Chapter 3: The Queen Breaks the Rules
Monday morning came like a slap to the soul. Students shuffled into Shirasagi High with sleepy eyes and quiet yawns, carrying the weight of another week like chains.
But today, something felt different. There was tension in the air, the kind that made your skin itch. It buzzed beneath the surface, unseen but undeniable, like static before lightning.
Rei Kisaragi stepped through the school gates with her usual slouched gait, blazer unbuttoned, tie nonexistent, skirt slightly rumpled.
Her eyes scanned the crowd—not searching, just observing. Calculating. Her presence alone carved a path in the sea of students. No one dared cross her.
Except someone did.
A girl with fire-red hair stood in the middle of the courtyard, directly in Rei's path. Her uniform was crisp, every pleat in place, her back straight like a soldier.
She radiated command. Arisa Tachibana, the student council president. Known for her cold intellect, flawless record, and a tongue sharp enough to cut steel.
"Kisaragi," she said, her voice even. "We need to talk."
Rei raised a brow. "Then talk."
"Not here. Rooftop."
Something about the way she said it gave Rei pause. Rooftops weren't just high places—they were sacred ground. Rei had claimed hers. She didn't like intrusions.
But she followed anyway.
The rooftop wind greeted them with a chill. Ichika Yamada was already there, sitting against the fencing, arms wrapped around his knees like he belonged there. He didn't speak. He rarely did when things were serious.
Arisa crossed her arms and leaned back against the railing. "Five incidents in three days. Even for you, that's ambitious."
"I don't like bullies," Rei said, shrugging. "They found me."
"And you dismantled them."
"With style."
Ichika let out a tiny laugh before catching himself.
Arisa didn't smile. "This school has order for a reason. Not because it's perfect, but because chaos is worse. Discipline isn't about fear. It's about trust. And you're shaking that trust."
Rei met her gaze. "Funny. I thought I was shaking a bunch of cowards."
Arisa didn't flinch. "You're strong, Kisaragi. No one's arguing that. But strength without direction is just destruction. I want to give you direction."
Rei scoffed. "You want me on a leash."
"No. I want you to lead."
That threw her. For a moment, Rei didn't know what to say.
Ichika broke the silence. "Sometimes breaking rules isn't rebellion. It's the beginning of rewriting them."
Rei blinked slowly. The wind pulled at her hair, brushing it across her face. She didn't like being told what to do. But for once, she wasn't being ordered. She was being invited.
That made all the difference. The next week was less an invitation and more a trial by fire.
Arisa didn't coddle her. Rei was dragged into student council sessions, forced to sit through mediations, listen to sobbing freshmen, intervene between cliques on the verge of war.
There were fights she wasn't allowed to punch her way through, and frustrations that burned hotter than any fistfight ever could.
She hated it.
But she didn't quit.
She learned that problems didn't always come with faces to punch. Some wore smiles. Some hid behind polite words and broken systems. Some came from teachers who didn't listen, or students who hid bruises beneath their sleeves.
Rei started watching closer.
And slowly, people started watching her differently.
She began to notice the nods. The silent acknowledgments in the halls. Students didn't flinch anymore. They looked at her like an inevitability—harsh, but reliable. A force of nature that now blew in their favor.
One morning, a quiet first-year approached her with a stack of overdue library books and trembling hands. She didn't speak, just held them out. Rei took them, no questions asked, and dropped them off at the office later.
No one thanked her.
They didn't need to.
She wasn't here for praise.
The shift wasn't without resistance.
Takumi Jin—his wrist now in a brace thanks to their last encounter—glared at her every time they crossed paths. The other council members muttered behind Arisa's back, questioning her decision to bring "a delinquent" into their ranks.
Rei ignored them all.
Except Ichika.
He remained her constant. The only one who spoke with honesty. The one who brought her quiet meals on the rooftop. Who didn't mind when she was silent, or when she ranted. He never judged. Just listened.
Sometimes, that was louder than any praise
It all came to a head one rainy Friday.
Word spread quickly—Kyouzan Technical students were loitering outside the gates. Again. Loud, crude, and clearly looking for trouble.
Rei reached for her jacket.
"I'll handle it," Ichika said quietly, already halfway out the door.
Rei's eyes narrowed. "Wait. Don't be stupid."
But he was gone.
By the time she got outside, he was bleeding. One of the Kyouzan punks had sucker-punched him while he was talking. That was all it took.
Rei didn't speak. She didn't warn them. She moved. And what followed wasn't chaos. It was precision.
A blur of motion, bodies falling, fists flying. Each move efficient, devastating. The Kyouzan boys had come for a brawl.
They got a lesson.
When it ended, the courtyard was littered with groaning bodies. Rain mixed with blood on the pavement. Teachers screamed. Sirens echoed in the distance.
Rei stood in the center of it all, panting, fists raw.
Ichika limped beside her. "I told you not to come."
She grabbed his shoulder. "And I told you not to be an idiot."
The suspension came swiftly. Two weeks, no exceptions. Rei accepted it without argument. So did Ichika.
But what followed was unexpected.
Students protested. Signed petitions. Teachers—quietly, carefully—visited their homes. Notes were slipped into lockers. Handwritten letters with shaky penmanship.
"Thank you."
"You protected us."
"Please come back."
When they returned, Shirasagi High was not the same.
Walls that once echoed with whispers of fear now held murmurs of respect. People made space for Rei not because they feared her, but because they wanted her there.
In the council room, Arisa handed her a folder. "You're officially reinstated. And you're late to the disciplinary meeting."
Rei took it with a smirk. "I was suspended. I deserve a break."
"Break time's over, Kisaragi. Let's see what kind of queen you really are."
Later that evening, the rooftop was quiet again. Ichika sat beside her, bruised but grinning.
"You've changed," he said.
"No," Rei replied. "I just stopped running."
He looked up at the stars peeking through the clouds. "So what now?"
Rei leaned back. "Now? We break the right rules."
And with that, the queen of fists closed her eyes—not in fear, not in fatigue.
But in peace.
For now.