The door swings open.
It's lunchtime, and everyone freezes in place—Hakuto most of all.
Shin has returned, but he's in bad shape. He's missing his right arm, but he still looks better than he did that night.
After leaving the battlefield, he immediately got in touch with August, a former member of the HESPARC U.S medical division.
August had retired just before Shin was forced out.
August took care of him, giving him medical help, food and a place to stay for one night. He even secured him a passage to Japan through some illegal connections, smuggling him onto a cargo ship across the Pacific.
After the chaos of that night, Shin feared HESPARC would tighten exit controls from the US, so he moved in the shadows.
«I'm back,» Shin says with calm, like nothing happened.
Of course, Shin doesn't get away with a simple «Welcome back, Shin.»
What follows is an interrogation as harsh as a medieval inquisition, especially from Hakuto, who's angrier than ever.
