The heavy metal door slammed shut behind him, leaving only silence in its wake. But his presence still lingered, suffocating and inescapable.
I barely lifted my head, my body aching from the restraints, my mind screaming at me to think, to act—but I couldn't. I wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or something worse.
Beside me, Ayane sat motionless. Her face was blank, but I could see it—the way her fingers trembled ever so slightly, the uneven rise and fall of her chest.
She looked broken.
A lump formed in my throat. I wanted to say something. Anything. But the weight of everything crushed the words before they could escape.
I forced them out anyway.
"Sorry."
That was all I could manage.
For a moment, she didn't move. Then, slowly, she lifted her head. Our eyes met, and I saw it—tears clinging to her lashes, refusing to fall.
"Why?" Her voice was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.
My chest tightened painfully.
"Why didn't you say anything? Am I that useless to everyone?"
"No," I wanted to say. "It was never about that." But my throat felt dry, and my voice barely came out.
"I… I didn't want to put you in danger," I admitted. My voice was shaking. I hated it.
Ayane let out a bitter laugh. But there was no humor in it—just pain.
"Am I the only one who thought we were something more?" Her voice cracked. "Maybe… maybe I just wasn't strong enough for you to trust me."
I closed my eyes, the past rushing back like a wound ripped open.
"That man…" she muttered suddenly, her expression shifting. "How do you know him? Who is he?"
My breath hitched. I knew this moment would come, but I still wasn't ready.
"His name is Satoru." My voice felt hollow. "He's my father."
Ayane's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't say anything. She was waiting for me to continue.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself.
"He trained me to kill," I said, the words foreign even to my own ears. "From the moment I could walk, I was meant to be a weapon. An assassin."
Saying it aloud made me feel sick.
"I ran away," I continued. "Spent years hiding. Always looking over my shoulder, waiting for the day he would find me." I let out a slow, shaky breath. "And then… I met you."
Ayane's lips parted slightly, but she stayed silent.
"At first, I thought you'd be my way out," I admitted. "That keeping you close would help me escape him." My fists clenched against the restraints. "But then… you became something more. You became something I never had. Something I never thought I deserved."
I swallowed hard, forcing out the truth I had buried for so long.
"You became my reason to live."
Ayane's fingers twitched against the ropes. I didn't know what to expect from her—anger, disgust, maybe even hatred. But she just stared at me. Her eyes weren't cold anymore. They were searching.
I lowered my head, feeling the weight of my own failure.
"Days before I left you… he found me."
I felt Ayane tense beside me.
"It seemed like he didn't know about you. So I thought it would be best if we went our separate ways. I knew it was foolish, but that was all I could think of at the time."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Then Ayane exhaled, her voice steady despite everything. "There are a lot of things I want to ask, but first… we need to survive."
I looked at her. For the first time since waking up in this room, she wasn't just thinking about revenge.
"Can we defeat him?" she asked.
I hesitated before answering, "I don't think I can."
Ayane clenched her jaw. "Then what are the chances if we work together?"
I didn't answer right away. I knew what she wanted me to say.
Finally, I exhaled. "If we make a perfect plan, then maybe there's a chance." My voice dropped lower. "But in our current situation… there's no way."
Ayane didn't argue. She simply nodded.
The silence between us wasn't as suffocating anymore.
For the first time since she returned, we were looking at the same future.