The Nature of Scumbag
Kondo’s PoV
Ahhh! What a hassle. An emergency school assembly in the morning?
What, is there some kind of problem?
I don’t think so, but… did they find out about the hotel incident? No, that can’t be. My dad said they’d never find out.
It’s fine. I’m just overthinking it.
While I was trying to calm myself down, the principal began speaking.
[There are two announcements: one bad, one good. Let’s start with the bad news. The police have informed us that there is a strong possibility one of our students was involved in an assault in a neighboring town during summer vacation. The investigation is ongoing, and while the police haven’t confirmed whether the suspect is indeed from our school, we cannot ignore this. If you have any information, report it to your homeroom teacher by noon. Do not lie. We will find out. Consider this an ultimatum.]
What is he talking about? The principal’s sharp eyes seemed to land on me, and my stomach twisted with unease.
No, it’s not me. It’s not about me.
Someone whispered, “Isn’t this about Aono?” Yes, that’s it. This is about Aono. It’s always about him—because he hurt Miyuki.
I refuse to believe otherwise. I’m the king here. I can do whatever I want.
Besides, there were no surveillance cameras there. No police in sight. And when someone called me back then, I left immediately—no trace, no evidence.
The principal’s voice droned on.
[Aono Eiji and Ichijo Ai saved a life and the fire department will present them with certificates of commendation…]
That’s when it hit me. I’m being set up.
Takayanagi’s lazy attitude, those random interrogations—it was all an act. They were baiting me, keeping me relaxed until they had all the evidence lined up.
And then, at the perfect moment, they hit me with an ultimatum. No time to run, no time to clean up loose ends.
How do I summarize this? They killed two birds with one stone. First, they addressed the rumors, letting the bad news linger in everyone’s minds. But then, they immediately followed it with Aono’s heroic act, effectively erasing any credibility the rumors had.
Everyone in this gym—every single student—just went from seeing Aono as violent to seeing him as a hero.
This was a trap, carefully and flawlessly planned, all to destroy the rumors I spread.
“Damn it. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
If it’s come to this, I’ll have to contact my father. He can pressure the school into backing off…
But then I remembered.
My phone—smashed yesterday. I can’t make a call…
“Shit!”
I cursed under my breath, low enough that no one would hear.
A sharp scream pierced the air. Students began murmuring, and I heard someone shout for a teacher. Someone had collapsed—probably from anemia. Chaos rippled through the lines of students.
This is it. My chance. In the confusion, I slipped out of line and bolted for the gym exit. If I can just get out of here, I can find a phone, call my father, and fix this.
If I get arrested, it’s over. My soccer dreams, my girlfriends, my entire life—gone. And if that happens, who even am I anymore?
Come on, come on, come on…
I ran away from school.
Manager’s PoV
Watching the principal’s speech and Kondo-kun’s panicked escape, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. “This is going to be interesting.”
Oh, Kondo-kun… you really got caught this time. I almost feel sorry for you.
But if I step in to help, I’ll only drag myself down with you.
“I think you’re done here. Bye, Kondo-kun!”
I’ll delete the SNS accounts I used to keep in touch with him. Every message, every trace—gone. Our relationship ends here.
Sure, I spread those rumors too. But I’ll play dumb, act like I was fooled by the lies just like everyone else. I’ll apologize, feign regret. The school won’t punish someone who admits they were misled. After all, there are too many others who spread the same lies. They can’t punish us all.
Maybe we went too far by messing with Eiji-kun’s belongings. But the club members? They’ll say they were just speaking their minds. None of us will face consequences.
Kondo-kun is done for, a broken toy tossed aside. But… I’m curious to see how this all ends.
He acted like a villain, claimed to be a psychopath—but in the end, he was just a fake.
“Let’s enjoy the story to come.”
Takayanagi’s PoV
I watched as Kondo bolted out of the gym like a rat caught in a trap.
“Idiot. Running away now is as good as confessing. They’ll eat you alive. The fact that Aono wasn’t involved in the assault will become clear, and the sudden closeness between Kondo and Amada will look suspicious. Add to that Kondo’s little sprint for the exit—it doesn’t take much for rumors to spread. But then again… you already know that, don’t you, Kondo?”
Tired of watching that mess unfold, I turned away and hurried over to help Amada Miyuki, who had collapsed in the chaos.