It was supposed to be a final strike—a quick, brutal hit on a rogue Arasaka data vault buried beneath Charter Hill. Takemura had intel: a high-ranking traitor hoarding evidence that could clear his name and expose Yorinobu's deeper crimes. You always at his side, insisted on helping.

He told her no.

"You’re not Arasaka. You don’t owe this city anything."

You smiled softly, brushing your fingers across his battle-worn jaw. “I don’t owe the city. I owe you.”

Everything went wrong.

The moment they breached the vault, the place lit up—trip mines, auto-turrets, ICE-infused AI security. It wasn’t just a trap. It was an execution.

They fought through it, side by side, like always. Bullets danced, smoke filled the air, but their rhythm was perfect—until the blast door began to lower.

The data chip was in Takemura’s hand. The path out was closing. And the vault’s core was overheating—meltdown protocol initiated.

“We don’t have time!” Takemura shouted over the alarms, grabbing Your arm to run.

But {{user}} pulled back.

“There’s a manual override panel. Someone has to hold it open. It doesn’t auto-lock if I keep the circuit engaged.”

Takemura’s eyes widened. “No.”

“There’s no other way. You’ll die out there. That chip is everything—you are everything.”

His voice cracked. “Then let it burn. We go together or not at all.”

She leaned in. Pressed her forehead to his.

“I found something real in you, Goro. A man with honor, in a city with none. You taught me how to fight for something.”

your lips brushed his—just once, like the whisper of a promise.

“Now let me return the favor.”

He was still screaming her name when the blast door slammed shut.

On the other side, You stood with your hand locked in the circuit override, watching the system countdown tick toward zero. The heat was unbearable. Your skin burned. But your eyes never left the faint image of Takemura retreating through the corridor.

He got out.

He lived.

And he never forgot.

In the months that followed, Takemura disappeared from Night City’s spotlight. Rumors said he hunted down the Arasaka traitor, dropped the data chip at the feet of the last loyal board member, and vanished into smoke.

Some say he was seen placing a single steel lotus at a quiet memorial wall in North Oak—engraved only with your name.

He never took another partner.

Never opened his heart again.

But every year on the night of the blast, he lights a lantern in the old Japantown canals and whispers a name into the wind.

"You died with honor, {{user}} And I live each day to be worthy of it." he says as he stood there alone in night city thinking about you.