The ovation of the soldiers slowly faded, morphing into the frenetic buzz of preparation.
The sound of hundreds of magazines clicking into weapons, zippers being fastened, and orders being barked filled the stale air of the bunker.
Everyone started their preparations.
"Starting at dawn..." Sakura bitterly repeated in her mind, from a corner of the hall.
Even someone like her knew that it was too obvious.
Moreover, she knew that Yuki Nakamura would've surely done something to stop everything.
That's why she was secretly Rei gave her a very important task: The intelligence part.
She was in charge of every kind of communication, along with Yuto.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Sakura sighed, before walking away.
After Rei's speech, everyone had already moved.
To Hina, that noise had only one meaning: the sound of cattle heading to the slaughter.
"It's like a chicken walking into a slaughterhouse..." Hina repeated, realizing that Rei likely had twenty other plans hidden in his mind.
As Rei descended from the stage with the elegance of a satisfied conductor, followed by Hiromi's faithful shadow, Hina moved.
She didn't run.
She walked with a liquid fluidity, slicing through the sweating crowd like a cold blade cuts through warm flesh.
Soldiers instinctively parted in her wake, sensing the aura of death that clung to her.
Her eyes were fixed on a specific point near the side exit.
Akira.
The sniper was still motionless, clutching the rigid case of her rifle as if it were the only lifeline in a collapsing world.
Her healthy eye scanned the void, while the patch over her right eye seemed to absorb the meager neon light.
Hina didn't slow down.
She couldn't afford to stop.
Rei had eyes everywhere.
As she passed her, the distance between their shoulders reduced to millimeters. To an outside observer, it was just a casual crossing in the chaos of mobilization.
But in that fraction of a second, Hina's lips barely moved, a hiss that sliced through the din like a scalpel:
"He didn't find him. He's waiting for us."
Hina didn't turn to see the reaction.
There was no need.
She heard Akira's breath hitch for a second.
She felt the almost imperceptible tensing of her "sister's" muscles.
The message had been received.
This wasn't an attack mission.
It was an invitation to a funeral.
And Akira now knew that her rifle wouldn't be needed to attack, but to survive.
She was about to kill her old... comrades ?
Hina turned the corner, entering Service Corridor C-9, a shadow zone far from the spotlights of the Main Hall.
The silence here was heavy, broken only by the electric hum of halogen lamps that flickered, casting spectral plays of light against the rusted metal walls.
Her heart beat steadily—a flat, terrifying calm.
She had to prepare mentally.
She had to become the monster Sabushi wanted, so she could destroy him.
But then, a shadow detached itself from the wall.
Hina stopped, her hand instinctively snapping toward the pistol on her thigh, before freezing.
Kai.
He was there, standing in the middle of the corridor, partially obscured by the gloom.
He wore dark civilian clothes, but he no longer looked like the boy she had taken to the Yukka River.
The smell of innocence was gone, replaced by aseptic soap and the metallic tang of dried blood. That was why she hadn't recognized him instantly
His white hair was still damp from the shower, falling messily over his forehead.
But it was his eyes that stopped Hina's breath.
There was no fear.
There was no warmth of innocent love.
There were two abysses of blue ice.
Empty.
Deep.
Kai took a step forward.
The movement was silent, predatory. He said nothing.
Slowly, he raised his right hand toward the flickering light.
The hand was steady.
Motionless as stone.
No tremor.
No post-traumatic hesitation.
"Hina..." his voice was low, raspy, as if his vocal cords had been scraped raw by the violence of earlier. "Look at it."
Hina observed that hand.
She saw the slightly skinned knuckles, the residue of blood that even the shower hadn't managed to fully scrub from the cuticles.
Hina's eyes widened.
She had already realized what had happened.
"It doesn't tremble," Kai whispered, almost speaking to himself, in a tone oscillating between horror and wonder. "I killed a man, Hina. I gutted him. Rei looked at me and laughed... and I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing."
He lowered his hand and locked eyes with her.
"My body knew what to do. My mind shut down and... something else took control. Images... blood, an old man laughing, training I don't remember ever doing."
He took another step, invading Hina's personal space.
He was now so close she could smell the aseptic soap and the subtle, metallic scent of danger radiating from him.
"Who am I, Hina?" he asked, desperate and cold at the same time. "Why did you say I'm like you? Did you know?"
Hina felt a shiver run down her spine.
It wasn't fear.
It was arousal.
A dark, visceral excitement, typical of her Yandere nature.
Hina's hands covered her mouth for some seconds and she blushed a little, while her eyes were staring at him like she had received a love confession in a low-budget romance anime.
The innocent boy she wanted to protect was dying, and in his place, the perfect creature for her was emerging.
A monster forged in pain, just like her.
She finally had the confirmation that the boy in front of him was the person she believed he was: an Accomplice.
A partner in crime, someone who had fully accepted her for who she was.
No more fear, nothing.
Pure love, acceptance and passion.
That was what Hina felt.
Hina slowly reached out, her cold fingers grazing Kai's cheek, tracing the line of his tense jaw.
Her touch was possessive, almost a branding.
She smiled. A sweet smile, but with eyes burning with madness.
"You aren't broken, Kai," she whispered, bringing her lips close to his ear. "You are just... awake."
Kai didn't flinch.
He remained motionless under her touch.
"The world tried to make you a sheep," Hina continued, her voice dripping like poisoned honey. "But you were born a wolf. I perfectly know what you are feeling right now, my love... and you just need to wait some time to have your answers."
She pulled back slightly to look at him again, their noses almost touching.
"Don't be afraid of the dark, my love," Hina said, her eyes gleaming in the shadows. "It's the only place we can be together without burning."
Hina gently rubbed his cheek.
Kai looked at her, searching for a rational answer, but finding only that terrible acceptance.
His right hand closed into a fist, crushing the empty air.
"If this is what I am..." Kai murmured, his gaze hardening definitively, extinguishing the last light of humanity. "...then what now...? Are we gonna stay together forever...?"
Hina felt her heart explode in her chest.
It was perfect.
It was terrifying.
And he was hers.
"yes... yes... yes... yes... YES YES YES. Y E S!" she exclaimed in a manic, breathless tone, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him in a very... passionate way, sealing that dark pact in the silence of the corridor.
Kai was surprised at first, but then slowly melted into the kiss, also embracing her tightly.
In a world of darkness, she was his only hope, even thought he knew he couldn't return to his normal life anymore.
After some seconds, Hina broke the kiss and whispered something to his ear.
"We'll be together... forever... until the end of times... my precious love..." She said, licking her lips and staring at him with wide and empty eyes.
After their little moment of passion, Hina grabbed his and hand and lead him towards... her room.
Who knows what's gonna happen...