Chapter 5: Terms & Conditions

The room was quiet on purpose.

Kaito Mori stood behind a plain table, no guards in sight. He didn’t look powerful. That made him terrifying.

“You ran well,” Kaito said. “Most don’t.”

Ren stayed standing. “You hunted me.”

“I measured you,” Kaito corrected. “And you passed.”

A man leaned against the wall—Akio. Calm. Watching everything. The hunter from the street.

“Terms,” Kaito continued. “You stay alive because I allow it. You move when I say. In return, you get protection.”

Ren laughed once. “And the catch?”

Kaito slid a thin folder across the table.

“Everyone betrays eventually. You’ll learn who first.”

Ren opened it. Routes. Safe zones. Names blacked out. One line burned into his vision.

If you run, we stop chasing.

Ren looked up. “That’s not protection.”

Kaito smiled faintly. “It’s honesty.”

Movement at the doorway. Saya. Smiling too easily.

Akio’s eyes flicked to her—just once.

Enough.

Ren closed the folder.

“Fine,” he said. “I’m in.”

Kaito nodded. “Good.”

Outside, the city kept breathing.

Inside, the timer started.