"I think you're insane…" she whispered, like she wasn't sure if she should say it out loud.
"You think, or you know?" I asked, taking one slow step toward her.She immediately stepped back. Her eyes flicked away for a second, then snapped back to me as if she didn't want to lose sight of what I might do next.
She was nervous. anyone could see that but not the kind of nervousness that comes from fear. It was different. Curious. Uneasy. Like no one had ever stood this close to her before and she didn't know what she was supposed to feel about it.
Her breath caught when I closed the distance again, just a little."See?" I murmured. "You don't sound very sure."
"I just… don't like anyone in my personal space," she replied. Her voice sounded steady, but her eyes kept darting—like she wasn't sure if she wanted me near or far.
"I get that," I said slowly, "but that's not what you're showing right now."Her breath hitched, just barely. She looked away as if she could hide the reaction, but it was too late I'd already caught it.
I turned around as if I was letting the moment go, pretending to drop the conversation… but a question lingered.
"What's Rory like?"
She froze for half a second before answering. "He's on the council." Then her brows pulled together. "Wait… why do you want to know about Rory?" There was a shift in her voice—curiosity layered over something sharper. Suspicion.
Wait… was that a hint of jealousy I heard?
The realization hit me harder than it should have. I turned around to look at her, my brows pulled together, trying to read her face, trying to decide whether I imagined it or not. She wouldn't meet my eyes this time. Figures.
I didn't even know what to say next. I hadn't come here for relationships, or whatever this strange tension between us was turning into. I had a purpose—one that didn't involve getting tangled up in anyone's feelings.
"Why did you sound…" I started, stepping toward her, but the question never finished.
A sharp knock echoed through the room.
We both froze.
I turned toward the door, already annoyed at the interruption—until I opened it.
Standing there, perfectly composed with her hands folded behind her back, was Rosalie Ruth. Student council member number three. She fell right after Rei in rank, known for being sharp, efficient, and impossible to read.
But the real question clawed at my mind:
Why was she here?
Rosalie didn't show up anywhere without a reason. Especially not unannounced. Especially not to me.
Her eyes flicked from me to the girl behind me, then back again, as if assessing something neither of us had said out loud.
"Transfer student," Rosalie said, her expression unreadable. "We need to talk."
The tension in the room shifted instantly. Whatever jealousy, whatever unspoken whatever-between-us… it scattered.
I slipped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind me, leaning on it for a second. Rosalie's posture didn't shift, straight spine, hands clasped, face perfectly unreadable.
"So, Miss Perfect Number Three," I said, crossing my arms. "What is it?"
"I'm here on principal orders for your weekly behavior checkups," she replied smoothly, like she'd practiced it on the way over.
I barked out a laugh before I could stop myself. A real one. What a joke.
"Um, no you're not," I said, stepping closer, lowering my voice just to see if it would crack her perfect composure. "If you're gonna lie, at least use a better one next time."
Rosalie didn't flinch. Didn't blink. Just stared at me as if I were the one wasting her time.
"Tell me what you're actually here for."
Silence. The kind that meant she was deciding something, how much to reveal, how much to hide, how much trouble I was or wasn't worth.
Her eyes flicked to the closed door behind me, then back to me, Like she'd just noticed something she didn't expect.
When she finally spoke, her voice was lower, clipped, stripped of the professional mask she'd walked in with.
"I'm not here to check on your behavior," she said. "I'm here because the council received a report about you."
A slow smile crept across my face. Of course they did.
But that still didn't explain why Rosalie came personally.
And she must've seen the question in my eyes, because she added:
"And the president can't know I'm here."
"Spit it out," I said, tapping my foot lightly against the floor. "What's the report?"
Rosalie's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. She glanced down the hallway, making sure no one was lingering close enough to hear. Then she leaned in—not too close, but close enough that her voice dropped into something sharper.
"You were seen," she said quietly. "Yesterday. In the east wing."
I blinked. That hallway was supposed to be abandoned after hours… unless someone had been watching.
Rosalie continued, her voice cool but edged with something tense. "No one is allowed in that section without council authorization. And according to the witness, you weren't just passing through. You were… investigating."
