The day after the mission, the common room of the Senshi center was silent, stifling. The air seemed heavy with invisible reproach. Kaen had isolated himself in a corner, sitting, his gaze lost in the void. Astou flipped through a manual quietly, Floch fidgeted with a module in abrupt movements, Akiriho monitored the data screens, while Ishikawa stood against the wall, arms crossed, like an immovable barrier.
Floch broke the silence, his harsh voice echoing through the room. "Yesterday… I abandoned that child. I wanted to run. Again. And you call that a mission?"
Akiriho shrugged. "You followed orders. Observation, not intervention."
"And if that child had exploded?" spat Floch, anger mixed with fear. "What would I say? That I saw it but did nothing? After all… I'm not a Senshi yet, and it's not up to me to decide who deserves to be saved?"
Ishikawa snapped, stepping forward. "You're a coward, Floch! You'd rather leave the child like that and talk nonsense?"
Kaen, calm but sharp, intervened. "Ishikawa is right. You refuse to face your own cowardice. Not saving that child… was your choice. If I were in your place, I wouldn't hesitate a second to acknowledge and accept my decision."
Floch turned to Kaen, eyes burning with defiance. "You speak as if you're already in the Sanuya. Last time, you were just lucky. Your power is unstable. And no one really knows what it is."
Astou stood up sharply, cutting through the tension. "Floch, that's enough. Kaen has saved more than one of us. And where were you when the wounded Senshi almost cut him down?"
"I was there," Floch retorted, jaw tight. "But I'm not his bodyguard. And I'm not here to cover the mistakes of an incomplete bearer."
Ishikawa broke the silence, his voice calm yet piercing. "You want to talk about instability? Let's talk about the Goldo Annihilé. The one who destroyed my clan. The one who left Senshi… broken. And you know what? Kaen faced that energy. He didn't run. I did—for years."
The group froze, hanging on his words.
Ishikawa's gaze rested on Kaen. "What Kaen carries… it's not the Goldo. But maybe it's what can stop it. And if you don't see it, Floch… it's because you're still looking through fear."
Kaen stood without a word. He left the room, alone. The corridors of the center stretched before him, lined with Senshi in position and activated modules emitting cold glows. He stopped before a window, gazing at Kuzari spread beneath the night sky.
In the silence, he spoke to himself.
"I don't want to be their hero. I just want to understand. And not become what others fear."
Missions revealed enemies, but silences revealed allies. And Kaen began to understand that his true battle wouldn't only be against dissidents or Goldo… but against the eyes that judged him before he even acted.
The cold night wind brushed his face, carrying away a part of his doubts. Yet deep inside, a spark was already burning. A new determination, ready to face not only the shadows around him but the one he carried within himself.
To be continued…