Akiko's eyes fluttered open.

For a moment, she didn't know what had pulled her from sleep. The medical bay lights glared overhead, and a faint shift in the air made her ears twitch.

She turned her head.

Captain Ward floated just inside the room.

Arms crossed. Expression unreadable. Not hostile, but not casual either.

Her presence filled the space like gravity.

Akiko's mind sharpened instantly.

She tried to sit up. Winced as the restraint on her wrist tugged taut. The metal cuff clinked softly, a quiet reminder that her leash was very real.

She leaned back against the pillow, trying to hide the sting of helplessness. Her free hand fidgeted with the edge of the blanket.

"You've caused quite a stir," Ward said.

Her voice was calm, even, but there was weight behind it. Curiosity. Calculation.

Akiko gave a dry chuckle. "I have a habit of that," she murmured. "Though I guess this time... it's a little harder to walk off."

Ward pushed off the wall and glided closer, anchoring herself on a handhold near the bed.

"Few junior officers make such a dramatic impression. You've outpaced even Ethan Raines. And that's saying something."

Her gaze dropped briefly to the cuff.

"I trust Dr. Calloway's been treating you fairly?"

"She's been..." Akiko hesitated. "Kind."

The words felt ridiculous even as she said them.

"Even if the accommodations are a bit short on personal freedom."

Ward's lips quirked, almost a smile, then faded. "Ensign Tsukihara, if that is your real name, you've left me with a puzzle."

She let the silence hang for a breath before continuing.

"Your actions during the battle were commendable. Bold. But they raise more questions than they answer."

Akiko met her gaze, posture relaxed but guarded. "Didn't realize saving the ship was grounds for suspicion."

"It's not the act," Ward said. "It's everything surrounding it. Your record. Your biology. The way you lit up like a nova and walked away breathing."

Her voice softened slightly, but her eyes remained sharp.

"As captain, I can't afford to ignore inconsistencies. Especially when they put my crew at risk."

Akiko bristled, but she swallowed the retort. She leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.

"I suppose asking you to take my word for it is off the table?"

Ward didn't smile this time. But her tone gentled.

"I don't deal in blind trust. But I do value honesty. If there's something I need to know, now's the time."

Akiko hesitated.

The silence grew thick. Ward didn't press, but she didn't look away either.

Finally, Akiko exhaled.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," she said quietly. "Everything I've done, it's been to survive. To help. That's all."

Ward studied her for a long moment.

"There are people on this ship," she said, "who would label you a threat just for existing. Hayes. Holt. Hale, though he's more subtle about it."

She shifted slightly, letting go of the handhold.

"But your actions? They matter. They bought you more than time."

Akiko frowned. "So... what does that mean for me?"

"It means you have an opportunity," Ward said. "Prove you're here to help. Show me you can be trusted. And I'll shield you as best I can from the blowback."

Her voice turned firm.

"But tread carefully. One misstep, and even I may not be able to hold the line."

Akiko's jaw clenched. "And if I can't convince you?"

Ward's eyes softened, just slightly.

"Then I'll do what I must. To protect my crew."

Akiko nodded slowly, absorbing the weight of that truth. "I'll try."

Ward gave a faint smile. This one held. "I believe you will."

She pushed away from the bed, steady in the microgravity.

"Rest up, Ensign. You'll need your strength."

The door hissed shut behind her.

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Time passed in a hazy blur.

The soft hum of medical equipment, the sterile stillness of the room, so stark against the chaos that had become her norm since boarding the Sovereign.

Akiko lay still, eyes half-lidded, tail lazily swaying off the edge of the bed. For a moment, she let herself pretend it was peace.

Then the door hissed open.

She turned her head, just as Ethan floated inside.

His expression was unreadable.

But his eyes locked immediately onto her ears. Exposed now, no illusion. Then down, following the curve of her tail.

His posture stiffened. He gripped the doorframe, knuckles pale.

Akiko's heart sank.

"Ethan," she said softly. Her voice barely above a whisper. "I..."

"You're not human," he said. His voice was hoarse, like he didn't quite believe it himself.

He blinked hard, jaw tight. "Cassandra... she said something. I thought she was just jealous. Picking a fight. I didn't think..."

He trailed off, shaking his head, as if trying to shake the image loose.

Akiko exhaled. Sat up slowly. The cuff on her wrist clinked with a quiet reminder.

She didn't flinch.

"I'm still me," she said gently. "I just... have a few extra bits."

His brow furrowed.

"Extra?" His voice cracked. "Akiko, this isn't a nickname you forgot to mention. This changes everything. Who even are you?"

She looked away.

Her ears flattened against her head. When she looked back, her eyes were soft.

"I didn't mean to lie. Not to you," she said. "But where I come from... people like me don't get second chances. So I passed as human. I didn't want to scare anyone. I didn't want to lose what I'd barely started to find."

Ethan's grip on the door loosened.

He floated closer, eyes searching.

"And the rest?" he asked, motioning vaguely toward the room. "The magic. The danger. Were you ever going to tell me?"

Akiko's tail flicked once, sharp with frustration, but her voice stayed calm.

"I didn't plan any of this. I was trying to survive. Trying to understand this world. But when things went bad. When people were in danger I had to choose."

She met his eyes. "I chose to help."

She paused.

"And I'd do it again. Every time."

