Viki walked briskly, her expression unreadable. Kaze trailed her until they reached a quiet intersection. The moment he spoke, her pace slowed.
*"You pushed her too far."*
She didn't stop walking, but her voice floated back.
"She needs to break ."
"Break?"Kaze said, catching her wrist gently. "You're going too far"
She turned then, slowly. Her eyes didn't hold anger—just something colder
She pulled her hand free.
"You seem to forget your place every little second"
"And if everything backfires.."
He said short.Almost like a threat.
"Then I'll burn this entire place down… and make sure she's the first to fall."
---
*NAO – BALCONY OVERLOOKING THE CAMPUS*
Nao slipped through the side exit, her feet moving on instinct, until the cool air of the night met her skin. She leaned against the stone balcony, the moonlight silvering her eyes, her thoughts.
The gardens below were quiet, but the silence inside her was loud.
She opened her bag.
The USB still waited.
She touched the cold metal.
Nao closed her eyes.She remembered Viki's voice. The blood in the photo. The whispers in her own head screaming for justice and drowning in fear.
She thought of Michelle. Of Kaze. Of the truth that could end it all—or start something far worse.
Then she whispered—to the wind, to herself, to the shadows listening:
"No more silence."
Even if it destroyed her.
Kaze room.later on.
The digital clock on Kaze's desk blinked 2:47 AM.
He hadn't slept.
His room was dim—only the blue light of his laptop screen flickering against the wall. Tabs were open, files pulled up. Surveillance clips, conversation transcripts… even the blurred still of Viki, bloodstained, walking alone that night.
But it wasn't the evidence that haunted him now. It was Nao's eyes.
The way they'd trembled yesterday. The way she'd frozen, cornered by truth and expectations, carrying the weight of something he should've never given her.
He leaned back in his chair, running both hands through his hair.
His jaw clenched.
"I didn't mean for it to go this far…"he whispered to the ceiling, to himself.
"Nao didn't ask for any of this."
His voice cracked around the guilt.
He looked at the USB lying on his desk.
It felt like a noose now.
"I'm sorry…" he murmured, eyes stinging.
But the next morning, that apology never left his lips.
---
*DAY 2 — DEBATE ARENA, 9:00 AM*
Her voice was soft, but sharp enough to silence the whispers.
*"Lies have the power to start wars, end lives... but they can also be the only weapon the powerless have. A lie used to protect someone, or to end something worse—it may not be *pure*, but it's still justice. Because justice isn't always clean. Sometimes it's just… what's left after the damage is done."*
Murmurs echoed. Conflicted faces. A girl in the audience teared up.
The buzzer ended.
Team A's points rose to *67%*.
Then Kaze stood.
He didn't look at Nao, not directly.
*"The moment justice becomes built on lies,"* he said slowly, *"it stops being justice. It becomes revenge. It becomes manipulation. And people start justifying anything—murder, betrayal, silence—because the outcome looks 'right.'"*
He turned toward the audience.
*"But if justice is dirty, who gets to decide whose dirt matters?"*
His voice lingered.
Team B's score jumped to *89%*.
Mrs. Marion nodded subtly.
The scoreboard updated:
*Team A — 67%*
*Team B — 89%*
Merged with previous:
*Team A: 66.7%*
*Team B: 71.6%*
Gasps rang across the hall.
Viki crossed her legs, smirking as she glanced at Nao.
Takumi tapped the desk, satisfied. Ria bit her nail.
Nathan leaned back, unreadable.
Nao didn't move. She couldn't.The air was heavy before anyone even spoke.
Group A and Group B sat in their usual positions—only this time, the space between Nao and Kaze felt like it could crack the floor open.
Kaze sat with his elbows on the desk, head down, eyes shadowed under his fringe. Nao, across from him, looked... hollow. Calm, but far too calm. The kind of quiet people wore right before breaking.
Mrs. Marion walked onto the platform, her heels sharp against the floor.
*"Welcome to Day 2 of Imperial's 28th Debate,"* she announced. *"Yesterday was... intense. Today may be worse."*
A low murmur passed through the audience.
"As a reminder, these scores will merge with yesterday's and heavily influence who gets into Class 5. Participation today matters more than ever."
The screen behind her flickered to life.
*TOPIC: "Justice born from lies—is it still justice?"*
*(Current Score)*
Team A: 66.7%
Team B: 71.6%
Countdown: *30 seconds*
All eyes turned to the stage.
Nao's hand hovered over her buzzer.
Kaze stared at her.
*30…29…*
She pressed it.
Light spilled onto her.
Then, Kaze's buzzer went off too.
Another beam, another spotlight.
Two enemies. Two truths. Same stage.
The tension was a heartbeat no one could escape.
