Arianne's Residence. A vacation house by the sea.
The faint crash of waves against the shoreline filtered through the open balcony doors, mingling with the soft rustle of paper.
"We have already covered almost the entirety of Kyle's information," Arianne murmured, eyes fixed on the documents spread neatly across the glass table. Her fingers lingered at the corner of a profile before tapping it once, almost irritably. "So why are we still in the dark about that girl?"
Across from her, Hinami and Mei exchanged a glance, their expressions mirroring her unease.
Mei leaned forward slightly, fingertips brushing one of the sheets as if proximity might reveal something new. "This is unprecedented… this is the fourth time we've hit another dead end."
Arianne exhaled slowly, gathering the papers into a small stack before setting them down. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, eyes thoughtful rather than merely frustrated.
"Apparently, Kyle and that girl are engaged. Or at least, that is what she claimed."
Hinami let out a short, incredulous chuckle. "Engaged? At eighteen? Sounds straight out of a romance novel."
Her amusement faded quickly as she glanced back at the dossiers.
"And yet… according to our observations, they are almost never away from each other."
Silence settled between them for a moment, broken only by the distant sound of the sea.
Arianne's gaze sharpened.
"I've been inside their residence once, during a group activity." She paused, searching for the right words. "Even for childhood friends… their dynamic is far too… developed. Too seamless. Almost unnervingly so."
"It doesn't make sense…" Mei murmured, her hands clasping together as her gaze lingered on the papers. "Even her identification on the official government website is… empty. But it's still there."
"Just… blank."
Arianne and Hinami looked at her immediately, their expressions tightening. Hinami was the first to meet Arianne's eyes, a faint, humorless smile tugging at her lips.
"Do you think someone is backing her? Someone outside even our reach?" Hinami said slowly, shaking her head. "A file from an official government system… and yet it's empty?"
"Not just that," Mei continued. "I contacted someone I know who works as a lawmaker. He could see that the record wasn't empty."
She hesitated, then added quietly,
"But when he sent me a copy… it was completely blank."
Mei stopped short. Slowly, she pulled out her phone. The screen was already lit. Displaying an image of an official document.
At the top, the name was clear: Anathasia Dunaleff.
Beneath it… nothing. No birth date. No address. No records. No history. Just an endless, sterile emptiness where information should have been.
She placed the phone carefully on the table.
"This is the picture he sent me," Mei said, glancing at the screen before meeting Arianne's gaze again. "He has no reason to cover for Anathasia. Not unless…"
Her voice trailed off for a moment.
"…we consider the possibility that someone, or something, is pulling the strings from behind."
Mei fell silent briefly, then spoke again, her tone lowering.
"I had specialists in digital forensics and image analysis examine the photo. They said there was nothing wrong with it. No tampering. No alteration."
Her breath hitched.
"But when I asked them to read it aloud…"
Mei suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened, her face paling as she instinctively pressed a hand to her head. Her body began to tremble.
"Something… I couldn't see or feel pressed against me… something I can't meaningfully put into words…"
They watched Mei, the calmest, most composed of them, begin to unravel before their eyes. Tears slid silently down her cheeks before she even seemed to notice them.
"That… we're not dealing with some higher-up… this is…" Mei faltered, her voice shaking.
"It's exactly like that certain book about the unknown written in 1928 was about…" she whispered under her breath, clutching her head with both hands as her gaze dropped to the floor.
Hinami and Arianne moved closer at once, trying to steady her, trying to pull her back.
But Mei wasn't really there anymore.
Slowly, she lifted her head and turned toward Arianne. Her eyes were wide. Not with awe, but with something far worse. A manic, glassy shine born purely from terror.
"We're not dealing with a person…" she murmured.
Then, more firmly. As if the realization had struck her like a blow.
"We shouldn't have tried touching them… no… her."
For a moment, both Arianne and Hinami remained frozen.
Then Mei's body went slack. She slid forward and hit the floor with a dull thud.
Arianne was the first to move. She broke free from the shock and dropped immediately to Mei's side.
"Guards! Come, quick—Mei needs immediate medical attention!" she snapped, her voice sharp as steel.
She glanced briefly at Hinami.
"Hinami! Snap out of it, Mei's unconscious!"
At that, Hinami finally shook off her trance. She knelt beside Mei, pressing two fingers firmly against her pulse point, her expression tense but controlled.
Within seconds, the guards moved with practiced efficiency, wheeling in a stretcher and positioning it beside Mei.
"She's not in immediate danger," Hinami murmured after a moment, pulling her hand back.
The men carefully lifted Mei onto the stretcher and rushed her away, Hinami following closely behind.
—
Some time after Mei had been taken to the nearest hospital, Hinami returned. Her face was carefully composed, but there was something heavy behind her eyes.
Arianne sat her down on the couch. The bright, effortless smile she usually wore was gone as she stared at the table in front of her.
"Arianne…" Hinami began, her expression tight as she slowly met her gaze. "We care a lot about Marianne as well."
She paused, then shook her head gently.
"You know that. But clearly… we're dealing with someone completely beyond our reach."
Hinami's voice softened.
"You saw what happened to Mei. The doctors say she suffered psychological trauma. The kind they can't even properly explain. She has to be taken back to China."
Hinami quietly bit her lip, her eyes darting away for a moment before she forced herself to steady again.
"My point is…" she finally met Arianne's gaze. "We can't keep taking this kind of damage."
She stopped, visibly choosing her words as her body trembled just slightly.
"Losing Marianne was already devastating… and if Mei becomes next—"
Her hands clenched tightly around the fabric of her pleated skirt, crumpling it without her realizing.
"That's not something I can afford," Hinami whispered. "Mei is someone just as important to me as you and Marianne are. I can't lose her as well."
She let out a slow breath, then forced a small, fragile smile.
"That's why… shouldn't we just… stop?"
Her gaze softened.
"Marianne is safe under your care. She's free from everyone who tried to slander her."
Hinami tilted her head slightly, her voice barely above a whisper now.
"Isn't that enough…?"
A thick silence followed.
Hinami avoided Arianne's gaze, while Arianne herself looked… torn. Her jaw was tight, her hands clenched as she wrestled with Hinami's words internally.
Hinami has a point… but I've already gotten this far…
She grasped at the thought, trying to steady herself.
And what Mei said earlier just confirmed it… Kyle isn't the real problem here. It's Anathasia.
Arianne slowly exhaled after gathering her thoughts.
"I understand…" she whispered.
For a brief moment, Hinami's expression softened in relief. Only to freeze again at Arianne's next words.
"You and Mei can go back to China. I just have something I need to confirm."
Arianne's expression had turned eerily soft.
Hinami felt the hairs on her arms stand as she looked at her.
This… isn't the Arianne I know…
A cold knot formed in her chest.
She's going to do something stupid… I don't think she'll listen anymore…