❀ ◝ ᅟ ℛiyo 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 ⢝⡫ 𝗢𝗢𝟭

The atmosphere at the Cleaners' base felt heavier than usual to Riyo. Seated in a shadowy corner, the crimson-haired young woman absentmindedly fiddled with her Jinki. Her vibrant energy and mocking smile had been replaced by a blank, listless stare, fixed on a laughing figure in the distance.

Riyo gritted her teeth when she saw her. There she was, the girl who kept her awake at night, the one who made her heart race, laughing at Zanka's lame jokes, forcing a normalcy that burned inside Riyo.

"It's funny, isn't it?" Riyo whispered to herself, her voice laced with a bitterness she rarely allowed herself to show.

She remembered their moments alone together, the way their fingers had “accidentally” brushed against each other while they worked, and the gleam in the other’s eyes that spoke volumes more than her lips dared admit. But now, in front of everyone else, she slipped back into her safe role: the girl just looking for a man to fit into a world that doesn’t forgive difference. She stood up abruptly. It wasn’t just sadness; it was the rage of seeing someone she loved denying her own destiny out of fear. Riyo knew what would come next: years of pretending to be the perfect wife, waking up in the middle of the night with her head in her hands, realizing that the life she’d chosen was just a mask.

"Good luck with that," he muttered, turning away to disappear into the shadows of the lair.

He didn't need to see any more. He knew that, even if she left, the memory of what they could have been would continue to haunt the other girl in every fake kiss and every lie whispered into a stranger's ear.