When the light starts flickering, even angels look like demons.
---
6:02 A.M.
Naomi's Apartment
Naomi stares at the arrest warrant on her desk.
Kai Noboru – Prime Suspect.
Signed. Sealed. Ready.
She doesn't move.
Her finger hovers above the call button. Once she pushes it, a team will move in. He'll be arrested at school. His name will hit headlines. Even if she's wrong, the damage will be permanent.
She closes her eyes.
And calls Silas instead.
---
7:14 A.M.
East Courtyard – St. Gabriel's High
Silas waits beside the rusted vending machine, hands in his pockets.
Naomi arrives, jaw tight. She doesn't greet him. Just:
> "I know what you're doing."
He smiles. "Good morning to you too."
> "You think I won't stop this? That I won't arrest Kai?"
He leans slightly closer. "I think you want to. I also think… you can't."
> "Because I care?"
"No," he says softly.
> "Because you understand me now."
Silas starts to walk away.
> "You're starting to see that justice with rules is just a prettier lie."
---
10:43 A.M.
Naomi's Interrogation Room – Downtown Precinct
Kai sits across from her.
He looks calm. Too calm.
His hands are clean. His voice, steady.
> "I didn't kill anyone, Detective."
Naomi slides the folder across the table. Crime scene photos. Blood spatter patterns. His school attendance logs, placing him near every scene.
He doesn't even blink.
> "You've been learning from him," she says.
Kai gives a small, tired smile.
> "No. I've been learning from you."
She stiffens.
> "You taught me that the law isn't enough. You taught me that monsters walk free because people like us follow rules."
She slams her fist on the table.
> "You think what you're doing is right?! You're becoming him!"
Kai stares at her — cold and hollow.
> "Maybe that's the only way left to win."
---
12:59 P.M.
Rooftop – St. Gabriel's High
Naomi walks up alone. Her badge weighs more today.
She dials the precinct.
Her hand shakes over the SEND button.
Then she deletes Kai's file.
All of it.
She walks to the edge of the roof, wind in her hair, and says aloud:
> "You win this round, Hollow."
From the shadows below, Silas watches.
---
6:17 P.M.
Underground – Abandoned Studio
Kai kneels on the cold concrete.
Silas circles him, silent. Observing.
Then finally:
> "She spared you."
Kai doesn't look surprised.
> "I knew she would."
Silas crouches. Whispers into his ear:
> "You understand now, don't you?"
Kai nods.
Silas smiles — not cruelly, but almost… sadly.
> "Then you're ready."
He slides a knife across the floor.
Kai picks it up. Doesn't hesitate.
There's a name etched on the blade.
> His own.
---
11:09 P.M.
Naomi's Apartment
She sits on her floor, radio off, lights dimmed.
On her wall are two photos now:
Silas Creed, golden-eyed, smiling in his school photo.
Kai Noboru, solemn, quiet, hands tucked behind his back.
Between them, she's written one sentence.
> "If I kill one, do I save the other?"
She stares at it until dawn.
---
Final Scene
Silas walks past a small group of girls at school. They giggle. He waves.
Behind him, Kai follows.
They don't speak.
They don't need to.
Something has shifted.
They are no longer predator and student.
They are becoming something worse:
> A movement.
---
Final Line:
> "Justice," Silas murmurs, "was never the goal. It was just the bait."
---