---
Akira collapsed onto the cold ground just before reaching Hinata.
His blood-soaked body lay still, his breaths shallow and broken.
The entire school remained frozen — no one dared to move.
The only sounds were the distant chirping of birds and the soft crackle of the ambulance siren approaching.
John and Kento rushed toward Akira.
Kento carefully lifted Akira's head, noticing how fragile he looked now — like all the rage had been sucked out of him, leaving behind only a shattered boy.
"Is he even breathing?" John muttered, panic creeping into his voice.
The coach and a few teachers finally arrived at the scene, their faces pale with horror. They ordered everyone to move back. The basketball court became a crime scene.
Hinata couldn't move. She stared at Akira's collapsed body, feeling something shatter inside her chest.
The ambulance arrived. Paramedics strapped Akira onto a stretcher, moving swiftly.
As they were about to leave, Hinata cried out, voice shaking:
> "I want to go with Akira!"
She tried to run toward the ambulance, but Kento grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Take Hinata home," John ordered sharply. "And come later to Takamochi Hospital."
"No! Let me come!" Hinata shouted, struggling.
But Kento pulled her harshly toward the parking lot.
John, looking at Akira being carried away, whispered quietly under his breath:
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Toizawa..."
---
Kento dragged Hinata into the car. She struggled, her sobs uncontrollable.
When they reached Hinata's house, Kento pulled her up to her room. Before she could run back out, he locked the door from the outside and sat down, guarding it.
Hinata, still crying, banged against the door.
Her voice was breaking apart:
"Please, Kento... you're his friend… why are you stopping me…?"
Kento remained silent for a moment. Then he spoke, his voice low:
"Do you even know about Akira's past?"
Hinata froze, her sobs catching in her throat.
"No..." she whispered.
Kento leaned his head against the door, eyes closing.
"When Akira was fifteen... he killed a girl named Rin.She was his girlfriend."
Hinata stumbled back, her knees hitting the bed frame.
"No… it's a lie…!" she cried.
Kento's voice hardened, firm and commanding:
"It's true."
The words slammed into Hinata like knives.
"He was arrested and taken to Otsuka Police Station. Mr. John... he was a fresher back then. Probably nineteen years old. He was in charge of Akira's case."
Hinata's voice, now a mere whisper:
"Then...?"
Kento sighed.
"After five months in custody, Akira escaped.
But John… John had already formed a bond with him."
Kento's voice softened slightly.
"Hinata... do you know why John adopted me?"
Hinata said in very low but audible voice " No.. but I think he saw something in you".
"Yeah something like that but the actual thing was my thinking... and my situation... were the same as Akira's."
Hinata, still trembling, asked hesitantly:
"Did you... kill your girlfriend too?"
Kento chuckled dryly.
"No.
I was just... abandoned by my family."
Hinata's tears flowed again.
"Aren't you sad...?
That John adopted you... because he wanted Akira...?"
Kento smiled faintly through the door:
"No.
John gave me a new life.
That's enough."
A long silence.
Then Kento stood up.
"Okay, Hinata. You should sleep.
And... sorry."
Without waiting for her reply, Kento walked down the stairs - . He looked towards second floor and then without wasting a second he sat in car and moved towards the takamochi hospital as John orders...
---