Saint Lycoris Academy — Sublevel 3, Archive Chamber02:03 hours / Restricted Access / Security Tier 5
Ren shouldn't be here.He knows it.
Every flickering light feels like a warning.Every shadow looks alive enough to whisper his name.But curiosity has a voice, and tonight it sounds exactly like Kana's —soft, detached, almost pleading:
"You wouldn't understand."
And because she said that, he has to.
Inside the Archives
Rows of metallic drawers stretch endlessly —names etched like epitaphs, serials instead of souls.A single terminal hums in the center, faint blue glow pulsing like a vein.
He types her name: Kana Haruno.Nothing.
He tries again: Lycoris.
The screen flickers once, then unlocks.ACCESS GRANTED: FILE NOIR_001
A folder blooms open.Inside: six sub-files, each tagged by color.Red. Violet. White. Gray. Pink. Black.
Ren hesitates, then clicks the first.
File Log — Excerpt 1 (RED TAG / "Crimson Doll")
Persona Classification: Emotional Amplification UnitPurpose: Seduction / Interrogation / Psychological EntrapementStatus: Unstable — manifests during affection-based triggersNotable recorded quote:"If love is a lie, let me be its most beautiful truth."
He reads it twice.Then again.Until the words stop sounding like data and start sounding like her.
He scrolls further.
File Log — Excerpt 2 (GRAY TAG / "Shadow Ghost")
Persona Classification: Covert Execution ModelPurpose: Silence / Disposal / DisappearanceRecord: 47 confirmed eliminations — zero trace recoveriesBehavioral Note: Detachment near-total; voice modulation absent
Ren's breath catches.His reflection in the glass looks older, haunted, too human for what he's reading.Still, he continues.
File Log — Excerpt 3 (WHITE TAG / "Tactical Angel")
Persona Classification: Combat Logic ControllerPurpose: Protection / Calculated EliminationResponse Trigger: Threat proximity to Subject Kaido, RenAutonomy Level: HighContainment Risk: Extreme — refuses command override when variable (Ren) present
The cursor blinks like a heartbeat.He whispers her name:
"Kana… what did they do to you?"
The Sixth File
The final folder is black — no description, no metadata.He opens it.
Only one document.
PROJECT: NOIR — The Fragmented God
Summary: All six personalities were derived from the Trauma Synchronization Experiment.Host: Haruno, Kana.Survival Rate: 0.0003 %Objective: Create a weapon capable of emotion-based adaptation.Result: Failure. Subject retained by Mother Violet for observation.
Handwritten annotation (ink violet):"The flower still blooms. But sometimes I wonder if it's reaching for the sun or for the grave."
The monitor flickers.
SECURITY ALERT: Unauthorized Access Detected.
Ren rips a drive from his pocket, jamming it into the port.The download bar crawls upward — 17 % … 49 % … 83 %.
Footsteps echo through the corridor.He ducks behind a rack of drawers.
Through the terminal's reflection, he sees her.Kana.
The Encounter
She steps into the light — no mask, no blade, just eyes that carry too many versions of herself.
KANA: "You shouldn't be here."REN: "I needed to know."KANA: "You read it."REN: "All of it."KANA: "Then you know what I am."REN: "You're not what they made. You're what survived it."
Her stare falters; something fragile moves behind the armor of her calm fear.
KANA: "You should hate me."REN: "I tried."KANA: "And?"REN: "It didn't work."
The archive hums, holding its breath.
Internal Echo — Scarlet Saint
"He knows.""And still he stays.""Then this must be divinity."
Kana exhales — half relief, half devastation.
KANA: "If they find you here, they'll erase you."REN: "Then we run."KANA: "You don't understand. They don't erase files. They erase memories."REN: "Then remember for both of us."
Her hands tremble.For once, there is no Doll, no Saint, no Angel — only her.
KANA: "I don't know how to be loved."REN: "Then let me teach you slowly."
The words settle between them like fragile data —something that shouldn't exist, yet somehow does.
Diary Fragment (Later That Night)
[Fragment Log #14 — The File Named Noir]Witness compromised: Ren Kaido.Status: Unresolved.Emotional interference: Uncontainable.
Handwritten note:He knows what I am, and still he stayed.Maybe that's what faith really means —not believing in gods, but in monsters who try to be human.
Above them, somewhere far away,the chapel bell tolls once —a sound like mercy cracking under its own weight.
End of Diary #14 — "The File Named Noir."