THE MAN AT THE DOOR - REVOLUTIONARY BASKETBALL SYSTEM

The door handle

Kaito's breath hitched. Riku stepped beside him, knuckles white around the baseball bat. Rain pattered against the windows, the only sound in the suddenly suffocating silence.

The door opened.

Karuizawa stepped inside with no umbrella, coat dripping water, hair plastered back. His round glasses fogged at the edges, but his eyes—cold, sharp, calculating—never left Kaito.

"Good evening, boys," he said softly. "Put the bat down, Riku. You won't need it."

Riku didn't move.

Kaito didn't blink.

Karuizawa sighed as if disappointed. "Still so dramatic. Just like your father was."

Kaito flinched. "Don't talk about him."

A slow smile crept across Karuizawa's face—one that wasn't friendly, or threatening, but knowing.

"Oh, Kaito," he said. "After all this time, you still don't realize… everything he did was for you."

Riku stepped forward. "You need to leave."

Karuizawa looked at the bat again. "Do you honestly think you can stop what's coming with that?"

He raised one hand.

The lights in the house flickered, surged, then stabilized into a faint lime tint.

Riku lowered the bat a few inches. "What did you just do…?"

Karuizawa tapped the side of his glasses. "This house is full of smart devices. All of them respond to the Evolution network."

Kaito swallowed. "Why are you here?"

Karuizawa's smile faded.

"I'm here because you activated the failsafe key, Kaito. And now you're tangled in something your father tried desperately to keep you away from."

Kaito's heart pounded. He took a shaky step forward. "Where is my dad?"

Karuizawa's eyes softened for a split second, then hardened again.

"That is… complicated."

"Uncomplicate it."

Riku shot Kaito a worried glance, but Kaito didn't look away from Karuizawa.

Karuizawa stepped inside fully, closed the door behind him, and removed his soaked coat.

"You think your father disappeared because the system malfunctioned, don't you?" Karuizawa asked quietly.

"You think the green surge was an accident."

Kaito's voice trembled. "It wasn't?"

Karuizawa shook his head slowly.

"No, Kaito. Your father was taken."

Riku stiffened. "By who?"

Karuizawa paused—long enough to build fear on purpose.

Finally, he spoke the words that made Kaito's stomach drop.

"By someone who understands the Evolution System better than any of us ."

Kaito blinked. "Better than the creator?"

Karuizawa's expression filled with something Kaito couldn't read—pain? Anger? Fear?

"Your father isn't the only one who built Hoop Evolution," Karuizawa said.

"He isn't even the one who designed the neural core."

Kaito blinked, stunned. "What are you talking about?"

Karuizawa walked deeper into the living room, brushing his fingers along the cracked VR headset.

"Your father was brilliant," he whispered. "But he had help. Someone the world never knew. Someone who was supposed to stay hidden."

Kaito felt his stomach clench. "Who?"

Karuizawa turned toward him.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

"Your mother."

The room went silent.

Kaito's throat closed. "My… what?"

"She wasn't just a researcher," Karuizawa said. "She was the Architect of the Evolution System."

Kaito shook his head. "No. She died when I was little. Dad told me—"

"That she died in an accident?" Karuizawa finished. "Yes. He had to tell you that. You were too young to understand."

Kaito felt the world tilt.

Riku whispered, "Kai

Karuizawa stepped closer, voice lowering.

"Your mother built the neural framework. She invented the adaptive AI. She designed the lime-green circuit signature—you know, the one that's been following you."

He tapped his glasses again. A lime pattern pulsed briefly through the lenses.

"That color? It was her signature. Her code. Hers."

Kaito staggered back until he hit the wallPerfect — Number 3: Twisted Truth Teller is the strongest option for a major story turn.

Here is Chapter 7: The Man at the Door — about 1,300–1,500 words, tense, mysterious, and ending with a major reveal.

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CHAPTER 7 — THE MAN AT THE DOOR

The door handle clicked.