(Haruto)
I sat at my desk, eyes fixed on the laptop screen, trying to solve a particularly annoying algebra problem. The room was quiet, save for the soft clicks of my keyboard and the distant hum of the cruise ship's engine.
Then the door creaked open.
I didn't look. I didn't have to. Only one other person had a key to this dorm room.
"Kei," I said, my voice steady as I jotted down another formula. "Listen—we can't beat Class A alone. I've been thinking about it. If we really want to stand a chance, we need to collaborate with the other classes."
No response. Just the sound of the door shutting behind him.
I kept talking.
"Class B has always had tension with Class A. We should use that. Help them bring A down, and when we're seniors, three years from now… maybe we all graduate happily from Class C."
Still nothing. Just footsteps.
I gave a half-hearted laugh. "Honestly, a lot of girls in our class are already friends with Class B girls. It's like we're cousins. Class D's still tense with us—yeah, because of what they did to Mei—but maybe if we work at it, we can all—"
Then it came.
A voice.
Kei's voice.
But not *Kei.*
"Is your mind really that mediocre?" he said, his tone so sharp and cold it sliced through the room like a blade. "Graduating happily from Class C? That's a load of crap."
My hand froze. My pen slipped from my fingers, rolling across the desk.
I turned slowly.
And I *saw* him.
Or something that looked like him.
Kei stood near the door, but his expression was unreadable. His head hung slightly, eyes shaded by his mahogany-tipped bangs. But even in the dim room, I could feel it—that *presence*.
There was no anger.
No sadness.
Just... void.
It was like looking into a bottomless pit.
"Kei… are you okay?" I asked, swallowing the tightness in my throat. "You look—"
"**Silence.**"
That word didn't sound like it came from Kei. It didn't even sound like it came from a human.
I took a step back.
His yellow eyes locked onto mine—burning with something I couldn't describe. Not fire. Not rage.
Something colder.
Kei stepped forward, slowly. "Do you really think I give a crap about our relationship with the other classes?"
My chest tightened. "But we *need* them. If we want to survive—Kei, what the hell is the matter with you?"
He didn't raise his voice. He didn't even change his expression.
He just spoke.
"Wait till the next special exam… and you'll see. All those precious bonds of yours? They'll crumble to hell."
And then… he walked past me.
Didn't say another word.
He laid down in his bed, turned away from me, and covered himself with the blanket like nothing had happened.
I stood there.
Frozen.
Still hearing his voice echoing in my head.
That boy lying there… that *thing* in my roommate's bed… it wasn't the Kei I knew.
I stared at him for a while longer before whispering to myself, "That boy wasn't Kei… it couldn't be."
But I knew—deep down—that it was.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
(Class C teacher)
---
The bitter taste of coffee clung to the roof of my mouth. I sat alone in the near-empty cafeteria, long after midnight, letting the silence blanket me. The island was behind us, but the storm hadn't passed.
It had only just begun.
I heard footsteps approaching. Haruto.
I didn't need to look up. I knew it from the moment he stepped through the entrance—shoulders tense, heart rattled, eyes haunted.
He sat across from me, clearly ready to speak, but I spoke first.
"I'm assuming you saw that shadow too, didn't you?"
His silence was confirmation enough. Then, a nod.
I sighed and looked into my coffee as if it held some sort of answer. "Someone has corrupted Kei."
Haruto's voice was immediate, concerned. "Who corrupted Kei?"
I looked at him, truly looked at him. The worry in his eyes wasn't just for a classmate. He cared.
But that caring… it might be what destroyed him in the end.
"Unfortunately, I can't tell you that," I said, voice heavy with a burden far too great. "He would end me if I did."
"He?" Haruto pressed. "Who is he?"
"I can't tell you that either."
Frustrated, Haruto pushed back his chair, ready to leave. I couldn't blame him. But I stopped him—not because I needed to, but because he deserved to know at least *some* of the truth.
"Have you ever heard of the Puppeteer Age in this school?"
He froze. Slowly, he returned to his seat. "Yeah… I heard some upperclassmen talk about it. Said it ended last year before we arrived. Most people think it's just a myth."
I leaned back in my seat, the shadows of that era still fresh in my mind. "It wasn't a myth."
He stared at me, waiting.
"There was a boy who came to this school years ago. A freshman, just like you and Kei. But he wasn't ordinary. He was... something else. For three years, this boy operated from the shadows. He manipulated students. Staff. Management. He got over a hundred people expelled—without ever lifting a finger directly. No one knew who he was."
I saw Haruto's eyes widen.
"In his final year, he revealed himself. A calculated move. And the shockwaves it sent… you wouldn't believe it. Even his closest friend—someone who had trusted him through it all—snapped. That friend went on a rampage, attacking four teachers, eight staff members, and seventeen students just to try and reach him. The boy was expelled and arrested. As they dragged him away in cuffs, he screamed the Puppeteer's name over and over again."
Haruto blinked slowly, clearly unsettled. "What does this have to do with Kei? He wasn't even in the school then."
I exhaled. We were finally here.
"That Puppeteer," I said, "had a relative. Maybe a cousin. Maybe a brother. Someone close."
And Haruto… still didn't connect the dots.
"I make this as obvious as possible," I muttered, more to myself than him, "and you still don't get it."
Haruto leaned forward. "Was the Puppeteer Age really that bad?"
I didn't answer right away. I just stared into my half-empty cup.
"It was one of the worst years of my life," I finally said.
He looked down. "So what do we do about Kei?"
I stood up, knowing what needed to be said. "If he doesn't find the light in time…" I turned, looking him dead in the eyes. "Then I will trust in you."
Haruto blinked. "Trust me to what?"
I didn't blink. "To expel Kei. At once."
Without waiting for his reaction, I walked away—my footsteps echoing down the cafeteria floor, disappearing into the shadows of a school that was about to fall under the Puppeteer's reign… all over again.
[End of Volume 2 – *Shadows of the Elite]