In the dim light of the cell, Yamato opened his eyes slowly, the ceiling above him cracked and rust-stained. His body ached, but his mind wouldn't rest.
"Hey, guys…" he said quietly, voice rough. "What's senkai?"
Shingo, sitting cross-legged in the corner, turned his head weakly. "Beats me," he muttered. "I only heard about it once. Met a Koruzan higher-up before, someone from the Adams Fifth Core. When I shook his hand, he said something weird, that he couldn't feel my senkai." Shingo shrugged faintly. "Didn't understand it then. Didn't bother to ask."
Fate sat in silence, his head bowed. His fists were clenched tight, knuckles pale. The silence around him wasn't empty — it was heavy, like the air before a storm. He looked as though he'd failed something far beyond the prison walls.
Moments later, the iron door creaked. Kate slipped inside quietly, glancing both ways before locking it behind her. She carried a small tray with bandages and a bowl of water. Without a word, she knelt beside them and began tending to their wounds, her movements gentle but her face distant.
For a long while, no one spoke. The only sounds were soft cloth against skin and the faint echo of dripping water. Then Shingo finally broke the silence.
"Don't worry, Kate," he said with a small, tired smile. "I'll free you. I'll free everyone soon."
Kate froze mid-motion. Her eyes narrowed. "Shut up," she snapped, her voice trembling. "You couldn't even do anything back there! You think words can save us now? Just save yourselves when you get the chance and leave us here. At least we were better off before no hope, no pain, no lies."
Tears slipped from her eyes as she turned away.
Shingo lowered his head. "I promise," he said softly. "I'll save you this time."
Kate's hand struck his cheek before he could finish. The sound echoed off the stone walls.
Yamato sat in the corner, silent, his blue eyes faintly glowing in the dark. Across from him, Fate's eyes gleamed a dull yellow, both too quiet, both thinking.
Kate stood abruptly and left, her breath uneven. But just as she reached the gate, Shingo's voice followed her.
"Kate… thanks for taking care of our wounds."
She didn't look back. The door shut behind her.
By the next day, the second before their execution, the cell was colder. Fate traced the marks on his cuffs absently while Yamato, sitting up this time, stared at his palms.
"I still don't understand," Yamato said. "This senkai thing. If we can't use our abilities here, how do we break out?"
Fate sighed. "I've been thinking the same thing. But with these chromium walls, it's impossible. Even the light cuffs drain our energy."
The cell door opened again, and Kate entered with their meals. Her eyes flicked toward Yamato, catching his question mid-thought.
"I heard you talking about senkai," she said quietly, setting down the tray.
Yamato met her gaze. "You know about it?"
"Yes," she replied almost instantly. "Senkai isn't just strength.... it's the burst of will and emotion inside a person. It's power that moves through one's body like light through veins. When released, it amplifies everything... your skills, your abilities, even your spirit."
She looked at her palm as if remembering something painful. "If I punch you with a fire ability, only the punch hurts. But if I use senkai with it… you'll feel the flame and the strike, together."
Fate nodded slowly. "So it's like pushing the energy within us outward… making it real."
Kate smiled faintly. "Exactly."
Yamato's gaze fell to his hands again. He could almost feel something beneath his skin, a spark, faint but alive.
"Giving my ability meaning, huh?" he murmured to himself.
He clenched his fists. The faintest pulse of blue light flickered through his veins.
Then I'll test it out… he thought, eyes narrowing toward the ceiling. And when I'm done.... I'm coming back for you, Draken.
Kate smiled as she left the cell, but Shingo called after her. "Kate… thanks for the info."
She shot him a quick glare and muttered, "Jerk," before hurrying on, a small smile tugging at her lips.
Late that night the courtyard was quiet. Yamato rose from the hard slab and began punching the chromium gate, each strike echoing hollowly through the stone corridors. He folded his breathing into himself and, eyes half-closed, began a standing meditation feeling for the thing Kate had described. In his mind he shaped the words into a rhythm: feel the light moving through your body… reach the fist… channel it outward. Each breath pulled the image closer, like a candle drawing flame into a wick.
Shingo sat up and joined him, pounding the wall behind their cell with slow, deliberate strikes. Fate lay on his pallet, arms folded, watching them with a patient, unreadable expression as if waiting for the moment they broke through.
Guards heard the noise and came down the hall, snickering at the prisoners' futile effort. "You think you'll bust out?" one jeered. "These gates are chromium, they drain whatever little energy you have. Doesn't matter how strong you think you are." The men laughed and walked away, certain the prisoners would be exhausted by dawn.
They reported back to Draken, who only smiled. "Let them tire themselves out," he said. "By morning we'll make an example of them." The soldiers headed off with renewed cruelty in their words.
That evening Kate crept to the gate with a tray of food. Draken emerged from his palace as if by chance and followed her. When she stepped out into the courtyard she received a hard slap across the face that knocked her to the ground. "How many times have I told you to stop feeding the prisoners more than once a day?" a harsh voice demanded.
