AKIHIRO ATLAS
The silence at the table was no longer just silence. It had lasted so long that it had gained its own weight. Sometimes a person would physically feel that the air inside a room was changing; it was as if something invisible was slowly settling on everyone's shoulder, making it difficult to breathe. That's exactly what I was feeling right now. The thoughts in me were entangled with each other. Kuren's voice, Kazami's face, Jared's trembling silence under the bed, Nyoko's head resting on my shoulder, Mizu's trembling breath as he hugged me... all of them were circulating in my mind at the same time. But in the midst of all this, the truth at the center of the table did not change. The lives of two people depended on the words inside this room right now. And people were almost comfortable even discussing it. This comfort scared me. Because when one begins to discuss death decisions calmly one day, one would no longer be distancing oneself from death but merely from one's conscience.
Grand General Yayati examined the documents on the table for a long time without saying anything. His tiny body still looked odd at the head of the table, but no one could underestimate his presence. He has an authority on everyone in this room. The age lines on his face seemed even harder. It was as if he had been managing not only people but also their fears and crimes for years. When his fingers interlocked in slow movements, all eyes in the room turned to him again. I too involuntarily sat up straight. Because at that moment, no matter how broken I felt inside, I still held on to a glimmer of hope. Maybe someone would say something else. Maybe someone would change the direction of this conversation. Maybe someone would say "stop."
Yayati finally spoke.
"Before announcing the final decision," he said in a heavy and resonant voice, "if anyone has an objection or something he wants to add, let him speak now."
At that moment, the room fell silent once more.
And then…
Ryugu laughed. With a voice that disturbed me more than anything else.
This sound startled me involuntarily. Because amidst all the tension in the room, his laughter was utterly out of place. It was as if they had fallen here after leaving a wrong theater play. He tilted his head back slightly; a few strands of his long dark hair fell over his shoulder, but the playful expression on his face remained unchanged. I still didn't know him fully, but from what I'd seen so far, Ryugu's most frightening aspect was his way of mixing seriousness with sarcasm. One couldn't tell when he was joking and when he was really thinking.
Ryugu spread out on his chair and clasped his hands behind his head.
"I just have a little curiosity," he said in a relaxed tone. "Let's say the execution didn't happen. Let's say we took General Shu's words into consideration." His eyes slowly shifted to Shu. There was a slightly mischievous grin on his lips. "Later, these two children were pardoned and re-entered the Cistern. Then they actually went and attacked Nirvana. They took over the Gehenna Engine. People died. The system crashed.
He tilted his head slightly to the side. He put on a sly smile.
"Then will General Shu take full responsibility?"
At that moment, everyone in the room turned their gaze to Shu.
And my chest tightened again.
Because Ryugu hadn't said this just to ask a question. This was a direct trap. If Shu said "yes", he would have taken on the whole burden. If he said "no", he would not have stood behind his own defense. When I realized this at that moment, a cold sense of anxiety spread through me. Because the expression on Ryugu's face still seemed playful, but what he said was deadly sharp.
While I was trying to think of what to say, Shu moved.
He slowly leaned back in his chair.
The expression on his face had not changed. He still seemed calm. But as someone who has known him for many years, I could notice the subtle darkness that formed in the depth of his eyes. That was the scariest thing about Shu. The calmer he appeared, the more dangerous he actually began to think.
Shu smiled slightly.
But it wasn't a warm smile.
"How interesting," he said in a soft tone. "When people start sharing their fears, their need to put responsibility on someone also increases."
Ryugu's grin widened.
"This is not an answer, General Shu."
"No," Shu said calmly. "This is the summary of your problem."
The atmosphere in the room became heavy.
My master tapped his fingers lightly on the table and then continued.
"Cistern's biggest problem has always been the same," he said. "People ignore the reasons because they are afraid of the consequences." His eyes slowly wandered around the room. "A child falls into the system. He gets crushed. It is controlled. He gets scared. His body will fall apart. His mind is suppressed. Then when that boy tries to run away, everyone stands up and shouts 'monster'."
No one spoke.
Master Shu's voice was growing calmer, but this made him even more frightening.
"What a strange sense of justice," he said. "You punish people first for breaking and then for breaking."
Ryugu clapped his hands together lightly.
"Ah, here is General Shu, whom I've been waiting for." He smiled. "We started blaming Cistern again."
Shu turned his eyes to him.
"Because Cistern is guilty."
