The school bell rang. The sound was sharp, metallic one that echoed down corridors and through closed doors, slicing the air like a command. The bell of class dismiss. The school exhaled in noise. Everybody started going outside, carrying their bags.
In the arts club room, however, the sound arrived late, muffled by thick walls and half-drawn curtains.
Akari stood near the window, hands in his pockets, posture relaxed as if he were merely killing time after class. Rina leaned against a desk with her arms folded, eyes drifting between Akari and Haruto. Haruto sat on a chair backward, chin resting on the wooden backrest, staring at Akari.
"The bell rang," Haruto said casually, as if commenting on the weather. "Which means everyone's thoughts just got louder."
Rina glanced at him. "You read minds whenever you want now?"
Haruto shrugged. "Not whenever. Just when it matters."
Akari smiled faintly. "And right now?"
Haruto's gaze sharpened for a moment, as if focusing on something far away. " There are many thoughts spiraling. It's like trying to pinpoint a sound in a crowd. But I can share what I have learned so far." Haruto said and waited for a slight moment for Akari to say something before continuing, "She's tense and trying to figure out who we are. Who the two students might be."
Akari turned from the window. "Good."
Haruto continued, unfazed. "She's also decided something. She wants Ondo to become the student council president."
A curled smile appeared on Akari's face.
"So this is how it feels to see everything going to plan. Everything is controlled. Just see how I make her dance above my palm. Every decision she will make will be my own written script! Honestly, if she hadn't taken this decision, I would have sent her a letter to catch us."
Akari thought and almost laughed.
Haruto tilted his head. "There's more."
Akari raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"She's dealing with amnesia," Haruto said. "Seeing gaps in her memories and forgetting things suddenly."
For a second, Akari stared at him. Then he burst out laughing.
Not a quiet chuckle. Not a polite laugh. It came out sharp and sudden, echoing off the walls of the empty club room. He leaned back against a desk, one hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking.
"Amnesia?" he repeated between breaths. "Perfect!"
He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Really? Imagine creating a large plan and then boom! Forgotten. Why? Amnesia! "Akari said and started to laugh uncontrollably.
Rina's expression darkened. "Hey! That's not funny!"
Akari glanced at her, still smiling. "What?"
"You shouldn't laugh at someone's sickness," Rina said coldly. "That's…disgusting."
For a moment, the room went quiet. Akari's smile faded, not into anger but into indifference. "Whatever," he said, waving it off.
"Prepare the next message. This time, on her desk." he said.
The next day, the classroom buzzed with low chatter.
Shuhi sat at her desk, posture straight, pen moving steadily across her notebook as she wrote down study topics. Her expression was calm, almost cheerful, but her eyes didn't quite focus on the page.
She reached into the desk to place her books inside. Something brushed against her fingers. She frowned and pulled it out. A letter. She opened it slowly.
"What? You don't take us seriously?
Do you want to let your past go public?"
— Students from Blue
For a second, she felt as if the world stopped around her.
Her breathing stalled halfway in. She read it again. Then again. The words didn't change. Her fingers tightened around the paper.
"Past?" her first thought.
Her mind went blank, like someone had wiped a board clean. She understood that someone was threatening her. Someone got information about her past. But she didn't remember why.
"What is this message?" she thought to herself, "Did someone…get my secret?"
A mark of worry appeared in her face, a drop of sweat running down her neck.
The school hours didn't go well for her as tension haunted her. When the school hour rang, she immediately took her bag and left the classroom.
When she was going downstairs, Minoko gave her a call from behind, "Hey! Wait for me!" She said.
Hearing Minoko's voice made Shuhi's tension go blurry for a moment. She slowed her pace so that Minoko could catch up.
When Minoko reached Shuhi's side, she started to complain about Shuhi's unexpected decision from yesterday.
Minoko jogged up beside her, already mid-complaint. "I still can't believe you!"
"What?" Shuhi asked.
"Yesterday!" Minoko said. "Your vote. About Ondo!"
Sushi blinked in confusion.
Minoko stared. "Don't tell me you forgot already."
"Forgot what?"
"You are the one who said you are gonna vote Ondo and those big words of 'don't talk to me about this'" Minoko said.
Shuhi stopped walking.
"I did?"
Minoko crossed her arms. "Yes, you did."
Shuhi laughed awkwardly. "Looks like my amnesia is kicking in again."
Minoko didn't laugh.
Shuhi's smile faded. "If I said that… then I had a reason."
"I need to go home," she thought.
After she went home, she immediately went upstairs to her room. She dropped her bag and went straight to her drawers, hands moving fast, searching without fully knowing what she was looking for. After a few moments, she found it. The other two letters.
Her chest tightened as she read them. Now she remembered what had happened. Not completely but enough to fill the gap in her thoughts.
"Just as I thought," she whispered. "Two students from the organization."
Her fingers trembled slightly. "They're challenging me."
Faces from her past flickered through her mind. People she had surpassed. Left behind. Forgotten.
"Jealousy perhaps? Maybe some who didn't get the spotlight for me. Maybe someone wants to challenge me to a cat and mouse. If I track them, then I will win." She thought.
Her thoughts sharpened. "If this is a game… then what's their win condition? Clearly they don't want to run away forever. A hidden time limit maybe?"
She reread the three letters again. Nothing related to time came to her sight.
"What is going on? Forget that, if they are for real, how am I going to find them? Tell the teachers? I did manage to get a good reputation from the fake question paper expose." She thought.
Now she turned the 3rd letter to the other side and saw something was written in the back.
"You are thinking about telling the teachers, right? Think this carefully. If you involve the teachers, your secret might get exposed." -Students from blue
Her stomach dropped. She sat down heavily and grabbed her water bottle, taking a long sip just to ground herself.
Then Minoko's words echoed in her mind. "You said you were voting for Ondo." Her eyes widened.
"If Ondo becomes president," she thought slowly, "I can use his influence to track them."
Pieces fell into place.
"That's why," she murmured. "Maybe that's why I chose him. Ys, that must be it."
Her gaze hardened.
"I am sure Hiroshi senpai won't listen to me. I could take senpai's gamble again but what if I lose? No, pushing Ondo to become the pres is the best chance I got."
Dead Logic © 2025 by Muntasib_Ihshan789 is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International