I didn't tell Kaze.
I didn't have to.
He was already there when I stepped out of my dorm.
Leaning against the railing just outside, hands in his pockets, gaze fixed on the empty courtyard below. Like he'd been waiting.
I didn't stop walking.
"You shouldn't go."
His voice was quiet. Matter-of-fact.
I ignored him.
"Sae."
My actual name? Oh? That might be a first.
This time, there was something else in it. A warning. A weight.
I stopped at the stairs, gripping the railing tight.
"You're not going to stop me." It wasn't a question.
Kaze didn't answer immediately. For a second, I thought he wouldn't answer at all.
Then—
"You think this leads to something you can handle?" His voice was still quiet, but there was an edge now. Sharper. "You think finding him is the end of this?"
I turned my head just enough to glance at him.
"I think it's the only way forward."
Something flickered across his face—gone too fast to name.
Then his expression shuttered.
He looked back out over the railing, exhaling slowly, as if choosing his words carefully.
"You step into this, you don't get to walk back out."
A chill ran through me.
Because for once—he wasn't threatening me.
He was telling me the truth.
I turned fully to face him, swallowing down the unease clawing at my throat.
"I don't need you to protect me, Kaze."
A muscle tensed in his jaw.
Then he laughed—low and humorless.
"You think that's what this is?"
His gaze finally met mine. Cold. Detached. But underneath it—something else.
Something he didn't want me to see.
I clenched my fists.
"Are you going to stop me?"
A long pause.
Then, finally—
"No."
That should have felt like a victory.
It didn't.
Because Kaze didn't move.
He just stood there, watching, as I walked past him—as I walked toward the trap we both knew was waiting.
And he let me go.