Chapter 4: The Man Behind the Mirror
"The ones who burn alone learn how to set others on fire."
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Rain lashed against the windows of Minazuki High. It wasn't heavy—just steady, relentless, like the tapping of a patient killer.
Kaito Shiranami sat alone in the dimly lit library after school, ignoring the flickering fluorescent light above his table. Stacks of history books, outdated yearbooks, and dusty faculty records surrounded him.
Today's mission wasn't revenge.
It was discovery.
He wasn't just going to burn the system.
He was going to understand the source of the rot.
Its structure. Its origin. Its name.
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The Phantom Sponsor: Blue River
What kind of group names itself something so harmless?
"Blue River".
No school files mentioned it beyond the buried principal's contract. No official documentation online. No license, no registration, no founders listed. Just whispers in connected threads, error-404 archives, and redacted footnotes in government education audits.
But in a hidden corner of an old yearbook from 2008, under the club section, Kaito found a photo of a faculty "ethics committee" that included a man named Tetsuya Gojou.
No smile. Dead eyes. Standing stiffly while others laughed.
Underneath:
> Psychological Monitoring Advisor (Special Assignment – B.R.)
There it was.
B.R. = Blue River.
And Gojou... had once worked at this very school.
Kaito's eyes narrowed.
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Phase 1: Digital Footprint
Back in his room, Kaito booted up his dark-system laptop.
No search engine would give results for Tetsuya Gojou. But Kaito had long ago learned that truth doesn't live on the surface—it hides in backdoors and mistakes.
A forum meant for whistleblowers, long abandoned, hosted a thread titled:
> "I was one of Blue River's errors."
Posted anonymously, 7 years ago.
Inside were fragments of a story:
A brilliant high schooler named Shin Arakawa.
Driven mad by surveillance, accused of crimes he didn't commit.
Manipulated by "Advisor Gojou" through an experiment labeled Project CLAY.
The thread ended abruptly.
But Kaito saw enough.
> "They weren't trying to catch criminals.
They were trying to create them."
He leaned back. Rain still tapping at his window. Thunder creeping in from the edges of the sky.
He whispered, "You were the prototype."
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🏢 Phase 2: The Ghost's Address
A broken staff directory revealed Gojou's last registered apartment: a decrepit residential block on the edge of the city.
Kaito made his decision.
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That Night – Gojou's Apartment
He wore a black raincoat. Hood up. Face calm.
Each step toward the building felt like walking deeper into history's shadow.
The door to Room 406 had no nameplate.
Just peeling paint and the faint scent of mildew.
Kaito knocked.
Nothing.
He knocked again.
Then, a soft voice—old, hollow.
> "Who told you to come?"
Kaito said nothing. Just slipped the flash drive through the crack in the door.
The door opened slowly.
And there he stood.
Tetsuya Gojou.
Older now. Gaunt. Hair greyed. Eyes unchanged—void of life, but aware. Like a corpse that remembers too much.
"Shiranami," he said.
Not a question. A confirmation.
Kaito stepped inside.
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Dialogue Between Mirrors
Gojou: "So. They activated another child."
Kaito: "They didn't activate me. They broke me. And I'm rebuilding."
Gojou: "…They always think they're the first."
The room was lined with documents. Clippings. Photos of students with red Xs over their faces.
One photo, not crossed out, sat on the wall:
A boy with a striking resemblance to Kaito—same calm stare, same posture. But dated 14 years ago.
Kaito: "Shin Arakawa."
Gojou: "He failed. Wanted justice. Became a martyr."
Kaito: "I don't want justice. I want transformation."
Gojou looked up for the first time. Almost smiled.
Gojou: "Then you might succeed."
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The Torch Passed
Before leaving, Gojou handed him a sealed envelope.
Inside:
A full list of Blue River board members.
Access codes for two hidden surveillance nodes—one inside Minazuki High.
A name written in ink: Director Rinko Takarabe.
"She's the brain," Gojou whispered. "I was just the scalpel."
Kaito paused at the doorway.
"Why help me?"
Gojou looked at the window, rain blurring the lights outside.
"Because I once tried to destroy them. But I still hoped they could change. You… you have no such illusions left."
A pause.
"Burn it all, Kaito. Make the world remember it let this happen."
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Journal Entry – That Night
> There was another before me. He fell. But I have no desire to be a hero. They tried to create a monster in me. I'll honor their efforts.
The mirror cracked. And now, it cuts both ways.
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