She looks a lot like her mother—she’s incredibly beautiful, with long black hair and large dark eyes. An adorable beauty mark sits near her lips, making her popular not only among her classmates but even with upperclassmen.

She became my stepsister when my father remarried her mother before I started middle school. At first, our relationship was a bit distant, but we quickly warmed up to each other. She would often follow me and Shizuku around, and we played together a lot.

However, around the time we entered high school, Kotone started ignoring me. Maybe she was disillusioned after hearing about how things were going for me at school, or perhaps she just didn’t want to be associated with me anymore. We started going to school separately, and even if we came home at the same time, she’d go out of her way to take a different route to make sure no one noticed we lived in the same house.

But now, none of that really mattered anymore.

When I reached my room, I collapsed onto my bed. Tears welled up naturally, and as I lay on my back, I covered my eyes with my arm.

“Kotone~, could you call your brother for dinner?”

“No way! Do it yourself! I’m going to bed now!”

I heard the sound of footsteps running past my door, followed by the slam of the door to the room next to mine.

After that, there was a knock on my door, but I pretended to be asleep and ignored my stepmother as she quietly peeked into my room.

On my desk, there was a framed photo of Shizuku, Kotone, and me.

But when I looked at it now, both my childhood friend and my stepsister, who should have been in the picture, seemed blurry and unrecognizable. 

I took the photo out of the frame, tore it to pieces, and threw it in the trash.

That night, I gathered all the things in my room that reminded me of Shizuku, Kotone, and my family—memories that once meant something to me—and stuffed them into a bag. I took the bag to the mountain behind our house and set it on fire using a lighter I had taken from my father’s drawer.

I sat down in front of the roaring flames, hugging my knees as I watched the fire dance. As the flames died down, I felt like all my feelings for Shizuku, my concern for Kotone, and even my love for my family had been consumed by the fire, reduced to ashes. It felt as if the part of me that cared for others had burned away as well, leaving behind an overwhelming sense of emptiness. Something inside me seemed to snap, as if a limiter had been removed.

Later that night, I passed by a group of local delinquents hanging around a convenience store. Normally, I would’ve avoided them, but tonight, for some reason, I walked straight toward the store.

“Hey, you’re in the way. Move.”

I growled at the two blocking the entrance. The others in the group noticed me and started laughing, surrounding me.

“You gotta pay a toll to get through here! 20,000 yen!”

Ignoring them, I shoved one of them aside and tried to enter the store. Furious, they lunged at me, fists flying.

“Y-Y-Your change is 324 yen. P-P-Please come again.”

I purchased a sports drink and left the store.

“…”

In front of the store, a dozen or so members of a local gang lay on the ground, their special attack uniforms torn to shreds, covered in blood.

“Hey, you’re in the way. This is where customers park. Move.”

When I snarled at them, the former gang members screamed and dragged themselves away, fleeing from the store.

“Sigh… these bikes are in the way too.”

I picked up a few of the bikes and tossed them toward the mountain behind the store.

“Tomorrow’s going to be fun, Iketsuki…”