The late afternoon sun filtered through the grime-coated windows of Hana's apartment. Dust particles floated in the air like tiny fragments of time, suspended between moments. Kaito had been pacing for the last hour, his feet dragging across the floorboards as he muttered to himself.

"This is insane," Kaito said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You realize what you're messing with, right? This isn't just some random tool you picked up. It's a weapon—an unpredictable one."

Hana sat at the table, the Soul Ledger open before her, its pages spread like a map to an unknown land. She had been tracing the edges of the book with her fingers, trying to ground herself in the midst of her uncertainty. Her voice was steady when she finally responded.

"I know what it is, Kaito. But what choice do I have? They’ve destroyed everything—my family, my life. I can’t just sit back and watch them continue. Not anymore." Her eyes flashed with determination.

Kaito stopped pacing, his face a mix of frustration and worry. "Yeah, but this book... you don’t understand how deep this goes. You’re messing with fate, Hana. Once you write a name in there, you’re not just changing one person’s life. You’re setting off a chain reaction that could hit people you didn’t even think about."

Hana’s gaze remained fixed on the pages. "You think I haven’t considered that? You think I haven’t weighed the cost of doing nothing? I’ve spent years watching them get away with murder—literally—and now, I finally have a chance to stop them. The book doesn’t just kill, Kaito. It alters outcomes. I could use it to expose them."

"Expose them? And what happens if that exposure ruins thousands of lives? What if the truth makes things worse? You’ve already seen what happened with the businessman. You wrote a single name and took down an entire company," Kaito said, his voice rising slightly, though not out of anger—more out of fear for her.

Hana stood up abruptly, pushing the chair back with a screech. "I’m not blind to the risks, but I have to try. I’ll be careful, more careful than last time. I’m not going to stop because of one mistake."

Kaito’s voice softened, his tone almost pleading. "But at what cost, Hana? You don’t know how this ends. What happens when you can’t control the consequences? You could end up as bad as the people you’re trying to stop."

Hana turned to face him, her expression hardening. "I’m not them. I’m not doing this for power or greed. I’m doing this because there’s no other way. You saw what the courts did when we tried to fight them legally. Nothing. They own the system. The Ledger... it’s the only thing left that gives me a fighting chance."

Kaito clenched his fists, then released them slowly, his gaze dropping to the floor. "And if it’s too much for you? If you lose control?"

"I won’t," Hana said firmly, but a shadow of doubt flickered across her face before she masked it again.

Kaito let out a slow breath, clearly wrestling with his thoughts. "Fine. You want to do this, I’ll help you. But we don’t jump into it headfirst. No names until we’ve thought through every possible consequence. If we mess this up, we don’t get a second chance."

Hana nodded, though her focus had already shifted back to the Ledger. "Agreed."

Kaito watched her for a moment longer, then ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "So... what now? What’s the next step?"

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Hana flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning the shifting script that had begun to make more sense the longer she studied it. "We choose the right target. Someone small enough that the ripple effects won’t be catastrophic but significant enough to make an impact."

Kaito crossed his arms. "You’re talking about an experiment. You want to test it out again."

Hana glanced up at him, a flicker of guilt in her eyes. "We need to understand how it works, Kaito. The only way to do that is by using it."

Kaito exhaled sharply but didn’t argue. "Alright. Who’s on the list, then? What kind of target are we talking about?"

Hana leaned forward, her voice lowering as if the very walls might hear. "There’s a man. Low-level government official. He’s connected to the higher-ups who were behind my family’s destruction. He’s a bureaucrat, but he knows things—things we can use to expose the bigger players. If we push him, if we alter his fate just enough, maybe we can make him talk."

Kaito frowned, skepticism clear on his face. "And what happens if he doesn’t talk? What if altering his fate makes him even more loyal to the people he works for?"

Hana’s expression darkened. "Then we find another way. But this is the first step. I won’t rush into it, I promise. We’ll think through every angle."

Kaito rubbed his face with both hands. "Alright, alright. Let’s figure this out. What exactly are you planning to write? How are you going to change his fate?"

Hana hesitated, the weight of the question sinking in. "I’ll write something subtle. I won’t force him to talk directly—just shift his circumstances. Maybe I’ll make him paranoid, make him feel like he’s being watched by his own people. That could push him to reach out to us for help."

Kaito stared at her, eyebrows raised. "Paranoia? You think that’ll work?"

"It’s worth a try. We don’t need to control him completely, just nudge him in the right direction," Hana explained, her voice quiet but resolute.

Kaito was silent for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine. But you better be right about this."

Hana didn’t respond. Her focus had already returned to the Ledger, her fingers gripping the pen tightly as she hovered over the page. The name of the official had been burned into her memory from the years she had spent researching those who had a hand in her family’s downfall. She wrote his name slowly, deliberately, making sure every letter was perfect.

As she finished the name, a soft whisper seemed to fill the room, though neither of them spoke. The air around the Ledger felt heavier, as if it had absorbed the weight of her decision.

Kaito cleared his throat, breaking the eerie silence. "Now what?"

Hana closed the book gently, her heart pounding in her chest. "Now we wait."

Hours passed with agonizing slowness. Hana couldn’t sit still, pacing the length of her small apartment, her mind racing with the possible outcomes of what she had done. Kaito tried to distract himself with his laptop, hacking into the city’s surveillance systems, but even he couldn’t shake the tension that filled the room.

It wasn’t until late into the night that Kaito’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, his eyes widening. "Hana. It’s him."

Hana stopped mid-step. "What do you mean, it’s him?"

Kaito stood up, showing her the screen. "The official. He just sent an encrypted message. He’s asking to meet. Says it’s urgent."

Hana’s heart skipped a beat, her mind reeling. "Did he say why?"

"No," Kaito said, shaking his head. "Just that he needs to meet in person. Something’s spooked him."

Hana took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. "Then it worked. We pushed him just enough."

Kaito frowned, still wary. "Maybe. Or maybe it’s a trap."

"It doesn’t matter," Hana said, grabbing her coat. "We have to go. If he’s reaching out, this might be our only chance to get the information we need."

Kaito hesitated for a moment before nodding, grabbing his laptop and following her out the door. "Just promise me we won’t do anything rash."

Hana glanced back at him, her expression unreadable. "I’ll be careful. But we need to know what he knows, Kaito. This could be the break we’ve been waiting for."

Kaito sighed, pulling his hood over his head as they stepped out into the rain-soaked streets. "I hope you’re right about this, Hana. I really do."

Hana didn’t respond. Her mind was already racing ahead to the meeting, to what the official might say, to the possible consequences of the name she had written. The Ledger had given her a weapon, and now she was starting to understand just how dangerous that power could be.