Silent footsteps.That was all the hallway allowed itself to speak—each step swallowed by the pristine glass walls of the skyscraper, as if the entire building were holding its breath.
Raya moved first.
Not walking—gliding, precise, intentional.Shoulders squared. Chin set. Not a single strand of her perfectly slicked-back purple hair dared rebel against the military bun that crowned her head. Sunlight cut through the glass and washed over her marble-purple eyes, igniting them like polished amethyst stone.
Behind her walked Jahfar, aligning every step with hers as though afraid to interrupt the rhythm of her dominance. His textured hair sat in an artful, almost rebellious mess that contrasted the sharp, dark frames around his eyes. A shadow of beard regrowth traced his jaw—cleaned recently, but not enough to hide the roughness beneath. Even towering over her in the same uniformed suit, he seemed smaller.
"Authorization has been deemed for approximately… thirty minutes, top." His voice, deep and echoing, bounced off the sterile glass.
"That's more than I need."Her tone didn't rise, didn't fall. Flat. Controlled. Dangerous.
They reached the checkpoint.The mechanical doors slid open with a sigh, releasing a blast of cold mist that crawled over their feet like a living thing. They stepped into the dark room, shadows swallowing them whole as the lift beneath them groaned and began its slow descent into the underbelly of the facility.
Jahfar hesitated.A single breath too long. Eyes flicking toward Raya, then away, then toward her again—debating whether the risk of speaking outweighed the silence tightening around them.
"If I may ask, ma'am…" He finally drew the words out, cautious. "Why are you going to such lengths to speak to him? I know he used to be your partner, but this could still lead to major inconveniences. Even with primary authorization."
Raya turned with the speed of a blade unsheathed.
Her glare alone could've torn down a beast—sharp enough to slice through bone, cold enough to freeze marrow. Jahfar immediately regretted the oxygen he had wasted forming that sentence.
"M-my apologies."He stepped back, shoulders hunching as she faced forward again without a single word.
The lift reached the bottom with a heavy thud.
They walked out onto a wide metal platform that branched into four long pathways, stretching into shadow like the spines of a mechanical beast.And at the center—massive, towering, suffocating—sat a glass containment pillar reinforced with layers of shimmering security seals.
Inside it… he sat.
Hiro.
His back turned, body rigid despite the cold that drenched every inch of him. His white shirt tied loosely around his waist, soaked through. His hands shackled in thick iron chains that felt more like anchors—each link forged for something far stronger than the average man. Damp, dark curls clung stubbornly to his forehead, refusing to fall away even as the frigid air gnawed at his bones.The room felt colder because he was in it.
Raya approached the glass slowly.Deliberately.Hands steady, breaths shallow.
She raised a hand toward the fogged glass… then hesitated.Her eyes tightened, jaw clenched.
"…Hiro."
It wasn't a greeting.It wasn't even a word.It slipped out of her like a memory—accidental, unwelcome, vulnerable.
He didn't move.
Not even a twitch.
Jahfar glared at the man who refused to break. Then back at Raya. Confusion flickering across his face, quiet but unmistakable.
Raya swallowed, straightened her spine, snapped herself back together.
"Hiro Akimura," she announced, voice returning to its cold, sharp authority. "We have reason to believe you're withholding crucial intel regarding the primary weapon for the Assassin Head. Under directive, you are required to release that intel immediately."
Silence.
Not passive silence.Defiant silence.A silence that filled the whole chamber like smoke and burned just as much.
"Tch—!"She snapped.
"HOW STUBBORN CAN YOU BE?! What is wrong with you!? How much longer do you plan to stay chained down here!?"
Her fist slammed against the glass.A burst of pressure shot outward, shaking the platform—fog spiraling from the impact.
"Why can't you just—"
She stopped.Breath trembled for a split second before she locked it back down. She looked at him—at the bruises, the cold burns, the stillness that wasn't fear… but something else.
Anger.Yes. That's all she could read.
Just as she turned to leave—
"How is he."
She froze.
Not a dramatic pause—this was a dead halt, her body refusing to move, refusing to breathe.
Slowly, she turned. "…What?"
Hiro's voice crawled out of his throat like broken glass.
"How is… Yuri?"
The name didn't echo.It dropped. Heavy. Forbidden.
Raya stood frozen, shock drawing lines across her face she didn't want anyone to see. Jahfar stepped forward, placing a careful hand on her shoulder.
"Madam… he isn't in any position to ask questions—"
"Get your hand off me."Cold. Sharp. Lethal.
Jahfar's hand vanished instantly.
Raya stepped closer to Hiro. Her voice stiffened, but something underneath wavered.
"If you're talking about the weapon… it's stable. It has regained most of its strength and is scheduled for training under Anisa Selva."
For the first time since she entered the room, she waited.Not as an officer.As something else.
"…That's good to hear."
Her breath caught.
Hiro turned his head—just slightly.The smallest shift.But it hit like a shockwave.
No rage.No fear.No defiance.
Just a small, genuine smile.
"I'm glad."
Raya felt the world tilt, just a little.
Because throughout the years, she'd only known Hiro Akimura as a ruthless, cold-blooded assassin—someone carved out of steel and silence, someone who took lives without blinking and carried nothing inside but a hollow corpse of a soul.
But the man smiling behind that glass…
This was not that man.
This was someone else entirely.