Volume 2 Chapter 4 – The Sacrifice 1

| Hatsushiba Tomoka

During lunch break, Kuzukawa and the others had gone somewhere. I stayed sprawled over my desk, chatting with Andou Mitsuki—Mee—and Tashiro Maaya—Maya.

“Ugh, this is so boring.”

“Well, yesterday, your eyes were gleaming.”

“Yeah, totally.”

That’s right. I couldn’t help but get excited thinking about today. But this was such a letdown. Knowing Kuzukawa and the others from middle school, this was beyond unexpected.

“You were acting all restless, Tomoka.”

“Is it that time of the month?”

“Shut up.”

No, that wasn’t it.

Kuzukawa, Shimode, Nakata, and Ueda.

What a nightmare it was to end up at the same school as them. But fortunately, it seemed like they didn’t recognize me.

The truth was, I had planned to erase my past completely over the course of a few years before approaching them.

I wanted to praise my past self for not being listed in Shimode’s records.

At first, Kuzukawa seemed wary since we went to the same middle school, but once he was convinced I didn’t know him, he started approaching me with smooth words.

I knew Kuzukawa trusted Shimode’s information too much.

There was no way they didn’t know. Those four were so despised by a portion of the students in our middle school that they were nicknamed the “demons.”

Outwardly, they smiled cheerfully and charmed others with their good looks, but Kuzukawa Kakeru was a prideful sadist at heart.

Shimode Kazunari, always blending into every group like a helpful hand, became everyone’s ally on the surface while constantly hunting for new targets in the shadows.

Ueda Youhei, who acted as the joker, played the fool to entertain but never hesitated to exploit weaknesses and intimidate others when the opportunity arose.

And then there was Nakata Daiya, who played the role of the cold and silent type with a blank face. No one could predict his actions, and he had a twisted fondness for seeing blood.

All of them had such well-crafted facades that even the adults never noticed. But in middle school, I personally knew several people who had been broken by them.

The Student Council President, a classmate from the track team, an underclassman from the swimming team, an attacker from the volleyball team, and a star of the dance team. All of them were girls who hadn’t bent to Kuzukawa’s will. And… my best friend.

These guys were psychopaths who relished in destroying the girls who defied them.

They used people who liked them, flattering them with sweet words, pulling out the information they wanted to hear from Shimode’s records, and turning them into spies.

Those spies would then isolate the target girl, and Kuzukawa and his group would swoop in like saviors and claim them as their own.

Sometimes, they would force their way into a relationship and leave the girl in ruins. Her boyfriend would end up skipping school out of shame after their intimate photos were leaked, eventually transferring out.

During the summer of our third year in middle school, a graduated senior got arrested. The charges were kidnapping, assault, rape, and distributing adult videos.

That senior was likely set up. After all, from the end of that summer break, rumors about Kuzukawa and the others completely vanished.

On the surface, they said things like, “Now it’s time to focus on entrance exams,” but they probably had other reasons to keep a low profile.

I absolutely couldn’t afford to get on their radar in high school, so I sucked up to them. This was the one thing I trusted about them—they didn’t go after those who groveled.

Luckily, I managed to debut successfully in high school, making it to the top of the rankings. I was fortunate.

Spending the entire spring break learning how to speak like a trendy girl paid off.

This move got me into a perfect position.

All of this, so I could someday destroy them.

“Aika isn’t coming, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Maybe she got scared after what happened to her childhood friend?”

Right now, it’s all about Aika.

Naruse Aika. A rare beauty. If she had tried to curry favor with Kuzukawa, I wouldn’t have cared. But it was clear that she had rejected them.

Normally, those guys would’ve taken action immediately, but it’s been three months, and there’s been no word.

Seeing these four demons act like regular students made my skin crawl.

They weren’t going to reflect on what they did. Someday, they were going to act again.

And yesterday, it happened out of nowhere.

This was the perfect opportunity for Hatsushiba Tomoka to sacrifice Aika and destroy Kuzukawa and the others once and for all.