Chapter 13:
The Shadow
Story of My Life: Revenge or Love?
The apartment lights flickered once.
Shiromi’s instincts screamed before her mind could react.
“Hayato— the lights.”
They went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The rain outside had stopped completely, leaving an unnatural silence behind. No traffic. No wind. No distant voices. Just the faint hum of electricity struggling to return.
Hayato moved instantly, placing himself slightly in front of Shiromi.“Stay behind me.”
She almost laughed.“Don’t.”
A "click" came from the window.
Not loud.Careful.Intentional.
Shiromi's muscles tensed, veins tightening under her skin. She didn’t need to see to know—someone was there.
The curtains shifted.
A figure stood on the fire escape outside the window.
Masked.Tall.Still.
The only visible detail was a symbol painted on the mask:
A "white handprint".
Hayato’s breath caught. “It’s the same mark.”
The figure tilted its head slightly, as if amused.
Then the window slid open.
Shiromi moved first.
She launched forward, grabbing a chair and hurling it toward the window with brutal force. The glass shattered outward, rainwater spraying in as the masked intruder leapt backward—landing effortlessly on the metal stairs below.
Too fast.Too trained.
Hayato rushed to the window. “They’re escaping!”
“No,” Shiromi said coldly. “They wanted us to see them.”
As if proving her right, the figure paused at the bottom of the fire escape and looked up.
Then they raised one hand.
Four fingers.
Not three.
Four.
Hayato froze. “Four… families?”
Before either of them could react, the figure vanished into the darkness between buildings.
Silence returned.
White shards of glass crunched under Shiromi’s feet as she approached the window, eyes burning.
“That was the survivor,” she said.
Hayato clenched his fists. “They’re not hiding anymore.”
“No,” she agreed. “They’re warning us.”
She turned to him, her expression sharper than ever.
“Which means the game has changed.”
Hayato met her gaze. “Then we change too.”
The laptop suddenly powered itself back on.
A new file appeared.
No encryption.No warning.
Just a title:
"PROJECT H-04 — SUBJECT STATUS UPDATE"
Shiromi stared at it.
Her past wasn’t just catching up to her.
It was stepping out of the shadows.
Shiromi’s instincts screamed before her mind could react.
“Hayato— the lights.”
They went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The rain outside had stopped completely, leaving an unnatural silence behind. No traffic. No wind. No distant voices. Just the faint hum of electricity struggling to return.
Hayato moved instantly, placing himself slightly in front of Shiromi.“Stay behind me.”
She almost laughed.“Don’t.”
A "click" came from the window.
Not loud.Careful.Intentional.
Shiromi's muscles tensed, veins tightening under her skin. She didn’t need to see to know—someone was there.
The curtains shifted.
A figure stood on the fire escape outside the window.
Masked.Tall.Still.
The only visible detail was a symbol painted on the mask:
A "white handprint".
Hayato’s breath caught. “It’s the same mark.”
The figure tilted its head slightly, as if amused.
Then the window slid open.
Shiromi moved first.
She launched forward, grabbing a chair and hurling it toward the window with brutal force. The glass shattered outward, rainwater spraying in as the masked intruder leapt backward—landing effortlessly on the metal stairs below.
Too fast.Too trained.
Hayato rushed to the window. “They’re escaping!”
“No,” Shiromi said coldly. “They wanted us to see them.”
As if proving her right, the figure paused at the bottom of the fire escape and looked up.
Then they raised one hand.
Four fingers.
Not three.
Four.
Hayato froze. “Four… families?”
Before either of them could react, the figure vanished into the darkness between buildings.
Silence returned.
White shards of glass crunched under Shiromi’s feet as she approached the window, eyes burning.
“That was the survivor,” she said.
Hayato clenched his fists. “They’re not hiding anymore.”
“No,” she agreed. “They’re warning us.”
She turned to him, her expression sharper than ever.
“Which means the game has changed.”
Hayato met her gaze. “Then we change too.”
The laptop suddenly powered itself back on.
A new file appeared.
No encryption.No warning.
Just a title:
"PROJECT H-04 — SUBJECT STATUS UPDATE"
Shiromi stared at it.
Her past wasn’t just catching up to her.
It was stepping out of the shadows.
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