Evil doesn't spread through force. It spreads through belief.
---
6:17 A.M.
Silas's Studio
Silas watches his screen.
Frame by frame.
> Mika gripping the knife.
Naomi kicking down the door.
Daichi screaming.
He slows the video.
Freezes it at one frame:
Mika, right before she drops the blade.
Her face is calm. Focused. Not afraid.
He whispers:
> "She could've done it. All she needed was silence."
He taps a key. A second screen opens — dozens of private messages.
Anonymous chat requests. Fan theories. Praise. Admiration.
Most are garbage.
But one?
One is different.
> Username: NullCage
Message:
"You saved my sister. I know who you are. And I want in. I'll do anything. Please."
Silas smiles.
---
10:24 A.M.
St. Gabriel's High – Library
Kai Noboru, age 16.
Honor student. Unremarkable. Unnoticed.
Except to Silas.
Kai slips into a corner seat beside him.
"Did you read my message?" Kai asks under his breath.
Silas flips a page. Doesn't look up.
"Why?"
Kai clenches his fists.
"My sister... she tried to kill herself last year. One of her teachers… he did things. She told the school. They told her to be quiet."
Silas finally looks at him.
Golden eyes. Calm. Unblinking.
"What do you want, Kai?"
"I want to make sure people like him disappear."
"And if that means breaking laws? Hurting people?"
Kai nods.
"I'm done waiting for justice."
Silas shuts the book softly.
> "Then I'll teach you the difference between hurting and meaning it."
---
12:07 P.M.
Naomi's Office – Downtown Precinct
Naomi scans through student records. Profiles.
Mika. Daichi. Reina. Kai.
Something doesn't sit right. One of the recent bullying complaints is missing.
Deleted.
The only student involved in both the Mika and Reina incidents?
Kai Noboru.
---
3:33 P.M.
Train Station – Underground Level
Silas and Kai walk in silence, blending with the crowd.
Silas points at a man standing by a vending machine.
Middle-aged. Cheap suit. Hands in his pockets.
"His name is Kubo Sano," Silas says. "Runs an illegal trade ring involving schoolgirls from two districts away. Untouchable in court. Pays off police."
Kai stiffens.
"What do I do?"
"Nothing," Silas replies.
He presses a phone into Kai's hand.
"Just film what happens next. This is your first lesson: watching without intervening."
Kai hesitates.
Then records.
Silas disappears into the crowd.
Three minutes later, Kubo is screaming, his leg shattered, kneecap destroyed by a pipe.
Blood sprays the station floor.
Silas walks past the camera—face hidden by his hood.
---
4:17 P.M.
Rooftop – Same Evening
Kai sits, shaking.
"I could've stopped you."
"You could've."
"But I didn't."
Silas lights a match. Throws it into a tin can. Inside: Kubo's burner phone, evidence, voice clips.
Gone in flame.
"You're learning," Silas says.
Kai doesn't respond.
Just stares at the fire.
And feels something he hasn't in years:
> Control.
---
7:01 P.M.
Naomi's Apartment
She looks at footage from the train station.
Security cameras caught none of it—Silas timed the blind spots perfectly.
But one shaky smartphone video surfaced online.
The man was targeted. Brutalized. Silenced.
Naomi rewinds the audio.
In the background, faint but real:
Kai's voice.
Breathing hard. Whispering, "Holy shit…"
Her blood runs cold.
> "No," she whispers. "Not him. Not again."
---
11:47 P.M.
Silas's Studio
Kai sits across from him.
Silas shows him a folder.
Inside: a list of names.
Teachers. Politicians. Cops.
Silas says, "Pick one."
Kai's hand hovers.
Stops.
He points at a name.
"I know this guy. He used to run a youth program. Until my friend turned up dead."
Silas closes the folder.
> "Then you'll deliver the message."
---
Final Scene
Naomi walks through the school at night, flashlight sweeping through the halls.
In the student lockers, she finds a photo.
Taped up neatly.
It's of her. Circles drawn around her head.
And across the top, written in red marker:
> "Even the just will fall."
She tears it down.
And whispers:
> "He's not working alone anymore."
---
Final Line:
> And miles away, Kai stands over another name on the list, wearing gloves for the first time. Silas watches.
"Everyone's born clean," he says softly. "But dirt sticks easy if you never wipe it off."
---