Akiko Hayashi was never a victim. Long before the Borderlands, she knew how to hunt, how to hurt, how to win. At the Beach, where loyalty is cheap and power is everything, she rises - ruthless, relentless, and unbreakable. Forged in blood, crowned by violence, she finds an unlikely equal in Takatora Samura - the Beach's deadliest blade. Together, they build something stronger than trust, darker than love. In a world built for predators, Akiko was never meant to fall. She was meant to reign.

╰┈➤ 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐘𝐎.. was soft. That's how people saw her, though nobody ever saw the true horror beneath her skin. Her "kind" act was nothing but a cover up, and the Borderlands was ready to rip her open. Luckily, Chiyo had never been too afraid of exposure. 𝐍𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐈.. was rough, but he had been shaped that way-sharpened by every bruise life carved into him. People only saw the violence on the surface, but no one knew the real source of that darkness, or how it had been her hands-her actions, her absence, her choices-that slowly molded him into this version of himself. And worst of all, she knew it. She had watched the light drain from him, piece by piece, until only this version of him remained. (Will continue when s3 releases!)