Location: Kamikawa Police Station – Midnight
Ryouma sat on the bench.
His hands shook violently, the bloody knuckles already drying. His eyes were empty. A trauma-glazed stare.
Katarina paced beside him, jaw tight. Her gun was loaded. Her trench coat dusted in dirt. Her face carved from sorrow and steel.
"They'll trace the van to the back trail. I know the terrain."
Ryouma turned to her.
"She's going to kill Souta."
"No," Katarina whispered. "She won't. She's not after your death. She's after your return."
A pause.
"You mean she wants us back?" Ryouma asked, stunned.
"No," she said. "She wants to rebuild the illusion that you were never gone."
Location: Forest Bridge – 3:32 AM
Katarina stepped out alone.
Fog. Moonlight.
The wooden bridge creaked under her boots.
Kairi was waiting.
Alone.
Wearing a black coat and no expression.
Between them: a single lantern hung on a post, barely illuminating the bloodied earth beneath it.
No words.
Not at first.
Then Katarina lit a cigarette.
The flame from her match flickered — not out of fear, but wind.
She took one drag, exhaled. A woman accepting her fate.
"I took care of them right," she said.
"I birthed them," Kairi replied, her voice like rusted piano wire. "And I buried everyone else."
"They're not yours anymore."
Kairi stepped forward, the faint sound of steel sliding free.
"You always said you cared," Kairi said.
Katarina nodded.
"I did. And I still do."
She dropped the cigarette.
And smiled.
"Which is why you'll never find peace."
Kairi's blade went through her stomach.
Slow.
Cruel.
Katarina gasped. But didn't scream. Her hands trembled, but she never cried.
She fell to her knees.
Kairi knelt with her — and whispered:
"I watched your husband choke on his own blood. I was merciful compared to that."
Katarina laughed.
Quietly.
"Still insecure… even now."
Then she closed her eyes.
The smoke from the cigarette curled around her lips like a final exhale.
And she was gone.