Afternoon. Prison mess hall.
Metal trays slammed down on the tables, the clang echoing through the stone room. The air smelled of boiled rice, iron, and sweat. Kurai sat in silence, arms crossed, ignoring the slop on his tray.
Kenzo sat across from him, carefully picking at his food. "They say we're getting another prisoner," he murmured. "From Cellblock F. Heard he's... not exactly friendly."
"I don't care," Kurai muttered.
Novva snorted. "You never care. That's the problem with you, shadow-boy."
"I care about surviving." Kurai shot back, eyes narrowed. "And if you had half a brain, you'd do the same."
Before Novva could respond, the steel doors burst open. A large, scarred man strutted in ... eyes scanning the tables like he owned the place. His presence dragged the air down with tension.
"That's Kobu," Anna whispered from beside Kurai, voice trembling. "He's... one of them. He used to be a guard. Got thrown in after killing another during a raid."
Kobu's gaze landed on Kurai's table.
"You new?" Kobu growled. "You look soft."
Kurai didn't answer.
Kobu slammed his tray down next to him. "Didn't you hear me, bitch-boy?"
Kurai's eye twitched. "I'm not interested."
But Kobu wasn't here to talk. "You stink of secrets," he hissed. "You reek of fear. And I hate secrets."
Suddenly, Kobu shoved Kurai's tray off the table. Food splattered across the floor.
Kenzo stood. "Back off."
Kobu cracked his knuckles. "What are you gonna do, monk?"
Before Kenzo could respond, Kobu lunged. Fist aimed straight at his face.
Kurai moved without thinking.
His body collided with Kobu's ... not out of instinct to protect, but because Kobu's blow would've broken Kenzo's nose, and Kenzo revealing his Itsuko in a panic might doom them all.
Kurai elbowed Kobu in the ribs, hard enough to stagger him, then swept his legs. The large man fell with a grunt.
Kurai stood over him. "Next time, pick a weaker table."
Kobu growled. "You're gonna pay for that, freak."
Kurai walked away. His hand trembled, not from fear ... but from the closeness of exposure.
Back at the cell later that night, Novva looked at him in awe. "You didn't have to jump in like that. You saved Kenzo."
"I didn't do it for him," Kurai said coldly.
"You say that," Kenzo replied, smiling, "but actions speak louder."
Anna watched him from the corner, something soft growing in her expression.
But in Kurai's mind, only one thought echoed:
"If Kenzo panicked and used Itsuko... we'd all be dead."
No one ever thanked a selfish man for hiding the truth.
But Kurai didn't need thanks. He needed silence.
And survival.
Day 32( 3 days later ) - Mining Prison Sector
Snow lashed at their faces like needles. The wind howled across the wasteland where the mines stretched beneath frostbitten mountains, dull and endless. Unlike the usual zones, this one was untouched by guards. No watchtowers. No patrols. Just the biting cold and the silence between slaves.
Kurai stood motionless in the snow, pickaxe buried halfway into a frozen boulder. His breath fogged in the air, slow and quiet. The others chipped away at rocks, digging for resources none of them even understood. Anna kept to herself, shivering beside Novva, while Kenzo worked methodically with little complaint. A strange tension lingered.
From the far end of the zone, heavy footsteps crunched toward them. A silhouette emerged through the snowfall.
"Yo, look who got sent to the no-man's land today," Kobu smirked, cracking his knuckles. His beady eyes scanned the group, lingering on Anna and Novva. "You guys gonna survive out here without your little babysitter guards?"
Kurai didn't flinch. His gaze stayed locked on the icy stone in front of him.
Kobu stepped closer, tossing his own pickaxe aside. His eyes lingered on their figure like a butcher sizing up a carcass.
Then he looked at Anna. "And you... You must be the one they all talk about. I can see why."
Anna looked away, hugging herself.
Kobu stepped closer, eyes locked on Novva. "You know, it's funny. I don't see your leash, sweetheart. Did that brute forget to tie you up before letting you out?"
Novva stepped forward, no hesitation. "Say that again, and I'll make you regret having vocal cords."
Kobu laughed even louder. "Feisty. I like that. Can I have this one?" he added, glancing mockingly at Kurai. "You don't mind sharing, do you?"
Kenzo moved in, placing himself between them. "Walk away, Kobu."
But Kurai still didn't move. Didn't blink.
His mind wandered, dragged inward, deeper than the storm outside.
In his head...
The snow had numbed his fingers, but it wasn't the cold that made him feel frozen. It was the questions. They repeated endlessly.
How long can I stay here? How long until I find a way out?
But then-"If I escape... then what?"
His grip on the pickaxe tightened.
Go back to the Resistance? To Seiko? To the others? It's been three years for them. Maybe they think I'm dead. Maybe... they forgot I even existed.
A blur of Nao's smile crossed his memory like a flicker of warmth in the frost.
They couldn't have died. I saved them. I'm a hero. I killed Nazrat, didn't I? I was their sword. But... maybe another Sin came after. Maybe they weren't strong enough.
The blade in his memory cracked. Splintered.
I destroyed Nazrat... and maybe myself too. Maybe that wasn't the right choice.
"Hey, asshole!" Kobu's voice cut the silence. "I'm talking to you!"
Kenzo was standing firm, arms slightly raised in defense. But he looked tired. Worn. Anna clung behind him, her eyes wide, trembling-not from fear, but because she knew what might happen if they fought. If the truth of their Itsuko leaked out.
"I said-are you deaf or just pathetic?" Kobu lunged.
Kenzo stepped forward and blocked the first hit, countering with a solid punch to Kobu's jaw. But Kobu barely flinched. With a grunt, he slammed his fist into Kenzo's ribs and hurled him back like a sack of bones.
