*DAY 2 SINCE THE DEBATE *
The atmosphere in Club 4 was heavier than usual. The room, once a symbol of rising power and pride, now sat muted in the tension of defeat.
"This is so absurd," Ria muttered, arms folded as she leaned against the table.
Sato, always the realist, shrugged. "Yeah... but I guess power speaks louder than logic."
Ryan, flicking through a report on his tablet, chimed in, "It was just a debate. We should be focusing on the main event — the inter-school competition."
"Yeah... true," Ria said, then glanced toward Nao.
She had barely spoken since they returned to Imperials. Her hands trembled slightly in her lap, her lips cracked and pale. Her eyes were distant, like a soul floating just beyond reach.
"At least we were beat by just 1%," Ria added, attempting a weak smile. "That still means something, right?"
Nao's head tilted slightly, the words not quite landing.
"That's it," she whispered.
Her chair scraped loudly as she stood.
"Nao?" Ria called, confused.
Ryan and Sato looked up in unison, but Nao didn't stop. She walked out of the room, each step more unsteady than the last.
—
*School Hallway – Seconds Later*The buzz around the corridor was all about the debate finals. Students swarmed in clusters, whispering about Viki's brilliance, the way she'd silenced Nao, how the Log dominated Celestrix.
"Viki made a point even the judges couldn't touch. Like… no wonder she won," one girl said.
"No offense, but Nao didn't even fight back."
"She froze. If I were her, I'd transfer schools."
Nao's eyes twitched.
*SMASH.*
A phone hit the floor, shattering the murmurs into gasps.
"You all—RETARDS! Pretending you didn't see what happened!" Nao shouted.
The crowd backed away. Whispers turned to uneasy silence.
"What the hell?" a girl muttered, kneeling to her broken phone. "Has she gone crazy?"
"Maybe it's the loss… she can't handle being second."
"Typical drama queen behavior."
"NAO!" Ria's voice tried to cut through.
But Nao wasn't hearing her anymore. Her world was spinning with rage and betrayal. Her fists clenched, knuckles white.
*"Fuck… Viki."*
The words dropped like a match in dry grass.
And just like that, the air shifted.
A slow, deliberate path cleared down the hallway as *Viki* stepped through — her signature heels clicking against the marble floor. Her gang trailed behind, not including Nathan, but *Kaze* walked close by her side, eyes unreadable.Phones rose again. Screens lit up. People turned like an audience waiting for their queen to speak.
"Is it true? Kaze's with Viki now?"
"He left Celestrix for Log... wow."
"Damn. Celestrix is done for."
Ria stood frozen, her mind racing.
Ryan muttered under her breath, "Dick…"
And then — Viki halted just a few steps from Nao, tilting her head as if trying to decode her from a distance.
"What's this commotion by any chance?" she asked, her voice a calm melody laced with poison.
"She's… talking crazy," a girl near Nao whispered.
"You…" Nao's breath hitched. "*Murderer.*"
The hallway froze.
A sharp gasp rolled through the crowd like thunder.
"Murderer?" Viki raised an eyebrow, amused.
"Yes. I know your entire image is built on lies. You murdered Vince. And now, you want to rob me of the one thing I worked for?"
The students were whispering again, louder this time. Filming. Watching. Waiting for the fall.
"Do you have any proof of your little fantasy?" Viki asked, voice dipped in false sympathy.
Nao's chest heaved. She swung her bag forward and ripped it open, pulling out a small photo, wrinkled at the edges — the one Kaze had given her.
She shoved it toward Viki's face.
Blood. Vince's blood. Viki in frame. Proof.
The photo dropped.For a second… Viki said nothing.
And then she smiled.
But it wasn't just any smile.
It was the kind of smile that says: *"You've just signed your death sentence."*
Whispers twisted through the audience like venom in a bloodstream. Each voice added more weight on Nao's chest, more fire to the confusion storming inside her.
"People got more curious."
*"What... Is it true?"*
*"Impossible."*
Gasps followed the loud *click* of someone projecting the image onto a shared screen from their phone. A grainy picture — Viki, walking away from Vince's crumpled body on the school route — drenched in red. But in the dim lighting and hazy pixels, everything could be something else.
"Uh…"
A girl leaned for,ward, squinting.
*"It's true."*
A guy snatched the phone. "Wait—this looks edited."
"Edited?" A murmur rippled.
He zoomed in. "By Viki's hand. Count—*six fingers.* Definitely an editing mistake. Not obvious, but there."
"She was framed?" another gasped.
"She got mad so bad… she decided to frame her?"
"I was beginning to like her… but she's just a leech after all."
**
"Wha..."
Nao stood frozen.
Everything blurred. Words twisted, echoing as if underwater.
*Leech… Frame… Murderer…*
She couldn't even feel her limbs anymore.
*"Nao."*
Ria's voice broke through like a beam in the fog.Sato followed up, brows knitted. "What's she doing?"
Nao turned slowly, eyes landing on *Kaze*.
But he wouldn't meet her gaze.
And then—*she heard it.*
That voice in her head again. Soft, but cruel.
*"You're the only one who can do this… please, Nao."*
Nao stumbled backward a bit, her own breathing growing shaky.
*"What... is this?"*
Her voice cracked like glass.
*"Did I go insane?"*
How could she have trusted Kaze again?
And then—
*"Hey..."*
Viki's voice, sudden and sharp, shattered her daze.
*"You done talking?"*
She raised her hand, almost reaching for Nao—
*"Stop!"*
Ria surged forward, slamming Viki's hand away.
*"Get away from her! You probably planned this, didn't you?!"*
She stood like a shield between Nao and Viki.
Viki's expression didn't waver. But her eyes—those chilling emerald eyes—hardened like glass.
*"I'll show you what leeches like you get for touching me."*
She turned and stormed off, heels echoing like gunshots on the tiled floor.
But the murmurs didn't stop—
*"Where's she going?"*
*"Now Viki-Logs got all the school hotties?"*
*"I want to be in that club so bad."*
*"Doesn't this mean Celestrix is going to be banned?"**"There are still two guys left. One of them might become the male lead."*
*"Ugh, that club is going to be boring now."*
*"Wait—didn't they say Vince committed suicide?"*
*"Why frame someone for murder then? Like, who does that?"*
*"Poor people do anything to be popular."*
And Nao… just stood there.
The words echoed around her. But the sharpest pain was in her chest.
The silence of her friend, the silence of Kaze.
The audience wasn't sure anymore. They didn't know who to believe.
But *they didn't need facts.*
They needed something to *blame*.
**
*BACK OF THE HALLWAY – MOMENTS LATER*
The slamming of a janitor's closet broke the silence of the hallway.
Viki stood breathing hard, gripping a mop handle—snapped roughly from the rest of the stick. The wood edge splintered, jagged.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
*"Viki, no!!"*
Kaze grabbed her wrist. She tensed but didn't shake him off.
"This wasn't wat we talked about"
He whispered.
—