Copyright Notice: This story is an original work by Muntasib_Ihshan789. All rights reserved. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.
The night was too quiet. A stillness that almost screamed something was wrong. The darkness of the streets were enough to scare anyone away as the moon was not visible in the sky.
The school grounds of Kobama High lay in dead silence under the foggy December sky. Not a single sound. Not a single movement. Just white vapor rising from the mouths of two people inside the school.
"Now what is the meaning of this?" Utaro said quietly, not being afraid. A slight tone of disgust in his voice.
"Shuhi."
His body didn't flinch, but his eyes moved sideways. Just enough to see the reflection of the girl behind him. Her hand holding a knife, firm, steady. Her voice shaky. She was breathing slowly.
"Why are you doing this?" Shuhi asked, her voice cracking between anger and confusion.
"Have you lost your mind or something—?"
"No!" she snapped. "You're the one who's lost your mind!"
Utaro raised both hands slowly. His palms hovered near his ears like a sign of peace.
"Looks like the cat's outta the bag," he said softly, turning just enough to let his eyes meet hers. His lips curled. Not in surprise, but something far worse, A smile. And in his eyes, a red flicker was present. Not real. Not glowing. But Shuhi felt it.A mark of evil and darkness. Of something twisted beneath that quiet face.
"Tell me…" Utaro said. "How did I not know you were starting to suspect me?"
Shuhi gritted her teeth. Her hands tightened on the knife. But she had to speak. She had to finish this.
"Ever since day one, you left most of the work to me. You only helped when I used to get stuck at something. At first, I thought maybe you were just testing me… but something didn't feel right. It felt like you were guiding me in this path purposefully."
"Then… one day I checked your bag because of curious. And I found a used glue bottle."
Utaro blinked slowly, his expression was unreadable.
"You used it to make the letters," she said. "The cutout notes made of news paper letters. That's when I started suspecting."
"Wait…That wasn't in the script," Utaro muttered, like an actor missing a line.
"Shut up, you son of a—!" Shuhi yelled, but held back the full word. Her hands trembled, but the knife didn't move. Her eyes burned because of slight anger
"I kept watching. The clues felt temporary. Like someone left them there after the police were done. Like someone was planting them."
"And?" Utaro asked, calmly. Too calmly.
"You had access to the houses. Just like the police. And you're smart. Smarter than me. But you always stood a step behind. That's not your style."
Utaro smirked. "Alright. What was your final proof?"
Shuhi took a breath. "The fourth clue. The prescription."
She stared hard into his eyes.
"I lied that day. The guest came a few hours late. I had free time. I used it to check Osume Danao's prescriptions. There was something strange about it. So I bought a kid's toy. A magic pen with invisible ink and a UV light. Yuna and Airi mentioned a 'magic stick.' That's what they meant."
She looked down, then back at him.
"When I used the pen's light, I saw it. A big letter "S". I figured it meant South."
"And?" Utaro raised an eyebrow.
"I went to the first crime scene again. Used the doll myself. Treated the entire body as clock hands. And guess what? It pointed to one name."
She stared cold into his eyes.
"Mine."
"Then…How'd you get the key?" Utaro asked, slightly curious.
"I stole one from your pocket. Made a copy. Gave it back. You never noticed that."
Utaro's grin vanished for a second. "Looks like another part out of script." Utaro thought.
Shuhi's heart was pounding. Her grip on the knife loosened just a little.
"Now tell me the truth," she said. "Why? Why are you doing this?"
Utaro chuckled under his breath.
"Even you got some secrets of yours to say. You remember the bar game?" he said. "You cheated in the first two moves. You used loaded dice."
That shocked her. Even it was just the first two moves, Utaro was still able to caught her cheating.
"I— I only did it to win. He even noticed that? Just how sharp this man is?" Shuhi thought.
"You predicted the outcome and planned the perfect strategy to win. I just anticipated you would do this and my prediction came true after observing the game."
She bit her lip. "That doesn't matter. Tell me why? Why kill all those innocent people? Why set up this insane case?"
"Innocent?" Utaro's voice sharpened. "Don't even spit that word to me."
"They were all scums. That businessman? Dealing drugs for years. The lawyer? Beat his family. Framed an innocent woman. Sherley Hirako? She was cheating on her husband every week. And Osume Danao—don't get me started. Alcohol, pills, smokes... she broke everything her religious family stood for."
He looked down. Then back up. His eyes weren't red. But they felt like fire.
"I didn't kill them for fun. I did it because they deserved it."
"…That's your final answer?" Shuhi asked, her voice breaking.
"You stabbed one just to design a brail puzzle! That's not justice. That's insanity!"
The pain started rising in her chest. The names, The stories of the victims, their blood, the lies. All of it.
She couldn't hold it in.
"Why… make it so complicated?" she whispered. "Why design the whole thing like this?"
Utaro tilted his head.
"To test you."
His voice was flat. No emotion could be felt from his voice. Just brutal truth.
"I had to make it hard enough for you. You're not just anyone, Shuhi. You're the top subject of the organization after all."
Her breath stopped. One word was all it took.
Organization.
That word hit like a hammer to the chest. Years of bad memories started flowing through her head.
Everything she had buried—The cold navy blue walls—The blue uniforms—The endless tests—The loneliness—The pressure—
Her hand left Utaro's throat. She put her knife in her bag. She grabbed her head and sank down to her knees. Breathing fast. Crying now. Harder than she had in years.
"No… no… why won't it go away…?"
Utaro turned to her slowly. Took a few steps back.
"You really forgot?" he said. "You used to call me Omega."
She looked up, shocked.
"I was your senpai, Shuhi. Same batch."
Her hands dropped from her face. Her eyes red, puffy. The memories were breaking down her walls. One by one.
"You… you ran away. Why?"
"My wish" Utaro said with a smile mixed with evil.
He nodded.
She shook her head, sobbing.
"You're completely sick…"
She stayed on the ground, crying. Alone. Everything crashing at once.
Utaro grabbed Shuhi's throat with his right arm, picked her up and hit her hard in the wall. The hit was delta by Shuhi's head.
"And here I thought, you would be a cold badass girl! Not some crybaby!" Utaro shouted at Shuhi.
As she couldn't take the pressure of Utaro's hand on her throat, she tried to free her with her hands holding Utaro's. It was no use.
A punch came from Utaro. Straight at her face. She couldn't think of anything but let her hands go, eventually falling on the ground with a cut of lip. Blood slightly dripping from it. Unconscious.
And Utaro, he walked away from her, one hand in his coat pocket.
But before leaving, he looked over his shoulder one last time.
"You'll understand. Someday."
And he disappeared into the shadows of the school corridor.
Dead Logic © 2025 by Muntasib_Ihshan789 is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International