The Prisoner of Hachioji.

Several days had passed since then. Days in which the sun rose and set over the Hachioji facility, but for Ken, time had stood still in the darkness of a coma. A normal human would have died from internal bleeding long ago, but the Kijin Essence flowing through his bloodthough he didn't fully understand it yet was repairing his muscles and organs at a miraculous speed.

Outside the intensive care unit, the atmosphere was grim.

"It’s been four days... Do you think he’ll be okay?" asked Yamato, sitting in a chair, shaking his leg nervously. His glasses were fogged up, but he didn't bother to clean them.

"Let's hope so. He is our leader, after all," said Shinji, standing against the wall with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the floor. He hadn't smiled since they returned.

Both fell silent when their eyes met a third person. Tanimoto was there, leaning against a pillar with his eyes closed. It was strange to see the prodigy of Squad A waiting for news of a subordinate, but Tanimoto hadn't moved from that spot for hours. He simply ignored them, standing guard.

Suddenly, the automatic door opened. Natasha walked out. She didn't look like a doctor. Her medical coat was stained with blood and she looked exhausted, as if she had fought a war inside the operating room. She pulled off her mask, revealing a serious face.

The three boys straightened up instantly.

"Ken Kurosu is out of danger," Natasha announced in a hoarse voice. "His vital signs are stable. He just needs to wake up."

"Yes!" shouted Shinji, punching his fist into his palm. Yamato let out a long sigh, slumping back into his chair, relieved. Even Tanimoto nodded slightly, acknowledging the news, before turning to leave without a word.

But the celebration was short-lived. Shinji's smile vanished when he saw that Natasha didn't share his joy. The instructor looked toward the empty hallway. And then, the weight of reality crashed down on them. Ken was alive. But Naomi, Kenta, Hiro, and Sato... were not.

"It... it can't be..." Yamato said, on the verge of tears. Shinji didn't say a single word; he just averted his gaze.

"What the hell happened down there, Instructor?" asked Yamato quietly, a lump in his throat. "Why did only he come back?"

Natasha didn't answer. Her eyes darkened. "Go get some rest. That is an order."

Several days later.

Inside an isolated room, Ken's consciousness slowly returned. His mind was a puzzle of fragmented images: Fire. A metallic laugh. Golden dragon eyes. A knife in the chest of...

Ken's eyes snapped open, gasping.

I'm alive, he thought. He tried to sit up, driven by the urgency to know where the others were. "Naomi? Shinji?"

But something stopped him. It wasn't pain. It was a metallic sound.

His wrists and ankles were held fast. Ken looked down, and panic invaded him. He wasn't just lying on a stretcher. He was chained. Thick silver chains, engraved with strange symbols, bound his limbs to the edges of the reinforced bed.

"What...?" Ken pulled at them, but he was still too weak. The metal didn't budge. On the contrary, sensing his force, the chains seemed to tighten, biting into his skin.

The door opened. Kyosuke and Natasha entered. Ken expected to see relief on their faces, or perhaps pity. But he found neither. Their expressions were cold, hostile. Kyosuke didn't wear his usual mocking smile; his red glasses hid eyes that looked at him as if he were a cockroach.

"What is going on?" Ken asked, his voice raspy. "Why am I tied up? Where are the others?"

Kyosuke raised a hand. The chains on Ken's bed reacted to his power, tensely pulling against the mattress until Ken gasped for air. "Shut your mouth, recruit," Kyosuke spat.

"The Kijin Regulations dictate this," said Natasha, stepping forward. She held a folder in her hand. "Ken Kurosu. Based on the crime scene and the autopsy of the recovered bodies... all clues point to a single conclusion."

Natasha threw the folder onto Ken's legs. It fell open, showing photos of the bodies of Naomi, Kenta, Hiro, and Sato. All had blunt force trauma and knife wounds. Wounds made by a human.

"You are a traitor," Natasha sentenced, with a coldness that froze Ken's blood. "You murdered your own squad."

Ken froze. "W-What? No!" he screamed, shaking his head. "That's a lie! There was a monster! He killed them!"

"We found no traces of any dangerous monster in that chamber," interrupted Kyosuke. "We only found your fingerprints on their necks. Your knife in the Nakashima girl's heart. And you, the only survivor, bathed in their blood."

"It's a mistake!" Ken begged, tears gathering in his eyes. "They were already dead! They got up and attacked me! I had to do it!"

"We don't believe a single word," said Natasha, crossing her arms. "You will be judged in a few days by the Kijin Military Tribunal. Until then, you aren't leaving this place."

Both instructors turned and left the room, leaving him alone with the echo of the accusation. The chains loosened slightly, enough to let him breathe, but not to escape. Ken looked at the closed door, trembling. He tried to remember. Did I kill them? His memories were blurry. He remembered a knife. He remembered hugging Naomi. What if I'm crazy? What if it was all my fault?

Meanwhile, in the main dining hall.

The news spread faster than gunpowder. "Kenji Kurosu is a traitor." "He sacrificed his team to save himself."

Shinji and Yamato sat at a table, trying to eat, but the whispers behind their backs were unbearable. At the next table, a guy from Squad A spoke loudly: "I knew it. That guy was always weird. I bet he made a deal with that Regent guy. They say he stabbed the Nakashima girl while she begged him..."

Clang. Shinji's food tray flew through the air. Before Yamato could stop him, Shinji was already on top of the guy, grabbing him by the collar. "Shut your damn mouth!" shouted Shinji, red with rage. "You weren't there! Ken would never do that!"

"Let go of me, you psycho!" shouted the other, pushing him. Shinji landed a right hook on his jaw that knocked him to the floor. Both started rolling, knocking over tables and chairs, trading blows.

"Enough!"

A firm hand grabbed Shinji by the back of his neck and lifted him as if he were a feather. Another hand did the same with the guy spreading rumors. Tanimoto separated them with ease, glaring at them with hatred.

"Behave yourselves," ordered Tanimoto with an authoritative voice. The entire dining hall fell silent.

"He's telling lies about Ken!" claimed Shinji, wiping blood from his lip.

Tanimoto looked at the rumor-spreader. "You are spreading baseless rumors," Tanimoto said coldly. "A rumor is just a rumor until proven otherwise. If I hear you besmirch a comrade's honor before his trial again, I will break your teeth myself. Understood?"

The boy nodded, terrified, and ran off. Tanimoto released Shinji and looked him in the eye. "And you... don't get provoked so easily. If you fight like an animal, you prove them right—that your squad is trash. Wait for the trial. The truth will come to light."

Shinji lowered his head, ashamed but grateful. Tanimoto straightened his uniform and returned to his table, making it clear that, although they were rivals, he played fair.