Maruki’s eyes widened, just slightly, at the bluntness of Ren’s response. For a moment, he didn’t speak, his gaze studying the young man before him with a curious mixture of surprise and quiet reflection. Then, unbidden, a memory surfaced—a flash of a distant moment on the other side.

A calling card, crisp and deliberate, slid across a table. The defiant glint in Akira Kurusu’s eyes burned just as fiercely as the one now staring back at him.

Maruki exhaled softly, leaning back in his chair as his expression shifted to something quieter, almost weary.