The evening sky was deep blue as Akio vaulted lightly over the final rooftop, landing with the precision of someone who’d done this countless times. The city stretched below, scattered lights flickering like distant embers, but his focus was narrow—steady, deliberate. One hand pressed against his side where his shirt clung damply with blood, the sting sharp with every breath. He kept his movements smooth, careful not to let the pain slow him down more than necessary.

  He’d handled worse, but the night had not been forgiving. The mission, a hostage situation at a nearby office building, had gone cleanly until the end. Every target neutralized with practiced efficiency, every civilian accounted for.

  But when the last one had bolted from cover, panic in their eyes, he’d seen the gun swing toward them and moved on instinct. The bullet grazed his ribs before burying itself in the wall behind him. He’d finished the job anyway, the pain compartmentalized until now.

  It wasn’t fatal. Not even close. But if left unchecked, it could become a problem.

  He scaled the side of his apartment building with silent ease, slipping through his bedroom window in one fluid motion. The lights were low, the air faintly cool from the open vent. He moved quickly, peeling away the layers of his vigilante gear and returning each piece to its hidden compartments. The routine was mechanical, reassuring. Only when everything was stowed did he let himself pause, drawing in a careful breath.

  The fabric of his shirt stuck unpleasantly to his side when he pulled it off. The wound was an ugly line of red, deeper than he’d hoped. Not life threatening, but messy. It burned when he touched it, the pain a steady pulse beneath his fingers.

  He sat down on the edge of his bed, dragging out a small metal box from beneath it. Inside: disinfectant, gauze, antiseptic spray, surgical thread. He catalogued the tools automatically, his mind slipped into clinical mode as he examined the wound.

  “The cut’s shallow but long,” he murmured under his breath, noting the depth. “No muscle tearing. Bleeding moderate, not arterial. Needs pressure and sealing.”

  He mentally listed the next steps: clean, disinfect, stitch, bandage. He reached for the disinfectant, the scent sharp and sterile, already bracing for the sting.

  But before he could begin, the front door creaked open, followed by the shuffle of familiar footsteps and the unmistakable brightness of Aira’s voice cutting through the quiet.

  “Akio!! Are you home? I have to show you something!”

  He froze for a heartbeat, dread pooling in his chest.

  Please—not now.

  A second later, the sound of footsteps approached his room.

  Akio’s pulse spiked. He shoved the medical kit back into the box, snapped it shut, and slid it beneath the bed in one practiced motion. His fingers came away slick with blood. The wound was still bleeding, more than he’d hoped. There was no time to clean it, no time to hide it properly. The only option was misdirection.

  He tugged his shirt down, wincing as the fabric caught the edge of the cut, then grabbed the blanket and threw it casually over his waist. The dark stain was already spreading beneath it, but he forced his movements to remain calm. From the table, he snatched up the nearest book, flipping it open to a random page and settling it on his lap just as the doorknob turned.

  “You won’t believe this!”

  Aira burst in, eyes bright, energy overflowing. “I just had the craziest breakthrough today!”

  Akio looked up slowly, feigning mild curiosity while suppressing the sharp throb in his side. Before he could even open his mouth, Aira launched into a rapid fire explanation.

  “Okay, so, I’ve been following this new lead, right? About the Dawn Hound’s identity. And I think I finally cracked it!” she said, eyes gleaming. “I cross checked three different reports, pulled data from witness statements, and it all lines up perfectly!”

  Her words tumbled out faster with each breath, excitement spilling over in waves. “I’m serious! I think I’ve finally found him.”

  Akio’s grip on the book tightened slightly. A fraction of tension coiled through his shoulders, invisible but unmistakable to him. He’d been careful—no evidence, no witness ties that could possibly lead back to him. But still, doubt prickled down the back of his neck.

  “Really?” he managed, his voice steady. “Who is it?”

  Aira’s grin widened. “I think it’s that Sentari veteran, remember him? The one who used to do infrastructure work with the Elysian before getting drafted? All the evidence points to him!”

  A quiet, imperceptible breath of relief slipped from him.

  Wrong lead. Thank god.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  But the moment’s reprieve was short lived. The blanket pressed against his wound, fabric dragging, and the sting flared white hot. Beneath the cover, he could feel the blood seeping, slow but insistent, turning the cloth tacky against his skin.

  Aira paced across the room, gesturing wildly as she spoke. “Think about it—the way he moves, the stance, the precision—it’s exactly like the Dawn Hound! I compared footage from the old Sentari archives with the recent incident reports, and it’s uncanny. Even the injury pattern matches! He has to be the guy.”

  Her voice lifted with every sentence, excitement spilling over. “I started cross referencing deployment logs and Elysian field records too! Everything fits!”

  Akio kept his expression perfectly neutral, nodding occasionally, though his thoughts were a blur of pain and half focused calculation.

  “Wow,” he murmured, managing a faint smile. “That’s… interesting.”

  “I know, right?” she said, almost glowing. “I just know I’m getting closer to unmasking the Dawn Hound!”

  He blinked once, slowly, hiding a wince behind the motion. Internally, his tone was flat, bone dry.

  At this rate, he thought, there won’t be a Dawn Hound left to unmask.

  His gaze shifted as Aira pulled a laptop out of her bag. “You have to see this,” she said.

  Akio blinked, still sitting on the edge of his bed, one hand discreetly pressed against his side beneath the blanket. His ribs throbbed with every heartbeat.

  “Now?” he asked, hoping—desperately—that she’d take the hint.

