00:38:12 – Abandoned Clocktower
The kill-switch burned hotter with every passing second.
[00:38:11]
[00:38:10]
Hana's fingers trembled as she pressed them against the implant beneath her collarbone. The skin around it had turned an angry violet, tendrils of black creeping outward like poisoned roots.
Across the room, Ren methodically cleaned his glasses with the edge of his shirt. The calm was unnatural. The silence, unbearable.
"She'll come for us," Hana said.
Ren slid his glasses back on. "She already has."
The door creaked open without a knock.
Lady Saeko stood framed in the doorway, her white kimono pristine despite the ash still clinging to Hana's clothes from the Blackwood fire. In her hands, she held a single black dossier, its edges gilded in silver.
"Hello, children."
Ren didn't move. Didn't blink.
Hana's gun was in her hand before she could think.
Saeko sighed. "Still so predictable." She tossed the dossier onto the table between them. It landed with a heavy thud. "A gift. The truth about Hana's parents—or what's left of them."
Hana's breath hitched.
Ren's voice was ice. "What do you want?"
Saeko smiled. "I want you to choose."
00:41:05 – The Dossier
Hana's fingers hovered over the file.
Inside, a photograph peeked out—a man and woman in Blackwood tactical gear, their faces eerily familiar. Her eyes. Her father's jawline.
"They weren't just agents," Saeko murmured. "They were Hiroshi's personal watchdogs. Until they discovered what he'd done to you." Her gaze slid to Ren. "Such a shame they couldn't save themselves."
Hana's vision swam.
She had been orphaned at six. Told it was a car accident.
Lies.
Ren's hand closed over hers before she could open the file.
"Don't."
Hana wrenched free. "I deserve to know!"
"Knowing won't bring them back." Ren's voice cracked. "It'll just hurt you."
Saeko laughed. "Oh, Ren. Still playing the martyr?"
Hana looked between them—the mother who wielded truth like a knife, and the boy who'd rather bleed than let her cut.
Then she grabbed the dossier.
And threw it into the fireplace.
00:43:22 – The Burning
The flames roared to life, hungrily devouring the pages. Photographs curled to ash. Names vanished in smoke.
Hana watched, numb, as the last remnants of her parents turned to embers.
Then—
Ren plunged his hand into the fire.
"What are you doing?!" Hana yanked him back, but it was too late. His fingers were already burned, blistered—and clutched in them, a single half-charred page.
"I memorized it," he gasped. "Every name. Every detail. If you ever want to know—"
"No." Hana pried the paper from his ruined fingers and tossed it back into the flames. "Some ghosts should stay buried."
Ren stared at her, his glasses reflecting the dying fire.
Saeko clapped slowly. "How touching." She rose, brushing imaginary dust from her kimono. "But the clock is ticking, little wolf. And my son still owes me a homecoming."
She left without another word.
The kill-switch pulsed.
[00:35:58]
[00:35:57]
00:51:40 – School Courtyard
The spider lily was in full bloom, its crimson petals stark against the moonlight.
Ren dug the hole with his bare hands, ignoring the blisters. Hana poured the ashes into the earth, mixing them with soil until nothing remained.
No names. No graves.
Just silence.
Ren sat back on his heels. "Why did you do it?"
Hana watched the wind scatter the last traces of soot. "Because revenge won't bring them back." She met his eyes. "And I'm tired of being someone else's weapon."
Ren's fingers brushed hers, burned skin against battle-worn.
For the first time, neither pulled away.