Arrival at Hachioji

The vehicle's engine automatically shut off as soon as they reached the entrance.

"Out. Everyone," ordered the hooded girl.

Ken and Tanimoto immediately stepped out into the Hachioji yard. Around them, from the few vehicles that had survived the night, other young people were descending. They were dirty, some scared, others confused. Most were between fifteen and twenty, but Ken's gaze stopped on one person in particular.

"Hey, Tanimoto..." whispered Ken, giving him a slight nudge. "Do you see that? There's a kid over there."

A boy who couldn't have been more than ten or twelve years old was getting out of one of the vehicles, clutching a backpack bigger than he was. "Are they supposed to recruit kids too?" murmured Ken, a knot forming in his stomach.

"Keep moving, rookies," the girl cut off their conversation.

The girl walked ahead of them with firm steps toward the entrance, but she paused for a moment under the shadow of the enormous entry arch. "Don't think that just because it's daytime, you're safe," she said. "Out here, the light only helps the monsters see their food better."

And as she said that, she brought her hands to her hood and removed it.

Her hair fell over her shoulders. It was an intense violet color, but with streaks of pure white distributed irregularly, as if snow had touched parts of it. Her skin was pale, and she had a slender, almost fragile-looking build at first glance.

But when she turned to look at both of them, neither of them thought she was fragile, especially after remembering the feat they had witnessed with their own eyes at dawn.

Ken froze. Her eyes... were hypnotic. The left eye was an intense blue, deep as the ocean. The right was a bright amber color. Heterochromia.

Ken felt a chill that had nothing to do with the mountain wind. She seems to have immense power, Ken thought, swallowing nervously. You can feel incredible pressure coming from her...

The other seven instructors who had disembarked from the remaining vehicles did the same, revealing tired faces bearing the scars of war, but none possessed the presence of the girl with the mismatched eyes.

"Inside, rookies. Now," she ordered.

The interior of the Hachioji facility was an industrial labyrinth. Long corridors in a gray hue, illuminated only by a few LED lights on the ceiling. There were no windows. The silence was absolute, broken only by the echo of the recruits' boots.

The group stopped before a massive, heavy-looking armored security door. Before opening it, the eight recruiters lined up in front of the aspirants. There were few of them. Out of the hundreds who were supposed to arrive, only about thirty survivors remained.

The purple-haired girl took a step forward. "Greetings, rookies. My name is Natasha Kuroki. I am a Field Instructor and Supervisor for the Development Division. From this moment on, your lives belong to me."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was confident.

In the back row, Tanimoto leaned slightly toward Ken. Despite his visible fear, his old habit of running his mouth resurfaced. "Hey..." he whispered, covering his mouth with his hand. "Don't you think she's kinda young to be our instructor? She looks about our age."

Ken glanced at him sideways. He could see Tanimoto's hands trembling. He was trying to act brave to hide his fear from the previous night. "Shut up," Ken hissed through his teeth. "Keep your voice down. We'll get killed because of you."

"You two!" Natasha's voice cut through their conversation.

Ken and Tanimoto froze. "Ken Kurosu! Tanimoto! One step forward, NOW!"

Both felt their hearts leap into their throats. She heard us, Ken thought in a panic. From this distance... how did she hear us? They walked to the front, feeling the stares of all the other recruits on their backs.

Natasha looked at them with her mismatched eyes. She didn't seem angry, but... interested. "Since you two look so active and have energy to chat during formation," said Natasha, crossing her arms, "you will assume responsibility."

"R-Responsibility?" Tanimoto stammered.

"You will be squad leaders," she declared. "Tanimoto, you will lead Squad A. Ken Kurosu, you will be in charge of Squad B."

Both boys' eyes widened in surprise. "Do a good job," Natasha added, leaning in a little closer, lowering her voice to a dangerous tone. "Because if your team fails, the blame will be yours."

"Yes, ma'am!" they both replied instinctively, cold sweat running down their backs.

The large door opened, revealing the barracks. Due to the massive losses suffered from the Gashadokuro, there weren't enough recruits to form many groups. In the end, Natasha divided the few survivors into three basic units: Squad A (Led by Tanimoto), Squad B (Led by Ken), Squad C (Led by an older recruit).

That night, the barracks were plunged into silence. Although Ken and Tanimoto had been separated by squad designation, their dormitories were located directly across from each other in the same long corridor.

Ken sat on the edge of his metal bunk, looking at the 9 people who were now under his command. He didn't know their names yet. To him, they were just tired and frightened faces.

Each one had a reason and a purpose for entering the hell of Hachioji. Some for revenge, others out of hunger, others out of boredom or desperation. But in the end, they all shared the same fate.

Nine souls, Ken thought. I have to look after nine strangers when I can barely look after myself.

Meanwhile, in the surveillance room, located in the central tower, far from the dormitories.

Natasha watched the security cameras with a cup of coffee in her hand. Beside her, a tall, muscular instructor with a scar across his nose was looking at Tanimoto's profile on the screen beside him.

"I don't get it, Natasha," said the instructor, crossing his arms. "This boy, Tanimoto... he's already a certified Kijin. He even has a rank, he has field experience. Why did we bring him back to basic training with the rookies? He should be on the front lines or leading a real patrol."

Natasha didn't take her eyes off the screen, which showed Tanimoto sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.

"He lost an official duel," she said coldly, her blue eye reflecting the monitor's light.

"So? Everyone loses practice duels sometimes. That's no reason to demote him."

Natasha turned her chair to look at her colleague.

"He lost to a civilian," Natasha clarified. "He lost to that subject, Ken Kurosu, a boy with no military training, no discipline, and seemingly no awakened Entity. A certified Kijin who is defeated and humiliated by a normal human is useless on the battlefield. He is either weak or arrogant. And in our line of work, both mean death."

Natasha turned back to look at the screen, switching the camera to focus on Ken, who was trying to sleep on his bunk.

"Tanimoto is here so he can be broken down and rebuilt from scratch. It's his punishment," she decreed. "He has to learn that rank doesn't always save you. If he survives this training, perhaps he'll be useful again. If not... well, we always need people to clean the latrines."