  “Yes, now!” she said, already crossing the room before he could stop her. “It’s important! Look—you have to see this footage.”

  She reached the bed, leaning forward expectantly. “Can you move over a little?”

  Akio stared back at her.

  No. I’m literally dying right now.

  He managed a mild, polite smile. “I’m a bit busy.”

  “It’s not gonna take long!” Aira insisted, already nudging him over with her shoulder. “I promise, just real quick! C’mon, I need your opinion.”

  Before he could protest, she plopped down beside him, the mattress dipping sharply under her weight. Pain exploded through his side like a knife, stealing his breath for half a second. His fingers clutched the book until the spine bent, sweat forming on his palm. His jaw tightened, but his face stayed perfectly still—expression neutral, tone unreadable. Only his eyes gave the faintest flicker.

  This is it, he thought grimly, watching her open the laptop. This is how I die.

  The screen filled with the grainy footage of the most recent Dawn Hound sighting—his sighting. The camera followed the vigilante’s movements as he dismantled an entire crew of armed hostiles with precision and efficiency.

  Aira slowed the playback, pointing eagerly at key frames. “Okay, look here—see how he steps in, pivots, and redirects the attacker’s center of gravity? That’s a Sentari maneuver. And not just any Sentari technique—the same one that guy from Elysian training used!”

  Akio hummed absently, fighting the urge to double over. “Mhm. Yep.”

  She clicked again, freezing the frame where the blue feather-shaped constructs shimmered above the Dawn Hound’s shoulder like wings.

  “And this part—look! No one’s been able to figure out what this phenomenon is, but it’s definitely tied to the Fractal algorithm. That means he’s attuned. And the person I’ve been investigating? He used to have Fractal attunement clearance. It’s all connecting.”

  Akio’s eyes lingered on the glowing feathers. He’d always suspected they were linked to the Fractal somehow—an ancient, living algorithm that pulsed through the infrastructure of the city. The thought tugged at him, a quiet, dangerous curiosity.

  But right now, curiosity was a luxury. His wound throbbed like it was pulsing in time with his heartbeat, and every second Aira stayed, the blood soaked further through the blanket.

  “That’s crazy,” he managed weakly.

  She barely noticed his strain, too focused on the screen. Then the clip replayed the moment of impact: the bullet slicing across the Dawn Hound’s side, blood scattering in a faint spray as he shielded a civilian. Aira’s breath hitched.

  “Oh no… he got hurt.” She frowned, leaning closer. “But I’m sure he’s okay. He’s probably treating the wound right now.”

  Akio stared at the paused frame, the faint ghost of a grimace crossing his face before he smoothed it away. The irony hit like a dull punch.

  Actually, no. The Dawn Hound isn’t treating his wound right now because a certain journalist won’t stop talking about him.

  “Yeah, for sure,” he said half heartedly.

  Aira turned slightly and gave him an annoyed look. Her eyes narrowed, suspicion flickering across her face. “You’re not taking this seriously at all, are you?”

  Akio blinked, doing his best to look mildly attentive while the pain still gnawed at his ribs like a dull fire.

  “No, I am,” he said, voice even but faintly distracted.

  She folded her arms. “Ugh, you’re impossible to impress. Unless I’m talking about some nerd thing like quantum physics or probability fields, you don’t care, do you?”

  Normally he’d have fired back some dry comment or playful jab, just to make her roll her eyes. But right now, with the warmth spreading through the blanket and the heavy ache beneath his ribs, he didn’t have the energy.

  “I guess,” he muttered instead.

  Aira studied him for a moment longer, frowning. The silence stretched thin between them, and for a second, he wondered if he’d slipped—if she’d noticed something off. Had his response been too short? Too plain? He kept his expression neutral, his posture relaxed, but tension simmered beneath the surface.

  There was a long, agonizing pause.

  Finally, Aira sighed, shaking her head. “Whatever. I’m gonna analyze this footage and write up a post later. Maybe then you’ll see how cool this is.”

  She shut the laptop and headed for the door, still muttering under her breath. The door clicked closed behind her, and the room fell quiet again.

  Akio sat still for several seconds, listening to her retreating footsteps fade down the hall. When he was certain she’d gone, he exhaled—a sharp, shaky breath that finally broke the careful stillness he’d been maintaining. The moment of relief was brief.

  He peeled back the blanket and grimaced. The blood had soaked through his shirt in a wide, dark patch, staining the duvet beneath it. The wound wasn’t any worse than before, but the delay had definitely agitated it. He moved quickly, retrieving the metal box from under the bed. The sterile smell of disinfectant filled the air as he cleaned the wound, stitched it shut, and wrapped it tight in a new bandage. The sting grounded him; the routine steadied him.

  When it was done, he leaned back against the wall, letting out a quiet, weary breath. His muscles finally loosened, the adrenaline fading into exhaustion. He brushed his fingers lightly over the fresh bandage, already calculating how to clean the blanket and hide the evidence before morning.

  His thoughts drifted briefly to Aira—her excitement, her unstoppable curiosity, her timing that always seemed cosmically cursed. He felt a twinge of guilt for brushing her off, but it couldn’t be helped. The truth was something she could never know.

  He sighed, the corner of his mouth twitching upward despite himself.

  “She’s going to be the end of me one day,” he muttered, half exasperated, half fond, before finally leaning back and letting the quiet settle around him again.

  ─ ? NEXT CHAPTER POV ? ─

  Akio