That morning, the sky hung heavy with gray clouds over Tnelis Senior High. The atmosphere at school was more formal than usual. In the main hall, chairs had been neatly arranged. A banner stretched across the front stage that read:
"Special Parent Meeting – Student Council & Academic Division"
Parents began to arrive, dressed formally, their expressions serious. In the front row, Mr. Victor Manosel, Ariana's father and the school's owner, sat comfortably while chatting with a sharply dressed man beside him — Stephen Palma, father of Zico Palma.
Ariana, who typically avoided such events, sat quietly next to her father, her expression calm but distant. On the other side of the hall, Fayo Nickle leaned against the wall, absentmindedly flipping his motorcycle keys and yawning.
Moments later, the hall doors opened, and Raon Muro entered with his parents. His face was as unreadable as ever. Several teachers and staff greeted them with clear respect — Raon's father was no ordinary man. Edrick Muro was a renowned judge, well known and highly influential in the legal world.
Outside the hall, Yeager stood in the upstairs corridor, quietly watching through the glass. He wasn't allowed in since he wasn't part of the student council, but his sharp eyes were tracking every detail.
Yeager muttered under his breath, "A special meeting just for the student council parents? That's suspicious."
Valerie, who had just arrived carrying a folder, came to stand beside him. She smirked. "Because in this school, 'special' usually means full of secrets."
Yeager nodded slowly. "And I have a feeling one of those secrets… is about Jinny's death."
Valerie glanced into the hall. "Or something even darker than that."
The atmosphere in the auditorium had been formal, filled with routine discussions, until the doors swung open once more. A man stepped in—mid-fifties, sharply dressed in a dark suit, his expression unreadable, but intense. Conversations faltered. Heads turned.
Valerie leaned slightly toward Yeager and whispered, "That's him… Patrick Baldwin. Jinny's father."
Yeager narrowed his eyes, tracking the man's movement as he silently took a seat slightly apart from the main group. There was something heavy about him—controlled grief layered under years of restraint.
Patrick sat without saying a word. But from his occasional glances—first at Mr. Victor, then at Stephen Palma—it was clear he wasn't here just to attend a regular parents' meeting. Those brief eye contacts held tension.
Yeager clenched the folder in his hands. "Why is he showing up now? After all this time?" he muttered quietly.
Valerie scanned the room, her eyes cautious. "Maybe he's starting to sense something. Maybe… he knows Jinny's death wasn't just a tragedy."
Ariana, sitting a few rows away, glanced toward Patrick as well. There was something in her expression—was it guilt? Or fear?
From the upper floor balcony, Yeager watched everything unfold. He knew it—Patrick Baldwin's presence wasn't random. It was a shift in the wind. A signal that the truth might soon start clawing its way to the surface.
Valerie kept her eyes forward, making sure no one suspected them of talking during the meeting. She answered quietly, "DNA at the crime scene matches someone from inside the school. But the identity is being suppressed. There's a powerful hand behind this."
Yeager nodded slowly. "An inside job..."
Before they could continue, Patrick Baldwin suddenly stood up from his seat in the middle row. The entire hall fell silent. His sharp eyes radiated pressure.
"Excuse me," he said loudly. "Before you all talk about school safety and student welfare, let me ask—who is going to take responsibility for the death of my daughter, Jinny Baldwin?"
Tension filled the room. All heads turned toward him. Principal Victor Manosel, standing at the podium, looked startled.
"It's been weeks since Jinny died, and there's still no result. The police are quiet. The school's being vague. But I know... this wasn't an accident. It was murder—and the killer might be sitting right here."
Some parents shifted uncomfortably. Suddenly, Stephen Palma—Zico Palma's father—stood up, trying to mediate.
"Mr. Baldwin, I think we should discuss this in a more proper—"
"Shut it, Palma!" Patrick snapped sharply. "You think I don't know who you are? Who your son is? Zico Palma goes to this school. He used to be close with my daughter before she died. I've got proof—and I'm not afraid to expose it."
Zico, sitting nearby, kept his head down. His face was tense. Ariana looked anxious, staring at the floor. Raon Muro, as always, wore a calm expression—but Yeager watched him closely, trying to read him.
Patrick then pointed toward Mr. Justine, who stood quietly near the wall. "You too, head of security. Don't think you can wash your hands clean. If none of you take action, I'll go straight to the media."
Mr. Justine nodded, clearly pressured. "We assure you, the investigation is ongoing, Mr. Baldwin."
Yeager whispered again to Valerie, "Did you see Raon's face?"
Valerie nodded. "Calm outside. But inside? He's hiding something."
Yeager stared toward Raon. The storm is just beginning... and one by one, the masks are starting to crack.
After the tense parent-teacher meeting that morning, the atmosphere at school felt heavier than usual. Yeager sat in his classroom seat, leaning back as his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, his mind constantly spinning. Next to him, Noel was calmly reading a comic book, occasionally chuckling to himself, completely unaware of his brother's unrest.
A moment later, two figures approached.
"Yo, class detective," came the teasing voice of Sam Artur, breaking the silence. "What's with the serious face? Trying to figure out who killed who again?"
Beside him, Mick Hyuri stood with arms crossed, smirking. "Careful, Sam. He might start investigating who stole your shoes next."
Noel looked up briefly, then went back to his comic. Yeager raised an eyebrow and glanced at the two.
"You guys bored, or is bugging me your new hobby?"
"Not really," Sam said casually as he sat on the desk in front of Yeager and spun around. "Just noticed how serious you looked during that meeting. You even whispered something to that girl... the one who seems like a cop?"
