Shirogawa District felt like a place forgotten by time.
No one remembered when it had turned into the darkest corner wrapped in the most beautiful view.
The smell of the sea.
The endless horizon.
The illusion of freedom.
Those who wanted more had left long ago.
Those who stayed either chased easy money and became part of the gangs
Some grew addicted.
Some were ruined.
And some ended up like Sota’s father... drowning in debt, gambling, drinking, losing pieces of himself night after night.
Nightclubs.
Street fights.
Meetings in narrow back alleys.
That had been Sota’s reality for years.
No one had asked him what he wanted.
They had simply decided.
He didn’t have the luxury of saying no.
“No” had been punishable since he was seven.
Every refusal left a mark, some visible, some not.
So he learned.
He learned to endure.
To stay silent.
To survive.
He grew stronger. Sharper. Colder.
Ready to die at any moment.
And in a way, he already had... more than once.
Alone.
He stopped expecting anything a long time ago.He didn’t consider himself alive.
He was simply useful.
Freedom was never part of the deal.
The meeting his boss had called was about to begin.
He hadn’t told Takashi everything.
Takashi needed to move forward.
Doubt would only slow him down.
There were only a few occasions when the boss called them all to meet him.
And those meetings never ended well.
Sota entered the room and took his place in line with the others. They were kneeling in a row, heads lowered.No one dared to breathe too loudly.
Even the air felt controlled.
The boss’s office was neat and luxurious. A collection of swords lined the wall in front him.
They weren’t antiques. They were reminders.
He stood in front of them with his hands behind his back,surveying what he owned.
He took one of the swords from the wall and slowly pulled it from its sheath, admiring its beauty, testing the blade lightly with his fingers.
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“How it shines,” he said with a cynical laugh.
“If you want something to shine, you have to cherish it… polish it… shape it until it’s perfect.”
He stepped closer to them, still studying the blade.
“That’s what I did with you. With every single one of you.”
Then his voice hardened.
“Wasn’t I good to you? Hm?”
He walked past them slowly.
“I gave each of you money. Cars. A place to live. Clothes to wear.”
He stopped, even closer now.
“And yet… it seems that wasn’t enough.”
His gaze turned cold.
“Or am I wrong?”
He stepped closer and pressed the tip of the sword beneath the chin of one of the men kneeling near Sota.
“Was it enough?”
The man nodded, trembling, afraid to even breathe.
Then he moved to Sota.
The cold steel slid beneath his chin, lifting his head inch by inch.
Sota lifted his gaze and looked straight into his eyes.
His expression didn’t change
“Sota Hayami,” the boss said, lowering his voice.
“How long have you been with us?”
“Twenty years, boss,” Sota answered without hesitation.
“Twenty years…”
The boss smiled faintly.
“You grew strong, Sota. I remember how rebellious you were back then.”
He tilted the blade slightly.
“But now… now you are one of the best.”
A pause.
“One of the few I trust.”
The blade pressed slightly harder against his skin.
The boss stepped back slowly, lowering the sword but not sheathing it.
“It seems,” he said calmly, almost thoughtfully,
“that a certain detective knows things he shouldn’t.”
He paused, letting the words sink in.
“And I wonder…”
Silence swallowed the room.
“You all know betrayal must be punished.”
His gaze moved across the men kneeling in front of him.
“Do you agree?”
No one dared to speak.
They all nodded.
Sota kept his head steady.His expression didn’t change.
But for the first time since entering the room, his pulse betrayed him...
From the moment the boss mentioned the detective.
“Sota.” The boss called his name calmly.
Sota lifted his head.
“You will take care of it.”
The boss’s voice was steady. Almost casual.
“That detective needs to disappear.”
A small pause.
“You know what to do.”
In a world where saying no had never been an option…
For the first time, Sota wasn’t afraid of it.
He could have said it.
But he didn’t.
He nodded... not in obedience, but to buy time.
“Yes, boss.”
His expression was cold. Controlled. Empty.
The boss walked back to the wall and hung the sword in its place.
“And as for the betrayal…”
He adjusted the blade carefully as if it were a fragile thing.
“I’ll make sure whoever is responsible never repeats the mistake.”
No one dared to misunderstand him.
Sota stepped outside and instantly checked his phone.
There was no news about Kawara Medical Distribution.
That meant Takashi hadn’t acted yet even though he had given him the information two days ago.
He lowered the phone slowly.
As he walked down the hallway, still staring at the screen, he brushed shoulders with an unfamiliar man.
Sota stopped.
The man stopped too.
Their eyes met.
Cold. Measuring.
The man didn’t apologize.
He adjusted his jacket and continued walking straight toward the boss’s office.
Sota stepped aside, watching him disappear behind the door.
For a moment, something felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Just… deliberate.
But he pushed the thought away.
His mind was elsewhere.
Sota got into his car and, without thinking, drove toward the city.
He needed to know why Takashi hadn’t acted yet. By now, Kawara should have been exposed. They should have had time to strike once more before the organization realized what was happening.
Takashi’s life was at risk.
But he had known that from the moment the warehouse fell.
He parked in the alley and hurried into Takashi’s building. He rang the bell and only then realized he hadn’t called to say he was coming.
The door opened almost immediately.
Takashi stood there.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
And then, without thinking, without understanding what he was doing, Takashi stepped forward and pulled Sota into a tight embrace.
“You didn’t call for two days.”
Takashi pulled him inside, closing the door quickly behind them.
“I didn’t know what to think. I thought something had happened.”
“Why is there no news about Kawara?” Sota asked immediately. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you everything. Come inside.”
Takashi led him into the living room.
“You look exhausted,”
he added, studying Sota’s face carefully. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine. Nothing to worry about.”
Sota sat down on the sofa, but his posture was tense.
“It’s just a matter of time before they end this,” he said seriously.
“Kawara is the most important target so far. If they fall, we can say we’re winning this war.”
“I’m waiting for Kenta,” Takashi explained.
“Ryo woke up this morning. I couldn’t move without him.”
“You need to do it tomorrow, Takashi.”
Sota stood up abruptly.
“There’s no more time.”
“Something happened,” Takashi said, standing up as well.
“Nothing to worry about. Not yet,”
Sota replied evenly.
“You just need to handle this tomorrow.”
Takashi went quiet, but he noticed it immediately.
Something had changed.
Sota felt different.
Distant.
Colder.
“I’ll do it tomorrow,”
Takashi said finally.
"I’ll call Kenta right away.”
He knew something had happened in those two days.
But he didn’t ask.
Instead, he sat back down on the sofa.
“I'm worried about you,” he almost whispered
“I know how to take care of myself, Takashi.”
Sota sat down too, though there was tension in the way he held his shoulders.
“The other night…” Takashi stood up again and walked to the drawer. He pulled out a photo.
“I forgot to show you this.”
He returned and held it out.
“This is Detective Kenji. We suspect he’s working for your boss.”
Sota took the photo from his hand
His heart started pounding so hard he thought it might betray him.
But nothing on his face changed.
It was him.
The man from the hallway.
The one who had brushed past him.
The one who had walked straight into the boss’s office.
They know.
Not suspect.
Know.
About him.
About Takashi.
About everything.
“No,” Sota said evenly. “I’ve never seen him.”
He placed the photo back on the table with steady hands.
“Call Kenta. Now.”
