Chapter 7: Threads in the Shadows
The records room felt colder after what Rei and Arisa had uncovered.
The flickering light overhead cast long, broken shadows across the file cabinets as if the past itself was resisting exposure.
Rei's fingers rested on the thin folder detailing her last school's administrative connections—names, dates, disciplinary rulings.
Every page she turned reeked of manipulation dressed as protocol. And the more she read, the clearer it became: her downfall hadn't been random.
It was orchestrated.
She stood slowly, the chair groaning beneath her. "They built an entire framework to protect each other."
Arisa nodded, her expression drawn. "And to silence threats like you."
Rei stared down at the folder. "Then it's time to make some noise."
...
...
That evening, Ichika met them in the old greenhouse behind the science wing. It had become an unofficial headquarters—abandoned, forgotten, and private.
Rei laid the files on the rusted table between them. "This isn't just about that a-hole Kido. There's a pattern across schools, institutions. We're looking at something complex like a systemic."
Ichika flipped through the documents. "This guy—Takahashi—was on the board of both your old school and Shirasagi. And this woman, Matsunaga-sensei, transferred just before your expulsion?"
Rei nodded. "She gave a statement against me. Said I was a danger to students."
"But you'd never touched anyone," Ichika said, voice low.
"Exactly. It was fabricated. Like everything else."
Arisa crossed her arms. "And now someone sent you a piece of your old uniform. That's not just a threat. It's a reminder. They want you to know they're still watching."
Silence settled between them. The kind that throbbed with implication.
"We need to find the others," Rei said finally. "Other students who were targeted. Silenced. Expelled under false pretenses."
Ichika exhaled slowly. "And when we find them?"
Rei's voice didn't waver. "We build a case. We bring them all down."
...
...
The search began with names buried in the records.
Students listed as 'withdrawn due to behavioral issues'—a vague label that conveniently erased any questions. Rei combed through dates, cross-referencing club activities, academic reports, and disciplinary action logs. Patterns emerged.
One name appeared again and again—Kota Miyazaki.
Expelled from three different schools within eighteen months. Accusations of violence, disruption, and 'instigating insubordination.' But every time, the details were thin. Too thin.
"He's either a genuine menace or someone who got caught in the same web as you," Ichika said.
Rei tracked him down through an old contact at a local vocational school. Kota now worked at an auto garage in the industrial district.
She found him during a rain-soaked afternoon, bent over the hood of a car, music blaring from a dusty speaker.
He didn't look surprised when Rei introduced herself.
"You're the one who burned down Kido's career," he said, wiping oil from his hands. "Didn't think you were real."
"I'm real," Rei said. "And I think we've both been played by the same people."
Kota's jaw tightened. He didn't answer immediately. Then, without a word, he walked into the garage office and came back with a binder.
"This is everything I kept," he said. "Letters, reports, notes I stole from teachers' desks. I knew something was wrong. Just didn't know who'd believe me."
Rei took the binder, "I believe you."
...
...
Back at Shirasagi, the binder revealed more than Rei had dared hope.
There were photocopied letters between school officials, discussing 'containment measures' for disruptive students. Lists of names. Monthly updates. Even vague allusions to 'maintaining harmony through proactive reassignment.'
They weren't just silencing students.
They were moving them like chess pieces. Anyone who didn't fit—who questioned, resisted, or threatened the image—was discarded.
Rei, Kota, Aya… they were all casualties in a campaign of educational cleansing.
"It's a network," Arisa said, scanning the documents.
"An unspoken agreement among certain schools and officials. They protect each other's reputations by sacrificing students."
"And now that we've found this," Ichika added, "we can't stop."
Rei nodded, her voice low but resolute. "No more silence."
But shadows do not die quietly.
Two days later, Rei received an anonymous email. No text. Just an image. A photo of her mother was taken outside their home. It wasn't a direct threat.
It was worse. A reminder: they knew where to hit her.
She stared at the screen, muscles tensed. Her past was no longer the only thing at risk. These people were willing to reach into her present. Her future. Her family.
Rei didn't tell Arisa or Ichika—not immediately. Not because she didn't trust them, but because she needed to think.
What price was she willing to pay?
And what would it cost the people around her?
That night, she stood on the rooftop again, alone. The sky was overcast. No stars. Just weight. Just wind.
...
...
The next morning, Ichika caught her at the school gates, "You didn't reply last night."
"Didn't feel like talking."
He frowned. "You always feel like fighting. What happened?"
She hesitated. Then, slowly, she showed him the photo. Ichika's jaw tightened. "They crossed a line."
"I know."
"You can't do this alone."
"I'm not," Rei said. "But I'm the only one they're trying to break."
Ichika shook his head. "No. They're trying to break the idea of you. Of us. Of resistance. That's what they're afraid of."
Rei looked away. "So what do we do?"
Ichika stepped closer. "We fight louder."
...
...
The next council meeting was different. Rei stood not as the unpredictable enforcer, but as the voice of those who had been silenced.
She presented the binder from Kota. The network map Arisa had compiled. Testimonies from expelled students. The room grew still.
Yuto rose slowly. "You're suggesting we take this to the board?"
"I'm not suggesting," Rei said. "I'm demanding."
Silence.
Then Arisa spoke.
"I second it."
One by one, hands rose. It passed unanimously. A meeting with the board was scheduled.
And for the first time in its history, it would be recorded and streamed to the student body. The light wasn't just creeping in. It was flooding. And the shadows? They were running out of places to hide.