“Do you want to stay over?”

  Takashi asked, still standing in the kitchen.

  “It’s late,”

  he added quickly.

  “And your apartment seemed cold… it’s freezing outside.”

  He paused, as if realizing he was justifying himself.

  Sota stayed silent for a moment.

  “I have spare clothes,”

  Takashi added, stepping into the room as if that made it easier.

  “I think we’re about the same size.”

  Sota looked at him, then smiled

  “That would be nice,” he said.

  “If you want me to stay… I’ll stay.”

  He let out a short laugh, shaking his head.

  “Isn’t it ironic?”

  “Don’t you think?”

  “I never thought I’d sleep in a detective’s apartment without handcuffs.”

  He glanced at Takashi.

  “And I’m guessing you never thought you’d be sharing your clothes with a criminal.”

  Takashi laughed, genuinely this time.

  “Are you hungry?”

  Takashi asked.

  “I can make something… or heat something from the fridge.”

  His voice was casual, almost careful.

  “No,” Sota replied quietly.

  “I’m not hungry. Thank you.”

  He leaned back against the sofa, looking tired or maybe just finally relaxed.

  And just like that, Takashi broke every promise he had made to Kenta.

  He wasn’t thinking like a detective anymore.

  He was following his heart.

  “What’s your plan for the warehouse?”

  Sota asked, still leaning back on the sofa.

  “I’m not sure yet,” Takashi admitted.

  “But I’ll figure it out.”

  Silence settled between them for a moment.

  Then Takashi remembered something.

  “My friend...Kenta,” he said slowly.

  “He’s investigating my father’s colleagues. We’re trying to find the one who’s been working for them.”

  He hesitated, watching Sota’s face.

  “If I show you some photos...

  Maybe you’d recognize someone,”

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  Takashi added, choosing his words carefully.

  “Someone who wasn’t part of the organization… but who visited your boss.”

  “Maybe…” Sota lifted his head.

  “If you’re planning to do this with the police,” he said slowly,

  “Aren’t you afraid he could ruin everything?”

  Takashi leaned back against the sofa, folding his hands behind his head.

  “That’s exactly why I need to think this through,” he replied.

  “I have to find a way to do it in silence"

  He exhaled quietly.

  “I’m not sure how yet. But I can’t enter the warehouse without police involvement.”

  He glanced at the ceiling.

  “It’s not the same as Hotel Shion.”

  “However you do it,”

  Sota said, turning his head toward Takashi,

  “After the warehouse… they’ll know something is going on.”

  He exhaled deeply.

  Takashi frowned.

  “Then why didn’t we start from the top?” he asked seriously.

  “From the leader?”

  Sota let out a quiet, bitter smile.

  “You think I wouldn’t start with him if I could?”

  He paused, his expression hardening.

  “He never gets his hands dirty. He has people who do that for him.”

  “You’re telling me there’s nothing we can do to get to him directly?”

  Takashi couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  Sota nodded slightly.

  “Not directly.”

  He paused, then continued,

  “But we can destroy the people closest to him. One by one.

  Their businesses. Their influence.”

  His jaw tightened.

  “If they fall, he falls with them. The organization won’t survive without them.”

  Sota went quiet for a moment, as if even he wasn’t fully convinced it would work.

  “I just hope,”

  he added quietly,

  “that he doesn’t figure everything out before we finish.”

  “Then we need to move faster,”

  Takashi said, determination hardening his voice.

  “So fast he won’t have time to react.”

  Sota nodded slowly.

  “After the warehouse, we’ll have to move faster,” he agreed.

  Then he hesitated.

  “But still… we have to do it the same way. Quietly. No one can know.”

  His voice lowered.

  “You can’t be in two places at the same time, Takashi.”

  He leaned back slightly, exhaustion showing on his face.

  “All we can do now is hope we’re still one step ahead.”

  “Yes… I understand what you’re saying,” Takashi nodded.

  “If we move too fast and involve more people, it could turn into a mess and everything could fall apart.”

  “Exactly,” Sota nodded.

  “After Hotel Shion, they were shaken but it looked like an accidental discovery.”

  He paused briefly.

  “After the warehouse, though, they’ll start investigating for real.”

  His gaze hardened.

  “That’s why our next move has to come immediately after. No delay.”

