Chapter 20 – Ogawa Keisotsu’s Hatred ①

Halfway up the stairs leading to the school roof, a single male student sat slumped over. That person was Ogawa Keisotsu, the childhood friend who had betrayed Ichizu.

Killing time alone during his lunch break to avoid the public eye, Ogawa’s frustration was mounting.

(Dammit… why am I the only one who has to go through this shit…!?)

Before advancing to their second year, this Ogawa had cruelly dumped his childhood friend, Arai Ichizu. At the time, he hadn’t felt an ounce of guilt over his actions. If anything, he felt like a burden had been lifted. To top it all off, he had even been cheating on her with another girl without batting an eye while they were dating. It proved him to be the kind of scum whose basic human decency was highly questionable.

But a few weeks ago, divine punishment was handed down to the shameless Ogawa. The person responsible for that was Kamiji Shinta, the former delinquent feared as the Demon God.

(Son of a bitch… that bastard completely ruined my school life.)

After the break, Ichizu—the childhood friend Ogawa had once mocked for being chubby when he dumped her—had transformed into such an absolute beauty that she seemed like a completely different person. Seeing his lovely, reborn childhood friend, Ogawa arrived at a thought process that defied normal sensibilities. Unbelievably, he seriously considered getting back together with her.

From Ichizu’s perspective, it was enough to send shivers down her spine. Ogawa figured that since they had spent so much time together as childhood friends, she would forgive him. It was the selfish, endlessly egocentric thinking of a piece of trash.

But looking at the results, Ogawa’s scheme had completely imploded. He had been overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of Shinta, who stood in his way as if to protect Ichizu from him. This resulted in him exposing himself to massive humiliation in front of a large crowd. To make matters worse, Ichizu herself had utterly rejected his very existence.

“If that guy hadn’t stuck his nose in, I’d have made that beauty mine by now.”

Ever since that incident, Ogawa’s school life had completely changed.

During his first year, he had been deceiving Ichizu and extorting money from her. Things were going swimmingly with the girl he was cheating with. However, after he caved to Shinta’s pressure in front of a crowd of classmates, the fact that he had been treating his childhood friend as a cash cow spread everywhere.

He was completely isolated in the classroom. The awkwardness forced him to voluntarily quit the basketball club he belonged to. On top of that, his parents even found out about the incident, leaving him with no place to belong even in his own home. His parents, who had known Ichizu since she was little, were especially furious. Now, they barely even spoke to him. His allowance had been cut off.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Looking back on his downfall, he screamed while aggressively scratching at his head. Blood rushed to his brain.

Why did he have to be struck by such a tragedy? He only dumped his ugly childhood friend—this treatment was way too harsh no matter how you looked at it!

Ogawa seethed with such selfish anger. From anyone else’s perspective, there was zero room for sympathy. He had reaped exactly what he sowed. An egocentric person like this was capable of anger, yet completely incapable of self-reflection.

(Dammit… it’s totally unreasonable for me to be the only one stuck feeling this miserable. I won’t be satisfied until I plant the exact same despair in those two—no, an even greater despair.)

Harboring this unjustified resentment, Ogawa wracked his brain trying to figure out some way to exact his revenge on Ichizu and Shinta.

If Ichizu were the only target of his revenge, it would be simple. However, Shinta’s existence was the problem. After all, the guy was a legendary former delinquent feared in the underworld. Even if he tried to retaliate head-on, there was a high probability the tables would be turned. He’d be the one who suffered a brutal beating. It was frustrating. Precisely because he had faced him directly, he could say for sure: making that Demon God seriously angry was far too dangerous.

Well, he could make all the excuses he wanted. In the end, it just meant he was terrified of Shinta striking back.

“Dammit, lunch break is almost over.”

Checking the time displayed on his smartphone, Ogawa started to head back to the classroom. On the way to his class, a certain trio caught his eye.

“Wha— that guy…”

The people reflected at the end of his gaze were the detestable Shinta. Taking up positions on either side of him were Ichizu and Miina.

(Why… why the hell does a piece of trash like you get to be flanked by such beautiful women? While I’m being forced into this lonely, suffocating everyday life…)

Seeing Shinta chatting harmoniously with his beautifully reborn childhood friend and a gorgeous girl with a great figure—the complete opposite of his own situation, surrounded by enemies on all sides—Ogawa’s feelings pushed past anger. They sprouted into pure murderous intent.

His vision turned pitch red with hatred. He couldn’t stop grinding his teeth out of sheer frustration. And yet, that former delinquent piece of trash was cheerfully flirting with cute girls.

(Don’t screw with me… a place like that doesn’t suit human garbage like you. And you too, Ichizu. Not even caring that the childhood friend you spent so much time with is suffering, don’t you dare smile and shamelessly fawn over a guy like that…!!)

Unbelievably, he even directed his hostility toward Ichizu, completely ignoring the fact that he was the one who had betrayed her first.

However, no matter how much hatred he harbored, to an onlooker, it was nothing more than the jealousy of a powerless man. In fact, at this moment, while Ogawa certainly possessed the hatred, he had absolutely no concrete method for revenge.

But this man’s hatred toward Shinta and Ichizu would eventually bare its fangs at them in the near future.