This sentence came out so directly that the atmosphere in the room momentarily froze.
Austra frowned.
Sao's eyes sharpened.
Phyra lifted his head slightly.
Vartin, on the other hand, tried to remain unresponsive. Because even he probably didn't know how to approach his old friend right now. Strangely enough, he was the quietest one at this meeting.
But Shu continued.
"A system is not just about its rules," he said. "It's about how you shape people." His eyes went black. "And you have established a system here that has been ruled by fear for many years. You made people live under Nirvana and then called it 'peace'.
Ryugu's grin changed slightly this time.
Shu continued.
"You find Kuren and Kazami's thoughts dangerous." He bowed his head slightly. "Perhaps you are right." He tapped his fingers on the table. "But you do not question the order in which their thoughts were born."
"Because the system is still standing," Ryugu said suddenly.
Shu's gaze shifted to him.
This time, Ryugu looked more serious for the first time.
"People aren't hungry." He shrugged. "The cities are still standing. The Archking and Archqueens do not wage direct war. Nirvana is functioning." He smiled. "So the system is working."
A tiny hint of sarcasm appeared in Shu's eyes.
"A prison would also work," he said. "That doesn't make it freedom."
At that moment, everyone in my room fell silent.
Because Shu's words were no longer mere argument. This was a direct attack on Cistern's very existence.
But Shu did not stop.
"And now," he said, "you call what the two boys did 'treason.'" He tilted his head slightly to the side. "It's really interesting." A thin smile formed on his lips. "Because to me, it's just a short cut."
Austra instantly leaned forward.
"Speak carefully, General Shu!"
But Shu completely ignored him.
"If a system steals freedom from people," he said, "one day someone will come and try to steal power from that system."" His eyes turned directly to Yayati. "This has always been the case throughout history."
Then silence fell.
A true silence.
No one spoke.
Not even Ryugu.
Because Shu's last words remained in the room like a heavy fog. There was unease on people's faces. Some were angry. Some were thinking. But no one was comfortable anymore.
I was just trying to breathe.
Because what Shu said had frightened me.
But what was scarier…
was that a part of me agreed with him.
And then everyone slowly turned back to Grand General Yayati.
Because it was now his turn.
The final decision rests with the person who will make it.
Major General Yayati did not speak for a long time. He stood motionless, as if waiting for everyone in the room to quiet down. But this silence was no longer an ordinary silence; it had a kind of weight that fell on one's shoulders, weighing down one's thoughts, making it difficult even to breathe. At that moment, I was looking at the dark-colored wood on the table, but I wasn't actually seeing anything. Shu's words were still echoing in my mind. "If a system steals freedom from people, one day someone will come along and try to steal power from that system." That sentence kept going through my mind because Shu was the one who said it. The man who raised me. The man who taught me to protect Cistern. The man who told me about the value of people. The person who taught me that a general must not only be a warrior but also a pillar standing on the shoulders of his people. But now the same man was talking as if he almost hated this system. Besides, he didn't even feel the need to hide it anymore.
And me...
I didn't know what to believe anymore.
Because the thought that Shu might be right was frightening me.
But thinking that he was wrong also created another fear in me. You ask why?
I don't even want to know.
Yayati finally looked up.
His small body still looked odd at the head of that huge table, but when he spoke, everyone fell silent again. Because no general in this room would interrupt him. People were submitting not only to power, but also to authorities that had been standing for centuries. And Yayati was now speaking not merely as a general, but as if he were Cistern himself.
"The decision has been made," he said in a heavy tone.
My chest tightened involuntarily.
Yayati's eyes wandered over the table.
"Kuren Y and Kazami Korane," he said, "will be tried for high treason against Cistern."
My breathing changed.
But the continuation…
The continuation caused something inside me to truly break.
"As soon as their location is determined," he said, "their executions will be carried out in the Sacred Domain called the World."
That moment…
I really couldn't hear anything.
It was as if all the sounds in the room suddenly disappeared. When a person encounters a very harsh reality, their mind would silence the world for a few seconds to protect them. My mind was doing the same thing right now. Because the word "execution" was no longer theoretical. It was no longer a possibility. The decision had been made. It would happen. Kuren and Kazami would die.
And the people who said this…
It was as if they were making a normal task distribution.
This thought made me feel sick to my stomach.
