Aki's hands curled into fists at his sides.
Tension gathered in my shoulders. "If that’s true then. . .it must have been hard to cut yourself like that. . .to get that big of a scar. Must have hurt so bad. And it does look identical. . .unless you look really, really close. . .perhaps with emotion. . .I don’t know. . .but. . .Aki couldn't. . .cut himself as deep as whoever cut Yuki."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Neither twin spoke.
Neither twin moved.
They just stood there, side by side, looking at me with identical expressions of devastation that made my chest ache.
Fuck. I should have kept my mouth closed.
Yuki's jaw worked, but no sound came out.
Aki looked away first, his gaze dropping to the floor. Then, he touched that scar.
Whenever they had gotten these scars, it had been a long, long time ago. Probably when they were kids. Maybe even some fucked up abusive parent.
Horrific shit if true.
Because that meant that when they were kids. . .Aki had taken a blade—or something worse—and carved himself to match his brother's trauma. Not to heal Yuki, but to make himself equally damaged.
So Yuki would never have to carry that scar alone.
"Nyomi." Hiro's voice cut through the tension like a blade, firm but not unkind. He stepped slightly between me and the twins, his body language shifting to protective—of them, not me. "We should keep moving."
I opened my mouth to say something—an apology, an explanation, anything—but Hiro's expression stopped me.
Not angry.
Just. . .careful.
Like I'd just touched an old wound that hadn't fully healed and probably never would.
"Yes." I swallowed. "Of course."
Hiro gestured down the hallway, and we started walking again.
The twins fell into step behind us, silent as ghosts and moving in perfect rhythm. And for the first time since I'd met them, their synchronization didn't feel like a blessing.
It felt like survival.
I didn't look back again.
But I could feel the weight of what I'd just said pressing against my shoulders like a physical thing—heavy, wrong, and impossible to take back.
Damn it. I should have kept my mouth shut.
Chapter thirty-three
Soul Shadows
Nyomi
Great job, Nyomi. Real smooth.
I swallowed hard.