Kurai's breathing deepened. His fingers twitched.
Nao!... Nao shouldn't have gotten dragged into this. She should've had normal life. The worlds looks destroyed. Nothing seems saved. The world isn't healed-it's worse.
He stared into the ice.
What should my purpose be? Maybe I'm supposed to rot here. Maybe I'm just a broken relic of a war that never ended.
My Youkai won't answer me... My sword is gone...
Everyone is my enemy here... and I'm the weakest one.
Is this... my destiny?
Anna screamed.
Kenzo hit the ice-hard ground with a sickening thud.
Kurai's eyes widened. The fog in his mind cracked-but his legs wouldn't move.
He was shaking.
That thing... That look in Kobu's eyes... it reminded me-
Another memory. A darker one.
Blood-soaked snow. His stepmother's body collapsed beside a fireplace. That man who killed her. His eyes were hinting the same thing...a murderer.
I froze back then too. I couldn't move. Couldn't stop it. As weak as I am right now, and I couldn't protect a single soul.
Kobu turned back to the girls, licking a cracked lip.
"You're gonna pay for that, freak," he snarled, stepping toward Novva.
Anna rushed to Kenzo's side, shaking him. "Please, get up! Please..."
Kurai still couldn't move. The fear. The doubt. It gripped him tighter than any chain.
But Novva didn't back down. She stood firm, fists clenched. Her aura shimmered faintly-barely perceptible, but Kurai saw it.
She was ready to fight.
"I said back off," she growled.
Kobu laughed. "What are you gonna do? Slap me?"
He swung. She ducked.
She struck back-twice in the ribs, one knee to the gut. She fought with everything she had, rough and raw, like someone with no real training but enough pain to make it hurt.
Kobu staggered but didn't fall.
"YOU BITCH!" he screamed, grabbing her by the throat.
She kicked at him, nails clawing at his arm. Anna cried out. Kenzo stirred-barely conscious.
Kurai's heart pounded.
If I don't act... someone will die again.
The frost cracked.
Kurai ran forward, finally breaking through his paralysis, and tackled Kobu from the side. The two crashed into the snow.
They rolled, fists flying, blood staining the ice. Kobu roared and slammed his elbow into Kurai's face.
"You think you're a hero?" he spat.
Kurai didn't respond. He fought back, tooth and nail, no powers, no magic. Just hate. Just anger. Just survival.
The moment Kobu reached for Novva again-Kurai bit his arm, then pulled a rock from the snow and smashed it into his head.
Again.
Again.
Until Kobu went still.
Snow fell in silence.
Blood steamed in the cold.
Novva clutched her throat, coughing.
Anna helped Kenzo up.
Kurai staggered to his feet, panting, half-conscious.
"You..." Novva said, voice hoarse. "You saved us."
But Kurai didn't look at her. He didn't look at anyone.
In his head: No. I didn't save anyone. I just couldn't let him see me as weak. I didn't care what happened to them. I just couldn't let him win.
He said nothing.
Novva took a step closer. "Thank you... I mean it."
Kenzo was leaning on Anna, who said nothing either. Still brainwashed by faith in the man who wouldn't even meet her eyes.
The snow kept falling.
And somewhere in the distance... the echoes of footsteps began to fade.
That Night - 4:00 A.M.
Kurai's eyes opened, slow and hollow. A weight pressed against his chest - not physical, but something worse.
The silence felt... unnatural. No guards yelling. No footfalls. No chains rattling.
He looked around. Only Anna.
"...Wake up." His voice cracked. He barely recognized it.
Anna stirred, groggy. "Mmh... what is it?"
"Where are Novva and Kenzo?"
She blinked, rubbed her eyes. "They were here last night... I-I don't know."
Kurai pressed his fingers to his temple. Something was wrong. Not just in the room - in him.
His breath came out shaky.
"I feel something," he muttered. "Something wrong. Something dark... like the sky before it splits open."
Anna's eyes widened. She pulled her knees close. "W-What do we do?"
"...We wait." Kurai's eyes didn't blink. "If they don't wake us by 4:30... we move."
4:31 A.M.
Nothing.
Kurai stood slowly, knees aching from the cold stone floor.
His breath hung in the frozen air like a ghost.
"They're never late. The guards. Even monsters have a routine."
Anna sat in the corner, teeth slightly chattering. Kurai barely noticed. His thoughts were racing again.
What if this is it? What if this is the end? Maybe... maybe I'm supposed to disappear here.
A sound - low, growling.
Kurai snapped his head up.
From the far end of the corridor, something moved. Something unnatural. Long. Lean.
A wolf-like thing slinked into the light, skin stretched too tightly, like it had been peeled and stitched back wrong. Its eyes burned like coals pulled from something not of this world.
It didn't look at him. It looked at Anna.
Kurai didn't think. He reacted.
He grabbed Anna and hurled her back just as the beast lunged. The bars didn't slow it - they shattered like twigs.
The creature was mid-air, inches from Anna's face -
-and Kurai slammed his fist into its ribs, twisting mid-motion. The impact cracked something deeper than bone.
The beast dissolved in black mist around his bleeding arm.
He caught Anna before she hit the floor. She clung to him, hands trembling.
"I'm sorry I woke you," he whispered, eyes hollow. "But I don't think we're sleeping again tonight."
Anna's breath hitched. Her voice was small, broken. "What was that?"
Kurai didn't answer. He stared into the hallway, into the dark.
They're coming now... whatever they are.
And this time... I don't think I'm enough.
Anna leaned against him. Her voice barely audible:
"I love you."
Kurai's grip tensed. He didn't look at her.
He didn't say a word.
He just watched the black hallway. And waited.