Akira had pushed the engine to its limits, slashing the six-hour journey down to a grueling five. By the time she reached the outskirts of Tokyo, the world was still bathed in the eerie, blue-grey silence of 3:00 AM. Her eyes, bloodshot from the wind and the lack of rest, focused on her phone as she dialed Kenji Takahashi.
The ringing tone shattered the quiet of the Takahashi Mansion. Kenji groggily reached for his device, his heart skipping a beat when he saw the Prosecutor's name flashing on the screen. "Hello, Prosecutor?" he answered, his voice thick with sleep. "What is the meaning of a call this early in the morning?"
"It's about Naea," Akira replied, her voice sounding like cracking ice.
The mention of his wife's name acted like a jolt of electricity. Kenji sat bolt upright, all traces of sleep vanishing. "About Naea? What do you mean? Is she alright? Has something happened?"
"Meet me at the abandoned building near the Oscar estate," Akira commanded, her tone brook no argument. "You'll find out everything there." Before he could utter another word, the line went dead.
At that same moment, Macau's alarm chirped. She had set it specifically to track Akira's progress, calculating that the drive from Osaka would take at least six hours in the biting night cold. She quickly dialed Akira to check her location.
"I'm outside the building. Come down now, I'm waiting," Akira said shortly before hanging up again.
Confused and shivering against the midnight frost, Macau rushed outside to find Akira's car idling in the shadows. As she slid into the passenger seat, she turned to her friend with wide eyes. "Akira, why are you here? What is so urgent that you drove through the night?"
"I'm here to meet Kenji," Akira stated flatly.
Macau stared at her in disbelief. "Are you serious? You drove all this way, in this freezing weather, just to meet Kenji Takahashi at three in the morning? Akira, let's just go home. It's too cold for this nonsense."
"I am perfectly serious," Akira replied, her voice dropping into a terrifyingly cold register. The sheer weight of that tone silenced Macau instantly; she knew there was no point in arguing when Akira was in this state.
Across the city, Kenji found the summons incredibly suspicious. He wasn't taking any chances. He quickly called Ryu, his voice hushed but urgent. "The Prosecutor wants to meet. If anything goes sideways, I'll give you a sign. Stay back, stay hidden so she doesn't spot you, but keep your eyes on us." With his backup secured, Kenji slipped out of the mansion, heading toward a confrontation that would change everything.
Akira pulled the car to a stop a short distance away, instructing Macau to stay inside and wait. Through the mist of the early morning, Kenji stepped out of his own vehicle, his expression mockingly calm as he stood before her. "So, Prosecutor," he began, his voice smooth. "What was so urgent that it couldn't wait until sunrise?"
"You had Naea's father murdered," Akira stated, her voice like a chilling wind.
Kenji didn't flinch. Instead, he let out a dry, fearless laugh. "Proof? Evidence? People love to demand those things, don't they? What do you actually have in your hands, Prosecutor?"
"I am here to tell you one thing: get ready to rot in a cell," Akira replied, her tone dropping into a lethal register. "Go to the Osaka police station and confess. Admit that you were the one who had Mr. Sato killed... and your own wife, too." As she turned to walk away, Kenji's laughter echoed sharply against the abandoned walls.
"You've wasted your sleep for nothing," he called out. "But I'm surprised... aren't you curious why I did it?"
Akira froze in her tracks. Sensing his opening, Kenji stepped closer. "My wife—Naea—dismissed the death of my brother, Minato, as a 'self-inflicted' tragedy so easily... even though it was you who shot him. I decided then that I would never forgive either of you. Marrying Naea was my masterpiece. It was the perfect way to tear her away from you—to steal your happiness. But I wanted more than just separation. I wanted revenge. So, I made Naea mine, and while she was trapped by my side, I took away the only world she had left: her father. Now, she belongs to me. Completely."
The revelation snapped something deep within Akira. She lunged forward, grabbing Kenji by the collar and slamming him into the dirt with a primal roar. "You're a psycho, Kenji! A complete psycho!" she screamed, before delivering a brutal, bone-crushing kick to his ribs.
Despite the pain, Kenji stood up, a terrifying, bloody grin spreading across his face. "I am a psycho... for Naea's love." He leaned in with a haunting smile. "Oh, did I forget to mention? Our wedding night was quite a performance... being in that room, together... what a night it was."
He was lying to torture her, and he knew it was working. "Though, Naea was a bit careless once. I had to teach her a lesson with a slap—from this very hand. Honestly, Akira, it pained me to do it... I didn't want to raise a hand to her."
"You laid a hand on her?!" Akira's voice was a low, vibrating growl of pure silver. "How dare you touch her, Kenjiiii!"
"I have every right," Kenji hissed, his eyes wide and vacant. "To the world, she is my wife. I can do whatever I want with her. And you? You can only watch from the shadows, unable to even claim your love in public."
Macau, sensing the situation had spiraled out of control, rushed out of the car. She found Akira pinning Kenji down, her eyes bloodshot with rage. "You've given your heart a life sentence by loving a girl," Kenji wheezed, blood dripping from his nose after a brutal headbutt from Akira. "You can't love her openly, she doesn't understand your feelings, and she doesn't love you back. You can't even show this 'love' to the world."
Kenji fought back with a desperate kick, knocking Akira to the ground and beginning to strike her back. Macau lunged forward, pulling Akira away. "Akira, stop! You'll kill him!"
"He doesn't deserve to breathe, Macau!" Akira screamed, her restraint completely shattered. Even as he lay broken on the ground, Kenji laughed, a jagged, manic sound. "Kill me and make her a widow. Make her life even harder. Next life, Akira... try being born a man. Maybe then you can actually claim a woman's love."
The insult, coupled with the thought of Naea being struck, was the final straw. Akira reached for her holster and, without a second thought she said you know what I hate man like you and after saying this she , fired. The first bullet shattered the hand Kenji had used to strike Naea; the second tore through his leg.
Macau, paralyzed by shock, finally found the strength to wrestle the gun away. She dragged a trembling, catatonic Akira to the car, shoving her into the passenger seat and speeding away into the dark.
Nearby, Ryu—who had been watching from the shadows—raced his car forward. He found Kenji in a pool of blood and rushed him to the nearby hospital. As the sun began to peek over the horizon, the Takahashi family was plunged into chaos. Grandma Takahashi arrived in a state of shock, and Dr. Takshi, just finishing his night shift, froze in horror as he saw Kenji wheeled in on a gurney. Trembling, he reached for his phone, realizing there was only one person who needed to hear the truth. He dialed Naea's number.