I Don't Want An Ordinary Life

Chapter 41: Do You Have a Problem with Your Own Father?

On the first day of the incident, the entire class collectively denounced Ronan.

The second day, the denunciations continued.

But by the third day, the tide of public opinion began to shift.

Instead of solely condemning Ronan for using violence to injure their classmate Ogino, attention turned to Ogino's own infidelity.

Rumors began to spread, claiming that Ogino had been seeing multiple women since middle school, often moving on to someone else shortly after beginning a relationship.

Even during high school, while dating Otomo Kyoko, he reportedly maintained relationships with more than three other girls.

Yes, only infidelity was exposed—Ogino's more vile crimes had not yet come to light.

Ronan knew that if those dark deeds were revealed, even Otomo, as a victim, could suffer severe social consequences. By limiting the revelation to just infidelity, the harm to the victim would be minimized.

At first, no one believed these accusations. But given Ronan's track record—always presenting evidence of infidelity before taking action—people started to take them seriously.

"No… How could Ogino have done something like this…?"

Otomo felt devastated upon hearing the rumors. She couldn't believe the boy she'd been dating could do such a thing.

"Well, it's not entirely unreasonable," one of the girls nearby said, her eyes flickering nervously. "You see, while Ronan can be awful, you know how he operates. He always finds evidence of cheating first."

"Then why won't he show it to me!?"

"That I don't know…"

Public opinion needed time to ferment. This was only the third day.

And on the fourth day, for reasons unknown, photos of Ogino meeting with girls from other schools began circulating among classmates. Some of these photos were even recent.

Why were the photos identified as recent? It's because Ogino was still on crutches in the pictures, clearly showing he had been injured not long ago in the altercation with Ronan.

This solidly established the evidence.

On the fifth day, Ogino came to school using crutches.

The moment he stepped into the classroom, he could feel the unfriendly stares of his classmates.

Otomo walked up to him, gazing at Ogino with tear-filled eyes.

"Ogino... are those things true?"

Hearing Otomo Kyoko ask him directly, he glanced around at his classmates. Their eyes were cold and distrustful, each one waiting to see how he would respond.

Ogino knew the situation was already checkmate.

The photos of him meeting with a girl while on crutches were taken under Ronan's coercion. He could still recall Ronan's words, uttered with a sneer:

"This is your only chance at survival. Do as I say, or no one can save you."

"Yes, it's true."

"What…"

"I was done with you a long time ago. I just never got around to telling you," Ogino said.

"Then the thing with Ronan…"

"Oh, him."

Ogino put on a mocking grin, chuckling. "He came to me with some memory card, trying to make me stop. I ended up destroying it, threw a few threats his way, and he lost it. Went completely nuts and attacked me. He deserved to get suspended."

Smack!

A sharp slap landed on Ogino's face.

With tears in her voice, Otomo Kyoko shouted, "You scum! Don't let me ever see you again!"

"Fine by me. I don't want to see you either."

As Otomo Kyoko ran off in tears and the classmates around him looked on with disgust, Ogino felt uncomfortable with how much things had changed. But at the very least, he was relieved to still be alive.

That very day, public opinion completely turned against him.

...

"It doesn't really matter what the truth is. What matters is that someone convinces people that one particular version is the truth."

Ronan sat in his room, fingers rapidly tapping the buttons on his controller as his eyes remained fixed on the TV screen.

"Controlling the narrative means controlling the power to shape perception. A child's honest statement won't carry as much weight as a university professor's lies. By curbing any negative gossip within the school and having the student council and news club reshape Ogino's image, everything naturally falls into place."

"Hmm…"

"I told you before, didn't I? I'll handle this. Otomo Kyoko might be upset for a while, but she'll get through it without any lasting harm—and you'll be fine too."

As he spoke, Ronan glanced over at Ishigami, who was sitting next to him, also pressing buttons on his controller.

"So why'd you have to skip class?"

"I can't stand how those classmates are slandering you."

"They're not slandering me. In fact, I'm probably much worse than they imagine," Ronan said with a laugh. "By the way, how did you find my house? I don't remember giving you my address."

On the third day, Ronan had been gaming at home when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, he was surprised to find Ishigami standing there. After inviting him in to play, Ishigami began showing up daily and would stick around until after school hours before heading home.

"Ms. Sagara mentioned that you live in this apartment building, so I just spent a bit of time looking for your unit number."

"What does it say on the nameplate?"

"It just says 'Yao.'"

"The nameplate clearly says 'Nuzhao,'" Ronan replied. "By the way, isn't it bad for you to keep skipping class like this? You might flunk the midterms in a month."

"Whether I study or not, I'm going to fail anyway."

"Well said. I don't like studying either."

"Then let's all fail together," Ishigami said with a grin.

School had become a daily grind, but for Ishigami, visiting Ronan's home provided a rare sense of relief.

"Doesn't your family care that you're not going to school?" Ronan asked.

"They're planning for my older brother to inherit the company anyway," Ishigami replied, button-mashing his controller. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm basically left to my own devices."

"What does your family do?"

"We make toys."

"Oh! Like Gundams and Kamen Rider stuff? I really love those, and my dad…"

"No, no, no—not Bandai. We're a small company," Ishigami clarified.

"Speaking of toys, when I first came to Japan, I bought a few myself."

Ronan stood up, walked over to a cabinet in his room, and opened it to reveal his collection.

Pointing each item out with pride, he said, "Check it out. This sword here is the legendary Frostmourne from Warcraft, and it's actually forged. And this plastic-looking axe next to it? That's the famous Signal Axe."

Ishigami: "…Do you have something against your own dad?"

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