Yeager smirked slightly. "There were a lot of girls in that room. Which one?"
"You know, the one with the ponytail. Kinda fierce. Looks like she could read your mind or something," Sam replied. "I don't know her name, but man, her stare could kill."
Mick leaned against the back of Yeager's chair, eyes calm. "And you kept staring at Raon. What's with the quiet kid?"
Yeager smiled subtly. "Sometimes, the quiet ones know the most. Or... they're the most dangerous."
Sam chuckled. "Now I'm really interested. What if we hang out after school? You tell us some stories, we listen. Could be fun."
Mick added coolly, "As long as we don't end up as suspects too."
Yeager glanced at both of them. "Sure. But Sam's paying. He talks the most."
"What?! Why me?" Sam protested immediately.
Without looking up from his comic, Noel said quietly, "Because you're the loudest."
The three of them burst out laughing. For a moment, things felt lighter. But deep down, they knew the days ahead would only grow darker.
Not long after the mood had lightened a bit, loud noises echoed from the hallway, catching Yeager's attention. A group of students had gathered, shouting and laughing.
"Look at that weird kid again!" someone called out mockingly.
In the center of the crowd stood Noel, looking confused and nervous. His comic book had fallen to the floor, stepped on by a tall, bulky student named Rickon—one of the known bullies at school.
"Did no one teach you how to walk like a normal person?" Rickon sneered, shoving Noel's shoulder.
Some students laughed. Others stood by, saying nothing.
Noel stepped back, hands shaking as he tried to reach for his comic. His eyes were beginning to well up.
Yeager shot up from his seat. The noise of his chair crashing to the floor cut through the hallway.
"NOEL!"
Heads turned. Yeager stormed forward, fury burning in his eyes. The students quickly moved aside as he pushed through the crowd.
Without hesitation, he shoved Rickon hard, knocking him to the ground.
"Touch my brother again, and I swear you won't be walking out of here," Yeager said coldly.
Rickon scrambled up, face twisted in anger. "Who the hell are you, huh? Acting all tough—"
Before he could finish, Mick Hyuri appeared behind Yeager, calm but intimidating.
"He's not alone."
Sam Artur leaned against the wall nearby, smirking. "Gotta admit, your guts are bigger than your brain, Rickon."
Rickon hesitated, then backed off, muttering curses under his breath as he grabbed his bag and left.
Yeager crouched down and gently handed Noel his comic. "It's okay now. They won't bother you again."
Noel nodded slowly, still teary-eyed but visibly comforted.
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Ariana stood quietly by her classroom window, watching everything unfold. Her gaze lingered on Yeager… Something inside her had shifted.
From the second floor, Ariana Manosel stood by the window, quietly watching what had just happened below—Yeager standing up for Noel, backed up by Mick and Sam. Her gaze wasn't like usual. Normally distant and indifferent, but this time… something was clearly bothering her.
Footsteps echoed from behind.
Zico Palma, Fayo Nickle, and Raon Muro walked into the classroom. Zico, as always, strolled in with his hands in his pockets. Fayo wore his usual mischievous grin, while Raon scanned the room with a neutral expression.
"Hey, Ari," Fayo said as he leaned against Ariana's desk. "That girl in your class—Zevanya, right? Not bad at all."
Ariana slowly turned to look at him, her gaze sharp, but she said nothing. Fayo laughed a bit, unfazed.
"You're quiet. What, don't tell me... you're jealous because that girl's getting close to the new kid?"
Zico, standing near the door, responded with a flat tone, "She has nothing to do with Ariana. And we all know who's at the bottom of the food chain in this school."
Raon sat down without a word, flipping open his notebook, seemingly uninterested. But if anyone looked closely, they'd notice a faint smirk playing at the corner of his lips.
Ariana stared at them for a few seconds, then said softly but firmly, "Zevanya's none of your business. And about the new guy... you might want to be more careful about who you're messing with."
Fayo paused, then raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. Relax. Just teasing."
Zico narrowed his eyes at Ariana. "You're changing, Ari. You weren't like this before."
Ariana didn't reply. She turned back to the window, but this time, she wasn't looking outside... she was deep in thought. Something about Yeager unsettled her. Something about Jinny. And something about the past they all tried to forget—was slowly catching up.
At the police headquarters, the atmosphere was tense. David, Darren, and Valerie were seated in a small briefing room, surrounded by case files, crime scene photos, and CCTV stills pinned to a large evidence board.
David's colleague, Inspector Miguel, stood pointing at one of the photos.
"Look at this—the position of Anne's body, the marks on her neck, and the last footage from her apartment hallway… all signs point to premeditated murder."
Valerie leaned back in her chair, eyes fixed on the laptop screen. "But the killer was too clean. No fingerprints, no foreign DNA—just Anne's."
Darren tapped his pen on the table. "Yeager found some leads—connections between the victim and corruption linked to high-ranking officials at the school."
Suddenly, the briefing room door opened. A senior officer entered, holding a file with a red stamp on the cover.
"Effective immediately, the Anne case is being transferred to the National Security and High-Level Investigations Division."
Valerie turned sharply. "What? Why now? We're closing in—"
"Direct orders from the top," the officer said firmly. "Names like Judge Edrick Muro and Stephen Palma are involved. The case just got too big."
David's expression darkened. "So we just… wait for updates now?"
"Not necessarily," Darren murmured, exchanging a glance with Valerie. "We keep going. Off the books."
Valerie nodded, her gaze sharp and determined. "Alright. If the official path is blocked, we take another. For Anne."
The three of them looked at one another—fully aware that from here on out, they were stepping into dangerous, shadowed territory.