Ren didn't sleep after rescuing Akemi.
He sat in Takeshi's car, parked outside the safe house in Nerima, watching the sun rise over the rooftops. The sky turned from black to gray to pale orange, and somewhere in the distance, a train horn sounded—lonely and low.
Takeshi was inside, helping Akemi clean her wounds. Ren had offered to help, but Akemi had looked at him with those sharp eyes and said, "You need to think. I need a doctor. We're not the same."
She was right. He needed to think.
Kenji knew everything. About the tracker. About Akemi. About Ren's plan. That meant someone was feeding him information. Someone inside the police. Someone inside the court. Someone with access to Kobayashi's office, maybe, or Takeshi's files.
Ren ran through the list of everyone who knew about the plan.
Kobayashi. Takeshi. Hikari. Akemi. Himself.
That was it. Those were the only people who knew everything.
Unless—
Unless someone had been listening. Unless someone had bugged the apartment. Unless Kenji had access to their phones, their computers, their private conversations.
Akemi had said it herself: Someone with access to information.
Ren pulled out his phone and texted Kobayashi: Don't trust anyone. Not even yourself. I think we're being watched.
Her response came a minute later: I've suspected the same. Come to my office. Alone. 2 PM.
He put the phone away.
---
At 9 AM, he visited Hikari.
The group home was the same—beige walls, fluorescent lights, the smell of disinfectant. But Hikari looked different. Brighter. Almost happy.
"They approved the transfer," she said as soon as he sat down. "The new group home. In Suginami. I'm moving tomorrow."
Ren's heart lifted. "That's good. Suginami is safer. Better security."
"I know. And it's closer to you." She smiled—a real smile, the first one he had seen in days. "I looked it up. Only thirty minutes by train."
"I'll visit every day."
"They won't let you visit every day."
"Then every other day. As often as they'll let me."
Hikari reached out—forgetting the rule, forgetting the social worker watching from the corner. Her fingers almost touched his.
"Akiyama-kun." Suzuki's voice was firm. "No touching."
Hikari pulled her hand back. But her eyes never left Ren's face.
"I miss you," she whispered.
"I miss you too."
"Are you eating? You look thinner."
"I'm eating."
"You're lying."
"I'm eating enough."
She shook her head, but she was still smiling. "You're impossible."
"You've mentioned that."
The visit ended too soon, as always. Ren walked out of the group home with the photograph of Hikari in his pocket—the one Kenji had taken, the one he couldn't stop looking at. He had shown it to the police, but they had done nothing. No evidence, they said. No crime.
He would make them see. He would make them all see.
---
Kobayashi's office felt different now.
Smaller. Darker. Like the walls were closing in. Ren sat on the worn leather sofa, his hands folded in his lap, while Kobayashi paced the room.
"I've been thinking about what you said," she said. "About being watched. About someone on the inside."
"And?"
"And I think you're right. The court decision—it came too fast. The judge ruled against us without even considering the full evidence. That's not normal."
"Someone influenced her."
"Or someone influenced the people who influence her." Kobayashi stopped pacing. "I've been a lawyer for twenty-five years. I've seen corruption before. But this—this feels different. This feels personal."
"Because it is personal. Kenji isn't just trying to win. He's trying to destroy us."
"Then we need to be smarter. Faster. More careful." Kobayashi sat down behind her desk. "I'm going to request a new judge for the appeal. Someone with no connections to the Tachibana case. Someone who can't be bought."
"Can you do that?"
"I can try. It'll take time. Paperwork. Hearings." She looked at him. "But time is something we don't have."
"I know."
"Then what do you suggest?"
Ren was quiet for a moment. Then he said: "I need to find Kenji before he finds Hikari. Before he finds any of us. If I can get proof—real proof, not just testimony—the police will have to act."
"And how will you get that proof?"
"I have an idea. But you're not going to like it."
Kobayashi's eyes narrowed. "Tell me anyway."
"I'm going to break into his safe house. The one in Suginami. I'm going to find whatever he's hiding—documents, computers, anything—and I'm going to bring it to the police."
"That's illegal."
"I know."
"If you get caught, you'll go to jail. The case against Kenji will collapse. Hikari will be alone."
"I won't get caught."
"You don't know that."
"No," Ren admitted. "But I know that if I don't try, Kenji wins. And I can't let that happen."
Kobayashi stared at him for a long moment. Then she sighed.
"You're as stubborn as your mother."
Ren's breath caught. "You knew my mother?"
"I met her once. A long time ago. Before you were born." Kobayashi's voice softened. "She was stubborn too. And brave. And she loved you more than anything in the world."
Ren looked away. His eyes burned, but he didn't let the tears fall.
"She would be proud of you," Kobayashi said. "You know that, right?"
"I don't need her to be proud. I need her to be alive."
The room was silent.
Kobayashi stood up and walked to the window. "Do what you have to do, Ren. But be careful. And if you get caught—don't mention my name."
