Hakuto opens his eyes.
He's lying on the big double bed in Kagura's room.
The scene feels familiar—it's just like what happened after the training with Shin.
Chantal lies next to him—she's naked.
She hasn't woken up yet.
Even with the confusion clouding his mind, Hakuto remembers it clearly.
Her body, burned and wounded from head to toe.
That image is burned into his memory.
Seeing her now calms him a little.
There are still marks from the brutal fight with Ana and Frank.
But they are fewer, and not as bad as that night.
Her chest rises and falls, very slowly.
But she's breathing.
That alone is enough to push away the worst fears—the ones that struck him when he saw her unconscious.
His wounds aren't as bad as Chantal's.
But his body is still in bad shape.
A deep fit in the chest makes every breath painful.
His head throbs—there's a wound that hasn't healed yet.
Sharp fits strike his limbs every time he tries to move.