She said the last word like it meant more than she wanted it to.
I felt a slow grin tug at my lips. "So they sent you to scold me?"
Her eyes narrowed. "No. I came before the others found out. Because if they see that report before I talk to you, you won't get a warning. You'll get a summons."
A summons from the full student council. Perfect. Exactly the chaos I wanted.
But Rosalie wasn't done.
"Yurie," she said using my name like it weighed something, "what were you looking for down there?"
"Not your business," I said flatly. "Not the council's business either. And even if they did find out?" I tilted my head, letting the smile slip into something cold. "Tell them to stay out of my way. That's a warning for you and of the rest of them."
Rosalie didn't react right away. Her expression didn't crack, not the way normal students' did when I pushed back. But her eyes… yeah, her eyes shifted. A flicker. Calculation. Maybe even realization that I wasn't bluffing.
She straightened her posture, chin lifting just a fraction. "Is that supposed to intimidate me?" she asked, voice smooth but tight around the edges.
I shrugged. "If it does, then that's on you."
The hallway suddenly felt smaller, quieter. Like the whole school was holding its breath.
Because the truth was simple:
Rory wasn't the only target.
And Rosalie perfect, composed, obedient Rosalie wasn't off the list either.
Not for what she knew. Not for what she could ruin. Not for who she served.
She must've sensed the shift in my thoughts, because her eyes narrowed, sharpening into something almost dangerous.
"I'm telling you this for your own protection," Rosalie said. "You're making enemies you don't understand."
I leaned in just a bit, enough for her to see I wasn't joking, not even a little.
"And you're underestimating the kind of enemies I'm used to making."
Her breath hitched, but there.
This time, she was the one who stepped back.
"And tell your buddy Rory to meet me too," I added, letting the words drip slowly just to watch her reaction. "I wanna have a chat with him."
The moment I said it, Rosalie's posture stiffened, not dramatically, just enough to tell me she understood the weight behind the request. Or maybe she understood the threat hiding under it.
I smiled. A calm, deliberate smile that said more than any warning ever could.
Because I already knew what I was going to do. Something dangerous. Something that would absolutely make it crystal clear why I got expelled from my previous school. Why my old files were locked. Why the staff spoke my name like it was a problem, not a person.
Rosalie's eyes flicked over my face, searching for something—hesitation, fear, restraint. She found none.
"Yurie…" she began, but her voice wavered almost too softly to notice. "You're playing with the council. That never ends well."
I leaned back, hands in my pockets like this was a friendly hallway chat instead of a quiet collision course.
"It's not a game," I said. "And I'm not playing."
Her breath stilled. Her facade cracked for just a heartbeat. She understood, finally. That whatever she thought I was before? She underestimated it.
"I'll… relay the message to Rory," she said carefully.
"Good," I replied, stepping past her as if she were already irrelevant. "Tell him not to keep me waiting."
And with that, I walked back in the room calm, steady, already planning the next move I knew would shake this whole school.
"what the hell was that about?"
"I'm going to meet up with Rory soon" I smiled to her but she wasn't amused.
"yurie what the hell can you please tell what's happening"
"why the hell are you so worried? stay out of my business"
"your bringing the council into your mess"
"I didn't. they started it and now I'm finishing it" as soon as I said that a note slide under the door it was from Rory.
"you're not going are you..."
I didn't answer. I slid on my jacket and stepped out of the dorm. I had three hours before curfew—like that mattered. Rules didn't apply to me. Not anymore.
The spot on the note was an abandoned study hall behind the east wing. Dim lights, cracked windows, perfect for the kind of conversation I intended to have.
"So you're Miss Trouble Maker."
"And you're Number Seven."His jaw twitched. Good. He hated his rank being mentioned. I wanted him irritated—it made people slip.
"Rosalie said you needed me. So hurry it up, I don't have all day," he said, folding his arms.
"What do you know about Marie and Yante?"
That smirk. The exact one I expected. He knew something and I needed it.
"Why are you asking?" he shot back. "You only care about yourself. You don't care about other people."
My teeth clenched. The irritation flared hot in my chest.
"You don't know a thing about what I care about," I said, stepping closer.
He didn't move. Didn't blink.