Guilt began to rise within me. But it wasn't a single emotion. Everything was getting mixed up. There was anger. There was hatred towards myself. There was weariness. There was exhaustion. And the scariest part... there was helplessness. Because I was sitting here. As a general. But I could only listen to the death sentence of my two teammates. I could neither defend them nor protect them. No one, except Shu, truly remembered that they were human anymore. Everyone was talking about them as if they were a "threat." As if they were a "problem." As if they were a "system error."
But they were my people.
Kuren was on my team.
Kazami was on my team.
And me…
I couldn't do anything.
Yayati continued.
"For the execution of the mission," he said, "Team 7 General Hiroshi Matsumoto has been assigned."
I looked up involuntarily.
Hiroshi's face didn't change.
He didn't show a single expression.
"His Lieutenant Daleth will accompany him."
Daleth.
When I heard this name, another uneasiness arose in me. The fact that the person to fight alongside Hiroshi had been chosen already showed how serious this mission was. This was no ordinary capture operation. It was a direct kill order.
And Hiroshi…
When he heard this, he merely bowed his head.
He showed no emotion.
If it were Hiroshi I used to know, he would have gotten angry. He would ask questions. He would feel something. But the man sitting in front of me now seemed to have long since lost his emotions.
"I accept the task," he said in a calm and cold voice.
That's it.
That was all.
That was the only reaction he had to the death sentence handed down for the lives of two innocent people.
Yayati nodded.
"The Sacred Domain Portal will be prepared in the laboratory. Once preparations are complete, your passage to Earth will be granted."
Hiroshi made a brief head movement again.
"Understood."
Then he stood up.
And at that moment, while watching him, a strange feeling arose within me. Because even while walking, Hiroshi looked more like a weapon than a human. There was determination in his steps, but there seemed to be no humanity. It was as if he had buried his own feelings years ago and left only a sense of duty behind. He walked towards the door. He didn't greet anyone. He didn't look at anyone.
I wonder if this had anything to do with Magnus' power?
"If the same thing happened to one of your members... would you do it again, General Hiroshi?"
These words came out of my mouth thoughtlessly.
Hiroshi stood still. Without turning his face toward me, he replied in a calm and quiet tone.
"No one on my team would do such a thing."
And then…
Hiroshi left the meeting room.
The sound of the door closing echoed throughout the room.
As for me, I still couldn't move.
My thoughts were getting confused.
What Shu said.
Ryugu's taunts.
Sao's logical but frightening arguments.
Hiroshi's empty eyes.
Kuren's name.
Kazami's name.
They were all swirling around in my mind.
What was I believing in anymore?
Was the cistern really the correct one?
Or were people just trying to preserve the order they feared?
If Shu is right…
What had I been defending all my life?
And if Shu was wrong…
Why did what they said seem so real to me?
My head started to hurt.
I really couldn't think anymore.
The human mind could not sometimes carry too many contradictions at once. And inside me, dozens of different thoughts were tearing each other apart right now. Part of me was screaming that Kuren couldn't be guilty. Another part of me is like, "what if he really did it?" he was whispering. Part of me wanted to protect Cistern because it was my home. But another part of me was starting to hate the coldness of the people in this room.
And in the middle of all this...
I was getting tired of myself.
Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
It was Vartin.
When I turned my head slightly, I saw the expression on his face. His usual energetic and relaxed demeanor hadn't completely disappeared, but for the first time, there was genuine concern in his eyes. It was as if he didn't know what to say, but still didn't want to leave me alone.
"Aki…" he said in a lower voice. "Does nobody any good shred your head right now."
His voice seemed to be coming from far away.
"Sometimes people..." he continued, trying to smile slightly, "feel worse when they think too much." And believe me, you're thinking too much right now.
Normally, I would involuntarily laugh at these words.
But right now…
Even though I could hear it, I couldn't really hear it.
Because my mind had already drifted elsewhere.
Yayati spoke again at this moment.
"The meeting is over," he said in a tired but authoritative voice. "Thank you for your participation. Everyone can disperse for today."
The chairs started to move.
The generals stood up.
Some were talking among themselves.
Some were silent.
Some were thoughtful.
But I…
I was still sitting.
Because my body seemed to have forgotten how to stand up.
General Vartin's hand was still on my shoulder.
He kept saying something. He was probably trying to cheer me up. But his words no longer reached my mind. Because my thoughts had become so heavy.
Kuren was going to die.
Kazami was going to die.
