The room had gone silent.
Rei's voice had dropped into something colder, heavier.
His eyes still fixed on Hina.
She didn't flinch, didn't blink—just stood there, lips slightly parted, her hand tightening faintly around Kai's wrist.
"That's not the answer I wanted to hear, Hina-Chan..." Rei repeated, his voice like steel wrapped in silk.
Hina said nothing.
But Kai could feel it.
The tension between them had shifted. It wasn't just about the mission anymore.
This was personal.
"You knew what that place really was," Rei continued, stepping slowly around the command room like a lion circling his prey. "You could've said it. But instead… you called it by the name of a corpse. A place where you killed someone, like it was nothing more than that."
Hina's gaze sharpened.
Kai glanced between them, confused—but the atmosphere was dense with something unsaid.
Rei stopped walking. "That house was more than a crime scene. It was a base. One of Sabushi's last safe houses. One of your old hideouts, wasn't it?"
A faint flicker crossed Hina's eyes.
It was the first time that Kai saw Hina in difficulty.
Rei noticed.
"And that," he said, tilting his head, "tells me you're not as clean as you pretend to be. Not yet."
Hina's voice finally emerged, low and sharp. "I gave up that name. That gang. Everything. I just want to live a normal life. That's all. If i'm here, it's only for the love I have for Kai."
She said, while gently tightening her grip around his arm by squeezing it a little.
"But you still hesitate," Rei replied, cutting her off. "You still remember him as your father. You still carry some part of him in your blood."
He stepped closer.
"I expect absolute loyalty, Hina."
The room tensed.
Kai could feel her body bristle beside him, but she didn't move. She stared Rei down like she'd been trained not to flinch.
"Loyalty, you say? To a ruthless killer manipulator like you?" Hina replied, with a low but threathening voice.
"Hey!!! Be respectful towards our great leader!!!" One of the armed men around them shouted,
Hina only gave him a deadly glance, like she silently said "Say one other word and i'll slit your throat."
Enough to send a shiver of terror to him.
Then, Rei spoke.
"Me? A killer? No. I'm a savior. And I know who must live and who don't." Rei said, with a smile on his face. "At least.. I've never killed innocent people just because I was told to." He added.
Hina's right hand clenched into a fist, but she immediately took a deep breath to calm herself down.
Kai, on the other hand, was staying silent.
"I'll never be your soldier , Rei. I'm doing all of this for Kai's safety. Nothing more." Hina said, with a passive-aggressive tone of voice.
Rei spoke again. "I know. And that's why you must be loyal to me. You know that I could kill you at any moment, don't you?" He said, while tilting his head to the side.
Hina remained silent.
Rei then added, voice quiet but lethal:" I don't like doubts in my soldiers. So be loyal to me."
Kai had enough.
His voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"Why did you even bring us here?" he snapped. "Why all this pressure, the intimidation, the threats? What the hell are we even doing here, Rei?!"
The entire room froze.
Even Rei blinked—just once, surprised.
Then a smirk curved his lips. "You finally found your voice, Kai."
Kai stepped forward slightly, pulling his arm free from Hina's. "Answer the damn question, Rei. This is getting ridicouloius."
Rei folded his arms. "Fine. You want it blunt?"
He tapped a command into the screen.
A new set of images flickered into place.
"Because the Kobayashi Dragons were preparing to eliminate both of you. Right outside your school. You were dead meat the moment you stepped through the front gates."
Kai stared.
"What…?"
Rei's voice turned clinical. Cold."Laura Sakagami—Lala—wasn't just spying. She was there to kill you. Both of you."
Kai froze.
Hina, next to him, tensed… but her lips parted, almost as if to say something.
She didn't believe it.
And Kai… he wasn't sure either.
"No," Hina said, softly. "That's not true."
Rei raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Sabushi still wants me alive," she said flatly. "He doesn't care about Kai. But me? I'm his project. His legacy. He wouldn't waste Laura on something that… simple."
Kai's heart was racing. He wanted to deny it, argue—but a part of him knew Hina was telling the truth.
Rei looked between them, then sighed.
"You see, this is why I don't like emotional entanglements," he muttered, annoyed. "You get selective with the truth."
He walked back to the console.
"Let me show you something else."
A new file loaded. High-definition photos. Charred walls. Blackened furniture. A house reduced to ashes.
The timestamp in the corner read:
Houseburn of Yamamoto's family-
Kai's breath hitched.
"I… I know this place."
Rei didn't turn around.
"The remains of the Hiro Yamamoto residence."
Kai's stomach twisted. He hadn't been there since the fire. The memory was foggy—flashes of sirens, ash in the wind, smoke that wouldn't leave his lungs.
Then the image shifted.
It showed something else.
A body.
Burned. Barely recognizable.
But Kai could see the outline of a girl.
Blackened skin. Clothing melted into flesh. And—
Deep, deliberate cuts on the torso and legs.
Knife wounds.
Before the fire.
"What… is this…" Kai whispered.
Rei's voice was slow. Measured. Like a scalpel.
"That," he said, "is Hikari Kobayashi."
"Hikari?" Kai echoed, breathless.
Hina took a step back.
"She was involved with Hiro. Quietly. Sabushi didn't approve."
He tapped the next image.
A photo of Hikari and Hiro. Laughing. Smiling.
Kai felt cold.
"She was a Kobayashi by name. Sabushi's niece. But she didn't agree with him. She tried to get out. Tried to help Hiro to get informations about criminals... and everybody know that you cannot escape this world. They were close..."
Rei turned to Kai.
"...But someone got to her first."
The screen zoomed in again. The knife wounds.
Deliberate.
Precise.
Torture.
Kai felt bile rising in his throat.
And Hina… her hand had let go of his completely.
She had taken a full step away.
Her body trembled.
"Hina…" he whispered.
She didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Her eyes were wide. Shocked. But not confused.
She knew this story.
She'd just never heard his version of it.
"Why are you showing me this…?" Kai asked.
"Because your best friend almost died that night. And the girl he loved… she didn't make it. This isn't some fairy tale, Kai. This is the world you stepped into."
Kai's voice cracked. "Who… who did this to her…? Do you know who was it...?"
Rei looked straight at him.
Then pointed.
At Hina.
"She did."
Silence.
A crack in the universe.
The room stopped breathing.
Kai stared at her.
Hina didn't move.
Didn't deny it.
Didn't even blink.
Just… trembled.
Rei continued, softer now, almost cruelly gentle."She was still Sabushi's girl back then. Loyal. Ruthless. Cleaning house. Hikari was a liability. So she burned it down."
Kai's mind reeled.
His legs nearly gave out.
He felt like screaming, but the sound got stuck somewhere deep in his chest.
Rei smiled, walking past them.
"Still think this is about saving the world, Kai?"
He looked over his shoulder.
"It's about deciding whose blood you're willing to step over."
Kai took some steps back.
His eyes became open wide and empty as he looked at Hina.
"Hina... is this true?" He asked.
Hina looked down on the floor...
Something bad was about to happen.