Chapter 13: Sorry Note?

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The room was dark, the only sound the soft drip of blood from a beaten body lying on the cold floor. A man, barely conscious, choked on his own sobs as he crawled across the ground, his voice shaking with desperation.

"Leave me, Otsuka... please forgive me... let me live..."

His words were barely audible, but they hung heavy in the air, desperate, pleading. Then, a loud, maniacal laugh echoed through the room, sharp and cruel. The figure looming over the man, drenched in blood, seemed to take pleasure in his suffering. Without hesitation, the killer raised his hand and struck the final blow.

The sound of his heartbeat was the only thing that remained in the aftermath, the silence swallowing everything else.

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The scene shifted abruptly.

Hinata sat in her room, her face buried in her hands as sobs wracked her body. Her tears came uncontrollably, her shoulders shaking with each cry. She refused to answer the door when she heard the soft knock.

"Sorry," Akira's voice came from the other side of the door, barely a whisper, but full of regret.

There was no reply. Akira waited for a moment, but the silence stretched on. Eventually, with a heavy sigh, he turned and walked away, his footsteps slowly fading into the distance.

Hinata spoke softly to herself, her voice barely audible over her sobs. "It's... my first time crying on my birthday."

Her phone buzzed from the nightstand, the screen lighting up with a call from her friend. She ignored it, her thumb hovering over the screen but unable to answer. She didn't want to speak to anyone.

A rush of memories flooded her mind—her parents, smiling brightly as they took her to the park when she was younger. Her father lifting her high, her mother's laughter filling the air as they celebrated her birthday together. It was a time when everything had felt simple, full of love and joy.

Now, everything felt hollow.

Hinata let herself drift into sleep, her face wet with tears, her heart heavy with loneliness.

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The scene shifted again, this time to Akira, standing in the shadows, his expression cold and calculating. A sinister grin spread across his face, his voice a low murmur as he spoke to no one in particular.

"One matter is closed..." he laughed darkly, the sound echoing in the stillness of the room.

His eyes glinted, as if something wicked had just begun.

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