Nao stood slowly.
"Justice born from lies?"
Tomorrow was Day 3.
The final debate.
And everyone knew…
One would rise.
One would fall.
And only one would survive it intact.
*final day*
IMPERIALS – MR WILLIAMS' OFFICE*
*[Same moment as the debate finals unfold]*
Michelle stood tall in her newly tailored uniform. Her skirt pleated to regulation length, blazer pin-straight, her Imperial crest already shining on her chest. She placed her left hand firmly over her heart.
"I, Michelle…" she began, voice low, steady, almost void of emotion, yet laced with something deeper—something bitter. Something dangerous.
*DEBATE HALL – STAGE*
Viki stood center once again, heels clicking with precision, her voice like velvet dipped in venom.
"Silence, lies, control—all are just strategies when the throne is your goal. Power doesn't wait for a perfect answer. Power *chooses* the best angle, regardless of sentiment. The world doesn't reward the loudest truth—it rewards the smartest lie."
Group B's scoreboard ticked upwards: *94.3%*
Cut—
*OFFICE – BACK TO MICHELLE*
"I vow to obey…" Michelle's voice broke through again, her eyes dark with submission—or was it strategy?
"…and reside beneath you until I graduate."
Mr. Williams didn't blink. He watched her like a man who'd trained beasts his whole life and finally found one that smiled before it bit.
Cut—
*DEBATE STAGE – GROUP A*
Nathan gave a rare smirk as he passed the floor to Ria.Nao sat rigid, eyes flicking between her notes and the screen. Her heart was pounding. Their score rose: *91.5%... 94.9%... 97.2%*
"Come on…" Ria muttered under her breath.
Cut—
*OFFICE – MICHELLE CONTINUES*
"I will destroy whoever comes our way," she said, her voice harder now, fueled by envy and the heat of being passed over for too long.
Her jaw tightened.
"Even if it affects my relationships… I will sever them. Because nothing is more important than Imperial's future."
Cut—
*DEBATE STAGE*
Nao finally rose.
She pressed the buzzer.
The light flooded her face.
"I once thought silence made me a coward," she began. "But today I understand—it was fear. Not of the truth, but of losing everything the truth would take from me. But now I realize… if we keep choosing silence, the wrong people write history. And we become puppets in someone else's play."
Her voice grew stronger.
"Justice without courage is just fear in disguise. And power without consequence… is chaos."
*Group A: 98.8%… 99.5%… 99.9%…*
The crowd leaned in, breath held.
Cut—
*OFFICE – *
Michelle's voice steadied again."I will protect all secrets that could bring Imperial down. And I will forge unity and a shade of light to keep this school standing… until I am of no more use to you, Mr. Williams."
She bowed deeply.
Mr. Williams stood and approached her.
In his palm: the black-enameled *Imperials Elite* badge.
He pinned it to her lapel without a word, then whispered,
"Welcome to Imperials, Michelle."
Cut—
*DEBATE HALL*
*TRUUUUUUUUUMPET BLAST!*
The sound ripped through the air as the final light on the scoreboard flashed.
*GROUP A – 100.00%*
The hall erupted into chaos—shouts, gasps, thunderous cheers. Some students stood in shock, others screamed in celebration.
Nao stood frozen.
Her hands trembled.
Ria grabbed her arm, spinning her. "We did it! Nao—*we did it!*"
Nathan simply looked at her. That same unreadable expression—but this time, softer. Almost… proud.
Across the room, Viki's eyes narrowed.
Her perfect smile didn't break.
But her knuckles turned white around the edge of her desk.
Kaze didn't look at anyone.
He only stared at Nao—then lowered his gaze.
Then suddenly..the light all shined upon all of them and it wasn't the usual bright white but red.
"It seems the judges had made..mistakes"
Mrs Marion walked on stage laughing almost forced and out of her style.
"And would determine that would a chance of speech to just Group B and the selecting candidate for that chance is ...viki"
DUN!!
The whole light went off..hall dark.
Tick tock .tick tick.
The timer of the scoreboard started.
"I was surprised for a second..thinking the world was now stupid"
Viki voice was the only sound in the whole hall as at that moment then..a light..just on viki alone.
"With my last point which resides with..Death is for everyone, You can't change that decision..Neither can anything ever fill for your mistakes and decisions, don't make a mistake and try to make yourself feel better by saying it's justice..your just a plain coward"
The scoreboard : Group A > 99.9%
Group B> 100.0%
Winning Group {Group B-opposing}
Lesson learnt : Always speak the truth.
Those words flickered on the screen board like a movie theater with a max brightening.
In that moment, the school knew:
Class 5 had been claimed.
But the price of victory?
That would show itself soon enough.