• You can read the title as either "tsura" (face) or "men" (mask), whichever you prefer.
• Mildly graphic (maybe?) content.

"Next…"

Muttering this, Shuto scans the classroom. Most classmates desperately avoid his gaze. After a moment, his eyes fix on one person: Itakura nene, a girl trembling in a corner. She's also on Shuto's revenge list. Last week, in the real world, she lied to Shuto, manipulating his feelings and falsely accusing him of being a stalker.

"The worst vixen who teamed up with Nakazato and the others to drag me to the depths and mock me…"

His teeth grinding with rage, Shuto stands before Itakura, who trembles and looks up at him fearfully.

"U-um… I…""First of all, admit that your ridiculous story was a lie.""Ridiculous story…?""…How much longer are you going to pretend…?"

Shuto, his face contorted with anger, kicks over a nearby desk. The desk flies through the air and lands harmlessly. While Itakura flinches at the sound, Shuto loudly recounts the abhorrent incident.

"What do you mean, I stalked you!? I've never done anything that sleazy! You teamed up with Nakazato and the others to spread such blatant lies throughout the school! Since last Friday, I've been falsely accused, treated as a villain, a stalker!"

"H-hey…don't shout…" "Huh…?"

Itakura feigns fear and speaks in a tearful voice, responding to Shuto's furious outburst at being falsely accused. Shuto's anger and hatred intensify at Itakura's pathetic display of weakness.

"Tell everyone in this class honestly. It was a lie you fabricated. More idiots than I imagined, including most of this school, have blindly believed your pathetic lies!?"

Shuto inwardly adds, Most of them probably willingly participated in this scum's malice.

"U-uh… okay.

Everyone, listen. The story we spread last week, about Mitsuki-kun stalking me…it was a lie we made up. Almost everything we wrote on the anonymous message board was also a lie."

"Almost? What else did you write?"

"T-that…Mitsuki-kun confessed his feelings to me—"

"That's completely false! You called me out and confessed to me! And it was a lie!"

"Huu…!"

Itakura feigns fear and shrinks back at his shout. Seeing her unconvincing act, Shuto is certain: this girl hasn't shown any remorse.

Meanwhile, the classmates murmur in surprise at the truth revealed by Itakura herself. Everyone is shocked that Itakura Nene, the most popular girl in the grade, had used a false confession to deceive someone and attempted to frame them with false accusations.

"But…maybe she's just saying this because Mitsuki is threatening her…"

"Maybe you're right."

Hearing someone's murmured comment, Shuto glares at the speaker.

"Who just said that stupid thing!?"

The shout, which chills everyone to the bone, silences the classroom. No one dares to speak under Shuto’s dark anger.

"…Fine. It's useless to say anything to idiots who try to twist things like that even after the person involved has clarified the misunderstanding. I'll just break them later."

Several students gasp at Shuto's words. Meanwhile, Itakura, tears in her eyes, apologizes to Shuto.

"M-Mitsuki-kun! I'm truly sorry! I hurt you badly without thinking, and I deeply regret it!"

"Like Ushiro? The ‘acted without thinking’ or ‘possessed by a devil’ excuse. I haven't forgotten what you said last week! You called me stupid and disgusting for taking your confession seriously…"

"Th-that's why…I'm saying sorry…"

"You looked down on me, calling me a bottom-feeder loser…"

"I-I'm sorry…"

"You toyed with my feelings because you found it amusing…without even considering how I felt…"

"——! Shut up! You've been saying that for ages!!"

Itakura shouts, reaching her limit. Akemi and the others look at her in shock. Shuto glares at Itakura with displeasure.

"Why are you constantly bringing up what you said earlier!? You were being bullied for a long time, weren't you!? If you'd fought back properly, then, this wouldn't have happened!

The fact that you were deceived and bullied is your own fault for not being able to solve your problems yourself!"

"…"

"Why do I have to suffer like this!? I'm different from you! I'm cute and pretty; everyone praises me without me doing anything. I'm far superior to you!!"

After saying that, Itakura stops shouting, breathing heavily. Shuto says nothing, approaching her. Itakura regrets her outburst, realizing she'll suffer the same fate as Nakazato and the others. She tries to appease him again.

"I-I'm sorry! I got carried away and said too much…but…if the other person is truly repentant, past things should be forgiven…"

Snap! Shuto feels something inside him break.

"Ah…?"

Instantly, all emotion vanishes from Shuto's eyes. He glares at Itakura with icy, cold eyes, a chilling emptiness that feels like a void.

