April 2nd, Day 5 of the School Festival

Another day of the school festival was beginning. But today, the contest would be a silent one.

One of the classrooms had been rearranged to host the chess contest. The desks were stacked to the side, leaving only enough space to accommodate up to three games at once.

Miyu and Adonis sat face to face, ready to begin their strategic and intellectual battle.

Professor Mira was in charge of the room and explained the rules:

" The rules are simple: the player whose timer runs out loses, or the player who checkmates their opponent wins. Silence must be maintained throughout all chess matches."

The room remained silent. All the competitors played with deep concentration. The match between Miyu and Adonis was evenly matched.

"You play well," Adonis said, breaking the silence.

"Hm!? Are you even taking this game seriously?" Miyu asked.

"I am, but you seem tense, don’t you? You’re even looking at me weird," Adonis teased.

"What are you talking about, huh!? I’m perfectly normal," Miyu replied, annoyed.

"And those rumors? You don’t seem that bothered by them. Are you enjoying the attention?" Adonis asked irritably.

"What? Of course not. But there’s no point in listening to them. Eventually, they’ll stop," Miyu answered.

Adonis fell silent. It was Miyu’s turn to play. She noticed a mistake Adonis had made and used her knight to capture his queen.

"WHAT!? MY QUEEN! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Adonis shouted, frustrated by the move.

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO GOT DISTRACTED!" Miyu responded, raising her voice.

"Silence during the games," Professor Mira reminded them.

Frustrated, Adonis gritted his teeth and stood up, slamming his hands on the table. Miyu was startled by his reaction.

"YOU THINK YOU’RE SO CLEVER, HUH!? GET READY, WE’LL SETTLE THIS IN THE QUIZ ROUND," Adonis declared, pointing a finger at Miyu, challenging her.

“What a... child...” Miyu thought, observing the situation.

School Courtyard

That same morning, the competitors in the artistic category had finally finished painting their panels.

The Oceanics’ team had drawn an ocean and a sun. The Glaciers’ team had painted frozen mountains. Meanwhile, Yukino, on the Firefighters’ team, had drawn a firefighter using a hose to put out a fire.

The difference in skill between the works was obvious. Several students gathered around, commenting on the paintings.

"Dude…" one student remarked.

"They finished the panels," another commented.

"Dude… look at the one from the first-year students," a third pointed out.

"Dude…" the first student repeated, jaw dropped.

"This isn’t fair. They brought in someone who actually knows how to draw…" another student complained.

"Let’s ask to have the contest annulled," the third suggested.

“Every year, it’s the same speech.” Yukino thought, standing discreetly nearby, listening to the comments.

***

Yukino had taken an interest in drawing from an early age. While most girls played with dolls, she preferred pencils and paper. She was considered different, and her classmates found it hard to understand her.

At seven years old, she participated in an exhibition featuring children’s drawings from various schools. Only the best were selected, and hers was among them.

Many parents and curious onlookers observed the artwork and commented. When they saw Yukino’s drawing, most had the same reaction, which caught the attention of the young girl.

"These parents have no shame? Doing the drawing for their kid’s exhibition?" one man scoffed.

"Later, the kid grows up thinking everything will be done for them," another added.

“Huh? But that drawing is mine.” Yukino thought.

"Mom, they’re saying I didn’t draw my own picture. Can I go tell them it was me?" Yukino asked her mother.

"It happens, sweetie. What matters is that you know you did it," her mother reassured her.

At eight years old, another event left its mark. During recess, after Yukino had left her classroom, a group of four girls started talking about her.

"She’s weird, isn’t she!?" one girl said.

"Always so quiet, she must be a nerd," another added.

"She’s gone, let’s check her desk," a third suggested.

They walked over and rummaged through Yukino’s things.

"She draws?" one asked, surprised.

"It’s cute, but drawing is for little kids," another sneered.

"Aren’t we kids?" a third girl questioned.

"Ugh, you know what I mean, like for five-year-olds," the second girl replied.

"It looks like those cartoons on TV. My mom says they’re violent and demonic," the fourth girl commented, holding up Yukino’s drawing for inspection.

"Let me see!" the second demanded.

"Hey, don’t pull!" the fourth girl protested.

They both tugged at the paper until it tore in two.

"What do we do now?" one asked.

"Just leave it. Maybe she’ll learn not to draw in class," the fourth said dismissively.

They walked away and enjoyed their lunch as if nothing had happened.

When the recess bell rang, Yukino returned to the classroom. Staring at the torn pieces of her drawing, she was frozen in disbelief.

In the background, the fourth girl smirked and walked up to Yukino.

"Whoops, Yukino, someone ripped your paper? But you know, you shouldn’t be doing that stuff anyway. No one’s gonna be your friend," she taunted.

Yukino, despite her young age, could recognize sarcasm. She turned to the girl, furious.

"It was you, wasn’t it?"

"Are you accusing me? I’m just trying to be your friend and warn you," the girl replied, feigning indignation.

The rest of the class, previously oblivious, was now watching. Some remained silent, while others started whispering about Yukino.

"The weird girl is threatening her," one student murmured.

"I knew she wasn’t as nice as she looked," another added.

"Maybe she did something bad, and that’s why they ripped her drawing," rumors started spreading.

"Wow, she’s so quiet, I never expected this," another commented.

The teacher entered the room, and the chatter ceased. But Yukino’s days would never be the same.

Things only got worse. There was no logical reason for what was happening—people just targeted her for having different interests.

She cried not from sadness, but from rage. Rage at her own powerlessness against it all.

One day, thoughts of ending her life crept into her mind. That’s when she realized things had gone too far.

"This is ridiculous. I’m letting stupid situations control my life. If I did anything to myself, my family would be the ones to suffer. And there’s no guarantee that those who hurt me would even care. No one else is going to live my life. No one else will make my drawings," she told herself.

She had to take action. How? She wasn’t sure. But she knew she had to start somewhere.

"Damn it… let’s see if I can actually pull this off at school tomorrow," she muttered to herself.

But fate had other plans for the next day’s events…