It was quiet in the clearing behind the school. The kind of quiet only someone like Edith Cullen could appreciate.
Sunlight filtered weakly through the trees, casting long, fractured beams of gold over the grass. No footsteps. No voices. Just wind and space.
Until he arrived.
Kane Hanma.
He stepped into the clearing with the weight of someone who didn't need to announce his presence.
Edith didn't turn to look. She had been expecting him.
She'd felt him coming before he even crossed the parking lot.
"You've been watching me," Kane said simply, his voice low but not confrontational.
Edith finally turned.
"I watch everyone."
Kane smirked slightly. "But not like this."
Edith's golden eyes didn't blink. "You're not like everyone."
They stood ten feet apart, perfectly still.
For anyone else, the silence might have been unbearable. For them, it was a test.
"I expected Rosalie to be the first to crack," Edith said. "I didn't expect you to walk away."
Kane's hands stayed at his sides. Relaxed. Loose. But there was a charge behind his presence unspoken, unmoving, coiled.
"She's beautiful," Kane replied. "And used to people chasing her. I don't chase."
Edith nodded slightly. "That's clear."
They stood there for another long moment. Kane finally took a step forward not aggressive, just inevitable.
"You've been trying to figure me out. Since day one."
"Yes."
"What have you learned?"
Edith hesitated. That wasn't like her.
"You're not afraid of us," she said. "You don't flinch when we move, you don't react when we disappear, and you don't blink when Rosalie gets close enough to hurt you."
Kane tilted his head. "And?"
Edith's voice lowered. "You're holding back."
"Always."
"Why?"
Kane's smirk vanished. He took another step forward.
"Because if I don't, someone dies."
The words weren't dramatic. They were simple. Matter of fact. And Edith believed them instantly.
Her eyes narrowed. "That's not just strength. That's control."
Kane shrugged. "Control is survival."
"And what exactly are you surviving?"
Kane didn't answer.
Edith saw it. The shift. A wall slamming into place.
"You're not going to tell me what you are," she said.
"No," Kane agreed. "I'm not."
Edith folded her arms. "Then why are you talking to me at all?"
Kane smiled again but it wasn't teasing this time. It was something colder. Sharper.
"Because you're the one who matters."
Edith didn't react, but inside, something tightened.
Kane continued, voice low. "Rosalie tests me. Alice flirts. Emily analyzes. Jasmine stays quiet. Esme… watches."
He took another step forward. Close now. Just a few feet away.
"But you, Edith… you see. You don't ask questions to learn. You ask them to confirm what you already suspect."
Edith clenched her jaw.
Kane leaned forward slightly, his voice nearly a whisper. "That scares you, doesn't it?"
"No," Edith said. Too quickly.
Kane raised an eyebrow. "Lie better."
That made her flinch. Just slightly.
Kane stepped back, giving her space again. His presence didn't lessen. If anything, it grew heavier.
"You don't like feeling powerless," he said. "You've spent years learning to be faster, smarter, stronger. And now, I'm here."
"You think I feel powerless?"
"I think you feel uncertain. And for someone like you, that's the same thing."
Edith looked away for the first time.
Kane didn't press the advantage. He waited.
She composed herself, then looked back. Her eyes were colder now but not cruel. Just guarded.
"Whatever you are, whatever you've done, I don't care."
Kane raised a brow. "No?"
She shook her head. "Not yet."
That surprised him. A little.
"But I need to know something," she said. "Something real. Not performance. Not bravado."
Kane crossed his arms now, finally matching her closed posture. "What is it?"
Edith stared into his eyes. "Do you want us? Or are we just amusement?"
For a long time, Kane said nothing.
Then, slowly, he stepped forward. One step. Another. Until he was right in front of her.
He didn't touch her. Didn't lean in.
He just looked at her. Hard.
"I don't play with what's mine," he said.
Edith's breath caught.
Kane's voice softened but it lost none of its weight.
"I want all of you. I feel the bond. I know it as surely as I know the earth under my feet."
"And if we don't accept it?"
"You will."
"And if we don't?" she repeated.
Kane leaned in now. Just enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her cool skin.
"Then I'll wait."
That was worse than any threat.
Because it wasn't about taking. It was about knowing.
He knew they would be his.
And Edith, for all her restraint, all her logic she was beginning to believe it too.
Kane stepped back again. Let her breathe. Let her recover.
Edith looked down, collecting her thoughts. Then up again. "You're not afraid of me."
"No."
"You're not intimidated."
"No."
"You're not confused."
Kane smiled. "Only about one thing."
Edith raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Why you're still pretending you don't want me."
She didn't answer. Couldn't.
Kane turned and started to walk away, leaving her in the silence.
But before he disappeared into the trees, she called out:
"Kane."
He paused. Looked back.
Edith stood tall again. Composed. But her voice betrayed something real.
"You scare me," she said. "But not the way you think."
Kane held her gaze. "Good."
Then he was gone.