"…I'm deeply ashamed of myself for even feeling a flicker of attraction to someone like you, someone who so casually lies, deceives others, and mocks them.

But…in movies and dramas about scams or death games, they often say, ‘The person who got tricked is to blame…’"

Shuto begins to speak calmly, which feels strangely unsettling and frightening to Itakura and Akemi.

"But in reality, the person who deceives is always wrong! Especially if they do it out of malice!"

Instantly appearing before Itakura, Shuto raises his fist aimed at her abdomen.

(Roughly…around here…)

Wham! "A…gh…!?"

He delivers a merciless punch to Itakura's abdomen, near her uterus, crushing it. Itakura vomits bodily fluids and writhes in agony.

"A…ugh… my stomach…aaaaah…" "You might be unable to have children ever again."

Shuto's precise blow has ruptured Itakura's uterus and destroyed its function. He's destroyed part of her ability to function as a woman. But Shuto's violence doesn't stop.

Slash… "I…!? Eh? Eh? It…hurts…"

Next, he plunges his impaling hand deep into Itakura's lower jaw. Blood drips, and she cries out in pain.

"N-no…it hurts! Wh-what are you going to do…!?"

"Your apologetic attitude, your tearful pleas for forgiveness, your cloying voice—everything is irritating and infuriating! Now I can clearly see that none of it was genuine.

I'll make sure you can't use that uselessly blessed face and body to deceive people or do anything wrong ever again…"

Shuto smiles, a hateful demonic grin. And then—

"I'll peel off that thick mask of lies and evil…"

He activates "Super Strength," imbuing his impaling left hand with superhuman power—

Rip, Peel!!!

"——!? Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"

A sound like thick skin being peeled off resonates. Itakura lets out a scream that sounds as though it contains all the pain she's ever experienced in her life.

"A trashy, disgusting bitch who lies to drag others down, falsely accuses people out of malice…As punishment, I'll take away that uselessly blessed face."

Slap! Shuto throws Itakura's face skin onto the floor. The neatly peeled-off skin looks like a realistic face mask. Eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, eyelashes—everything is perfectly preserved.

Blood drips from Itakura's now-exposed face, leaving it looking like a medical model.

"Ahahahaha! You've got a face without any lies now! With this face, you can properly show your true self! A perfect face for someone who so readily belittles others! Good for you…kukuku, ahahahahahaha!"

"U…aaaaah…!! This…this is terrible! It…hurts! It hurts…"

Itakura screams and cries, suffering from the excruciating pain and her disfigured face. The tears sting her raw face, causing more pain. She lets out continuous, wordless cries of agony.

"Uwaaa…" "T-terrible…" "U-ugh… I'm going to vomit" "M-me too…" "H-human skin… aaaaaah…" "Th-that's too much…"

The classmates avert their gaze at Itakura Nene's horrific state…

"Oh, that's right. I had one of her accomplices take pictures and videos to make it look like I was stalking, right? That person is…there."

Shuto looks around the group of classmates, spots a girl with a flower-patterned hair ornament on her forehead, and glares at her. The girl turns pale and stiffens. Shuto approaches her and speaks threateningly.

"Give me the cell phone you used to take those pictures last week."

Sweating profusely, the girl takes out her phone. Shuto snatches it, slams it on the floor, and crushes it to pieces with his foot.

"The physical evidence is gone. You saved the data on your computer and posted it on that anonymous board, right? Delete it immediately. If you don't delete it by tonight, you'll join that lying bitch."

Shuto points at Itakura, grabs the girl's hair roughly, and threatens her with a voice laced with murderous intent. The girl faints under Shuto's threatening glare.

"Whew…I've pretty much taken care of the scum who needed revenge. This is so satisfying! Crushing the human garbage who dragged me down to the depths with my own hands is incredibly exhilarating! Is this what they call ‘serves them right’?"

Shuto continues to laugh heartily. The place where he stands is a scene of utter carnage. More than five classmates are severely injured due to Shuto's revenge, some possibly fatally.

Even after inflicting such horrific violence on multiple people, Shuto laughs gleefully, filling everyone present—students and teacher alike—with terror, horror, and revulsion. He's still laughing while watching Itakura, her face skinned, writhing in agony.

Akemi rushes to Itakura's side. She takes a soft cloth and starts to apply pressure to her face to stop the bleeding. She asks her classmates to get towels and handkerchiefs, using them to cover Itakura's face and protect it from the air.

Then, with a sorrowful expression, she calls out to Shuto.

"Shuto-kun, please stop…"