"Sure I do. Your file tells me everything," he said. "The locked section? I've seen it."
My pulse spiked.
"That part," he continued, eyes narrowing with something between fascination and fear, "is why they should've never let you into this school."
"I don't care about those files right now," I snapped. "Tell me what you know about Marie and Yante."
My voice shook not with fear, but with pressure, with everything I'd been holding back for years. He noticed. His eyes narrowed just slightly.
"I need those answers," I said. "All I know is that my parents Marie and Yante were students here. And their files were locked away in the Council's room for every generation. Every. Single. One."
I took a step closer, letting him see the danger behind my calm.
"So you're going to tell me," I said quietly, "or every council member in this school is going to burn with the rest of this place."
Number Seven's smirk faded. Not completely—just enough to show I'd hit something real. He inhaled once, eyes flicking over my face like he was reevaluating every assumption he'd had about me.
"Well," he murmured, "that explains a lot."
I finally realized he wasn't going to say anything. He wasn't scared enough, or he thought he could out wait me. Either way, I was done wasting time.
I stepped back, letting the cold settle in my voice.
"Make sure not to cry in your sleep tonight."
His jaw tightened just barely but enough to tell me the hit landed. I didn't wait for a response. I turned and walked away, leaving him in the dark with whatever fear or pride he wanted to choke on.
The next morning the entire school was herded into the assembly hall again—same stiff uniforms, same perfect rows, same suffocating silence.
But the atmosphere was different. Heavier. Uneasy.
The principal stepped up to the podium, voice tight."Last night, a member of the student council Rank 7, Rory Scott... passed away."
A ripple of gasps tore through the hall. Even the council members, seated on their elevated platform, stiffened. Lannie's hand curled tightly around the arm of her chair.
I didn't react. I stood still among the other students, eyes forward, face unreadable.
Inside, though… I wasn't surprised.
I told that idiot I didn't come here to play games.
I came for answers.
And if no one gives them to me… they'll burn with the school.
The principal kept talking, voice shaking through some rehearsed condolences, but the words didn't matter. What mattered was the way the council members kept glancing at each other—and at me.
Good.
Let them wonder. Let them fear the possibility.
This was only the beginning.
After that long, pointless assembly, I wandered out into the hallway feeling more bored than anything else. Everyone else looked shaken—whispering in tight circles, clutching their binders like the school might crumble under them any second.
I was halfway to the dorm wing when I heard my name.
"Yurie."
I didn't even need to turn to know the voice. Lannie's footsteps were too crisp, too deliberate, the kind that always carried authority she pretended not to show.
She caught up beside me, eyes sharp and stormy."Do you know what happened? You were the last person to talk to Rory yesterday."
Of course she'd come straight to me. Of course she'd piece together the timeline faster than the rest of the sheep.
I didn't pause. Didn't even blink. "Don't know. Don't care."
A lie clean, cold, and effortless.
Her jaw tightened, the tiniest twitch, but enough for me to notice."You don't care?" she repeated, voice lowering, like she couldn't believe it. "Yurie, he died."
"And?" I shrugged.
Her breath hitched in frustration. She wasn't angry at the death, she was angry because she knew I was hiding something and she had no proof. Not yet.
I stepped a little closer, just enough for her to tense. "It's their fault," I said quietly, my tone almost bored. "They let a killer in the school."
Lannie froze. For a split second, something flickered in her eyes, fear? suspicion? Or something worse… realization.
But I walked past her before she could form a response, letting my words sink in like poison.
Let her think about it.
Let her wonder if I meant someone else.
Or if I meant myself.
Same day. Same afternoon. I hadn't even made it back to my dorm before the intercom crackled to life above my head.
"Yurie Ysa Yurie, report to the main office immediately."
Already? I almost laughed.
I took my time walking there, dragging my fingers along the walls just to annoy the prefects trailing behind me. When I finally stepped into the office, three adults and two council members were already waiting Rei and Rosalie.
The principal folded her hands. Fake calm. Desperate calm.
"Yurie," she said, "we need to ask you a few questions about Rory Scott's passing."
I raised a brow. "Already? Wow. Didn't even give his body time to cool."