His expression shifted, softened at the edges. But doubt still lingered.

"I want to believe you," he said quietly. "I just... I don't know what to do with all this."

Akiko nodded, a smile flickering at the edges of her lips.

"I'm just... a little more complicated than you thought."

Ethan let out a breath. It felt like he'd been holding it since he walked in.

He floated closer, fingers brushing the edge of the bed.

"Complicated doesn't begin to cover it," he muttered, but there was warmth in it now. "You really know how to keep a guy on his toes."

Akiko chuckled.

"You're still here, aren't you?" she said. "That counts for something."

Ethan shook his head, smiling now despite himself.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I guess it does."

Time passed in a fog of routine and restless waiting.

Between Anna's scattered bursts of optimism and Ethan's quiet presence, Akiko had clung to a fragile sense of calm. Thin as paper, but still intact.

Then the door hissed open again. And everything in her stilled.

Victor Hayes entered with slow, deliberate movements, boots magnetized just enough to suggest permanence. His expression was neutral, but only in the way a storm cloud is neutral before it breaks.

"Ensign Tsukihara," he said. Voice clipped. Formal. Icy.

His gaze swept over her, lingering on the ears and tail she no longer bothered to hide. His lip didn't curl. His eyes didn't narrow.

That would've shown emotion. Instead, he simply adjusted his grip on the bedframe and leaned closer.

"Or should I say... whatever you really are."

Akiko's tail flicked, a subtle twitch of instinct. But she kept her voice level.

"What can I do for you, Chief Hayes?"

"You can start," he said, "by telling me the truth."

He floated closer, anchoring himself beside her bed. "Who are you working for? The outer colonies? The rebels?"

Her ears tilted in confusion.

"The rebels? I don't even know what..."

"Don't insult my intelligence," he snapped. "You show up out of nowhere with a fake record. Slide into a critical role without raising so much as a ripple. Then, miraculously, you're in the right place at the right time to disable the enemy?"

He shook his head. "Too convenient."

Akiko's temper flared, but she held it behind her teeth. "I told you, I've been doing everything I can to help."

"Help?" Hayes scoffed. "You call this helping? We were hit with weapons we don't even have names for. Shields that bounce kinetic rounds. A cloaked ship with tech that shouldn't exist. And you,whatever you are, just happen to know how to deal with it?"

Her tail bristled.

"I don't have a connection to it!" she snapped. "I was trying to stop it. To protect this ship!"

"Why should I believe that?" he said, voice hard. "You've lied since day one. Who you are. What you are. And now you expect us to trust you?"

Akiko drew a slow breath, steadying herself against the rising panic.

"I didn't choose to be here. But I've never acted against this crew. I've tried. Genuinely tried. To earn my place."

Hayes pushed off slightly, straightening. His face remained expressionless, but there was steel behind his words.

"Whether you're our enemy or not, that's not my call. That'll be up to Haven Command."

Frost webbed through Akiko's veins. Her voice cracked. "What does that mean?"

"It means," he said coldly, "that you're a liability. And if Dr. Calloway hadn't pulled rank, you'd already be in the brig."

He turned toward the door, drifting slowly.

"But rest assured, Ensign. You won't be able to hide behind her forever."

He glanced back.

"When we reach Haven Command, they'll get the answers we need. One way or another."

The door hissed shut behind him. Silence returned. Thick. Cold.

Akiko didn't move. Her tail curled tightly around her waist, and she pulled her knees toward her chest. The cuff at her wrist clicked softly as it shifted.

Hayes's words cracked against the icy flow of her thoughts.

The room was silent, save for the soft, clinical rhythm of medical monitors. Beep. Beep. Beep. Steady. Unchanging.

Akiko stared at the ceiling.

His voice lingered like cold iron in her chest. Each word had landed with the weight of judgment already passed, as though nothing she said could matter anymore.

Focus, she told herself. This isn't new. You've been cuffed to worse beds than this.

She smirked faintly.

At least Kaede isn't in the next cell over, giving you the lecture face.

Her ears twitched at an unfamiliar beep. Softer, less rhythmic. She frowned and turned toward it.

One of the monitors near her bed flickered.

The display glitched, then the medical interface dissolved entirely, replaced by a field of black with bold, glowing text.

Akiko.

Friend.

Escape?

Her lips parted in surprise. Something like a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Well," she murmured. "Aren't you full of surprises."

The text shifted.

Danger.

Help? Escape?

Her fingers tapped at the railing of the bed, her thoughts echoing with each impact.

The offer was simple. Direct. And tempting.

Akiko closed her eyes for a long moment, exhaling slow.

"No," she said softly. "Not yet. I'm not running. Not this time."

The screen flickered in response.

A moment later, one word remained:

Friend.

Then it vanished. The medical interface reasserted itself, like nothing had happened. But something had.

Akiko stared at the ceiling again. The pressure in her head ebbed. Her thoughts slowed, untangling.

She wasn't alone. Fear no longer pressed at her ribs like a cage.

Her helper was still watching. Still with her. And so were others. Anna, Ethan, maybe even Ward.

It was enough.

She let her eyes close again, a slow smile blooming at the corners of her mouth.

She wasn't Kaede, always bracing for the worst.

She was Akiko. Trickster. Survivor. Flame.

And she'd find a way through this. She always did.

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