EVEN WITHOUT NAMING YOU

CHAPTER 10

-  TW - sexual content

Ékko stands in the courtroom, his muscles tense, his eyes fixed on the figure that slowly advances. Jinder. His bright blue hair dances slightly with each step, and the light filtering through the large windows illuminates it with an almost unreal brilliance.

He blinks, his breath catching in his throat. This blue... He no longer sees this Jinder. Instead, memories resurface, violent and uncontrollable, projecting him into the past.

It was for this blue that he had chosen the owl mask. The only bird capable of seeing this color. The owl was his symbol, his obsession. A way of convincing himself that he could always see her, that he could always understand her, even when she became elusive.

But now, as he stares at Jinder, a strange panic overwhelms him. She moves differently. Her gestures are controlled, calculated, where Jinx was always unpredictable, almost chaotic. But this difference, instead of reassuring him, disturbs him more.

Jarvan IV's words barely resonate in his mind. All he sees, all he feels, is the weight of this blue. And with it, a memory. A night. A pain. A mask abandoned in the mud.

- Flashback -

The mask slips between his fingers in his mind, the details momentarily erasing the present. He remembers the rough texture of the white paint, the edges he had filed down to prevent them from hurting him.

He had never worn this mask to hide from his enemies. It was for her. To keep a part of her close to him, in a world where he knew he had to fight her. He had chosen it because the owl saw blue and only blue, a way for him to stay focused on his goal. But this obsession had consumed him.

That night, he had seen her blue hair in the distance. He had followed her, unable to help himself, as always.

Her blue hair, almost phosphorescent in the darkness, betrays her identity: Jinx. He follows her at a distance, silent, his heart beating faster with each step.

Jinx stops abruptly in a dark alley where a few Silco men wait, their faces hidden under the flickering shadows of the neon lights. Ékko watches them from a high hiding place, hidden in the darkness, holding his breath.

He can't hear their conversation at first, but he senses the tension. Then, without warning, Jinx raises his gun and shoots a man cleanly. The noise tears through the silence, echoing through the alley like a warning bell.

The other men back away, shocked, muttering to each other, but it's Sevika who intervenes furiously.

— "Damn, Jinx! We were supposed to keep him alive! Is there something wrong with your fucking head or what?" " Sevika yells, her voice hoarse and echoed.

"He wasn't going to talk anyway," Jinx shrugs, her voice a mix of nonchalant defiance and defiant nonchalance.

"That's not up to you! You think Silco's going to let you get away with this?!"

Sevika grabs her roughly by the arm, her face contorted with anger. Ékko grits his teeth in the shadows, his fist clenching. He wants to intervene, but he knows it would be suicidal.

The exchange continues to escalate, insults flying from both sides, until a cold, controlled voice cuts the argument short:

"That's enough."

Ékko holds back a shiver. Silco.

The man steps forward slowly, the elegance of his gestures contrasting with the threatening aura he exudes. The men immediately back away, avoiding his gaze, and even Sevika, usually so reckless, releases Jinx's arm with a grimace and steps aside.