COTE : Oh No, I've Become the Substitute Chapter 61: The Day Ryuen Kakeru Will Never Forget, Even in

A synthesized chanical female voice cheerfully sang out incomprehensible gibberish, the electronic tones echoing through the dim, narrow alleyway.

Ryuen Kakeru gripped his phone with such force that several cracks spiderwebbed across the screen. Eyes bloodshot and nearly bursting from their sockets, he stared at the remixed footage of himself being endlessly looped and shot down. The pale, flickering screen illuminated his contorted, ferocious face.

"Goddammit, which son of a bitch did this?! I'm gonna fucking kill him!"

In so shadowy corner of the school, Ryuen delivered a thunderous kick to a nearby trash can, caving in one side with a deep dent. The tal twisted and deford with a harsh, grating screech, startling a few nearby sparrows into fluttering away in a panic.

Since last night, the circulation of his personal humiliation reel on the forums had spiked yet again. It had even escalated—soone had added BGM and turned it into a mockery.

He could figure it out with his trigeminal nerve: it was definitely a response to his actions yesterday afternoon.

How utterly despicable, how outrageously shaless! That goddamn mastermind!

Ryuen seethed with a fury he had nowhere to vent, forced to output his rage against a hapless trash can in a void.

If you've got the guts, co out and face fair and square!!

He didn't even need to look. That bunch of idiots in his class who opposed him were probably already in so group chat, gleefully egging it on and secretly spreading this video far and wide.

The rest would likely retreat back into the neutral camp, adopting a wait-and-see attitude again.

If this continued, the gap between Class C and the two upper classes would only widen further. He had to find a way to claw back the points, and fast, before the gap grew large enough to shatter morale entirely.

Still... his plan hadn't been completely without progress.

Ryuen let out a cold laugh and slamd a fist against the wall. The searing pain jolted his mind into a few degrees of clarity.

After cooling down slightly, he pulled out his phone with its shattered screen and dialed a number.

"Did you find out? That guy from Class D who wasn't at his seat—who is he?"

"Yes! Ryuen-san, it's a male student nad Hirata Yosuke. I asked every Class D student I know. They all dodged the question about why Hirata Yosuke isn't coming to class. They either shook their heads and claid they didn't know, or changed the subject entirely."

"A male student?" Ryuen's lips curled into a cruel grin. "And they're uniformly clamming up, huh? Heh! He's really earned the trust of those Class D students, hasn't he? What about his capabilities?"

Having been entirely focused on consolidating Class C, his intelligence on the other classes was, to put it mildly, abysmally scarce. Now that a suspect had erged, he could only dispatch soone to gather intel first.

"If I had to na a leader of Class D, the overwhelming majority of Class D students would probably pick him."

"In other words, he has a motive. As Class D's leader, desperate to climb up, casually striking a blow against a student from another class while taking a piss wouldn't be all that strange, would it? What does he look like?"

"Word is, he's very popular with the first-year girls. Ranked number two on the girls' unofficial hot-guys leaderboard."

Ryuen let out a sharp whistle. "So another condition matches. Does Albert have any impression of him?"

"He said he's not sure..."

"Fine."

Hearing this answer yet again, Ryuen wasn't disappointed. He'd never truly expected Yamada Albert to rember so random passerby from two months ago.

"But, Ryuen-san," the voice on the phone hesitated, "Hirata Yosuke's reputation among the first years is really good. Everyone who knows him says he's a genuinely kind person. Would he really do sothing like that?"

"I've never believed there's any such thing as a genuinely good person in this world. Maybe this 'kindness' is just his camouflage. Class D, a class of defectives—and it just happens to produce a perfect leader?" Ryuen let out a cold sneer, as if the notion itself was the most hilarious joke he'd ever heard. "Where is he right now?"

"He's been holed up in the boys' dormitory these past two days. Only cos out during altis."

Ryuen glanced at the ti on his phone. "Let's move. Call Yamawaki. We'll go feel out his background first."

Hanging up the phone, he strode toward the dormitory with his trademark swagger, utterly oblivious to the world.

...

The Advanced Nurturing High School first-year dormitory building, Hirata Yosuke's room.

The curtains sealed the room tightly, blocking out every last sliver of light. The corners of the dorm room seed drained of all illumination.

Hirata sat like a plaster statue, his back against the wall, sunk deep into the darkest, most secluded corner of the room.

