Copyright Notice: This story is an original work by VANTA_kun. All rights reserved. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.
Tokyo always seemed to wake up before the sun itself. Even in the early morning, when the sky still carried traces of the night and the first rays of sunlight had started to flash between the buildings. Trains ran along elevated tracks. Traffic lights cycled through their colors for roads that were slowly filling with cars. Convenience stores welcomed their first customers of the day. Office workers walked with sleepy expressions while clutching briefcases and coffee cups.
She sat at the dining table with her school uniform neatly arranged on her body. Her bag rested beside her chair, already packed for the day. Unlike most students, she wasn't checking her phone or rushing to finish homework before leaving. Instead, she quietly stared through the window while the sunlight gradually brightened the neighborhood outside. A plate was placed before her.
"Dig in before it gets cold."
Shuhi turned her head.
Her mother had just stepped out of the kitchen carrying breakfast.
"Thanks for the meal."
The exchange was ordinary, nothing new.
There had been a time when mornings like this felt impossible. A time when her life was locked inside blue walls that normal people could never imagine. Yet now she found herself sitting at a dining table like any other high school student. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating.
Behind her calm expression, an entirely different train of thought was moving. It was about the messages.
Earlier, Shuhi had seen every single student's profile from the school's website. Then she pointed every single new enrolled student. Her theory was that since the strange messages started to come after the entrance exams of that year, the organization's students must have come in that time.
Another theory she had built and that was the organization's students had come one or two years after Shuhi had enrolled and waited for this day. But why wait for this many days? It was to make Shuhi think that they had come with that year's freshmen, creating a kind of cover to hide among the older students.
Eventually, breakfast ended. After thanking her mother, she picked up her bag and stepped outside. The morning air felt refreshing.
Months ago, navigating the streets had required conscious effort. Temporary amnesia had transformed even familiar roads into a maze. Every intersection had felt foreign. Every landmark had needed to be memorized again. Now her body moved almost automatically. A faint smile appeared on her face thanks to this little success.
But on top of it all, Shuhi didn't forget her goal. To track down those two students, she needed someone influential in the school's territory so that that person could search every single student's overall profile. Telling that to the teachers was risky since they were more likely to catch the reality of Shuhi's past which she didn't want to. The student council president seemed the ideal person. But the current president and she had a…not so good past. So she didn't want to take help from him.
But the current student council president election had given her a chance to make someone the president and then take help from that person.
When she reached her school's gate, students moved around her. Some chatted with friends. Others rushed toward classrooms. Several first-years looked completely lost. None of them mattered to her at that point. Her eyes quietly swept across the crowd.
"Out of all the people who are running, Ondo kun seems to be the easiest to manipulate." Shuhi thought.
When school ended, Shuhi rushed towards her friend Minoko. Minoko usually had the latest news and happenings of the school.
"Minoko chan," Shuhi called out from behind.
Minoko stopped a little and then turned back, "Oh Shuhi chan. What happened?"
"Tell me the situation of the vote."
"Ya, a strange event occurred. A massive blunder from Hiroshi senpai's side. His mistake messed up the entire digital grading system of the school!" Minoko said.
"Oh my! That's bad."
But deep down, Shuhi knew what was going on. Earlier Shuhi had manipulated Sota, the council secretary for the computing works by showing him the harsh reality that psychologically made him make an error on purpose.
"That means the plan is going in motion." Shuhi thought.
"So that's why people are gettin anxious about giving a vote to Hiroshi Senpai." Minoko finished.
Explain how it was food for Shuhi.
"What about Ondo kun?" Shuhi asked immediately.
"Oh…I don't get this crazy girl!" Minoko said frustratingly and put her palm on her forehead.
"Okay, since you forbid me to talk about this anymore so I won't say a thing. Whatever you wish!" Minoko said.
"So can you…you know, tell me about Ondo. What kind of a person he is? I mean…if I am gonna vote somebody, I gotta know about that person before that. Even a little, right?" Shuhi expressed her reason.
"And that's why there has been speeches of them before dummy! But you had to miss them."
"Oh my bad. Then can you tell me if you know something?"
"Geez fine. Ondo was a very quiet boy even back when I remembered. But entering high school, he had made quite a lot of friends whom he hangs out with. I could never imagine a boy like him would try for student council. But he still gets way less attention" Minoko said.
_____
"It seems I was wrong about Minoko chan. She seemed to only possess news about the people she was close to. She has no interest in Ondo so talking with her was pretty much pointless. I really made the correct call to talk with Ondo's classmates." Shuhi thought in her mind.
As Shuhi couldn't get any necessary information from Minoko, she went to Ondo's class. Shuhi and Ondo were in the same second year. It's just that their classrooms were different.
"So 1st of all, Ondo doesn't have a single friend from middle school here. It's strange. A socially active person like him should have like one or two. Strange. 2nd, they don't even know Ondo's middle school name. He seems to be disinterested in talking about it." Shuhi thought.
Eventually, Shuhi had reached her destination. Ondo's house.
"Well, it's better to investigate by myself."
Shuhi pressed the calling bell. A ting ting bell sound played. She could hear footsteps coming. Louder and louder.
Dead Logic © 2025 by Muntasib_Ihshan789 is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International