With a great ripping sound, the fabric tore down the middle and Haru recoiled, but not quite fast enough.

Jamie saw it: a small scar on his stomach.

He felt the ground give way beneath him, taking him back to the end of summer, when he’d said goodbye to Haru and watched him recoil then too, but in pain, that scarred wound still fresh. ‘It’s you …’

Jamie tried to make sense of his thoughts. The seed had planted itself because he knew what the wound was, he’d known all along, and now his mind felt like it was plummeting again, the ground breaking away until he was back to the roof in Tokyo.

Haru tried to reach a hand out, but Jamie batted it away, stumbling backwards into a tree behind him, blinking up at the Partizan he’d grown so fond of, because his face was gone. The fireside smile and dark fawn eyes were cracked, and behind them he could see a bird mask, the one on the roof in Tokyo.

‘You’re the bird from the roof.’ It was all Jamie could say.

There had been a boy in a bird mask, who’d been hit by a knife in that exact spot.

Haru had been his enemy the whole time.

Jamie shook his head, staggering back into the tree. ‘You lied to me.’

He could hardly believe the sound of his voice, petulant, whimpering. It made him furious.

When his eyes finally focused, Haru had his hands up, ripped T-shirt leaving him vulnerable to the rain. Whatever look Jamie had on his face, it was enough for Haru to have his feet locked in a defensive pose, ready to fight. This was the real Haru, burning with the same fire Jamie had inside him.

‘All that stuff you said before … was that a lie too?’ Jamie growled. ‘Trying to make me feel like I owed you?’

‘No, Jamie.’ Hands still in the air, Haru held his gaze. ‘That was true. I chose to come here because I like you. We get to make our own choices.’

‘How can I trust you any more?’ Jamie snarled.

Seeing the drop in his defence, Haru took a cautious step forward.

‘We never lied to you, Jamie. We’ve been waiting. Giving them a chance to put this right. One they haven’t taken. I was going to tell you today, after training. I didn’t want it to be this way, you have to believe me.’

Suspicion stirred. ‘What are you talking about?’ Jamie asked. ‘Giving who a chance?’

The sinking feeling in his chest got heavier, his mind refusing to acknowledge what somehow he already knew.

‘They sold you out, Jamie.’

‘No, I don’t trust you.’ Jamie tried to stand firm but his voice wavered. ‘You’re lying.’