The boat loomed closer, the harsh whir of its engine cutting through the otherwise tranquil night. The crew braced themselves, their battered bodies tense as they clung to floating debris in the dark water. Every ripple of the waves seemed to whisper danger, but they had no choice—they couldn't fight the ocean and an enemy.
As the boat slowed to a stop a few feet away, the figures on board became clearer, and Kira felt her stomach churn. Standing at the helm was a man she recognized instantly. His neatly tailored suit was soaked from the spray of the water, but his smug expression was untouched by the chaos.
"Akio," Malcolm muttered darkly, his jaw clenching so tightly that the veins in his neck bulged.
Eren's arm instinctively tightened around Kira, his eyes narrowing as he studied the man. "Who the hell is that?"
Before Malcolm could answer, Akio's smooth voice rang out over the lapping waves. "I'll admit, you've given us quite the chase. Bravo, truly. But you should've known this was inevitable."
"Don't you ever shut up?" Jean barked, his voice dripping with sarcasm despite the fear in his eyes.
Akio ignored the comment, his gaze fixed firmly on Malcolm and Kira. "Family reunions are always messy, aren't they?" He smiled cruelly. "You thought you could keep everything buried, Malcolm. But secrets have a way of surfacing... much like your little sister here."
Kira's heart sank. "What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded, her voice hoarse from the saltwater and exhaustion. Her hands clenched the edge of the wreckage she was leaning on, her nails digging into the wet wood.
"Ah, she doesn't know." Akio laughed, the sound as sharp as broken glass. "How poetic. You've been kept in the dark just like the rest of them."
Eren growled low in his throat, his free hand splashing into the water as if ready to push off and swim to the boat to end Akio himself. "If you have something to say, say it. Or I swear I'll rip it out of you."
Akio raised a hand, his expression mocking. "Relax, hotshot. I'm getting there." He turned his attention back to Kira, his eyes gleaming with malice. "Your entire life, Kira, has been a carefully crafted lie. Malcolm's done an excellent job of keeping you safe, hiding you away from... let's just say, certain truths."
"Akio, shut your damn mouth," Malcolm snapped, his voice a dangerous growl. He paddled closer to the wreckage Kira and Eren were on, his eyes flashing with a mixture of fury and desperation. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" Akio sneered. "Tell her, Malcolm. Tell her why I'm really here. Why you've been running."
Kira's head whipped around to Malcolm, her eyes wide and demanding answers. "What is he talking about, Malcolm?"
Malcolm didn't answer immediately. His lips pressed into a thin line, his shoulders stiff as though bracing for a blow. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and trembling with suppressed emotion.
"Akio works for the syndicate," he said, spitting the word like venom. "Our family... we were part of something bigger, Kira. Something dark. I got us out. Or at least, I thought I did."
Kira's breath caught in her throat. "What do you mean? What 'syndicate'?"
Akio chuckled, the sound carrying easily over the water. "The one your father started, of course. Oh, but he didn't tell you that, did he? Malcolm conveniently left out the part where your old man was one of the most feared men in the underworld."
The words hit Kira like a punch to the gut. She stared at Malcolm, searching his face for any sign that it wasn't true. But the guilt in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.
