Chaos erupted throughout the dining hall in an instant.
Haruto froze where he stood.
"YUKI!"
His voice echoed through the entire room.
But Yuki was already being dragged toward the door.
Sora immediately swallowed the bite she had in her mouth.
"H-Hey... this... this energy... This door isn't a real door. I can feel energy coming from it!"
Alex turned toward her.
"What do you mean?"
Lady Akira immediately looked at Alex.
"Alex... don't tell me... here too?"
At that moment, the door opened.
And a man wearing a black cloak stepped out.
This was the punishment for an incident that had happened years ago.
The man moved so fast that before anyone could react, he grabbed the confused and shocked Yuki and pulled him toward himself.
His hand gripped the boy's arm like an iron vise.
Yuki struggled in terror.
"L-Let go! Let go of me!"
Daichi and Sora moved at the same time.
"YUKI!"
Both of them rushed toward the door.
But the cloaked man raised one hand.
Purple Quiri energy exploded.
BOOOOOOOM!
The shockwave overturned tables.
Chairs flew through the air.
Daichi was thrown backward.
Sora barely managed to protect herself.
"Damn it!"
At the same time, Ren and Zen sprang into action.
"Let him go!"
"Yuki!"
The caretakers immediately shouted in panic.
"The twins, no!"
"Please, it's too dangerous!"
But the twins weren't listening.
Both of them kept running forward.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, Kazeki was trying to move forward in his wheelchair.
"Yuki..."
The caretakers immediately rushed to his side.
"No! Stop!"
"Your injuries will open up again!"
Kazeki tried to push them away.
"Let me go!"
But after moving only a short distance, he stumbled again.
His legs trembled.
The caretakers began pulling him back by force.
"Let me go!"
"Yuki is alone!"
Kazeki's voice shook.
Meanwhile, in the corridor...
The cloaked man continued dragging Yuki away.
Haruto finally snapped out of his shock.
And started running.
"YUKI!"
At that exact moment, Kaito appeared beside him.
The bandages were still wrapped around his shoulder.
The wounds he had suffered yesterday hadn't fully healed.
Yet he was still running.
Haruto's face had gone completely pale.
His eyes were wide with fear.
"No..."
"No..."
Kaito grabbed his shoulder.
"Haruto!"
Haruto didn't hear him.
He was only looking at Yuki.
"Yuki..."
For the first time, Kaito fell silent.
The usually cold expression on his face tightened.
Because he could see that Haruto was truly terrified.
At the end of the corridor, Yuki continued struggling.
"H-Haruto... big brother!"
Those words hit Haruto like a punch to the heart.
"YUKI!"
Suddenly, lightning exploded.
CRAAAAACK!
Kaito lunged forward.
But just as he was about to attack...
The cloaked man turned and looked at him.
At that moment...
Kaito's eyes widened.
Because he recognized the Quiri energy surrounding the man.
"Damn it..."
Alex had also reached the corridor.
Lady Akira's expression hardened.
"That energy..."
Sora held her breath.
"Impossible..."
Daichi swallowed nervously.
The corridor walls trembled.
Purple energy spread like dark mist.
The cloaked man stopped.
Then slowly spoke.
His voice sent chills down everyone's spine.
"What an emotional welcome..."
No one answered.
The man slightly raised his head.
"Well then..."
"I suppose I should introduce myself."
The purple energy intensified even further.
Akira's eyes widened.
Alex clenched his fists.
Because that energy was impossible to forget.
It resembled the energy of the creature that had attacked Sakura Headquarters years ago.
The man chuckled softly.
"You still remember."
"How wonderful."
Haruto's heart began racing.
"You..."
The man tilted his head.
"I am a Kafin."
The hall fell silent.
Ren's face turned pale.
Zen couldn't speak.
Hearing those words from afar, Kazeki froze.
Kafin...
That name had been spoken with fear for years.
The man smiled.
"But the more interesting part is..."
He tightened his grip on Yuki's shoulder.
"...I didn't die."
Instantly, everyone remembered the same event.
The Sakura Headquarters attack.
The massacre from years ago.
The man burst into laughter.
"I survived."
"And..."
His eyes darkened.
"Look."
"I came back."
BOOOOOOOM!
Purple energy flooded the corridor.
Yuki squeezed his eyes shut in fear.
Haruto tried to rush forward.
But Alex grabbed him.
"Stop!"
"It could be a trap!"
"I DON'T CARE!"
Haruto's voice cracked.
For the first time, he looked truly furious.
"YUKI IS THERE!"
At that moment...
The cloaked man began retreating.
Walking toward the darkness at the end of the corridor.
As if the shadows themselves were swallowing him.
Alex shouted.
"Stop him!"
Kaito gathered lightning in his hands.
But suddenly the man turned his head.
And for a single second...
His hood slipped down.
Everyone froze.
Sora's eyes widened.
Daichi forgot to breathe.
Haruto stood completely still.
Because what they saw was impossible.
The face...
Looked familiar.
Far too familiar.
Ren whispered,
"No..."
Zen's voice trembled.
"That can't be."
Kaito's eyes widened.
"Kenji...?"
Silence.
One second.
Two seconds.
Then the hood covered his face once again.
The man said nothing.
Not a single word.
But his eyes...
They looked exactly like Kenji's.
Haruto stood there in shock.
"Impossible..."
Because Kenji should have been at headquarters.
Shouldn't he?
Or...
The man slowly retreated into the darkness.
Yuki cried out one final time.
"H-Haruto big brother!"
And then...
The shadows closed.
BOOOOOOM!
Purple energy exploded.
The corridor became empty.
The man was gone.
Yuki was gone.
And only a deathly silence remained.
No one could speak.
No one could move.
Haruto's lips trembled.
"Yuki..."
Kaito silently clenched his fists.
For the first time, there was genuine fear in his eyes.
Lady Akira's face had become stone.
Alex continued staring at the dark corridor.
Because a single question had lodged itself into everyone's mind.
If that person was really Kenji...
Then who was the Kenji that died during the Sakura Headquarters attack?
And even worse...
Which Kenji was the real one?
The dead one...
Or the one who had just appeared?
To Be Continued...