"Kurogai! Oh my goodness, are you alright?!"
Dean Mary's voice trembled with panic as she rushed into the orphanage courtyard. Without hesitation, she pulled the boy into her arms, hugging him tightly.
"It's dangerous outside. What were you thinking, running off like that?"
Kurogai looked up with a bright smile, unfazed. "I'm okay. Mrs. Steve said she likes me."
Dean Mary blinked. That wasn't the answer she expected—but hearing the warmth in his voice, she sighed. Her scolding softened into a relieved hug.
---
The aftermath was routine. Police arrived to secure the scene. The orphanage had only been caught in the crossfire; the real focus was the bank, where the robbery originated. Investigators quickly got to work.
Kurogai was questioned briefly—he was the only one who'd seen the robbers flee—but as a child, no one took him seriously. After a few procedural questions, they moved on.
The orphanage returned to calm. But elsewhere…
---
Inside a heavily secured facility, Natasha Romanoff sat stiffly in a chair. Her tight black suit clung to her form, but the expression on her face wasn't nearly as composed. Across from her sat a man with one eye, a sharp gaze, and the authority of someone who'd seen too much.
Nick Fury.
"So… let me get this straight," Fury said, frowning. "You chased them to the river… and they all just jumped in and killed themselves?"
He raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it.
"They were Hydra," Natasha replied flatly. "They don't always make sense."
Fury leaned back, tapping a finger on the table. "Still, if they were after something valuable, you'd think they'd return with it. Unless someone intercepted them… or the item changed hands before they died."
"We don't know yet," Natasha admitted, her tone a little too sharp. "But I'll find out."
"Good," Fury nodded. "Stay on it."
Then he flipped through a file. "Oh, one more thing. There's a kid at that orphanage—apparently kept mentioning someone named 'Mrs. Steve.' According to the police report, that's your alias from the mission."
Natasha's expression darkened immediately.
That brat again.
Just hearing about him made her blood pressure spike. If she went back to the orphanage, he'd probably cling to her again, saying all sorts of nonsense. She gritted her teeth just thinking about it.
"Just a mischievous kid. Nothing serious," she said stiffly.
Fury gave her a curious look but let it go.
---
Elsewhere, in a dimly lit underground room that looked more like a crypt than a meeting space, a refined young man with gold-rimmed glasses sat quietly on a sofa. He looked polished—cultured, even—but cold as ice.
Opposite him stood a broad-shouldered man, stiff with fear.
Wickley.
If Kurogai had been present, he would've recognized this man as the robber captain—the one who had revealed everything under the influence of his Geass.
"So," said the man with the glasses, his voice devoid of emotion, "none of your men returned?"
"N-no, sir," Wickley stammered. "They—none of them came back."
He was trembling. This wasn't a man to fail in front of.
"They were last seen near the river," the man said, almost to himself. "According to intel from the Homeland Bureau…"
Wickley's eyes twitched. He hadn't been supposed to hear that.
The man suddenly looked up, calm and decisive. "Ah, right. That part's classified."
He raised a sleek black pistol.
Bang.
Wickley dropped like a stone.
The silence was absolute.
"Trash," the man said, setting the gun aside without emotion. "You fail your mission, you don't get to walk back in."
He turned his head slightly, speaking into the shadows of the basement.
"That parchment scroll is still out there. And it's valuable. We need it back."
A door creaked.
From the darkness stepped a tall, silent figure. Cold eyes. Quiet breath. Lethal aura.
Hydra's last ace.
"You've already undergone phased modifications," the man in glasses said. "You'll retrieve the scroll."
The silent man nodded once. "And when I return, I want further upgrades."
The man with the glasses gave a chilling smile. "Fine. Bring back the scroll—and prove you're not a failed experiment."
As the modified soldier walked out, the man murmured behind him:
"You're the only surviving result of the Death Soldier Project… don't disappoint me."
---
Meanwhile, Kurogai was unaware of the danger drawing ever closer.
The parchment scroll—now hidden beneath floorboards of a quiet courtyard—wasn't just a trophy.
It was bait.
And Hydra wanted it back.
---