Kate stood slowly, hair falling into her eyes, but she did not flinch. She looked up at Draken with a steadiness that surprised everyone..... there was something in her gaze that spoke more of challenge than of fear. Draken's smile turned cruel. "You think they can save you?" he sneered. "You need a lesson."
He reached forward as if to humiliate her further. Before his hand could land, a rough grip stopped him. Turning, he found the old overseer, Kate's father, holding his wrist, voice ragged with years of pain. "You did what you did to Heline," the man spat, "but I won't let you touch my daughter again."
Draken's amusement didn't vanish; he simply watched the old man for a heartbeat. Then, with a movement too quick to track, the overseer slumped to the ground as if struck by an unseen force. In the confusion Kate darted away; her father croaked, "Run! I'll buy you time."
Kate did not run toward a hidden road or the hills. Instead she ran straight back to the prison cells, past shocked guards, past the milling slaves, and dove through the gate toward Yamato and the others. Her father, bleeding where he had fallen, looked after her and whispered, "Finish this… end his reign." The old man's voice was resolved, even as his strength failed him.
Draken's expression hardened into cold amusement. "So be it," he said, and turned away to deal with the aftermath.
Inside the cell Yamato and Shingo were still training, breath steady and purposeful, unaware of the sacrifice that had just been made. Outside, the courtyard hummed with new tension, a single spark had been struck, and it would not be long before it became a blaze.
The metallic corridor echoed with the sound of running footsteps.
Kate's breath trembled as tears streamed down her cheeks, her heart heavy with the thought of her father's sacrifice.
Before she could reach the cell gates, shadows emerged from every corner.
A group of Tag Force guards blocked her path, their armor gleaming faintly under the dim lights.
"Where do you think you're going, pretty lady?" one of them sneered, cracking his knuckles.
"The boss said to keep you locked down, so don't blame us if we're rough about it."
The others laughed behind him, their faces twisted with arrogance and amusement. The sound made Kate's stomach churn.
She took a cautious step back, calling out in desperation.
"Yamato! Shingo! Where are you?! Please—!"
Her voice echoed down the corridor, but no one answered.
The guards only laughed harder.
"The faster we wrap this up, the better," another one said, approaching her with a smirk. "Why don't we make it quick, huh?"
When one of them grabbed her wrist, something inside Kate snapped.
She twisted sharply, slamming her knee into his leg. The man howled in pain.
In one swift motion, Kate pulled a small knife from beneath her dress and held it out, trembling but defiant.
Ever since I was a child... someone has always died protecting me, she thought bitterly. My sister Heline… and now Father. I can't keep being the one who's saved.
Her vision blurred as memories flooded back...
It was a cold, moonlit night.
Little Kate held her sister's hand as they crept through the back door.
"Big sis... where are we going?"
"To the shore," Heline whispered, smiling. "I hid a boat there. Remember when I promised to show you the world beyond this island?"
"Yes!" Kate giggled softly. "I can't wait."
But when they reached the coast, their hearts froze...
Draken and his men were already waiting.
"Run!" Heline shouted, pushing Kate toward the speedboat. "Go! I'll distract them and catch up later!"
Kate obeyed, sprinting toward the boat, but turned back just in time to see Heline unleash a storm of lightning against the Tag Force.
For a moment, her power crackled brighter than the moonlight…
Until Draken himself stepped forward.
In seconds, he overwhelmed her. And then, with a cruel smile, he ordered his men to do the unspeakable.
Kate screamed, but her voice was drowned out by laughter and thunder. She ran toward her sister, only to be struck down by Draken himself... his hand slicing across her neck as darkness swallowed her vision.
When she woke, she was home, her father crying silently beside her.
"Dad… where's Big Sis?"
He said nothing. His tears told her everything.
He held her tightly and whispered through trembling lips, "I'm sorry… we can't be saved."
The memory shattered.
Back in the present, Kate's rage ignited like wildfire.
"His reign…" she growled, gripping her knife tighter. "His reign must end today!"
She lunged forward, slashing through the guards.
Two fell, clutching their wounds, but others caught her by the arms, hurling her against the stone wall. Pain shot through her body as the knife clattered away.
One of them stepped closer, licking his lips.
"Let's have a little fun before we hand her over to the boss…"
"Yeah, one time won't hurt," another said, laughing darkly.
Kate's eyes widened in terror, her heart pounding as she screamed, "Shingo! Please!"
And then...
BOOM!
A burst of steam and fire exploded between them, flinging one guard across the hall. The others froze in shock.
The smoke cleared and three silhouettes stood before her.
"What the hell…?" one guard muttered, stepping back.
Kate's tears fell freely as she recognized them.
"Y-Yamato… Shingo… Fate…"
Yamato stepped forward, his eyes calm but blazing with fury.
"You've done enough, Kate," he said with a faint smile. "Thank you for being strong. Leave the rest to us now."
The corridor filled with pressure, Yamato's energy rising like a storm about to break.
The guards trembled, realizing they had provoked something far beyond their reach.
And for the first time since that night, Kate felt it.
the warmth of hope.