Chapter 147: Rei's brotherhood

They walked in silence.

Kai could feel the weight of the moment pressing down on them.

The shattered chapel around them had an almost sacred quiet, broken only by the crunch of gravel under boots.

Sunlight filtered through the half-collapsed walls, casting long shadows across the group as they moved deeper into the ruins.

Hina clung to Kai's side, her arm looped tightly around his.

Not possessive. Not protective.

It was like she needed to hold on to something—or someone—to keep herself from falling apart.

Her eyes were wide, unblinking, her lips slightly parted.

She hadn't said a word since the firefight. Not even when she saw the blood still damp on Kai's sleeve.

Kai wasn't speaking either.

The adrenaline had long since faded, leaving behind a hollow chill in his limbs.

His hand still remembered the sensation of the gun recoiling.

His shoulder still pulsed where the bullet had grazed him.

But it was the image that stayed—of the man slumping out of the car window, eyes wide open, life gone.

He'd done that.

He had ended someone.

But it was different from last time.

He did it to protect her.

His hands were still stained in blood.

There was no way he could wash away something like that.

The lovely boy full of dreams was gone.

It was a game of death.

Despite that... Kai was still feeling very "calm" while walking despite his silence.

But the guilt didn't land the way he thought it would.

It hovered, unformed, like a shadow that hadn't quite caught up to him yet.

The guards surrounding them were quiet, disciplined.

Dressed in black with small, subtle markings—unlike any military unit he recognized.

Efficient, but not flashy.

Like ghosts who'd learned how to wear skin.

Eventually, they reached a portion of the floor that looked like untouched stone—until one of the guards stepped forward and tapped a code into a nearly invisible panel carved into the wall.

A soft mechanical click. Then the ground rumbled slightly.

An elevator, concealed within the altar's platform, began to rise up from the floor.

The doors opened silently.

Yuto stepped in first.

Akira followed, without a word.

Then Hina and Kai.

The doors sealed shut behind them.

As the platform began its slow descent into the underground, a strange shift occurred.

The air changed—cooler, denser, laced with metallic undertones.

The light flickered from natural sunlight to a dim, pale-blue glow.

The shaft descended for what felt like minutes, until at last it opened into a hallway that didn't belong underground.

It looked like something out of a science fiction film.

Ancient stone walls reinforced with military-grade plating.

Arched ceilings retrofitted with LED tracks.

Surveillance cameras tucked between wooden beams older than the country itself.

Massive computer terminals and tactical boards stood alongside crumbling statues and religious iconography.

The contrast was jarring—the sacred and the strategic, fused together like a paradox made manifest.

At the far end of the hall, waiting for them, was a man.

Him.

He leaned casually against a metal pillar, arms crossed, a smirk carved into his sharp features.

His presence was magnetic. Dark and messy hair.

He would be the perfect protagonist for an action movie.

A strong leader.

Genius,

He was wearing a clean, tailored black coat.

Eyes that sparkled not with warmth—but with intelligence sharpened like a knife.

Rei.

"Ah," he said, standing upright. "The lovely Kai. Alive and well."

His voice was smooth. Confident. With just enough sarcasm to raise hackles.

"And here I thought you'd be bleeding out in a ditch somewhere by now."

Kai didn't respond.

Hina's grip on his arm tightened.

Rei's smirk deepened.

"You've got a bad look on your face," he said, stepping closer, hands in his pockets. "Kind of like someone who just did something... horrible."

He tilted his head mockingly, his tone light but cruel.

"Didn't like the way his head popped?"

Kai didn't rise to the bait. He stared at Rei, jaw tight.

Yuto was the one who spoke.

"Rei. Enough." He said, while clenching his fists.

Rei's eyes flicked over to the older man. "Ah, right. Yuto's always in a rush."

"Because we don't have time for your dramatics," Yuto replied flatly.

Akira remained silent. Watching.

Rei sighed theatrically and gestured to a doorway.

For some strange reason, Rei seemed to show respect to Yuto.

"Come. Let's talk business." He said, while his tone turned to a "normal" one.

As they entered the main command chamber, Kai's breath caught.

It was enormous.

Screens covered an entire wall—news feeds, satellite imagery, encrypted communications. A large tactical table in the center displayed a glowing 3D map of the region.

