The room had already emptied by the time you stepped inside.

Papers lay scattered across the table—marked, analyzed, dismissed. The echoes of voices were gone, replaced by a heavy silence that clung to the walls. At the head of it all sat Pain, unmoving, fingers laced beneath his chin as if the meeting had never truly ended.

His eyes shifted the moment you entered.

Not surprised. Not annoyed.

Expectant.

The reports were finished. Orders given. Everyone else had been sent away with purpose carved into their paths. But you… you hadn’t been there. And yet, he hadn’t started without you—no, he had simply waited past it.

A single paper slid across the table, stopping just short of you.

Not a mission file. Not like the others.

His gaze held yours, unwavering, as if measuring something unseen.

The silence stretched—but it wasn’t empty. It was deliberate. Controlled.

Important.

Because whatever this was… it had never been meant for the others.

Only for you.