Baku sat alone on the chair, staring at the wall as if it held answers he had been chasing for years.
Why did she do that?
Why did she choose another man?
The questions repeated endlessly in his mind, sharp enough to hurt more than any blade. His hands slowly clenched as memories surfaced—memories he had buried deep, but never truly forgotten.
Once… they had been happy.
Back then, his life was nothing but darkness. No money. No power. No future. Every day was a struggle to survive. But the day he met her, something changed inside him.
Hope.
She was poor, just like him. Fragile, yet warm. When he first asked her to marry him, she hesitated—not because she didn’t love him, but because she feared the life that came with him.
“I will make you happy,” he had promised.
“I’ll become rich. I swear.”
She smiled that day. A soft, genuine smile that made him believe he could conquer the world.
And for her—he did.
Baku became a killer.
It wasn’t something he was proud of, but he was good at it. Too good. His strength, his instincts, his ruthlessness—everything made him perfect for the underworld. Blood paid well, and Baku accepted the price without hesitation.
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One job became ten. Ten became a hundred.
Within a year, his name spread through the shadows. Fear followed him. Respect followed him. Money followed him.
He started earning more than he ever imagined.
Every month, he returned home for two weeks. Those days were the only moments he felt human. He would sit beside her, eat with her, sleep peacefully—believing all of it was worth it.
At the end of that year, he decided it was time.
He bought her a diamond necklace—something so expensive it felt unreal in his hands. He imagined her reaction, the way her eyes would widen, the way she would smile and tease him for spending too much.
That night, Baku returned home early.
The door was unlocked.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
He stepped inside.
No footsteps. No voice. No warmth.
“…Honey?” he called.
No answer.
His heartbeat started to race.
He searched every room. The kitchen. The bedroom. The bathroom. Everywhere.
Nothing.
She was gone.
Panic tightened around his chest as he called her again and again. No response. His hands began to shake. His breath grew uneven.
Then he saw it.
A letter placed neatly on the table.
His fingers trembled as he picked it up.
The handwriting was hers.
I’m sorry, Baku.
You deserve a better person than me.
Please… live a happy life.
The words blurred as his vision shook.
“No…” he whispered.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor, the letter still clenched in his hand. His body felt hollow, as if something vital had been ripped out of him.
He refused to believe it.
She wouldn’t leave like this.
She wouldn’t disappear without a reason.
That night, Baku swore to himself—no matter how long it took, no matter the cost—he would find her.
Years passed.
He searched, fought, killed, survived.
Then he met Nobu and Beru.
Two broken boys in a broken world.
For the first time since her disappearance, Baku felt something close to purpose again. He trained them, protected them, and gave them everything he owned—not because of ambition, but because he believed he had found family again.
When people believed Nobu was dead, everything Baku had went to Beru.
He didn’t care.
By then, he had already lost what mattered most.
Back in the present, the room was quiet.
Baku didn’t notice Nobu enter until a hand gently rested on his shoulder.
“I don’t know what happened in your past,” Nobu said softly, “but whatever it was… you don’t have to face it alone anymore.”
Baku looked up.
For a moment, his eyes met Nobu’s—and something unfamiliar flickered within him.
A rival.
Not of strength.
But of resolve.
A slow smile formed on Baku’s face.
Outside, the night remained silent.
But somewhere in the city—
The past was beginning to move again.
And this time… it wouldn’t stay buried.
