A War in the Shadows

Chapter 12

The precinct was in chaos. Officers scrambled, weapons drawn, shouting into their radios. But Kaito knew the truth—whoever was behind this was already gone.

The black van had vanished into the city's labyrinthine streets, and the shooter? A ghost.

Reina knelt beside the dead informant, her hands clenched into fists. "They executed him in front of us." Her voice was tight with anger.

Kaito inhaled sharply, gripping the bloodstained envelope. "And we're next."

Saito ran up, breathless. "The security cameras—they're wiped. No footage of the shooter, no plates on the van." He hesitated. "This wasn't just a hit. It was a message."

Kaito exhaled, looking down at the envelope in his hands. "Then let's make sure they regret sending it."

The Files That Could Kill

Back in the office, Kaito and Reina locked the door, pulled the blinds, and spread the documents across the desk.

Every paper, every photograph, every name led back to one place—

Kyosei Group.

Reina tapped one file. "This is a list of 'participants' in Project Satori. Half of them are dead."

"The other half?" Kaito asked.

She hesitated. "Missing."

Kaito scanned the names. Journalists. Activists. Police officers. Scientists. All people who had dug too deep.

All people who had been erased.

Then, Reina's breath hitched. "Wait. This name…"

She pointed to the bottom of the list.

Kaito's entire body tensed.

Kenji Takahara.

Reina's voice was barely a whisper. "The first victim."

Kaito leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "No. Not the first victim." He tapped the name just above it.

Detective Hideki Mori.

His father.

A cold, sinking realization hit him.

His father hadn't just been an honest cop who died in an 'accident' years ago.

He had been investigating Project Satori.

And now, Kaito was walking the same path.

Reina's voice was quiet but urgent. "Kaito… if your father was killed because of this, then—"

"I know." His hands clenched into fists. "They won't let me walk away."

Reina swallowed. "Then we need a plan."

The Last Witness

Kaito grabbed the final document—a photograph of a woman in her late forties, a name scrawled beneath it.

Dr. Ayane Kurusu.

The last surviving scientist from Project Satori.

According to the file, she had vanished five years ago. But there was a last known location—an old clinic on the city's outskirts.

Reina stared at the address. "If she's still alive, she might have answers."

Kaito nodded. "Then we find her."

A gust of wind rattled the window, the neon city blinking outside. Somewhere in the shadows, the people who had killed his father, who had erased countless lives, were watching.

Waiting.

But Kaito wasn't running.

He was hunting now.

To Be Continued...