Rosalie flinched. Rei shot me a glare sharp enough to cut glass.
The principal cleared her throat. "You were the last student seen speaking with him yesterday. We want to know what your interaction was about."
I sat down without being invited, legs crossed, expression blank.
"Nothing important," I said. "He wanted to talk. I left. End of story."
Rei slammed a folder on the desk. "You expect us to believe that?"
"I don't expect you to believe anything," I replied, leaning back in the chair. "I just expect you to stop wasting my time."
The room stiffened.
The principal tried again, voice tight but controlled. "Yurie… is there anything you need to tell us? Anything that could help the investigation?"
I smiled slow, deliberate.
"No. But you all might want to help yourselves."
Rei's eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
I stood up, brushing imaginary dust off my uniform."It means you let a killer into the school."
Rosalie inhaled sharply. The adults looked baffled. Rei stepped forward.
"Who? Who are you talking about?"
I walked to the door, hand on the handle, pausing just long enough to let the tension choke the room.
"You'll figure it out."
Then I left.
Let them scramble. Let them doubt every student, every council member, every shadow in the hall.
This was only the first crack in their perfect little system.
The only thing I didn't notice too busy laughing to myself about that pathetic excuse of an "interrogation" was Lannie standing right outside the office door.
Arms crossed. Back straight. Expression unreadable.
Like she'd been waiting there the whole time.
I blinked, then scoffed. "What are you, a house pet? Why are you waiting for me?"
Her eyes narrowed, just slightly. That tiny shift she always tried to hide.
"I'm not waiting," she said, but her voice was too quick, too controlled. "I wanted to make sure you didn't do something reckless in there."
I smirked. "Oh, so you were waiting."
A faint flush touched her cheeks, just a hint but enough for me to notice. Enough for me to file away.
"You're impossible," she muttered, turning on her heel as if the conversation annoyed her, but her steps matched mine when I started walking.
"Cute."
I didn't mean to say it out loud. It just slipped, under my breath, but apparently not soft enough.
Lannie didn't look at me. Didn't even flinch. But her ears?
Bright red.
She stiffened like someone had just tapped her spine with ice. "What's with you?" she muttered, voice way too defensive. "First week of school you're doing so much dumb shit and now you're calling me cute?"
I shrugged, stuffing my hands into my jacket pockets. "Didn't say you were cute."
"You literally did," she snapped.
"Well, if it bothers you so much…" I leaned in slightly, just to mess with her. "Maybe don't turn red next time."
Her breath hitched barely, but I heard it. She looked away, jaw tight, pretending she wasn't flustered, pretending she still had control.
It was almost funny.
I walked ahead of her, and she followed automatically, like she forgot she wasn't supposed to.
I smirked to myself.
I knew I was breaking the president slowly, easily piece by piece. And she herself didn't even realize it yet.
But the cracks were showing.
And I saw every single one.
Back in the dorm hallway, I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out the folded post-it note—the one that held my list. Names. Ranks. Targets. Answers.
I flattened it between my fingers, eyes scanning the next name.
I needed answers fast. Faster than the council could scramble to cover their tracks. Faster than the school could pretend everything was fine.
Because everything about this place was wrong.
I needed to know what happened to my parents Marie and Yante. Why this school made things impossible for them. Why they left their files locked under the student council quarters like some shameful secret.
And why every time I got close to the truth, someone suddenly went quiet.
My jaw tightened. Heat surged through my chest, not grief. anger. Cold, old anger.
"I'm pissed," I muttered to myself.
The school halls looked perfect, too perfect. Like someone scrubbed away every trace of what happened here generations ago.
My fingers clenched around the note.
If the council wanted to hide the truth…
Then I'd drag it out of them one by one. Whether they liked it or not.
Before I went back into my dorm, I stopped at the end of the hallway. Because every single head turned toward me.
Every student. Every prefect. Even a couple of council assistants passing by.
All of them staring.
Whispers crawled across the walls like insects.
"That's the girl…"
"Did she actually do it?"
"You don't think she—no, no way…"
"But she was the last one to see Rory…"
"I heard she threatened him—"
"Shh, she's looking over here—"
I let my eyes drift across the crowd, slow and bored.
