Uniting in school - Dead Logic

Another lively day in high school. Students going to the classes with their bags on their back. Friends gossiping to each other. Then two students entered through the gate. A boy and a girl. After entering the school, they quickly came close to a window view.

"So we finally got in," the boy said. "Now what's our next move, Pi?"

Seeing other students pass by them, Pi panicked a little, "Oh crap! Don't call me that name here!" the girl whispered quickly, glancing at the students walking by. "Use my real name, idiot!"

"Right, right. Sorry, Rina-san." He scratched the back of his head. "And I'm Akari Hoshino."

They shook their hands, pretending to have met for the first time in front of passing students.

"Can't believe we can finally say our real names," Rina said with a small smile. "I was getting tired of those code names."

Akari chuckled. "Yeah, same. Anyway, let's find our classroom."

They started walking down the corridor. While walking, Akari kept glancing at everywhere in their passage. Every corner of the school.

"Remember why we're here?" Rina said quietly. "We have to convince Delta to return to the organization."

Akari didn't respond. They kept walking till they reached the classroom's door. Akari opened it and saw nobody inside. Just some bags on the desks. Only a few students came, put their bags there and went outside. Of course the class time wasn't near yet.

Akari placed his bag down, then turned toward Rina. "What mission?" he said, his tone suddenly colder. "And who even cares?"

"What do you mean?" Rina asked, blinking.

"It's not like they're watching us," Akari said. "We finally got free after years of being their puppets. Can't you just enjoy that?"

Rina didn't say anything, just stared at him for a second, "So this is how a typical man after getting a taste of freedom looks like, huh? Already lost from the track." Rina narrated in her mind.

"The higher ups sent me with him just to keep him stable. Now I see why…"

"Hey," Akari waved a hand in front of her face, "you spacing out?"

"No, nothing." She forced a smile.

After setting their bags down, they left the room again, closing the sliding door behind them.

"There are 11 notice boards throughout the entire school. At least that's what I saw." Akari started, "All of them are just clubs wanting new recruits. Pretty boring if you ask me. I want something interesting."

"Then let's check the other boards," Rina suggested.

After walking for a while, they came across another notice board attached to the wall. Akari stopped midway and searched the board for a while. Then his eyes caught something. A notice paper.

"Look at this," he said. "Student council president election. Happening in a week."

"So?" Rina said. "So? Don't think about joining it. THere is no reason for students to vote for you."

Akari smirked. "No, that's not it. I have a more interesting idea."

"Can we please focus on the mission?" she sighed.

Akari sighed for a moment. Then he turned back to Rina and took a step forward, "Don't you get it? We're a team. And a team needs a leader. So I'll be the leader."

"He's not wrong", Rina admitted silently. "And Zeta outranks me anyway."

"Okay, fine, leader," she said. "Then what's your first order?"

Akari grinned and raised a fist. "As leader, my first order is… to enjoy school life!"

Rina rolled her eyes. "Figures."

After wandering for a bit, they ended up near the art club room. Akari wasn't interested at first, until he heard noise from inside. Laughter. Curious, he slid the door open just a little.

Akari noticed it was a coin guessing game. The game where the player will have to guess which hand holds the coin. The person who was guessing was Haruto.

"And that's sixteen in a row!" one of them said, grinning proudly.

"Come on, Haruto! How are you this good? At this rate, you are gonna break the world record for real!" another complained.

On the other side of the room, Rina spotted a group of girls fooling around. Shuhi was there.

"Hey, Minoko-chan! Let's see who can make the bigger bubble!" Shuhi said, holding up a pack of bubble gum.

"Deal!" Minoko laughed. Both popped gum into their mouths and started chewing.

They chewed a few times and when they made the bubble, the winner was clear. Minoko was able to make a tiny bubble which didn't even grow properly. Shuhi's gum burst all over her face.

The group burst into laughter as Shuhi spun in panic, trying to peel the sticky mess off her skin. She stumbled backward, bumped into a chair, and fell — still wrestling with the gum like it was her mortal enemy.

Akari, meanwhile, kept watching Haruto. His eyes narrowed.

"Just what kind of trick is that guy using? he thought. Let's see if I can catch it."

The boy in front of the table put his hands behind him and kept the coin in his right hand. Then he showed his hands, "Let's see." the boy said, "Try this time."

Without hesitation, he picked right hand. Now 17 wins in a row. Akari kept watching it from far.

"Hmm…he picked instantly. It would be one thing if he took his time examining the hands and then anticipated which hand holds it. But he didn't take a single second, as if he knew from the start." Akari thought, "What if someone is watching the back of the boy's hands and telling him through some microphone? But who? There is no camera here."

After failing to uncover the secret behind Haruto's string of victories, Akari decided to confront the mystery directly. He walked up to their table, his curiosity outweighing hesitation.

"Hey," he began, steady but polite. "My name's Akari Hoshino. It's my first day here."

The group looked up, surprised for a moment before breaking into easy smiles. They welcomed him warmly, and Haruto himself gestured toward the empty chair across from him.

"Care to join us?"

Akari nodded, sliding the chair back and taking a seat opposite Haruto — the seat every challenger had taken, and every one had left defeated.

Akari took the coin to his back and shuffled it a few times then sowed his two fists. Haruto guessed and again it was the right hand. 20 in a row.

Now this time Akari got an idea. He quickly called one of Haruto's friends with him and went out of the room. A few minutes later, they returned but with two pencil boxes with them.

"Haruto, I think I know how you are guessing it accurately." Akari said to the others on the table.

"Huh?" Haruto replied. "Then tell us, how am I guessing?"

"You are observing the dealer's hand. The one holding the hands has a stronger grip to not reveal the coin. You are just guessing the coin by reading the opponent's hand. Am I wrong?"

