Rising Tension

Jamie looks up at Kenjo, his cold, blunt gaze piercing through the silence. He doesn't flinch or lose eye contact, making Kenjo gradually start to shake. Kenjo tries to speak up, but the silence eats at him, and he doesn't dare utter a word.

Jamie finally opens his mouth and says, "I'll beat Shika."

Kenjo, trembling from the intense atmosphere, slowly backs off. "B-be careful, Jamie…"

Jamie scoffs and turns his attention to the small room he's confined in. He grabs the flimsy pillow and starts practicing his jabs and crosses, throwing them sharply against the pillow. He focuses on both raw power and speed, each punch cutting through the thick air as if piercing the atmosphere itself. Jamie stays up all night perfecting his strikes, his intense training wearing down the pillow and the small mattress.

The next morning, Kenjo sneaks back to Jamie's cell and peers inside. He spots Jamie standing in the middle of the cell, drenched in sweat, clutching the remnants of a broken pillow and a crushed mattress. Both had been used as punching bags throughout the night.

Kenjo shouts, "Jamie! I've brought you some food. I snuck out during lunch and grabbed a few snacks from the vending machine. I got the ones you like."

Jamie says nothing, simply looking at Kenjo.

Feeling the weight of Jamie's presence, Kenjo quickly places down the snacks and stammers, "If you need anything… I'll come back later, Jamie."

Jamie sighs quietly. "I'm good, Kenjo. I'm getting out of here today anyway."

He sits on the shredded remains of the pillow and mattress, waiting patiently for the guards to retrieve him. Minutes turn into hours before, late at night, the guards come strolling down the hallway, laughing.

"I bet he's fast asleep by now. We forgot about him," one of them chuckles.

They laugh even louder as they unlock the cell, only to find Jamie wide awake, sitting calmly on the wrecked mattress.

"You took long enough," Jamie mutters.

The guards, taken aback, look at each other. One of them finally speaks up, "Uh, Jamie, it's 3 a.m. Why are you still awake?"

Jamie shrugs. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm finally getting out of here."

The guards lead him back to his regular cell, where Kenjo is still fast asleep. Jamie lays down and soon drifts off as well. He wakes up at 8 a.m., nudging Kenjo awake.

Kenjo looks at Jamie, smiling. "You're back!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back," Jamie responds, sounding annoyed. "Big surprise, I didn't die."

Suddenly, the intercom crackles to life. "Breakfast is now being served in the cafeteria. Make your way there now," a guard's voice echoes through the hall.

Jamie and Kenjo walk out of their cell, joining the line of prisoners heading toward the cafeteria. As they arrive, Jamie notices Shika and his crew glaring at him from across the room. Kenjo, feeling the weight of their stares, quickly shifts his focus to the food.

"So, Jamie, they've got hotdogs today. Looks like we got lucky," Kenjo says nervously.

Jamie picks up a hotdog from his tray, but before he can take a bite, a member of Shika's gang shoves him, causing the tray to fall and the food to splatter onto the dirty ground. Furious, Jamie readies a punch, but the guards quickly intervene. Jamie tries to grab another tray, but the guard serving food coldly tells him, "Only one tray per person."

Annoyed and angry, Jamie slams his fist against the glass separating him from the food. The glass cracks, and shards fall into the remaining hotdogs. The guards shout at him, threatening to throw him back into solitary confinement. Jamie, seething with rage, clenches his fists but stays quiet as the other prisoners shout at him for ruining their breakfast.

He sits down beside Kenjo and mutters, "I'm going to murder that gang."

Kenjo notices Jamie's hand bleeding, shards of glass embedded in his skin. He offers to help, but Jamie refuses. In a menacing tone, Jamie asks, "Who was the guy that pushed me?"

Hesitant, Kenjo answers, "He's one of Shika's higher-ups. I think he's ranked top five. He's also an ex-boxer, not as good as Shika, but still skilled."

"That's all I needed to know," Jamie replies coldly.

The intercom buzzes again. "It's time for yard time."

The prisoners head out to the yard, gathering in their usual groups. Shika's crew occupies the far end, asserting their dominance. Jamie walks straight toward their hangout, attracting stares from both prisoners and gang members. Without a word, he marches up to the guy who had pushed him earlier and delivers an explosive jab to his face.

Caught off guard, the man stumbles back before throwing a punch at Jamie's right cheek. It isn't powerful, but it's enough to sting. Jamie glares at the gang member, then throws a devastating cross with his bloodied, glass-filled hand. His punch smashes into the man's face, dropping him instantly, his features contorting from the force.

The gang stands up, and Shika himself rises, ready to intervene. Before an all-out brawl breaks out, the guards rush the scene. Shika, enraged, doesn't back down and begins pummeling the guards as well. Jamie watches as Shika throws a punch he recognizes—a devastating right hook that connects with an officer's chin.

A police officer shouts, "CALL IN THE SPECIAL FORCES!"

Minutes later, the special forces arrive, quickly de-escalating the situation. Shika, furious, watches as Jamie is dragged away and his top lieutenant is taken to the infirmary on a stretcher. Shika shouts after him, "JAMIE, YOU WILL PAY!"

Jamie is taken back to solitary confinement, where he starts analyzing Shika's punch in his mind. He thinks back to the match with Yosuke and Dekam's letter. Whispering to himself, he wonders, "Maybe I should learn that punch too."

He mimics the motion but fails a few times. After several tries, he finally lands a punch that resembles Shika's deadly hook. He repeats the motion with his left hand and says, "Right hook and left hook… This could be useful."

Jamie continues practicing on the broken pillows and mattress, both quickly falling apart from the strength of his blows. His stomach rumbles.

"Oh right… I didn't get any food…" he mutters.

About ten minutes later, Kenjo sneaks up to the small window of the solitary cell, panting heavily. "I-I brought you some rice, Jamie. I'm sorry, this is all I could get. I have to go back before lights out. Be careful, Shika's furious."

Jamie grins, looking up at the ceiling before sighing. "I see," he mumbles.