They all immediately looked away.
Of course they did.
People like them only had courage when they were whispering behind someone's back. Face-to-face? Nothing but trembling prey.
I stepped forward, and the hallway seemed to part for me, students shrinking back like I was contagious.
Good.
Let them fear what they don't understand.
Let them think whatever they want.
Because the truth? I wasn't here for them.
I was here for the people who actually deserved to be afraid.
The council.
And whoever buried my parents' story.
I pushed open the dorm door without looking back once.
…That's weird.
Lannie was usually here before me—sitting at her desk, sorting council forms, pretending she wasn't keeping an eye on me. But the room was empty. No light on. No papers scattered. No annoyed sigh waiting to greet me.
I stepped inside slowly.
Why do I care? I shouldn't. I really, really shouldn't.
But something tugged at the back of my mind.
She hasn't been around much today. Not after the assembly. Not even hovering in the hall like she normally does.
And… She hasn't reported my behavior logs.
Not one.
I stopped, realization hitting me like a slap.
"…Don't tell me."
I walked over to her desk, flipping through the neat little folders she always kept. The behavior report sheets were untouched blank, unsubmitted, unsigned.
"…She's been covering my tracks?"
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense every time I caused trouble, she was the one conveniently "handling" the paperwork. Every warning that should've been written never appeared. Every rule I broke somehow vanished from the system.
Lannie Ravens.
The perfect president.
Had been protecting me?
"What the hell…" I muttered, running a hand through my hair.
I wasn't easy to help. I wasn't even trying to make it easy.
And she— She was covering for me?
Why?
Why would the student council president risk her own record… her own rank… just to keep mine clean?
I sat on my bed slowly, the room feeling emptier without her quiet presence on the other side.
"…Idiot," I whispered, but my chest felt tight in a way I refused to acknowledge.
If Lannie was covering for me…
Then she must know what I did to Rory… but why ask so many questions? Why pretend she didn't see the signs? Why act clueless?
I sat on the edge of the bed in our dorm, tapping my foot, trying not to think about how irritated I was or how uneasy. Lannie was never late. She was always ahead of schedule, always prepared, always five steps in front of everyone else. But today? Nothing. No reports filed on my behavior, no lectures in the hallway, not even her usual passive-aggressive sighs when I broke another rule.
And the more I thought about it, the more it clicked.
…she's been covering for me.
Before I could unravel that thought any further, the door finally cracked open. Lannie stepped inside, closed it quietly, and just stood there. No words. No greeting. Her eyes scanned me once, and I knew immediately, she knew everything.
"What the hell did you do?" I snapped, standing up. "I told you not to involve yourself in my business."
She didn't flinch. Of course she didn't. She crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder against the door, looking at me with this mix of disappointment and disbelief.
"I'm not dumb," she said, voice low. "The moment you stepped into this school, I knew exactly who you were. I knew your record. I knew why they transferred you here. I've known the whole time."
I clenched my fists. "Then why act stupid? Why pretend you didn't know?"
"Because I wanted to see how far you'd go," she shot back. "I wanted to see if you'd actually change or if all those warnings meant nothing." Her jaw tightened. "But Rory? Seriously? That's the step you chose to take?"
Her anger wasn't loud, it was controlled, sharp, and somehow worse than yelling.
"I don't care what I did," I said. "It had to be done. You don't understand... him dying had to happen."
My voice didn't shake. My expression didn't break. I didn't feel guilty, why would I? Rory made his choices. I made mine. The world kept spinning.
But the way she looked at me… like she was trying to peel apart the person she thought she knew from the one standing in front of her. it made something twist inside my chest.
She sighed, dragging a hand through her hair. "Yurie… do you even hear yourself right now?"
I hated the way she said my name, like she had some right to judge me. I hated that she sounded like a parent scolding their kid. And worse... I hated that it worked. It made something in me shrink, made me feel small and stupid in a way I wasn't used to.
But I wasn't backing down.
"It doesn't matter," I muttered. "He was in the way. And you? You didn't stop me."
Her eyes flicked up, sharp. "Don't twist this. I wasn't covering for you so you could kill someone."
I looked away, jaw tight.
