*✿ IMPERIALS DEBATE CLUB ROOM — EVENING*
The room had grown quiet. The others had left — papers scattered, chairs half-pulled out. The buzz of energy from earlier now faded into a still hum.
Only two remained.
*Nao sat hunched over her notebook*, still pretending to work, but her mind was elsewhere. The weight of the past few days, of secrets unspoken, hung heavily around her.
Across from her, *Kaze stood silently*, his expression unreadable.
He slid something across the table — an envelope, thick and sealed with tape.
*"Don't open it until you're alone,"* he whispered low, almost like a warning... or a confession.
He didn't wait for her to respond. *He turned and left*, the soft creak of the door closing behind him echoing louder than expected.
Nao stared at the envelope.
***
*✿ GIRLS' DORM — NIGHT*
Nao shut the door to her room,it was empty locking it with trembling fingers. Her heart thudded.
She sat at her desk, slowly placing the envelope in front of her.
*Rip.*
She opened it.
Inside — a *USB drive* and a *photo*.
Her fingers shook as she lifted the image:
*Viki*, mid-step, in the school hallway… her uniform stained with *blood*. Her expression blank, void. Cold.
The timestamp?
Just *minutes after Vince had collapsed* on the school route.Dead.Nao's eyes widened.
*"No… this can't—"*
She grabbed her laptop, inserted the USB. A single *audio file* blinked on-screen.
She hit play.
> *"That bastard Vince... I'll handle him myself."*
*Viki's voice. Sharp. Unmistakable.*
Nao's breath hitched.
She covered her mouth.
Then… she noticed something else in the envelope — a *small folded piece of paper*.
She opened it slowly.
> *"You could use this against her during the debate… that would expose her. I managed to get this much proof, so please don't put it to waste. Something really bad will happen if she walks free. I'm entrusting it to you — just because we're not on the same team, and because being her enemy makes you the perfect weapon. Trust me… this will end your trauma."*
> — *Kaze*
Her fingers trembled around the letter.
*"Is this… really what I should do?"* she whispered aloud, lost in thought — in doubt.
Then— *a voice echoed. Not from the room… but from inside her head.*
> *"What you could do?"*
> *"Do you really think you have a choice right now? I didn't have a choice when I was pushed off that Roof. You had a choice to tell the truth… and you chose silence. Why… do you still seek choices?"*
The voice grew louder — twisted, pained.
*"DO YOU STILL SEEK FOR CHOICES??"*Nao grabbed her head — the voice screaming like glass against her mind.
*"ARGHH—!"*
She sank to her knees, gasping.
Then, silence. Cold. Empty.
> *"Your pain will be endless…"*
The voice whispered one last time…
Then disappeared, leaving her in the dark. Alone.
With the truth.
And a decision only she could make.