Chapter 4: Rumors and Revolt
Shirasagi High had always been a pressure cooker. For most students, the routine was suffocating: wake up, uniform on, follow rules, survive the hierarchy.
There were ranks here, unspoken but understood. At the top stood the student council. Below them, the influential club presidents. Beneath that, the honor students, then the average ones. At the bottom—those who didn't fit.
Until recently, Rei Kisaragi had been the embodiment of that last category. Now, she was something else entirely.
She was a variable no one could control. And some people hated that. Rumors began to spread like wildfire.
"She bribed the council to get her position."
"Did you hear she put a teacher in the hospital once?"
"They say she's a Yakuza."
Some were whispers, others blatant accusations scrawled across desks and bathroom walls. None of it fazed Rei—at least, not on the surface.
But Ichika noticed the way her jaw clenched a little tighter during lunch, how she lingered longer in the hallways, scanning walls and lockers.
She wasn't angry. She was hunting. The source wasn't hard to find.
Third-year students in Class 3-D. A trio of boys who had always played by underhanded rules—blackmail, manipulation, social sabotage. They thrived on rumors, and now, Rei had become their new obsession.
One of them, Riku, was the loudest. He had connections with several teachers and parents. His father was on the school board, which made him feel invincible.
"I don't care how strong she is," he said one afternoon in the hallway. "Trash doesn't belong in student leadership."
Rei heard it. Everyone did. And yet, she walked past him like wind—silent, but unignorable.
That night, she didn't sleep. Instead, she visited the rooftop. Ichika found her there, sitting cross-legged beneath the stars, a notebook in her hands.
He raised a brow. "Homework?"
She smirked. "Battle plan."
The next morning, Rei did something uncharacteristic.
She smiled. Not the smirk she wore when she'd won a fight, or the rare grin Ichika could pull from her. This was calculated. Predatory.
She walked into the council room like she owned it and slammed the notebook on the table. Arisa looked up from her stack of documents.
"What's this?"
"Evidence," Rei said. "Documented harassment. Screenshots. Audio. Testimonies. I've got three students, five victims, and a pattern that's been ignored for two years."
Arisa blinked. Slowly.
Ichika let out a low whistle.
"You did all this… overnight?" Arisa asked.
Rei shrugged. "I don't sleep well."
The next few days were a blur of meetings, formal inquiries, and a lot of shouting. The boys were cornered—faced with evidence so airtight that even their parents couldn't shield them.
It wasn't revenge. It was justice. And Rei delivered it cold.
But with every victory came consequences.
The school's balance of power shifted. People whispered new rumors—this time about how Rei was now Arisa's "attack dog," that she was being used to take out inconvenient students. The council itself became divided. Some supported Rei's actions; others felt threatened.
Tensions peaked when a council member—Yuto, head of disciplinary affairs—publicly challenged Arisa in a meeting.
"She's a thug," he spat, pointing at Rei. "You brought a delinquent into our ranks, and now we're feared instead of respected."
Rei didn't flinch. Arisa didn't either. "You confuse fear with justice. If you're so concerned, maybe you should do your job better."
Yuto slammed his chair back and stormed out.
Later that day, Rei found her locker vandalized. Black spray paint. The word 'TRAITOR' in bold letters.
Ichika stood beside her, quiet, "You okay?"
She nodded once. "Just paint."
But her hands were trembling. It was Ichika who brought the idea up.
"Why not hold a forum?"
Rei frowned. "A what?"
"A student forum. Let them speak. Let them see who you really are."
Rei was skeptical. She wasn't good with crowds. She wasn't diplomatic. She solved problems with fists, not speeches.
But something in Ichika's eyes made her pause.
Trust.
So she agreed.
And three days later, the gymnasium was filled. Hundreds of students sat in folding chairs, murmuring. The council sat in front. Arisa stood to open the floor but stepped aside quickly.
Rei walked up.
She didn't speak right away. Just stared at the sea of faces—some hostile, some curious.
Then she spoke.
"I don't care if you like me. I'm not here to be liked. I'm here because your rules protect the wrong people."
Silence.
"I've been in schools where teachers turn a blind eye. Where students get beaten and no one does anything. This place… it's better. But not perfect."
She stepped forward, "I don't want power. I want change. If that makes me a traitor, then fine. But I won't stop."
She walked off stage. There were no applause, no boos either. Only silence. The kind that meant they were thinking.
By the end of the week, the whispers changed again, "Did you hear her speech?"
"She's not like I thought."
"She's scary, yeah—but maybe she's what we need."
In the halls, students no longer averted their eyes. They met her gaze.
And nodded. Some even smiled. Rei still didn't smile back, but Ichika did.
He saw it first—the shift.
The Queen of Thorns had started a revolution. And this time, no one was ready to stop her. Not even herself.
...
...
Things didn't quiet down after that. In fact, they became more intense.
Student conflicts began surfacing—old bullying cases, hidden favoritism by teachers, misuse of funds in clubs. The forum had cracked the dam wide open.
And people turned to Rei. Every day, she found a new note on her desk. Requests. Complaints. Cries for help.
She didn't answer all of them. But she read every word.
Ichika started helping, organizing the cases into folders. Arisa gave them official clearance—reluctantly—and soon, Rei had her own "Watchdog Wing," a name students gave to the growing force of order that didn't follow traditional rules.
She wasn't council. She wasn't enforcer. She was something else. Someone students feared but began to believe in.
Of course, not everyone supported her.
Yuto's faction started pushing back harder—labeling Rei's actions as vigilante justice. Flyers were passed around condemning her. An anonymous student even created a website mocking her methods.
But none of it worked. Because every time Rei stood up for someone, another wall came down.
When she stopped a teacher from humiliating a shy student in front of the class, the student body noticed.
When she sat beside a crying first-year in the nurse's office and said nothing, just listened, rumors didn't start. Respect did.
And when she personally escorted a disabled student to class after they'd been pushed down the stairs, she didn't say a word.
But the hall was silent. Not with fear. With awe.
...
...
In late October, a schoolwide assembly was called. Normally, Arisa would speak. But she turned the mic to Rei.
Rei stepped forward, eyes calm.
"There are two types of power in this school," she said. "The kind that controls people, and the kind that protects them."
She glanced at the crowd.
"I chose the second one. I hope you will too."
And for the first time in Shirasagi High's history, a standing ovation erupted.
Even the teachers clapped.
Rei didn't bow.
She nodded once.
And walked offstage.
No longer the Queen of Thorns.
Now, she was something more.
She was a symbol.
Of revolt.
And hope.