The student council room was alive with pointless chatter—Runa’s shrill voice cutting through Midori’s deranged laughing, itsuki’s sighs, Yumemi’s nervous babble, and Yuriko’s sharp interjections. But Aki Hayakawa sat apart, rigid, his eyes cold and distant as the noise faded into background static.

He rubbed his temples slowly, voice barely above a growl as he muttered to himself, “All this noise... yet it's all just empty words dressed up as importance. They don’t see the cracks beneath the surface. None of them do.”

Aki's gaze flicked to the council table, fingers tapping out a slow, deliberate rhythm. “Everyone’s playing their little games, pretending like it matters... but it’s all just waiting for the whole damn thing to snap."