"So I've got two choices," I said, stepping closer to her, closing the distance until only a few breaths separated us. "I could either get rid of you before you tell the school board…" I paused, letting the threat hang in the air. "Actually no. There's only one choice."
Lannie didn't move. Didn't step back. Didn't even blink.
Instead, she tilted her head, eyebrows lifting just slightly. "What makes you think I'm going to tell the school board?"
Her voice wasn't scared. It was calm. Annoyingly calm. Like she was talking to a kid having a tantrum.
I narrowed my eyes. "You're the student council president. You follow rules like they're oxygen."
"Maybe," she said. "But I don't report everything. Especially not when I've been covering your tracks since the day you got here."
That hit me harder than it should've.
"Why?" I demanded. "Why would you ever protect someone like me?"
She didn't answer immediately. Her gaze swept over me—my posture, my clenched jaw, the tension in my shoulders as if she was reading something I didn't want read.
"Because," she said quietly, "I know there's more to what you're doing than just causing chaos. And because… I don't think you're as heartless as you pretend to be."
I scoffed. "You don't know anything about me."
"Then kill me," she said, completely serious. "If you really only have one choice."
The room fell still.
Her challenge wasn't bravado. It wasn't fear. It was certainty.
Certainty that I wouldn't do it.
And for the first time… I hated that she was right.
"You're lucky," I said coldly, moving past her, "but you're still on my list."
Lannie stiffened. "I'm sorry there's a list?" Her voice dropped, almost a whisper. "So Rory isn't your only target? What… what other names are there?"
I didn't hesitate. "Rei Raven. Lillian Montalvo. Andre Hamilton. Axel Irwin. Rosalie Roth…" I let my gaze settle on her.
"And of course, you."
Her breath faltered just slightly but she kept her posture straight, kept that president mask on her face.
"Those are all council members," she said slowly, connecting the dots she clearly didn't want to connect. "And since Rory was number seven on the rank…"
Her eyes lifted to mine, widening with a mixture of realization and horror.
"You're starting from the bottom to the top," she whispered. "Which means… I'm last."
A small, satisfied smile crept onto my lips. "At least you understand the order of things."
Lannie took a step back not out of fear, but out of disbelief. "Yurie… that means you're planning to tear the entire council apart."
"That's the idea."
"Why tell me this?" she demanded, voice trembling with anger now. "Why say any of this to me?"
"Because you wouldn't stop digging." I shrugged. "And because you needed to know what you're standing in the way of."
Her jaw tightened. For the first time since I'd known her, the perfect president looked genuinely shaken.
"Yurie… once you start something like this, you can't undo it."
I stepped closer, meeting her stare head-on.
"I'm not looking to undo anything," I said. "I'm finishing what your council started years ago."
She swallowed hard. She didn't argue. She didn't deny.She understood.
And that was exactly what I wanted.
"Okay, okay whatever," she muttered, exasperated. "Who's next?"
I couldn't help the smirk curling on my lips. "Look at the president adding risk into her life."
Lannie glared, but her voice betrayed her. "I already got myself in this. I can't go back now."
I laughed under my breath, slow and deliberate. "Didn't think you'd actually admit that."
Her cheeks flinched just slightly but she covered it with irritation. "Hurry up."
"Fine." I leaned in, enjoying the moment more than I should. "Lillian Montalvo. Rank six."
Lannie froze.
"L-Lillian?" she repeated. "The treasurer?"
"Mm-hm."
Her eyes narrowed, confusion and worry mixing. "Why her? She barely talks. She barely even looks at anyone."
"Exactly," I said. "Quiet people hide the biggest secrets."
Lannie swallowed, trying to process everything at once. "So you're moving up the ladder already…"
"That's how lists work," I teased. "You go in order."
She folded her arms, pacing for a second before turning back to me. "You know Lillian is… different. She's not like Rory."
"Nobody is."
"That's not what I meant." Her voice softened, seriousness taking over. "If you're going after her… be careful."
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? The president warning me?"
"I'm warning everyone," she said firmly, stepping closer. "Including you."
Yurie didn't realize it yet— but the president hadn't just fallen into her mess.
She was falling for her too.