Ch. 38 - False Strength

“I know you’re angry, but don’t be in such a rush.”

Nogami Izumi: 💢???

The calmer he looked, the more it stoked her fury— that infuriating, unbothered air only made her want to drag him down with her, to make him hurt even more than she did, and then throw his own despair back in his face.

“The anger you’re venting at me, only a small part of it actually belongs to me. You don’t seem to realize that.”

“I’m not stupid enough to forget who pissed me off, you idiot.”

Heh…

Watching Nogami cling to her pride even now, Harutaki’s lips curled into a faint, mocking smile.

“Your rage isn’t just about your current situation, It’s born from your weakness—your inability to change anything.”

He tilted his head slightly, as if making a diagnosis.

“I call that… impotent fury.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Nogami knew that better than anyone. But how could she ever admit it—especially in front of him?

“Impotent? Who was it that got toyed around by someone as ‘impotent’ as me? Who was it that let me treat him like a dog and never once fought back? Who was it that kept his mouth shut when everyone turned against him?”

Her lips twisted into a scornful grin.

“Let me remind you, Hoshi–ka–wa–Haru–ta–ki— it was you.”

Every memory flickered vividly behind her eyes, and for a brief moment, she felt that familiar thrill of superiority again.

Who the hell did he think he was?

He was the loser here—the one she’d broken once already.

What gave him the right to lecture her?

“That’s exactly why I said you’re an idiot, Nogami-san,” Harutaki sighed, looking at her as though she were a child who’d missed the point.

He started counting on his fingers, like listing trivia.

“Oda Nobunaga was mocked by everyone as the Fool of Owari, but he never cared. He followed his own will and became the man who unified the Warring States. Tokugawa Ieyasu was a hostage for twelve years and a vassal under Hideyoshi for decades, but he became the ultimate victor and founded the shogunate.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“So tell me, why do you think that when I talk about resistance or revenge, it has to mean shouting ‘Die!’ while swinging a sword around?”

“To achieve a goal, to secure victory in the end—even if that means bowing low, even if it means swallowing humiliation—what’s so wrong with that?”

“Until you have power or status, your so-called dignity or pride means nothing. When you need to throw it away, throw it away.”

That was one of the lessons his mother had drilled into him in his past life.

If you don’t have the strength to protect your pride, then in other people’s eyes, your ‘honor’ is just trash.

“You—” Nogami’s voice trembled, “you actually dare compare yourself to Nobunaga and Ieyasu?”

With nothing left to counter him, she could only lash out at his character instead.

Enough, he thought.

Time to tear away her last layer of illusion.

“Nogami-san, you seem to be under a certain delusion. You think your ability to do whatever you want—to act like a tyrant—comes from your own power, don’t you?”

“So what if it does?! All those idiots—kids, adults, whatever—they’re nothing but fools. Their only worth is to entertain me like toys!”

“Ha. Completely wrong.”

Harutaki’s laugh was short and cold.

He looked at her with scathing contempt.

“After everything you’ve been through, after being on the receiving end of it yourself, I can’t believe you still have the nerve to say that.”

“Shut up! I’m done listening to your crap!”

“You, the one who cursed other students for joining in on the bullying— you’re just another coward who only knows how to prey on the weak!”

“Bullshit! Back in middle school, I had company executives kneeling on the floor begging me for mercy! What were you doing then, huh? Hiding in your room reading manga, you damn shut-in!”

…Was it really bullshit?

Harutaki took a deep breath, cooling the surge of heat in his chest.

Then, calmly, he stripped the truth bare—layer by layer—until only the ugliness remained.

“Do you honestly think they were afraid of you? Of your so-called intelligence or your imaginary special-forces-level strength?”

He laughed softly, like he couldn’t believe the stupidity of it.

“You were just unconsciously using people like me— using the same kind of leverage— exploiting adults’ fear of losing their families, their friends, their jobs.

“You used the weight of responsibility against them, and they caved.”

“Sure, adults seem like wolves to kids. But even wolves get trampled to death when a herd of cattle stampedes. And you— you were just the fool in the back, lighting the fire to spook the herd, then pretending their strength was your own.”

He met her eyes, his voice now cold and clear.

“You did things that were cruel and vile, yet you weaponized society’s morality itself to justify it.

“Tell me, Nogami-san— don’t you think that’s pathetic?”

“……”

Under the weight of his words, her head hung low. Her fists clenched tight, her pale lips trembling until they split, the metallic tang of blood spreading faintly across her tongue.

She could recognize her own ugliness. She knew exactly what kind of person she was— and she knew he wasn’t wrong.

She couldn’t argue.

Even with her dignity trampled and ground into the dirt, she couldn’t bring herself to throw a tantrum or twist the truth.

Right was right. Wrong was wrong.

Nogami knew she’d done terrible, despicable things— but all of it had been built on one simple belief:

The strong rule, the weak obey. That was the law she’d always lived by. The weak had no value except to be used and discarded.

Even now, she still clung to that creed— but Harutaki hadn’t attacked her belief.

He’d attacked her place within it.

He had told her she wasn’t the strong one at all. And that—she had no words for.

“You think the reason you could bully others freely, without consequence, was because of your clever threats? Because you were scary enough to keep everyone silent?”

Harutaki’s voice cut like a whip.

“Wrong. Completely wrong.”

“You’ve been taking credit for something that was never yours to begin with— your family name. Your father’s influence. That’s what kept people quiet.”

He stood over her, eyes blazing with quiet fury.

“All this time, did you never wonder why teachers, even the principal, never dared to scold you? Why no one ever truly stopped you?”

“You’ve survived this long because you were born lucky— because your last name is Nogami.”

Her face went pale.

Her bloodied lips trembled, but no sound came out.

Her whole body shook, as if she might collapse at any moment.

Harutaki couldn’t help thinking— Nogami’s father must have really protected her. Or maybe she’d just been absurdly lucky, to make it this far while believing that having leverage meant she could do anything.

“If you ever cross the wrong kind of person,the kind who doesn’t care about consequences— you’ll die without even understanding why.”

And as if the world itself wanted to confirm his words, the quiet street around them suddenly filled with noise—

A chorus of footsteps.

Rough voices.

A group of high schoolers—three girls and four boys— turned the corner into the street.

Even from a distance, the girls’ faces were covered in gauze and bandages.

“There she is! That bitch! She’s the one who clawed my face and made it swell up!”

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