Chapter 3: "Evil doesn't begin with hatred. It begins with silence."
---
The next morning, Minazuki High was buzzing—but not with the usual chatter of teenage drama or test anxiety.
Something had shifted.
Whispers coiled like smoke through the corridors. Glances lingered a second too long. Someone, somewhere, had told a lie—and like all good lies, it was dressed in just enough truth to be dangerous.
And Kaito Shiranami felt it.
Every step he took through the halls carried weight, not from the books in his bag, but from the invisible eyes that trailed him. He wasn't just a student anymore. He was an anomaly.
He reached his desk in Class 2-A. His seat near the window, once a peaceful haven, now felt like a cage with glass bars.
Airi sat two seats over. She didn't look up. Not once.
---
Third Period – Ethics Class
The lesson today was on "Utilitarian Morality"—the idea that the good of the many outweighs the good of the few.
Kaito stared blankly at the board, but his mind was ablaze.
> "The many will always choose sacrifice,
as long as they are not the ones being sacrificed."
He didn't take notes. Instead, he pulled out his journal—the one no one knew about—and scribbled a new set of observations:
Rumors require only two elements: silence from the target and fear from the audience.
Authority does not fear truth; it fears clarity.
People trust lies because lies absolve them of responsibility.
He closed the journal as the bell rang.
Outside, students avoided his gaze. Even his best friend, Makoto, offered only a stiff nod and moved on.
Kaito walked past them, head high.
He wasn't broken.
He was measuring.
---
After School – Data Lab (Secret)
The stolen flash drive now sat inside a secure, isolated laptop Kaito had restored himself. It was slow, dusty, and air-gapped—never connected to the internet.
He opened the first folder.
> [EVIDENCE_AIRIK/0310_CONV.mp3]
It played Airi's voice. And a second—her father's.
> "If you want to keep your future intact, you'll end things with that boy immediately."
> "But—"
> "Do you want this to go public? I have the photos. Don't forget who controls what."
Then silence.
Then… her whispering:
> "...I understand."
Kaito closed the file.
His chest was still. Calm. Not a flicker of emotion.
He clicked on another folder.
> [PRINCIPAL_AGREEMENT.PDF]
A contract—signed by the school principal and a private "ethics monitoring" group, which was not legally registered. A clause read:
> "Behavioral surveillance of Category-A students is authorized without parental notification, in partnership with Sponsor Group—Blue River."
His name was listed under Category-A.
So was Airi's.
---
Unknown Caller
Kaito's burner phone buzzed.
[Private Number]
He answered. Silence.
Then a voice—young, maybe mid-twenties.
> "Your file is already marked. Everything you do now is being recorded. Be careful, Kaito."
Click.
He didn't flinch.
He smiled.
---
That Night – Operation: First Spark
The first spark would be small. A test. Not to attack, but to reveal.
Kaito logged in to an anonymous proxy server from the air-gapped laptop, using a flash-boot Linux OS he modified himself.
He uploaded a select audio clip from the drive:
> "I have the photos. Don't forget who controls what."
He added no name, no context—just that phrase, edited cleanly with no background noise.
Then he posted it on a school gossip forum under the name:
[Shinsei]
The post title?
> "Power does not educate. It threatens."
Within 20 minutes, the clip was viral among Minazuki students.
Speculation exploded:
"Is that Airi's dad??"
"Who's being blackmailed?"
"This is REAL. You can hear the truth in that voice."
"They're watching us. We're just tools."
The school scrambled. Teachers called emergency meetings. The principal issued a statement that evening calling it a "malicious forgery."
But the flame had already touched dry grass.
---
Midnight – Journal Entry
Kaito sat at his window again, watching the city. Watching the lights of homes that felt so safe, so asleep.
He opened his journal and wrote:
> Day 1: The match has been struck.
The air is dry. The wind is perfect.
They called me a monster before I even lifted my hand.
Now I will show them what a monster truly is.
He turned the page.
On it, he drew a single flame.
Then shut the book.
---