Chapter 32: Buried Truths

The van tore through the empty streets, Mira behind the wheel, knuckles white against the steering. Hotaru sat in the back, the leather files resting on her lap like they weighed a thousand tons. Kuro curled up beside her, tail twitching in his sleep.

"Do you think there's enough in here to bury Kurogane?" Ryuuji asked, sprawled across the seat with his usual careless grin, though his eyes were sharp.

Hotaru didn't answer immediately. Her fingers trembled slightly as she opened the first file, yellowed pages crackling in the dim light. Handwritten names, dates, transaction amounts — it was all here. Weapons trades, human trafficking, political bribes. A whole empire built on blood and shadow.

"It's more than enough," Sai's voice came from the front seat, calm as ever. He was reviewing another file, his brow furrowed. "This... this is decades of dirt. Kurogane's not just a criminal empire — they've been the hidden hand behind almost every major power shift in this city."

Mira's grip on the wheel tightened. "Then why didn't anyone stop them before?"

"Because everyone who tried either disappeared or switched sides." Sai's voice darkened. "Including my father."

Hotaru's head snapped up. "Wait — what?"

Sai leaned back, closing the file. His expression was unreadable. "I wasn't always a freelancer. My father was part of the Internal Intelligence Unit — a secret branch meant to monitor underground syndicates. He found out Kurogane was pulling strings inside the government itself."

Hotaru's chest tightened. "What happened to him?"

Sai's gaze shifted to the window. "He disappeared when I was twelve. No body, no message. Just... gone." His jaw clenched. "That's why I started digging. I found his old case files, pieced together what I could — but I never had enough proof to expose Kurogane."

Hotaru swallowed hard. She knew that kind of pain — the kind that hollowed you out, leaving only a thirst for answers.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Mira asked softly.

"Because it was my fight." Sai's voice was low, almost ashamed. "I didn't want to drag anyone into it."

Hotaru's hand closed over the file on her lap. "Well, too late. We're all in this now."

There was a small silence — not awkward, but heavy with unspoken understanding.

Tora's voice crackled over the comms. "Guys, I've been scanning through some of these files remotely and... you're gonna want to see this."

Mira pulled the van into a dark alley and killed the engine. Tora's face appeared on the small tablet mounted to the dashboard, her normally playful expression serious.

"What is it?" Hotaru leaned forward.

Tora tapped a screen off-camera, pulling up a file with a name highlighted in red.

Akabane Hotaru — Classified Case File: Subject of Interest.

Hotaru's blood ran cold.

"What... the hell is this?" Her voice barely worked.

Tora bit her lip. "It's you, Hotaru. Kurogane's been watching you for years — even before your parents died."

The air in the van turned ice-cold. Mira's face twisted in disbelief. "Why would they care about Hotaru? She was just a kid."

"No." Sai's voice was grim. "Not just any kid. If this file is right — Hotaru's parents weren't random victims. They were whistleblowers. They were going to expose something Kurogane couldn't afford to let out."

Hotaru's hands shook as she flipped through the file, photographs of her family home, surveillance logs dating back to when she was barely five years old.

"All this time..." her voice broke. "All this time, I thought I was chasing revenge. But they were always watching me."

Ryuuji sat up, rare seriousness in his gaze. "Then this isn't just revenge anymore. This is survival."

Hotaru's fists clenched. "No. It's both."

She slammed the file shut, eyes blazing with a new fire. "We're not just exposing Kurogane. We're ripping them apart piece by piece."

Kuro stretched lazily, yawning before curling back into Hotaru's lap. Even he seemed to sense the shift in the air.

"Alright," Sai said, his voice softer. "But we need a new base first. After what happened at the old house, they'll be sweeping the city for us."

Mira grinned. "I might know a place. But you're not gonna like it."

Hotaru smirked, the storm in her chest momentarily easing. "As long as it's not haunted or falling apart, I'll take it."

"...About that," Mira muttered.

And with that, they drove off into the night — towards the next battleground, and deeper into the truth none of them were ready for.

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End of Chapter 32