I Don't Want An Ordinary Life

Chapter 40: Playing Hooky

"Hey! Shirogane, I need an explanation!"

"Calm down, Momo…"

Early in the morning, in the student council office, Momo stormed in and slammed her hand on the desk in front of Shirogane.

She hadn't seen Ronan on the rooftop the day of the incident. It was odd, but since she had no way to contact him, she could only wait.

Before long, however, one of her club members informed her that Ronan had been suspended for fighting. Having heard about Ogino from Ronan before, she spent an entire day tracking down information on Ogino through various channels. By the following day, she stormed into the student council office, armed with a file.

"How can I stay calm? Ronan might be part of the student council, but he's also a member of the astronomy club. Something like this happens, and you haven't resolved it?" Momo said indignantly.

"I've been investigating it as well… but I haven't found anything conclusive yet."

"Unbelievable. You became the student council president and your efficiency hasn't improved one bit."

Momo tossed a USB drive onto the desk in annoyance.

"This Ogino guy is definitely shady. He's left a string of victims over the years."

As Momo continued speaking, Shirogane picked up the USB drive and plugged it into his computer.

"I heard it started as far back as middle school."

"Is that so… Well, the immediate issue now is the confirmed violent incident." Shirogane sighed, visibly troubled. "We'll just have to use the student council's influence to minimize the fallout."

"The best approach would be to make that scumbag Ogino confess at school," Momo said, frowning. "But when I had my dad's people go to the harbor district hospital to grab him yesterday, the kid wasn't there. Could he have run away?"

"Momo… have you considered a possibility?"

"What possibility?"

"Ronan had already figured it out, but he deliberately kept it under wraps," Shirogane calmly analyzed. "And it's very likely he already has Ogino under control."

"...That does seem possible. With his abilities, he could easily pull it off," Momo said, pursing her lips. "I told him before that I could handle it for him, but no, he insisted on taking matters into his own hands."

"Anyway, I'll use the student council's influence to suppress the fallout from this incident for now. Momo, you should use your own connections within the school to help downplay it as well."

"I was going to do that regardless."

Hearing Momo's response, Shirogane nodded and pulled out his phone—the one Ronan had given him.

"Well… I think it's best to get the details straight from him."

"Wait."

"What is it?"

"You have his contact info?"

"Of course. We exchanged numbers for work purposes," Shirogane replied, puzzled. "Don't you have it?"

"...I forgot to ask him for it."

In Japan, only Sagara and Shirogane had Ronan's contact information. He had only willingly shared his phone number with those two.

Bzzzz~

Just then, Shirogane's phone buzzed. He glanced down and saw it was Ronan calling. Without hesitation, he picked up.

"Hello? Ronan, where are you now… Oh, we were just talking about this… Uh-huh, uh-huh… I see. You already have a solution? Got it… no problem."

Hearing the last part, Shirogane's lips curled up slightly.

"Seems like you've got your own plan in place. Go for it. The student council will handle the rest."

With that, the call ended.

"...What did he say?"

"Ronan appears to have a solution already," Shirogane replied with a smile. "We just need to focus on what we have to do on our end."

...

"That Ronan guy is just awful—he's not even from this school…"

"It's really such a shame about Ogino. He's such an outstanding person, and Otomo, you must be worried about him too."

"Yeah," Kyoko said, looking concerned. "I went to the hospital yesterday and asked the doctor, but they said Ogino was transferred to a bigger hospital. I sent him a text, but he hasn't replied. He must be seriously hurt."

"It's all Ronan's fault!"

"Why would the school even let someone like him enroll?"

The classmates took turns expressing their anger toward Ronan, while Ishigami sat at his desk, clenching his fists so tightly his nails were digging into his palms.

He wanted so badly to stand up and yell at these students that Ogino was the real scumbag, that Ronan didn't actually hit anyone, and that the one who threw punches was Ogino.

But Ronan had warned him not to cause any unnecessary trouble before leaving school, so all he could do now was force himself to stay silent.

Yet his patience was running thin.

"Honestly, I think Ishigami has it rough too."

'Shut up.'

"Exactly. He went in to break up the fight and ended up taking a punch for no reason."

'Shut up!!'

"He used to walk around with Ronan all the time, and this is how his 'friend' treats him? What a lunatic!"

'Shut up already!'

Hearing those words, Ishigami felt his vision blur with red as blood vessels strained in his eyes.

"Ishigami, there you are."

"...Huh?"

Lifting his head blankly, he found Kyoko standing in front of him.

"Thanks for what you did yesterday, Ishigami."

"...No, I—"

"Ronan really went overboard yesterday. I don't understand why the school only suspended him for a week. Someone that dangerous—when he comes back, don't go hanging around him again…"

Bang!

Ishigami suddenly slammed the table and shot to his feet, startling everyone around him.

"Ish—Ishigami?"

Startled by the sudden loud noise, Kyoko instinctively stepped back, staring in confusion at Ishigami, whose cold gaze was entirely unlike the Ishigami she remembered.

"You… do you think you're able to sit here, chatting with your classmates and smiling like a fool, because of who?"

"...What?"

"Hey, Ishigami, what's gotten into you all of a sudden—"

"Move!"

When the surrounding classmates, unsure of what was going on, started crowding around, Ishigami shouted, freezing them in their tracks.

"…"

He glanced at the bewildered faces of his classmates, silently grabbed his bag, and walked out of the classroom without looking back.

He didn't want to stay in that class any longer.

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