And me…
I couldn't do anything.
That moment was the first time I truly felt exhausted.
It was as if all the beliefs I had carried for years were being torn not from my shoulders, but directly from my soul.
And the worst part...
I didn't even know which one was correct anymore.
As I walked along the corridor, even the echo of my footsteps felt like it didn't belong to me. Those endless stone corridors of Cistern were silent as usual, but today there was no peace in that silence; on the contrary, there was an ominous echo that entered into a person's mind and magnified his thoughts, distorted them, whispered the worst possibilities in his ear over and over again. My shoulders were heavy. It was like I was carrying an invisible burden on my back. It was as if after leaving the meeting hall, I had not only left a room, but also started walking through the wreckage of all the thoughts I had been building about myself for years. I could still feel the warmth of Vartin's hand on my shoulder, but even that couldn't reach me anymore. Because only the same images kept returning in my mind: Hiroshi's cold face, the sound of the word execution hitting the stone walls in the hall, my master's inscrutable smile, Sao's condescending gaze... and the names of Kuren and Kazami. Everything was mixed up. Even when I was breathing, the inside of my chest hurt.
I slowly closed my eyes, but it didn't change anything. On the contrary, the thoughts became clearer. If Hiroshi really goes to Earth... if he really finds them... if the decision made at the end of this meeting comes to fruition... what would I do? What was I going to tell my team? How was I supposed to look into Nyoko's eyes? Urizen kirilmislig again when I see stupid jokes behind, what did I say? "I couldn't save them?" No, I've had worse than that. Maybe I've been working to save them. What did I do other than sit and watch it through the meeting? My master fought. Shu has cornered the entire hall by himself. He tore up laws, crushed arguments, spoke without fear. As for me, I could only sit and have difficulty breathing. And now... even as I walked down the corridor, the only thing on my mind was questioning whether I truly was a general.
My steps involuntarily slowed down. Even my shadow falling on the stone floor seemed alien to me. The thought "No one will ever trust me again..." echoed in my mind. And this thought was so heavy that I actually forgot to walk for a few seconds. Because it wasn't just my team's confidence. It was also the disintegration of the only identity I had tried to hold on to all my life. I promised to protect people. I had promised Jared. I had promised myself. But now, at the end of all this, I was walking here as a man who could not prevent the execution of my own members. Maybe I was really a failure. Maybe Sao was right. Maybe people just saw me as a "well-meaning but inadequate child".
Just as I was thinking these things, I noticed a shadow in the corridor ahead.
My steps stopped instantly.
My heart beat faster involuntarily.
Because it was impossible not to recognize that silhouette.
Long white hair. A neat and heavy-looking white jacket. That frightening calmness that descends upon one even under the dim lights of the corridor.
Master.
Shu Pryhhi.
My throat went dry. I didn't know what to say. I just stared at him for a few seconds. He didn't move at all. He stood in the middle of the corridor, staring at me. There was something in that look. It was strange. It was cold. He was even more serious than he had been at the meeting. And this was the first time it truly made me uneasy.
I swallowed.
"U-Master…" I said involuntarily; my voice sounded weaker than I had expected. "I… just—"
I couldn't understand what happened the next second.
My body suddenly lifted off the ground.
Shu's hand was gripping my collar.
And then—
BOOM.
My back hit the wall with terrible force.
My breath was cut off instantly.
The cracking sound of the stone wall echoed down the corridor.
The pain was so intense that I couldn't hear anything for several seconds. My eyes opened involuntarily. Shu was pushing me against the wall with one hand. His fingers were squeezing my collar so tightly that I was having difficulty breathing. And the scariest part… was the expression on his face.
Because I've seen him angry many times in my life. I've seen it serious many times. But for the first time... there was truly suppressed anger in his eyes.
I tried to breathe in, saying, "What...?" "What are you doing...?""
Shu's face was now incredibly close to mine. His eyes were looking directly into mine. I couldn't escape. Under those looks, I felt as if my mind were falling apart.
"You"" he said in a low but eerily calm voice, "do you realize what you were doing in that hall just now, Akihiro Atlas?"
His tone of voice wasn't shouting.
But that made him even scarier.
Because Shu never really needed to shout.
While I was trying to breathe, he squeezed his hand a little tighter. The stone wall cracked again behind my back. I gritted my teeth with the pain coursing through my spine.