He had maintained this exact posture for hours now. As for why, he didn't really know himself. Perhaps... it made his heart feel just a little bit lighter.

Once again, he had failed to protect his classmates.

Only two months into the school year, and Ike-kun had been expelled.

Whose fault was it?

The school?

The horoom teacher?

The other classmates who refused to contribute points?

Or the person who had sent Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun that fake exam paper?

He didn't know. But the situation had spiraled to this point, and he bore an inescapable responsibility.

If he had taken a firr stance back then, forced Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun to study, would the outco have been better?

In the pitch-black room, Hirata asked himself this question over and over in his heart.

After who knows how long, a peculiar sensation, accompanied by a gurgling sound, rose stubbornly from the depths of his body. He shifted his stiff fra slightly, and a faint spasm emanated from his stomach.

Reaching out, he fumbled in the darkness for a mont. A pale, ghastly light flickered on, illuminating the dark.

'Ah, it's already this late? It seems I'll have to go out and replenish myself with so food.'

He staggered to his feet, bracing himself against the wall, and made his way toward the door.

He'd go back to class tomorrow. No matter what, his classmates had all done their best. He couldn't let Class D lose its drive to move forward because of him.

With a soft click, the door gently closed. Hirata, head hanging despondently, walked toward the student cafeteria.

'My current state isn't good. If my classmates see like this, they'll definitely co over to ask what's wrong.'

Thinking this, he headed toward the stairwell that few people normally used.

Suddenly, accompanied by the faint sound of footsteps, several pairs of leather shoes entered Hirata's downcast line of sight.

Looking up, the first-year's most infamous figure, Ryuen Kakeru, stood blocking his path with two others. Two more Class C students flanked him on his left and right.

Hirata ignored them and tried to step around the three, only to be blocked further by their bodies.

"Move aside, please," he said in a low, heavy voice.

Ignoring his words entirely, Ryuen turned his head toward Komiya and asked, "Is it him?"

"It's him," Komiya nodded.

"Good." Ryuen tilted his head up, looking down condescendingly at Hirata. "Care to spare us a mont of your ti?"

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood to chat with you right now."

Hirata attempted to walk around them once more. But Ryuen took a single sidestep and planted himself firmly in his path again.

"That's not for you to decide!"

"And what if I say no?" Hirata lowered his head, his brown bangs veiling his darkening expression.

Ryuen raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Hirata's current appearance with care.

"Everyone says you're an outstanding student without a single fault to pick."

"I don't consider myself outstanding."

He clenched his fists, digging his nails deep into his palms, and responded in a low voice.

"I said, I'll be the judge of that." Ryuen let out a scoffing laugh. "I'm looking for a student who used the restroom in the eastern teaching building within the first few days of school. Ring any bells?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Really no idea?"

"None."

Ryuen was unfazed by this answer. Without concrete evidence, that mastermind was inherently difficult to pin down. Unless he ca forward and confessed himself, there was no way to confirm his identity with one hundred percent certainty.

What was interesting was that this male student, who happened to fit the definition of "sowhat good-looking," was reacting very strangely right now. It made him suspect whether Hirata's current state was an act, or whether he had a hidden side to him.

Either possibility made him worth Ryuen's continued probing.

"Don't be so resistant. I'm just here to make friends with you today."

"I'm not in the mood right now."

"Why not? Spit it out. Who knows, I might just clutch my stomach and laugh my ass off."

"..." Hirata lowered his head and said nothing.

"Don't be so silent. Smile a little. Let , your new friend, take a guess."

Ryuen chuckled derisively and began pacing slowly beside Hirata. His slow, heavy footsteps echoed through the stairwell.

"Life problems? Or academic ones?"

"..."

"Assigned to Class D, considered a defective?"

"..."

"As the class leader, failed to lead your class properly and caused soone to be expelled?"

Hirata's pupils abruptly constricted. His fists clenched tighter, his jaw locking up.

"Looks like I guessed right."

Having keenly caught his reaction, Ryuen imdiately barked out a laugh.

"Don't get so worked up over it. He was just a piece of trash who couldn't pass an exam. If he's expelled, he's expelled."

"Don't you dare insult Ike-kun!" Hirata, who had kept his head bowed in silence, suddenly erupted as if a raw nerve had been struck. He growled, "He only failed this exam because soone frad him!"