Armed operatives moved around them, checking supplies and status logs.

But what caught Kai's attention wasn't the tech.

It was her.

Standing beside Rei, hands clasped in front of her, was a girl.

Same age as him. Shoulder-length black hair. Soft brown eyes.

Wearing a simple white blouse and a pale skirt that contrasted heavily with the room's militaristic aesthetic.

Yuna.

He didn't recognize her instantly.

She seemed... different.

The one who'd vanished from his life two years ago.

"Yuna?" he whispered, almost not believing it.

She smiled gently—but there was something forced about it. Something trained.

"Hi, Kai," she said, stepping forward.

Before he could say anything else, Rei placed a hand lightly on her back.

"She's mine now," he said casually. "My fiancée."

Kai stiffened. "What?"

"She's safe this way," Rei said. "Visible. Close. No one dares touch what belongs to me."

The words were soft.

But the message was razor sharp.

Kai already knew about their "relationship" but in that moment, he seemed too stunned to understand the situation.

The feeling he had when he killed for the first time was probably returning, making his head numb.

Yuna's smile didn't fade. But her fingers were trembling.

Kai didn't speak.

He couldn't trust his voice.

Rei moved on quickly, tapping a command into the main screen.

"Let's get to the real reason you're here," he said. The display shifted.

A cube floated on-screen. Rotating slowly, surrounded by thin arcs of energy.

"The Ark Device," Rei said. "A miracle machine. Unlimited energy. Self-sustaining. A solution to the planet's decay."

Hina looked at him, in silence.

Kai stared at it, not believing what he was seeing.

"That's real?" he asked. "It actually works?"

Rei chuckled. "Oh, it works. Too well."

Kai stepped forward, eyes locked on the display.

"Then why don't you have it already?"

Rei's smirk faded slightly.

And then—his eyes shifted toward Hina.

He began circling the group like a lion in a cage.

"Because," he said slowly, "someone killed the wrong people."

He stopped next to Hina.

She looked up at him, but didn't speak.

"People who were trying to help," Rei continued. "People with intel. With access. With trust. People trying to use the device for good."

His voice dripped with irony.

"And now? Now the device is gone. In the wrong hands. A black-market arms syndicate in Eastern Asia, planning to auction it to the highest bidder."

Kai clenched his fists.

"And you want to steal it back?" he asked.

Rei smiled.

"No. We are going to reclaim it. Not for me. For the people. For order. For peace."

His tone was righteous.

But something in his eyes told a different story.

Kai didn't buy it.

Not all of it, anyway.

Rei stepped forward and placed a hand on Kai's shoulder.

"You're not just a survivor, Kai. You're a symbol. A trigger. You've already drawn blood... moreover, your family is also at risk."

Kai's eyes widened in panic.

"EH?! My family?!" He exclaimed.

Rei, with a very calm voice, nodded his head.

"Well... yes. Your family has also a very important part in this. They have the informations for the last missing piece of this device. So you would've been a target. It was your destiny." Rei said.

Kai took some steps back.

"No... impossible... My parents..." Kai said, while looking down on the floor, not believing Rei's words.

Hina's grip on his arm tightened and she caressed his face to calm him down.

"I know that your parents are good people , Kai, but... this an older story, probably around the time of your great grandfather. But that's not what I wanted to show to you today..." He said, changing topic.

Kai remained silent.

Meanwhile, Rei's fingers, he swapped pages and the cube became a flat page.

A map, to be specific, with a lot of red dots on it.

"This is... a map of the whole land. The red dots are the places where criminal hides," He said, before pressing a red dot in the middle of the map.

Then, an image appeared.

The image showed an abandoned house... pretty familiar to Kai.

Rei then glanced at Hina.

"You know this place, right, Hina?" Rei asked, with a passive-aggressive tone.

Hina looked at him with a deadly glance.

Threathening.

She nodded he head.

"Yes. This is... the place where I killed Rina Kobayashi." Hina said.

A lot of images appeared in Kai's mind.

He remembered the house.

The one in the Harunaga district.

It was the place he wanted to visit while he was investigating on Hina's past.

"Oh... That's not what I wanted to hear, Hina." Rei said, with still an aggressive voice.

"This is not going to end well..." Akira thought.