"Well you are not completely wrong but that trick won't let me win 20 times in a row would it. At some point, I am bound to make a mistake, aren't I?" Haruto replied.

"Well in that case," Haruto said, "Let's put the coin in boxes. The pencil boxes I got look exactly the same. Now you try."

Now Haruto wasn't instant as always. He had a confused look, confused on which box to choose.

"Come on, they should know," Haruto thought.

But even after focusing for a minute, he found no answer.

"How could they not know? They are the ones who put it in."

"Come on," Akari said, "Choose one."

Haruto, with a dead face, pointed at the right one. A sudden loss for him. His record broke at 20. This left others silent without any words, believing Akari's words about the trick was true.

Then the class bell rang, hinting at the beginning of their class. Now they had to return to their classrooms.

___

A few hours later, their break time started with the school bell ringing. Students quickly went out of the class, scattered all around the school. Haruto on the other hand, was waiting in the arts club, looking at the field through the window.

"Why did Akari tell me to meet at the art club room during break time?" he narrated in his mind.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door and it slid open. Akari entered the room, slowly approaching him.

When Akari came close enough, Haruto began, "So what is it tha—"

Before he could finish, Akari's fist slammed into his gut.

The air burst out of Haruto's lungs. His eyes widened, his body bent forward, choking on the pain that rippled through his stomach.

Akari didn't say a word. His left fist tightened again and he drove it straight into Haruto's face.

Haruto staggered back, crashing into a stack of drawing equipment. Tubes and brushes clattered across the floor, scattering in all directions.

Before he could recover, Akari grabbed him by the collar, yanked him upright, and slammed him against the wall. The impact rattled through the room.

Despite the pain twisting across his face, Haruto managed a strained grin — half defiance, half disbelief.

"Tell me," Akari shouted at him, "How can you read minds? Who are you exactly? From the organization?"

Suddenly, something crawled out of Akari's pocket. A spider. A tarantula to be exact. It crawled on Akari's body and ended up on his right shoulder.

Rina, who was passing by the art room, saw Akari beating someone. Without hesitation, she rushed inside to stop Akari.

"Akari, stop right now! What are you doing?"

Apart from all of Akari's sudden questions, the word 'organization' hit Haruto the most. He quickly realized that only another student knows about the organization.

'Yes…I am from the organization. Gamma. I can explain everything, now get that thing away from me!" Haruto said, frowningly.

Now Akari let him go.

___

The school bell rang, echoing through the empty hallways.

Break time was over but Haruto, Akari, and Rina stayed in the art club room. The chatter from the corridors faded, leaving only the faint hum of the ceiling fan.

They sat around a table, each in their own chair. The air felt heavy with unfinished business.

"So," Haruto began, leaning back slightly, "you're Zeta, and she's Pi. Am I right?"

"That's right," Rina replied calmly. "We were sent by the organization to bring Delta back."

Haruto frowned. "Wait… what? I got the same mission."

"What?" Rina said, surprised. "Then why did they send us at different times?"

"No idea," Haruto replied. "But I guess we're working toward the same goal, whether we like it or not."

Akari had been silent until now, fiddling with something small in his hands. Haruto noticed and squinted. "What are you doing? And… what are you carrying in your pocket?"

Akari lifted the little creature in both hands with a grin. "Meet my friend. I take him everywhere."

It was a spider. A tarantula to be exact.

"Eww…" Haruto muttered under his breath. "What a weird obsession."

But Akari's smile faded quickly. His eyes narrowed. "Enough jokes. I have a question."

Haruto blinked. "What?"

"Earlier in the coin game," Akari said slowly, "you guessed right twenty times in a row. Statistically, that's a one in a million chance — impossible for pure luck."

Rina leaned forward. "Yeah, that was suspicious. How did you do it?"

Haruto hesitated. "…I just knew."

Akari crossed his arms. "No. The moment I hid the coin in a box and none of us knew which one it was you guessed wrong. That means… you weren't reading the coin. You were reading us, weren't you?"

Rina's eyes widened. "Wait—are you saying—?"

"Yes," Akari said. "The only difference in two cases were the info of the coin's position. When that boy was showing his hands, the coin's position was only known to him. That means, he's somehow getting information from our thoughts."

Haruto sighed. "Fine. You got me." He looked down, almost ashamed. "I can read minds. I don't know how it started — but ever since I woke up after the neural surgery, it's been like this. Voices, images, flashes of what people think. It's not fun."

Rina's skepticism showed. "That shouldn't be possible. Mind signals don't transfer wirelessly."

"You're thinking exactly that right now," Haruto replied dryly.

Rina froze. "Exact…"

"I told you."

Akari stood up sharply, eyes filled with disbelief. "Then why don't we have powers too? We went through the same surgery!"

Haruto shrugged. "Maybe it's random. Maybe I just got… unlucky."

Akari's anger cooled slightly. He sighed and sat down again. His shirt twitched — something was moving underneath.

A tarantula crawled up his shoulder, then onto his head.

"Now that looks creepy for real!" Haruto said, grimacing. "Tell your pets to crawl back where they came from."

But before Akari could respond, another spider slipped from under his shirt, climbing up and covering one of his eyes.

The room went quiet.

"Pardon him," Rina said, "He is obsessed with his pets. Always carrying them."

"So, can I know how much progress you have made in your mission?" Haruto asked.

For a few seconds, the table remained quiet. Haruto was the one who broke the silence, "Okay I know Akari san. Or I should say, leader." he said, turning to Akari.

Basically he read Akari's mind and got to know he think himself as the leader of the group and doesn't want to focus on the mission.

"What can I do about him?" Rina thought.

Chapter 34 - Uniting in school