  “They have too much to lose,” Sota continued.

  “And they’ll fight to protect it.”

  He stood up, stretching slightly.

  “But…”

  He paused, then smiled faintly.

  “We’ll see how this plays out.”

  His gaze met Takashi’s.

  “Our advantage is simple.

  Neither of us has anything left to lose.”

  He tilted his head slightly.

  “And about those spare clothes you mentioned…

  I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

  Takashi stood up.

  “I’ll get you something to change into,”

  Takashi said quietly, heading for the closet.

  “You’re right… we should sleep. I’ve got work tomorrow.”

  He chose a shirt and a pair of pants, then handed them to Sota.

  “They’re clean,” he added after a moment.

  “I think they’ll fit you.”

  “I usually sleep without a shirt,” Sota said with a faint smile.

  “But I’ll make an exception.”

  Sota's smile didn’t reach his eyes.

  His thoughts went back to the scars on Sota’s back.

  He couldn’t bring himself to look at them again.

  Just the memory of them made his chest tighten.

  Whatever had happened to Sota, whatever they had done to him sat heavy in Takashi’s mind.

  Takashi smiled faintly

  “I’ll show you the bathroom. I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight, you can take the bedroom.”

  He opened the bathroom door.

  “No,” Sota said quietly. “You don’t need to do that.”

  He hesitated for a moment.

  “The sofa is fine for me.”

  Takashi turned toward him.

  “I need to get up early for work,” he said calmly.

  “And I drink coffee before I leave. I don’t want to wake you up.”

  Sota stayed quiet.

  “Then it’s settled,” Takashi said at last.

  Sota simply nodded.

  For the first time, his deep black eyes were shining, and Takashi couldn’t help but notice.

  He wouldn’t have been able to explain why but in that moment, he felt warmth spread through his chest.

  He realized then that he wasn’t so different from Sota after all.

  The only difference was that Takashi’s scars weren’t visible.

  He carried them inside… and he felt them every single day.

  And now, for the first time, he had someone who understood him deeply,

  without questions, without explanations.

  He smiled softly, looking at Sota.

  “I’ll go make myself a bed.”

  Sota smiled back and closed the door behind him.

  Takashi made himself a bed on the sofa, waiting for Sota to come out.

  In someone else’s world, this moment might have felt awkward.

  For Takashi, it felt perfectly natural.

  Having Sota there filled the apartment with a quiet warmth, the same feeling he’d had the first time they met. Maybe Sota had known him first, but for Takashi, getting to know Sota felt like finding something he’d been missing for a long time.

  A part of himself he hadn’t even realized was gone.

  He couldn’t explain it.

  And for once, he didn’t feel the need to.

  As Takashi walked toward the closet to get himself some clothes, he stopped in front of the photo on the commode.

  His father’s photo.

  Sota stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel.

  Dressed in a simple white shirt, his blond hair still damp, he didn’t look like a criminal at all.

  He was just Sota.

  A man with warmth in his eyes.

  Sota came closer and took a slow breath.

  “I’d like to visit his grave.”

  Takashi carefully set the photo back in its place.

  “As soon as I’m done with the warehouse,” he said quietly,

  “I’ll take you there.”

  Takashi took a deep breath.

  “I still need to figure out how to do it...the warehouse."

  He walked toward the bathroom, then added quietly,

  “But right now, we need to get some sleep. I’m going to take a shower too.”

  Sota was walking toward the bedroom, drying his hair, when Takashi called out to him.

  “Sota.”

  He turned slightly.

  “I’ll be leaving early in the morning,” Takashi said.

  “There’s a spare key on the hanger in the hallway.”

  He paused, choosing his words carefully.

  “Lock the door when you leave and take the key with you. You might need it.”

  He looked at him seriously now.

  “If anything happens… anything unusual,just come here and wait for me.”

  Sota smiled.

  “You worry too much,” he said softly.

  “We’re safe for now. But… thank you. I’ll take the key.”

  Takashi nodded and closed the door behind him.

  He leaned against the door for a moment after it closed.

  Sota was risking his life to help him, and Takashi felt the weight of that trust settle deep in his chest.

  He wouldn’t fail him.

  He wouldn’t be another scar in a life that had already been broken too many times.