Chapter 6: Protocol WOLF
"The best way to kill a ghost is to remind it it once had a name."
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A coded alert echoed through the underground network of Blue River operatives.
> Protocol WOLF: Active
The directive was simple, brutal, and psychological:
Break the target from within. Not with weapons—but with memory.
This wasn't an attack.
It was a surgical dissection of the mind.
And Kaito Shiranami was about to bleed.
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Minazuki High – Day 0
The school day began normally.
Or so it seemed.
But the moment Kaito entered the building, subtle changes hit him.
His seat was moved—from the window to the center of the room.
His locker had been reassigned without notice.
Teachers began calling him "Mr. Shiranami" instead of "Kaito."
Even his name tag on the class list had been altered:
> "Probationary Student – Category A: Psychological Observation"
His identity, once pristine, was now… official property.
The message was clear:
> "We control the narrative. You are no longer one of them."
But what they didn't realize was—
> He had never truly been one of them to begin with.
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Flashback Triggers – Operation: Memory Fracture
That night, a letter was delivered anonymously to Kaito's mailbox.
Handwritten.
Familiar ink.
It looked like his mother's handwriting.
His hand trembled only once, then went still.
> "We did what we could to protect you, Kaito. But some things can't be undone.
Forgive your father. He made a choice to keep you alive, even if it cost everything else."
He scanned the handwriting.
It was forged—but perfectly. Only someone with access to deep archival material could replicate it.
He knew the move.
Knew the psychology behind it.
> "Drag the past into the present.
Make the target question their history.
Unroot their identity."
But Kaito had already buried the past.
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The Decoy: His Father's Voice
Three days later, Kaito's burner phone rang again.
The number was scrambled—encrypted.
He answered.
A voice on the other end:
> "Kaito… it's me. Dad."
His heart should have skipped.
It didn't.
> "You're not my father," Kaito said calmly. "You're not even a good imitation."
Silence.
Then the voice changed—sharper, colder.
> "You're good, kid. But sooner or later, even mirrors crack from pressure."
Kaito smiled into the receiver.
> "Pressure forges diamonds. You should've studied chemistry instead of psychology."
He hung up.
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Unmasking the Trap
Kaito pulled out the flash drive Airi had taken.
She hadn't leaked it yet.
That was a message in itself.
> She was scared again.
Or someone had silenced her.
He didn't blame her.
But it meant war was no longer a theory—it had begun.
He knew the pattern of psychological assault well enough to write the next steps:
1. Isolation – Check.
2. Identity Manipulation – In progress.
3. Emotional Regression Triggers – Initiated.
4. Public Humiliation – Imminent.
So he prepared.
Not to defend—but to retaliate.
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Operation Counter-HOWL
He activated an AI clone he'd spent months building—designed to simulate his behavior online and post scheduled statements under his identity.
Why?
To confuse observation teams.
Let them chase shadows.
While the real Kaito disappeared for 48 hours—off the grid.
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The Forgotten Psychiatric File
Inside a long-defunded medical facility, Kaito found it.
Buried beneath mildew and rot:
> Patient Case File: Shin Arakawa
Diagnosis: Induced Dissociative Fragmentation
Treatment: Protocol WOLF (Alpha-Phase)
Scrawled on the final page:
> Subject could not be contained.
Subject turned mirror on us.
Final note: "He said—You built the monster. Now let it starve."
Kaito closed the file.
And whispered,
> "You didn't let it starve. You fed it me."
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Journal Entry – That Night
> They're trying to make me question who I am.
What they don't know… is that I already did that. Years ago.
And the boy I used to be died long before I became their enemy.
You can't break what's already ash.
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Meanwhile – Deep Underground
Director Rinko Takarabe reviewed the footage from the operation.
> "Still intact," she murmured.
A junior agent approached nervously.
> "Ma'am, if this fails—what's the fallback?"
Rinko's eyes didn't move from the screen.
> "There is no fallback. Either he breaks, or we break something far more sacred."
She paused.
> "Initiate Phase II. Let's see how he reacts…
when we rewrite the past in the face of the present."
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