Chapter Text
Pain had stopped being sharp days ago.
Now it was a dull, constant hum — like his nerves had given up trying to warn him. His shoulders burned where the chains bit deepest. The seals carved into the cuffs pulsed, draining his chakra until even breathing felt heavy. He floated between sleep and waking.
But every time he slipped too far, someone’s voice pulled him back.
Not someone real. Memory.
A small boy’s voice. Laughing. Calling his name.
He clung to it.
Hisaki. Don’t think about him.
Don’t imagine him here.
A woman's giggle, her eyes, pale lilac-- glanced up at him shyly. Her smile, soft and petal made his heart bloom.
The memory felt distant, the thought cruel.
But his mind, weak and feverish, betrayed him again and again.
Time had no shape down here. The darkness never shifted. The cold never left. He didn’t know how many days it had been.
But suddenly, something changed.
A faint sound. Bare feet.
Light.
And—
A tiny, trembling voice.
“Kenji… it’s me.”
For a second, he thought he was dreaming again.
Another hallucination to torture him.
But then—
A small hand touched his arm.
Warm.
The first warmth he’d felt in weeks.
His eyes snapped open so fast the room spun.
Through blurry vision—
Hisaki.
Hisaki.
Not a hallucination.
Pale face.
Dark eyes wide with fear he was trying so hard to hide.
Moonlight around him like a halo.
Kenji’s heart lurched — painful, violent.
No. No. No.
He shouldn’t be here. He can’t be here.
Hisaki pressed his forehead to Kenji’s arm.
“I found you.”
Kenji’s throat tightened so hard he couldn’t breathe for a moment.
He tried to speak. Nothing came out but air.
He forced it again, dragging the sound through the dryness of his throat.
“H…Hisaki…”
The boy stiffened, eyes lifting to him.
Before Kenji could say more—
Footsteps.
Toneri.
Kenji’s blood went cold.
“No…” he rasped, voice cracking. “Don’t— don’t you touch him.”
His chakra was gone. His strength was gone. But instinct — raw, primal — surged through what remained of him.
He lurched forward.
The chains snapped him back, tearing the skin at his wrists. The sound was wet. Pain exploded down his arms.
Hisaki gasped. “Kenji—!”
Kenji ignored the pain completely, eyes locked on the tall, pale figure entering the chamber.
Toneri’s voice was calm, almost gentle.
“So. The boy found you after all.”
He stepped further inside.
“No matter. I intended for him to.”
Hisaki stepped backward — but Kenji moved again, straining so hard the chains groaned.
“Stay behind me—”
His voice died as the chains yanked him down to one knee.
He wheezed, but still glared at Toneri with feral stubbornness.
Toneri observed the scene with mild curiosity.
“How remarkable,” Toneri said. “Even starved, drained, and at death’s edge… you still try to shield him.”
Kenji bared his teeth.
“Come near him… I’ll kill you.”
It was pathetic. Empty. He had nothing left.
But he meant it with every cell in his body.
Toneri’s eyes softened, disturbingly serene.
“You misunderstand, Kenji.”
He turned his gaze toward Hisaki.
“I have no intention of harming the child. He is… important.”
Hisaki stiffened.
Kenji’s pulse hammered.
"You however..."
Toneri stepped closer. His head tilted in arrogance. "You are disposable."
Kenji roared, the sound tearing from somewhere deep in his chest — but his voice cracked halfway through, collapsing into a ragged cough.
He pulled against the chains until his vision spotted with black.
Toneri ignored him.
“You have awakened, Hisaki Hyuga,” Toneri murmured. “And your eyes… though peculiar in color, hold a purity even the main branch has forgotten.”
Hisaki tried not to shake. Kenji saw it anyway.
Toneri continued, almost reverent: “You belong here.”
Kenji’s voice scraped out, barely more than a whisper.
“Don’t… listen… to him…”
Toneri smiled faintly. Almost fatherly.
“You will understand in time.”
He extended a hand toward the boy.
Hisaki took a step back.
Kenji moved so violently his chains screamed.
“RUN—!” he shouted, voice breaking.
Toneri raised one finger.
The chains surged with blinding white chakra.
Agony detonated through Kenji’s body. His scream cut through the entire chamber.
Hisaki lunged forward—
“KENJI!”
The last thing Kenji saw before darkness swallowed him—
Toneri’s hand on Hisaki’s shoulder.
And the boy’s eyes wide with terror he could no longer his fear.