The heavy wooden door creaked open. Akihiro's older brother, Hikaru, stepped inside — eyes cold, voice sharp like shattered glass.
"Why do you always hide? You think the world's going to save you?" Hikaru snarled, grabbing Akihiro's arm roughly.
The parents watched from the doorway — their faces masks of twisted satisfaction.
Akihiro remembered the endless nights of pain — twisted punishments. The searing loneliness. The absence of mercy.
Then, one night, Hikaru left.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Just vanished — like a ghost fleeing a burning house.
Back in the present, Akihiro's gaze dropped to a faded, dust-covered notebook tucked beneath his bed — something he'd never seen before.
Hands trembling, he opened it.
The pages were filled with messy handwriting — scribbles of a tortured mind.
It was Hikaru's diary.
He read, breath hitching as the truth spilled like poison:
"They said I'm weak. That I don't hurt Akihiro enough. I'm their failure. They said they'll fix me — or end me. I'm scared."
Then one entry:
"Tonight, they took me away. Said I'd never return if I failed again. Maybe this is my escape."
Akihiro's hands shook violently. His brother... had been killed. Tortured by the same people who destroyed their family.
Later, Akihiro found Reika at their shelter — eyes swollen from tears, her body trembling.
He stepped close, voice low but firm:
"Reika... do you want to be part of me? To carry this burden — this power?"
She looked up, startled.
"I can share it with you. The strength to never be weak again."
Reika's mind spiraled into memories of her own torment:
Her mother's sharp words like knives.
"If you don't get the highest score, you're worthless."
Long nights spent alone, studying until her eyes burned.
The desperate smile she wore at school — a mask hiding the cracks beneath.
Back in the present, their gazes locked.
Akihiro's aura flickered black and red around them both.
"Together... we could be unstoppable."
Reika swallowed hard.
Her voice barely a whisper.
"I don't know if I'm ready."
Akihiro's lips curled faintly.
"Then don't say no yet."