"Master... I just—"
"Just what?" he interrupted me. "Did you try to defend? Did you want to help? Did you want to prove yourself?
His eyes narrowed.
"You unknowingly disrupted the balance of that room."
My heart sank.
Because what they said... hurt me.
He continued.
"I was fighting with words there. I was using loopholes in the law. I was making people's fears collide with each other. I was trying to decipher Yayati's way of speaking. I was using Sao's ego. I was directing Ryugu's sarcasm." His voice was getting heavier and heavier. "And you... in the middle of all this, you acted on your feelings and put leverage in their hands."
My breath trembled.
Because he was right.
And I think that hurt me the most.
Shu saw this.
He noticed the sparkle in my eyes.
But his hand didn't relax.
"A general doesn't just have to be strong," he said in a cold tone. "A general must be controlled so as not to turn his own feelings on the battle field. But you were just scared out there today. You got angry. You panicked. And do you know what happened as a result?
I nodded my head slightly involuntarily.
Shu brought his face a little closer.
"In their eyes, you now only look weak."
This sentence…
It stuck somewhere inside me.
It really stuck.
Because I had been thinking about it all along the corridor.
And now...
The person I respect the most was saying this to my face.
My eyes trembled.
When Shu noticed this, he remained silent for a few seconds. Then his voice grew a little lower. But it didn't make it any less painful.
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Aki."
My breathing became irregular.
"If you really want to protect your people... you need to stop breaking so easily first."
The silence in the corridor became heavy.
And me...
For the first time...
I was afraid of my master.
Perhaps this would be the first and last time I was afraid of him. Because... He would never treat me badly... Why are you doing this to me now, master...?
My chest was still having difficulty breathing. Shu's hand remained on my collar, and I could feel the pressure of the cracked stones on my back inside my spine. The dim lights of the hallway were starting to blur in my eyes because my eyes were really full now. I was trying to contain myself. I was clenching my teeth, trying to regulate my breathing, and trying to look like a general, but it wasn't working. Something inside me had already been broken. And the scariest part was that the person who broke it wasn't my enemy, but the person I admired the most throughout my life.
My throat is knotted. I tried to recover my voice, but the first word trembled as it came out of my mouth.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." I said with difficulty. "I... I really didn't want to ruin it... I was just... I was just trying to help..."
Shu's eyes did not soften one bit.
Those looks were tearing me apart.
Because there was disappointment in those eyes.
And I had never been as afraid of anything in this life as I was of being a disappointment in Shu's eyes.
Because this was one of the few things I would die for.
My breathing became irregular. My hands were shaking involuntarily. I lowered my head slightly because I felt like if I looked into your eyes, I would actually start crying.
"This won't happen like this again..." I said hastily. "I can control it… I really can… just today… I… I'm confused… when I heard what happened about Kuren and Kazami…"
"Shut up."
These two words felt so cold that my body involuntarily tensed.
Shu's expression remained unchanged. His eyes were still frighteningly calm, but beneath that calmness was no longer repressed anger; there was something worse: contempt.
"You still don't understand what you did wrong," he said in a heavy, sharp voice. "And that's what really bothers me."
My heart sank.
Shu tilted his head slightly to the side. His gaze was wandering over my face, as if he were reading all my inner fears.
"You can't control your emotions, Aki. Everyone saw the look on your face while sitting in the meeting hall. Everyone heard the shaking of his voice. Your anger, your fear, panic, everyone felt it." His lips curled disdainfully. "And yet you still call yourself a general."
I lowered my head a little more.
My chest was hurting.
But he didn't stop.
"A general cannot act like a tearful child on the battlefield. One who cannot protect his people is not a general." Someone who cannot even control their own mind is not human at all." His eyes darkened. "Today in that hall, you not only disgraced yourself. You made me look like an idiot too. Put aside your generals… I might even question the humanity of someone who behaves like that!"
That sentence…
It pierced me like a knife somewhere inside me.
My breath caught in my throat for a moment.
Because being Shu Pryhhi's student... was one of the most precious things in my life.
And now...
He was telling me that I had brought shame upon him. What was he telling me?
My eyes filled with tears involuntarily. I bit my lips. I was trying not to cry. I really was trying. But it wasn't happening. Because as he continued to talk, it was as if all the fears that I had been hiding from myself for years were coming to the surface one by one.
"I…" I started, but my voice broke. "I'm trying my best…"
Shu suddenly pulled me back.
And this time it hit harder.
