2:13 AM – Tanaka Estate
The screens in Hiroshi's study glowed like funeral candles in the dark.
His fingers danced across the keyboard, pulling up files he hadn't touched in years—video footage of a small boy strapped to a chair, electrodes taped to his temples, his gray eyes glassy with exhaustion.
Subject D-9: Predictive Capacity Test #137
Hiroshi paused the video on the child's face—Ren at seven years old, his small mouth moving silently as numbers scrolled across the screen behind him.
A knock at the door.
"Enter."
His aide bowed low. "The files are ready, sir."
Hiroshi didn't turn. "And the modifications?"
"Completed. The Blackwood insignia has been added to all documents and footage. The timestamps match their active operations during that period."
"Good." Hiroshi tapped a key, and the video changed—now showing Blackwood agents in full tactical gear standing over the child, injecting him with an unknown substance. A perfect forgery.
"Release them," he said. "All channels. Dark web first, then the press leaks."
The aide hesitated. "And if they trace it back to us?"
Hiroshi smiled.
"Let them try."
7:45 AM – Elite Heights Academy, Library
Hana stared at the news alert on her phone, her coffee turning cold in her hand.
BLACKWOOD AGENCY ACCUSED OF ILLEGAL CHILD EXPERIMENTATION
The article featured blurred but unmistakable footage—a young boy, gaunt and hollow-eyed, strapped to a medical chair as masked operatives monitored his vitals.
Her stomach twisted.
That was Ren.
Across the table, Akira Fujimoto adjusted his glasses, his voice barely above a whisper. "They're saying Blackwood kidnapped gifted children to weaponize their brains." He swiped to the next image—doctored documents with Blackwood's seal. "This is going to destroy them."
Hana's fingers tightened around her phone.
Because she knew two things:
These files were fakes.Only someone with access to Ren's childhood data could have forged them.
And there was only one person alive who fit that description.
Hiroshi.
12:02 PM – Blackwood Safehouse, Server Room
Hana typed furiously, bypassing firewall after firewall. Kurosawa's encrypted drive was supposed to be impenetrable—but Ren had given her the codes last night with a smirk.
"In case you get curious," he'd said.
The screen flickered.
ACCESS GRANTED
Files unfolded like poisoned petals. Mission reports. Asset profiles. And then—
OPERATION WHITE LILY: FINAL PHASE
Her breath caught.
The document outlined her real mission parameters:
Gain Tanaka heir's trust.Provoke emotional attachment.Terminate self upon command to radicalize subject against Tanaka faction.
A martyr. A spark.
A pawn.
Hana's vision blurred. All this time, she thought she was protecting her country. But she was just another weapon aimed at Ren's heart.
The door hissed open behind her.
"Find what you were looking for, Agent Shiraishi?"
Kurosawa stood in the doorway, a pistol in his hand.
3:30 PM – School Roof
Ren was waiting when Hana stumbled through the access door, her sleeve torn, a bruise darkening along her jawline.
He took one look at her and went very still.
"They know," she gasped.
Ren didn't ask questions. Just pulled a sleek black pen from his pocket and pressed it into her hand.
"Twist the cap," he said.
Hana did—and a four-inch blade snapped into place.
She recognized it instantly. Blackwood's signature assassination tool.
Ren's smile was razor-thin. "Now you have the same toys they do."
Hana stared at the blade, then at him. "Why help me?"
The wind tugged at Ren's unkempt hair as he turned to face the city skyline.
"Because today proved something important," he said softly. "Hiroshi will burn the world to control me. Blackwood will burn you. And the only people left standing…"
He looked at her then, his gray eyes reflecting the dying sunlight.
"…will be the ones who refuse to play by their rules."
11:59 PM – Abandoned Warehouse
Hana crouched in the shadows, the pen-knife heavy in her pocket. Across the street, Blackwood agents swarmed a nondescript van—her official extraction team.
Her phone buzzed.
[Ren]: Remember—they want you to run.
[Ren]: So walk.
Hana took a deep breath.
Then stepped into the light.