Chapter 9: Blood Debts

By sunrise, the city knew.

Not the details—just the outcome. Someone important was dead, and the balance had shifted. That kind of news traveled fast.

Ren watched from a rooftop as smoke curled up from three different blocks. Retaliation. Testing. Warnings disguised as accidents.

Akio joined him. “They’re counting.”

“Counting what?” Ren asked.

“How many times you bleed before you break.”

A motorcycle roared past below, its rider tossing a package onto the street. It detonated in a flash of heat and noise—no casualties, just a message.

WE COLLECT WHAT’S OWED.

Kaito arrived late, as always. He studied the damage like a ledger. “Debts don’t disappear,” he said. “They transfer.”

“To me,” Ren said.

Kaito nodded. “You pulled the trigger. That makes you currency.”

Ren felt the weight of it settle in his chest. The city wasn’t angry.

It was accounting.

And the bill had his name on it.