12 - Shattered Peace
Chapter 12: Shattered Peace
Peace, as it turned out, was a fragile illusion. It shimmered like a reflection on glass—beautiful, promising, and just as easily broken.
For the first time in weeks, the halls of Shirasagi High felt still. Not calm, not safe, but still. The way the eye of a storm might feel just before the world was ripped apart.
Rei Kisaragi had won the vote. The council remained intact. But the scars of that battle were fresh and unhealed.
It began the morning after the results were announced. A single desk overturned in Class 2-B. No one admitted to doing it. No one claimed responsibility. But the message was clear—it wasn't over.
The unease spread like dye in water.
Posters of Rei's campaign, once left up by supportive students, were now torn down or graffitied with slurs.
Class discussions were strained, and some teachers openly avoided eye contact with Rei or the council. The student body had chosen her, yes—but they hadn't all accepted her.
Inside the council room, Arisa reviewed attendance reports with trembling fingers. "Two more absences today. Both from committee heads. They're boycotting meetings."
Ichika stood by the window, arms folded tightly. "They think if they ignore us long enough, we'll fall apart."
Rei sat quietly at the head of the table, her fingers tracing a small tear on the cover of her notebook. She didn't speak.
Arisa's voice cracked. "This isn't a victory. It's a cold war."
"No," Rei finally said. "It's a warning."
She stood up, closed the notebook, and looked around the apart, "They didn't want to win the vote. They wanted to fracture us. Turn us inward. And it's working."
Ichika turned. "Then what do we do?"
Rei's eyes were sharp. "We don't defend. We rebuild. We dig deeper. We find the rot they've been using against us and cut it out. All of it."
...
...
The following week became a frenzy of covert investigations. Rei, Ichika, and Arisa spread out across campus, interviewing committee members, collecting documents, and tracing digital records.
What they uncovered went far beyond petty vandalism or anonymous slander.
There was a shadow network—an organized faction of students and teachers working to undermine the council's authority.
Anonymous donations had been made to certain clubs, bribes passed quietly to sway influence, and in some cases, deliberate academic sabotage used to ruin the reputations of supporters.
One teacher in particular, Mr. Nakagawa—a senior faculty member and rumored ally of Hajime Suda—had falsified several grade reports and leaked sensitive student information to smear council allies. The evidence, though buried deep, was damning.
Rei confronted him after school.
In the dim light of the faculty office, she stood across from him, arms folded. "You forged three reports. You ruined a student's college recommendation. Why?"
Nakagawa didn't blink. "Because I've seen what happens when people like you get power. You turn schools into battlegrounds. I won't let that happen here."
Rei's voice was low. "You already did."
She handed over the flash drive. "You'll resign. Publicly. Or I release this."
Nakagawa hesitated, then nodded once. Quietly. Bitterly.
...
...
That night, the faculty board received his resignation letter. The following day, whispers turned to gasps.
If there had been doubt before, it evaporated. Rei's enemies hadn't just lied—they'd conspired. They'd crossed lines that should have never been touched. And Rei hadn't retaliated with rage.
She had revealed them with truth. Still, the shadows fought back.
One morning, Ichika found his locker broken into. His sketchbook—the one he never let anyone see—was shredded and soaked in ink.
He stared at the mess for a long moment before Rei found him.
"They're cowards," he muttered. "They won't hit you, so they go after what you care about."
Rei crouched beside him, gently lifting a half-ruined page.
"I care about you," she said quietly.
Ichika blinked, caught off guard.
She didn't wait for his reply. "And they're not winning. Not this time."
Later that week, a student council ally—Emiko, head of the environmental club—was cornered after school by two masked students.
They didn't touch her, but they threatened her. Told her to stop attending council meetings. She came to Rei shaking, terrified.
Rei didn't give a speech.
She gathered a list of cameras in the area, pulled surveillance footage, and had the masked students identified by nightfall. She didn't involve the school.
She went to their parents. Face to face. What she said to them, no one knew. But the next day, both boys apologized to Emiko in front of the entire school.
No one doubted the source of that fear.
...
...
By the time winter began to roll in, the school had changed.
The hallways weren't silent anymore. They were wary. Watching. The resistance had lost momentum. Those still loyal to the shadows had gone quiet. The balance hadn't just shifted. It had cracked wide open.
And Rei? She stood in the middle of it all—not as a tyrant, not as a savior, but something far more dangerous.
A symbol.
A student who had survived being expelled, slandered, betrayed, and hunted—and still stood taller than before.
On the last day before the winter break, the student body gathered for a mandatory assembly. Snow drifted past the auditorium windows. The air was cold and biting.
The principal, tired and old, stood at the podium. His voice was thin.
"This year has brought… unprecedented challenges. I thank you for your resilience. I now give the stage to our student council president, Rei Kisaragi."
Rei steppedscho She didn't bring notes because she didn't need them.
"I'm not going to pretend this semester was normal. It wasn't. We've seen how easy it is to fall into fear. To be divided. But we've also seen how hard it is to stand back up."
"Some of you hate me. Some of you support me. Some of you still don't know where you stand. That's fine. What matters isn't what you feel about me. What matters is what you do with your fear."
"You can hide behind it or you can face it. This council is here because students chose to believe we could change things. And we will. Whether you're with us or not."
She stepped back. No applause followed immediately.
But there was silence.
Deep.
Respectful.
And when students began to rise to their feet, one by one, it wasn't out of obligation.
It was out of understanding. Rei didn't smile. But for the first time, her eyes softened.