"I won't."
He stood up and walked to the door.
"Ren."
He turned.
"Bring her back. Bring Hikari back. She belongs with you."
Ren nodded.
He walked out.
---
That night, he prepared.
Takeshi had given him a small backpack—dark clothes, gloves, a flashlight, a lockpick set that Ren didn't know how to use but would figure out. Akemi had sent him the floor plan of the Suginami building, along with the locations of the security cameras she had identified.
Three cameras. Two on the first floor, one on the third. A blind spot on the fire escape.
Ren studied the plan until he had memorized every door, every window, every possible exit.
At 2 AM, he left the apartment.
Takeshi wanted to come, but Ren had refused. Two people were louder than one. Two people were easier to see. This had to be him. Alone.
He took the train to Suginami. The car was empty—just him and a sleeping homeless man in the corner. The lights flickered. The train rattled.
At the station, he walked.
The streets were dark. The buildings were sleeping. A cat watched him from a doorway, its eyes glowing green.
The building looked the same as before—gray concrete, narrow windows, the black sedan still parked in the alley. Ren checked the cameras. Two on the first floor, just as Akemi had said. He stayed in the blind spots, moving along the wall, keeping to the shadows.
The fire escape was at the back of the building. Rusted metal, creaking stairs. Ren climbed slowly, testing each step before putting his weight on it.
Third floor. Window 302.
Locked, of course.
Ren pulled out the lockpick set. He had never done this before—not really—but he had watched videos. Read articles. He understood the theory.
The lock clicked open on his third try.
He climbed through the window.
The apartment was dark. Small. A kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom. The air smelled like cigarettes and old food. Ren pulled out his flashlight—covered with a cloth to dim the beam—and started searching.
The bedroom first. A bed, unmade. A closet, empty except for a few suits. A desk with a laptop.
Ren opened the laptop. Password protected. He tried Kenji's birthday. His mother's name. Hikari's name. Nothing worked.
He pulled out the USB drive Akemi had given him—a password cracker, she had called it. He plugged it in and waited.
The screen flickered. Then the desktop appeared.
Ren started searching.
Documents. Photographs. Videos. He copied everything onto the USB drive—hundreds of files, thousands of pages. His heart was pounding. His hands were steady.
And then he found it.
A folder labeled "HIKARI."
Inside: photographs. Dozens of them. Hikari at school. Hikari at the group home. Hikari walking down the street, unaware she was being watched. Some of the photographs were recent. Some were from months ago—before her father's arrest, before her life fell apart.
Ren's blood boiled.
He copied everything.
In the living room, he found more—documents, contracts, handwritten notes. Names of victims. Names of accomplices. Bank account numbers. Shell companies. Everything Kenji had tried to hide.
Ren took it all.
He was climbing back through the window when he heard the voice.
"I was wondering when you'd show up."
Ren froze.
Kenji stood in the doorway of the bedroom, his silhouette black against the dim light from the hallway. He was holding something—a phone, maybe, or a remote control.
"I've been waiting for you, Akiyama-kun. For days. I knew you couldn't resist."
Ren said nothing. His mind was racing. He was trapped—the window behind him, Kenji in front of him, the fire escape three floors down.
"Did you really think I didn't know about the hacker? About the tracker? About your little plan?" Kenji stepped forward. The light caught his face—gaunt, exhausted, but smiling. "I've known everything from the beginning. Because I have friends in places you can't imagine."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to put down the USB drive. Slowly. And then I want you to walk away. Forget about Hikari. Forget about the case. Forget about everything."
"And if I refuse?"
Kenji's smile widened. "Then I'll call the police. Tell them I caught a burglar in my apartment. They'll arrest you. Search you. Find the stolen documents. You'll go to jail, Akiyama-kun. And Hikari will be alone."
Ren's grip tightened on the USB drive.
"You won't call the police."
"Won't I?"
"If you call the police, they'll search this apartment. They'll find everything. Your documents. Your photographs. Your connections to Sakamoto. You'll go to jail too."
Kenji's smile faltered. Just for a moment.
"You're smarter than I thought."
"I've been telling you that for weeks."
Kenji laughed—a short, bitter sound. "Fine. Let's make a deal. You give me the USB drive. I let you walk out of here. No police. No violence. Just... a clean break."
"No."
"No?"
"I'm not giving you anything. I'm taking this USB drive to the police. And then I'm taking you down."
Kenji's expression hardened. "You're making a mistake."
"I've made a lot of mistakes. This isn't one of them."
Ren climbed through the window onto the fire escape. Kenji lunged—but Ren was faster. He dropped onto the metal stairs, his feet clanging, and ran.
Behind him, he heard Kenji's voice: "You can't run forever, Akiyama-kun!"
Ren didn't look back.
He ran down the fire escape, across the alley, through the dark streets of Suginami. His lungs burned. His legs ached. But he didn't stop.
He had the evidence.
He had won.
For now.