As my back hit the wall, pieces of stone fell to the ground.
The pain darkened my eyes.
My breath completely failed me.
An involuntary hoarse sound escaped my mouth.
The corridor echoed.
While Shu continued to hold me by the collar, he brought his face closer to mine and his voice became truly harsh for the first time.
"Is this all you can do?" he said angrily. "Is this all your capacity? To be torn apart in a few harsh sentences? To stand frozen in place while people die? Making things worse when you're trying to play defense?"
I clenched my teeth.
But my mind was now having difficulty hearing him.
Because what he said…
He was right.
And I couldn't deny it.
The voices inside me were starting to grow louder.
You are a failure.
You are inadequate.
You cannot protect people.
You cannot defend your team.
You failed to protect Jared.
You can't protect Kuren.
You can't protect Kazami.
Now you're losing your master too.
My eyes started to close. I truly hated myself now. I felt nauseous. I couldn't bear Shu's look at me. Because for the first time, I couldn't see love in that look. For the first time, I couldn't see admiration. There was only anger and disappointment.
And me...
For the first time in my life...
I felt like my master had grown cold towards me.
This thought shattered me.
"I..." I said, trembling. "I'm sorry... really... I just... wanted to be like you..."
Shu's face hardened even more.
"You can't be like me. A person like you can't be like me."
As he said this, the hateful expression on his face turned into a smile. Tolerant, that happy smile I've always known. His eyes squinted slightly. Actually, this sudden change hurt me, and these words, this sentence...
This sentence broke me completely.
Because when he said that, his voice was so precise…
It was as if he had made a decision about me.
I bowed my head. My tears couldn't stop anymore. The stone was falling to the floor, but I didn't care. I was disgusted with myself. I was really disgusted. I was just an idiot trying to be the most important person in people's lives, but I let everyone down. I had ruined Jared's life. I couldn't protect my team. My brother was worried about me. And now...
Now even the person I value most in my life was looking at me like that.
Something inside me broke.
And at that moment…
I spoke without thinking.
"Maybe…" I said breathlessly, "maybe I hate you too…"
Silence.
A terrible one-second silence.
My eyes opened the moment that sentence left my mouth.
My heart felt like it was going to stop.
The moment I realized what I had said, I felt cold inside.
No.
No no no.
I didn't mean to say that.
This wasn't real.
This was just pain.
It was just lack of control.
It was just hurt feelings.
"Master, I—"
I was just about to speak.
And at that moment...
For a second...
Shu smiled.
But it wasn't a normal smile.
Sneaky.
Scary.
Incomprehensible.
As if they had heard exactly what they wanted to hear.
And then—
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Shu's voice shook the corridor.
Suddenly, he threw me off his shoulders.
My body was thrown across the stone floor.
My shoulder hit the wall.
I lost my breath.
I was dizzy.
But what was much worse than the pain was…
Shu turning his back and walking away.
Without stopping.
Without asking for any explanation.
Without listening to me at all.
I stood motionless on the floor while listening to footsteps receding down the corridor.
And for the first time...
I truly felt alone.
Lying motionless on the icy stones of the corridor, I was looking at the ceiling, but I couldn't really see anything anymore, because the only thing echoing in my mind was that terrible sentence that had just come out of my own mouth, and no matter how hard I tried to breathe, I couldn't swallow it back. "I hate you.""I said this to my master, one of the people I respect the most, the one I love the most, and the only person who truly understands me in this world, throughout my life." Moreover, without thinking. Because of my emotions that I cannot control. By failing at exactly what he had been trying to teach me for years. Maybe Shu was right; I was truly just a child who broke everything around him out of fear. Because wherever I went, while I was trying to improve people's lives, I was ultimately only increasing their burdens. I was the cause of Jared's tears. I was the one who couldn't defend Kuren and Kazami. I was the one who couldn't protect my team. And now... I was the one who turned into a disappointment even in my master's eyes. That heavy feeling of guilt inside me was no longer just regret; it was like a rotting process that had penetrated my soul. The more I thought about that sly smile that Shu wore when he left for a second, the worse I felt, because I couldn't understand that expression, but that's exactly what I couldn't make sense of; I was too far away from him to understand what my master was thinking anymore. And sometimes a person loses a relationship not by a single betrayal, but by the accumulation of small fractures over the years... I think today I broke the bond that I value most in my life with my own hands.
END OF CHAPTER