"Frad? Now that's interesting. This midterm exam was far too easy. It was clearly handed down by the school specifically to help the lower classes gain points. If a student still managed to get expelled under those circumstances, it only proves one thing..."

Ryuen twisted his head around, staring into Hirata's furious eyes, and cruelly spat out a single sentence:

"Either that class's leader is a worthless piece of trash, or the expelled student was garbage not even worth saving!"

"I said, don't you dare insult Ike-kun!" A furious roar resounded throughout the entire stairwell.

"Did I say anything wrong?"

Ryuen scoffed dismissively at Hirata's threat and continued.

"No matter the reason—whether he didn't study hard enough, fell into soone else's trap, or any other pointless excuse—the reason for his expulsion ultimately boils down to one thing: he was too weak!"

"..."

"The weak don't deserve to survive in this school. I'm actually quite curious myself how he ended up expelled. Hirata, tell the thod. Maybe I can help you clean out all the dregs of Class D in one go. That way, your Class D might even get back on its feet faster."

Having spoken, Ryuen burst into roaring laughter. His two sidekicks joined in, laughing along with him.

The mocking laughter echoed through the stairwell like a series of sledgehamrs, crashing heavily upon Hirata's heart.

"It's because of people like you..." he murmured under his breath.

"Hm?"

"It's because people like you exist that Ike-kun was expelled!!"

All the negative emotions Hirata Yosuke had bottled up over these past few days detonated in that single mont. His fist clenched and flew straight toward Ryuen Kakeru's face.

Faced with Hirata's assault, the battle-hardened Ryuen rely flashed a contemptuous grin. He clenched his own fist and t the attack head-on.

"Finally dropped your mask, have you? Let test the ttle of this Class D leader myself, and see if you're really the one I'm looking for!"

"I'll make people like you live in fear!"

"Big talk's cheap. Komiya, Yamawaki, get him!"

"Right!"

Receiving their orders, the two lunged at Hirata simultaneously from both sides, fists and kicks raining down like a storm.

Hirata grunted, tanking several heavy blows. He did not retreat. Ignoring Ryuen's strikes, he suddenly pivoted to face the two henchn.

Relying on explosive power and sheer reckless ferocity, he first drove a heavy hook deep into Komiya's abdon, leaving him doubled over in agony and crumpling to the ground. Then, in a fluid backswing, his elbow smashed precisely into Yamawaki's jaw. Yamawaki stumbled back and crashed into the wall, instantly losing all combat capability.

"Useless!"

Ryuen spat out a curse, then continued his brawl with Hirata.

Monts later, only the two of them remained, facing off in the corridor.

Hirata panted heavily, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his disheveled bangs plastered against his pale face.

Ryuen was in no better shape. His chest heaved violently, and one side of his face was visibly swollen from a punch he had taken.

"Not bad. I underestimated you. As expected of Class D's leader!" Wiping the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, he spat on the ground and revealed a thrilled grin.

Hirata drew a deep breath. Countless thoughts had been tangling and clashing in his mind over the past two days, trapping him in the shadow of Ike Kanji's expulsion. Now, having taken a few punches and dealt a few back, he felt inexplicably lighter at heart.

"As I thought..." he murmured lowly.

"What?"

"As I thought, I was far too naive before. Unless we clean people like you out of this school, my classmates can never graduate safely!!" Hirata's voice suddenly surged in volu. Clenching his fist, he charged at Ryuen.

"This school is only fit for survival of the fittest! The weak can obediently exit the stage!" Ryuen likewise launched a fist straight at him.

The two fists crossed mid-flight, each smashing squarely into the other's face. The dull thuds of fists striking flesh, the heavy, ragged breathing, and the roars of fury echoed through the stairwell.

A heavy punch from Ryuen made Hirata's vision flash black, while his return blow slamd viciously into Ryuen's ribs, twisting his face in agony.

Both fighters' stamina drained away rapidly. Their movents grew sluggish. But neither fell. Each leaned on sheer willpower to prop up his own crumbling, swaying body.

After a brief pause to catch their breath, the two clashed once more, descending into a full-blown mode of passionate mutual slugging.

On the window ledge nearby, utterly unnoticed by anyone, a pigeon watched this earth-shattering battle with considerable excitent.

At its feet, a miniature cara lens glinted faintly under the light.

"Coo coo..." (Fight on! Hell yeah!)

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