Broken locker and a letter - Dead Logic

Shuhi was standing at the narrow balcony of her room, hands rested on the railing, staring at the sky. It was something she did whenever she got time. She let her eyes wander and find meaning onto the sky instead. Letters, symbols, fragments She had fixed a goal to find a specific shape on that day.

The English letter "E".

The air was cold. Not biting, just sharp enough to keep her awake.

Her mind drifted, uninvited, to Shinichi. She hadn't told him everything. That fact sat quietly inside her, neither heavy nor light.

"Shinichi, I hope you understand. Not all secrets are the same", she thought.

"Some can be shared, some are meant to be carried alone."

Shinichi was already struggling to stay upright. She confirmed it by hearing Shinichi's part of the story. Adding her truth to that would be too much.

Her gaze returned to the clouds.

Hours passed like that. The shapes shifted, broke apart, reformed into nothing useful. She almost gave up.

Then she saw it. A long stretch of cloud, thin and pale, with three shorter pieces branching from one side.

An "E" shaped cloud. It was rotated ninety degrees to Shuhi's point of view. Not a perfect one. But close enough. A faint exhale left her lips. Satisfaction flickered, brief and quiet.

And then her thoughts slid back to the locker. Yesterday, she found a letter inside her locker.

"Here we are. Truth be told, we are actually two people working together." -Students from blue.

Blue. Thinking about the word made her fingers curl slightly against the railing. There was only one association that mattered. The one she had tried not to think about for years.

The organization. Utaro had already appeared. That alone had unsettled her more than she liked to admit.

If there were two more, then this wasn't coincidence.

"Who are you?" she wondered.

"And why now?"

"What are you up to…" she murmured, more to herself than to the sky.

Her thoughts aligned, automatically. It took her a few second to come up with three possible reasons.

The first possibility was that the organization might be running an experiment. Sending students into ordinary environments to observe interaction and adaptation.

"Ya, like they trained us from childhood. It should be time for the students to enter the outside world to show their abilities."

If that was true, she was irrelevant.

The second idea felt worse. That someone had learned something. Something about her past. Now that someone was haunting her.

But she remembered her half opened locker from yesterday.

"The locker…it was broken in an unharmed way. No sign of brute forcing. Whoever done this, clearly had the skill to unlock locks. Not everyone can do that." She thought.

She dismissed it, but not completely. Then came the third thought.

"Maybe they want me back. But why now? All of a sudden?"

She didn't move. Didn't flinch. Just acknowledged it.

If that were true, the message wasn't a threat. It was a reminder. To remind her that where she belonged.

Her eyes drifted back to the cloud-E. It was already breaking apart, losing its shape, becoming nothing again. Nothing lasted very long in the sky.

She stepped away from the railing, the cold finally reaching her skin. Whatever this meant, she wasn't ready to act yet.

—

Morning arrived the next day.

The sky was pale as the vibe of winter hadn't completely disappeared yet. The cherry blossom trees were in line as always with some having early bloomed flowers.

Students flowed through the gate. Laughter and complaints could be heard here and there. It was an ordinary morning, stitched together by ordinary sounds.

Shuhi walked among them with her usual light steps and familiar smile.

At a glance, nothing about her was different. Her posture was relaxed. Her expression was warm. She greeted a classmate with a small wave, nodded politely to another. But her mind was not quite onto those stuffs nowadays

Inside the classroom, the noise swelled. Students entered and left the room and movements could be seen constantly through the door. Windows were pushed open just enough to let the cold air sneak in. Shuhi sat at her desk and opened her notebook.

She began writing short phrases and some keywords. Lines that looked organized but led nowhere. Her pen moved steadily and almost automatically as she left it up to her instincts to write down important key points while thinking.

This time, she got another message in her locker. Again the locker had been opened in the same way as before.

"And don't even try to get help!" -Students from blue.

The words sat at the back of her mind like a splinter she couldn't reach. She was still writing when a chair scraped behind her.

"Good morning, Shuhi!"

Minoko's voice landed cheerfully, far too awake for this hour. Shuhi felt her presence before she saw her, leaning forward, elbows on the desk behind.

"Morning," Shuhi replied, her tone light, practiced.

Minoko didn't waste time. She never did.

"Did you hear? The student council election posters are already up. They're everywhere. Even near the shoe lockers."

Shuhi hummed, resting her cheek against her palm. "I noticed."

"And this year is going to be insane," Minoko continued, words tumbling over each other. "I mean, obviously Hiroshi-senpai is going to win again, but still."

Shuhi's pen paused for half a second before continuing its slow movement across the page.

"Hiroshi-senpai is just… different," Minoko said, eyes shining. "Do you know this is his third year running? And he won the last two by a landslide!"

Minoko didn't wait for a response. She started gossiping on her own, raising her voice up little by little as she spoke.

"Five times top grader. Three-time judo champion. Two-time swimming champion. He literally manages the school budget better than the teachers. And he's calm,and tall and—"

Shuhi gently lowered her head onto the desk, turning slightly so her face was hidden by her arm. Clearly showing no interest in Minoko's words.

Minoko laughed. "Hey, don't fall asleep on me now."

Shuhi smiled faintly against the wood. Looks like I found senpai's biggest fangirl.

Minoko kept going anyway, as if Shuhi's silence were permission.

"I swear, if he doesn't win, I'll be shocked. Every girl I know is voting for him. Even the first-years are talking about it."

Sushi didn't say anything and kept her head down, half listening.

At last, Minoko leaned closer.

"So," she asked, lowering her voice just a little, "who are you voting for?"

Shuhi lifted her head.

"Onda-san," she said simply.

The effect was immediate.

Minoko blinked. Once. Twice."…Onda Kaito?" she repeated, as if checking she'd heard correctly.

"Yes."

"But why?" Minoko asked, genuine confusion creeping into her tone. "Why not Hiroshi-senpai? Every girl loves him."

Shuhi closed her notebook and slid it into her bag.

"Do you even know what position Onda is in right now?" Minoko pressed.

Shuhi stood up from her desk, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "How could I know?"

Minoko frowned. "The leaked intel says he's third. And not even close. There's a huge gap. The real fight is between Takase-san and Hiroshi-senpai. Onda doesn't stand a chance."

She hesitated, then added, almost gently, "Why vote for someone like him?"

Shuhi paused.

For a moment, she considered saying nothing. Letting the question dissolve into the noise of the classroom. But instead, she turned slightly, just enough to meet Minoko's eyes.

"I have my own reasons," Shuhi said.

Her voice wasn't sharp. It wasn't cold but final.

"Please don't talk to me about this."

Minoko opened her mouth, almost going to stop her but didn't.

Shuhi didn't wait for a reply. She walked toward the door, her steps unhurried, her posture relaxed, the same cheerful student everyone knew.

But as she stepped into the hallway, her smile faded.

"Third place", she thought.

The school buzzed with excitement behind her, unaware of the quiet decision that had just been made.

Chapter 41 - Broken locker and a letter