Inside his dimly lit room, Ryu sat alone on the edge of his bed, eyes fixed on the floor. The flickering bulb above buzzed faintly.
"Why would Ryker ask to be my friend?" he thought. "He's not like the others… there's something off about him. Calm, too calm. He doesn't move without reason."
A quiet knock broke his train of thought.
The door creaked open, and Higashi stepped inside, his eyes shadowed with something unreadable.
"Ryu," Higashi said, voice low, "I need to tell you something."
Ryu didn't look up. "I'm listening."
Higashi hesitated, then took a step closer. "It's Ryker. He's planning something."
"I know," Ryu replied, finally raising his gaze. "But what is it? What is he really after?"
There was a pause.
And then—the sharp smell of kerosene.
"Higashi?" Ryu stood, confused.
But it was too late.
With a sudden motion, Higashi tipped a canister to the floor—kerosene splashing across the wood—and struck a match.
"You'll never control this prison," Higashi said coldly, eyes locked on Ryu.
The match fell.
The room exploded in fire.
Flames danced wildly, swallowing the walls in seconds as smoke curled upward. Ryu stumbled back, coughing, eyes wide in disbelief.
"HIGASHI!!!" he shouted, fury and betrayal echoing in his voice.
But Higashi was already gone, the door swinging shut behind him.
And inside, surrounded by fire, Ryu stood—not broken, not afraid… but burning with something new.
The blaring sirens wailed through the prison halls as smoke thickened, curling into the air like a warning from hell itself.
"Fire! Get the extinguishers! Hurry!" one of the officers shouted, sprinting past terrified prisoners banging against their cell doors.
Flames licked the walls of the east wing as a team of officers rushed to control the chaos. Among the smoke and screaming, Ryu was running—not from the fire, but toward the one who started it.
He saw him.
Higashi.
The boy was slipping through a side corridor, but Ryu caught up and tackled him to the ground.
"Higashi!" he shouted, panting hard. "Why?! Why did you do this?! You know what you've done?"
Higashi lay still for a moment, then turned his head, breathing heavily. "Yeah… I know," he muttered.
"Then WHY?" Ryu's voice cracked.
"You always looked at me like I was weak… like I was someone you had to protect." Higashi's eyes were hollow. "You never saw me as your equal. I was your friend, Ryu. But then you chose him. Ryker."
"I…" Ryu froze. The fire, the noise, the smoke—it all vanished in his ears. "Friend…?"
"Yeah," Higashi whispered. "I was. But I wasn't enough, right?"
Before Ryu could respond, the officers stormed in.
"There! Restrain him!" one shouted. They dragged Higashi up roughly, clamping his wrists in cold steel cuffs.
"He's going to the punishment room," one officer declared, eyes hard.
"No! Wait—!" Ryu called out, stepping forward, but it was too late. Higashi didn't look back.
The hallway fell silent, save for the hiss of foam extinguishers killing the fire.
Ryu dropped to his knees.
His breathing was uneven.
"Friend… Higashi… my friend…" he whispered.
And then, without meaning to—his eyes welled with tears.
"Why… why am I crying…?"
In that moment, Ryu didn't feel like the feared No.1.
He felt like a broken boy.
"I… I know Higashi would never do something like this…" Ryu muttered, trembling. His body shook not from the fire's heat, but from something colder—betrayal.
Then his head rose.
His eyes—no longer filled with sorrow, but blazing with fury.
"I'll kill you, kid…"
Corridor
Kujo sprinted down the hallway, panic on his face.
He burst into Ryker's room without knocking.
"Ryker!" he shouted.
Inside, Ryker was on his bed, laughing—wild, deep, and unsettling.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahhahahahaa!"
Kujo froze in the doorway. "You… you did it, didn't you?" he whispered. "All of it... the fire, the manipulation… Higashi turning on Ryu…"
Ryker wiped a tear from his eye, still chuckling. "Yeah. That's right."
Flashback — Earlier That Moment
The corridor was quiet.
Ryker stood calmly, arms crossed. From behind, footsteps echoed.
"Kid… what are you doing here?" Higashi's voice called out.
Ryker didn't turn. "You want Ryu to be your friend, don't you?"
"I—no. This… this is your plan, isn't it?" Higashi asked, hesitant.
"Of course it is," Ryker replied, smiling. "But you never wanted Ryu to be your equal… you wanted to own him."
"I'll never become your puppet," Higashi spat.
Ryker's voice dropped cold. "Then forget Ryu."
"What…?"
Ryker finally turned to face him. "I'll burn his room. I'll tell him you never cared. I'll make him hate you. I'll kill him right there, and the world will believe it was your hand that lit the flame."
"No! You… you're lying!" Higashi stepped back.
"Yes," Ryker whispered with a smirk. "And everyone here… they're behind me."
Footsteps. Laughter. Eyes in the shadows.
The prisoners began to appear one by one, silent, grinning, some nodding.
"We will." they all said in unison.
Higashi's breathing became shallow. "No… No… NOOO!!"
He turned and ran.
Ryker just stood there…
Smiling.
Women's Prison – Morning
The murmur in the prison yard had grown louder. News traveled faster than footsteps here.
Hana burst into the room, out of breath. Her eyes wide with a mix of shock and excitement.
"Mayumi!" she shouted.
Mayumi, sitting on her bunk reading a worn-out book, looked up lazily. "What is it now? Another catfight in Block C?"
"No—Higashi tried to burn Ryu's room down!" Hana said, her voice trembling with the thrill of gossip. "It was all Ryker's plan!"
Mayumi blinked, then slowly closed her book.
There was a strange smile on her lips. A dark, satisfied smirk.
"…Yeah," she said softly. "I know."
"You know? How?"
Mayumi stood, brushing her long hair back behind her ears. Her eyes sparkled—not with fear, but with fascination.
"Because he's a monster," she said with an almost dreamy smile. "My monster."
Hana took a cautious step back. "You're… happy about this?"
Mayumi looked out the barred window.
"No one plays the game like Ryker," she whispered. "He moves pieces like they were born to obey him. Higashi never stood a chance."
Mayumi sat alone by the window, the sun casting soft stripes through the prison bars. The world outside looked calm, peaceful—even free. But inside her head, a storm was quietly swirling.
She pressed her knees to her chest, chin resting on top.
"That's why… I like monsters."
Her own thoughts echoed loud and clear.
Ryker wasn't just dangerous. He wasn't just clever or bold. He was chaos wrapped in control—cold when needed, fire when challenged. And yet… every move he made stirred something deep in her.
Her cheeks flushed as her mind wandered again—to his smirk when people fell into his trap, the sharpness in his eyes when he saw through lies, and the rare, faint smile he gave Kujo that one afternoon.
She buried her face in her knees, heart racing.
"Ugh… what am I even thinking?" she muttered under her breath, but her lips curved into a shy, crooked smile.
A monster?
No.
He was her kind of monster.
And maybe… just maybe… that's exactly why she couldn't stop thinking about him—every day, every night.